3rd Party Site Presence and Internet Marketing
-
An issue that I do not see discussed about much in Internet Marketing circles is the importance of establishing and developing a presence on third party sites other than through guest posting and I was wondering how much other internet marketers focus on this area and recommend this to clients.
I see many people wanting hiring internet marketers basically for SEO and the KPI's on which they are judged are SEO based outcomes (higher alexa rank, number of page 1 keywords, number of top 1, top 3 keywords etc). I recently gave advice to someone who had very little time, very little money and very little SEO skills who wanted to rank in number 1 positions for their band for wedding and corporate bookings. I basically showed them sites that were highly positioned in the SERPs where they could get develop a strong online profile and how this would work better than investing 3 hours a month badly into SEO.
Ultimately what businesses want is strong convertible leads and sales. For many businesses that might be better established particularly where budgets are tight through other elements whether it is Tripadvisor rankings, presence in other 3rd party sites or in an Ebay store than through SEO for their own site. Obviously for big brands with big budgets SEO is essential but as many keyword terms become increasingly competitive how important should referrals from 3rd party sites be in businesses internet marketing strategy and to what extent do you feel current internet marketing businesses identify and promote this need rather than simply working on improving ranking performance for keywords?
-
Interesting discussion! I would love to start with dividing the 3<sup>rd</sup> party website in to different forms.
- 3<sup>rd</sup> party websites like Yelp.com and other Yellow pages websites
- 3<sup>rd</sup> party websites like trip adviser who allow limited niches to promote their services (niche related portal)
- 3<sup>rd</sup> part websites like SEOmoz who are the leaders in their industry and give you a chance to build your authority within the community over the period of time.
Option 1:
I think this is something here many SEO firms and freelancers are focusing already but i still think it needs more focus and concentration. If a business plays a vital role on 3<sup>rd</sup> part websites like stay action, reply to questions and reviews and communicate with the clients on regular basis i believe this can seriously help businesses get some serious leads.
This will be a great option for local business who offers services within a limited area. Websites like Google Maps, Yelp and other yellow pages websites are great in that case...
Option 2:
Portals or websites like Trip Adviser or more are helpful but one need to spend some major time there... I personally don’t think that many people are investing their time on building strong presence on these websites, although business with limited online marketing budget should focus here specially websites from travel, Real Estate and hotel niches.
I think service providers (this goes to me too) should invest more time building strong presence there because i think many people use these kind of portals before making any decision so I think building strong presence will make a difference.
Option 3:
This is the most interesting and time taking at the same time. Websites like SEOmoz who are the industry leaders in their particular niche but does not offer SEO services are great place where you can build your brand. This can be possible by being active in the community, commenting to daily blog posts, writing guest posts on the blog and building strong and communication with the community not only on the platform but on other channels like twitter facebook and emails.
This will help you build yourself as an expert within the community and you can get a chance to get more leads for your business.
Hope this helps, love to listen your point of view on this...
-
I can't remember buying anything I found on page 1 of google. Search engines are usually part of the "investigative process" when making a decision. I'm not really a "shopper" most things I already know what I want, are for business and it's at least a month before I first heard of it before actually buying. The first point of interest for me is often not one source but something I have absorbed over time from various sources like how I noticed SEOmoz mentioned on Webhostingtalk by it's users.
Perhaps for some kind of business I am a worthwhile "consumer profile" but for something which requires less thought and it being more "what you see it what you get" (such as T-shirt designs?) search engines are more worthwhile. So I think it can depend on the market and therefore type of customer.
In similar vein to long tail keyword, 3rd party sites, particularly established ones in their fields can offer a closer distance to purchase intention so to me are certainly a worthwhile part of my strategy.
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
Should I buy an expired domain that has already been redirected to some other website? Can I use it or redirect it to my own site if I purchase it?
I was going to purchase an expired domain but then I came to know that it has been redirected to some other website. I have two questions: Can I build a website around this domain if I purchase it? and will the Domain Authority remains the same ? Can I redirect it to my own site? and will all the Link Juice flow to my site?
Industry News | | Kamranktk0 -
Community Discussion - How can we apply the skills we have as marketers in new, creative ways?
Hi everyone, I hope you all had a wonderful week! This week's discussion question comes from Tuesday's (December 😎 blog post by John-Henry Scherck, The Step-by-Step Guide to Turning Link Prospectors into Lead Generators. From the post: "Digital marketing is a pretty introverted industry. This tends to make us a bit hesitant to embrace sales and outbound selling. There’s no beating around the bush: Sales can be difficult, scary, uncomfortable, and awkward — but if you want to grow your client base, it may require getting out of your comfort zone." John-Henry shows us the opportunity for people who are good at link prospecting to apply those skills to lead generation, improving business opportunities by creatively using the skills they already have. SEOs and marketers wear many hats, and have a diverse skill set at their disposal—how else can we apply the skills we already have in creative ways?
Industry News | | MattRoney5 -
If someone was brand new at all of marketing, where would you send them to get educated?
If someone had no marketing education, where would you send them to get a thorough education covering all aspects of marketing/advertising? Would you say you have to go to school for that? Would you recommend an online course set from CMI or MarketingProfs? If so, which one? Thank you 🙂
Industry News | | Crystalline_151 -
What's on your ultimate online marketing wish list?
Hi everyone! I'm one of Distilled's new online marketing analysts and will be writing my first blog post for them right before Christmas! I'm thinking about writing a post that combines the holiday spirit with what we all wish Google would give us. So fine people of Moz Q&A, tell me, if you could have anything from Google, no matter how ridiculous, what would it be and why? Any great quotes may even be featured in the blog post itself and attributed to you! Thanks everyone and happy Friday!
Industry News | | MorganChessman0 -
Email marketing - ready to get serious about this
Ok, I have my PILE of business cards from Chamber of Commerce meetings and different networking events I have attended. I have 8-10 blogs that are worth sharing on my website - www.sawwebmarketing.com (I realize that's a pathetically low number) I am committing to and excited about blogging MUCH more starting today! I have a huge list of ideas. I am adding a signup to my site and putting up a pop up to collect addresses. I have 15-18 clients that are paying me for ongoing seo / Internet marketing (or simply had my team build a new site for them) AND AN ACCOUNT WITH AWEBER I HAVE USED ONCE! 🙂 Where do I start!? Any advice? I want to start building a LIST of subscribers and grow my list by sharing great advice, strategies and tips to help people put their website to work. A) Send one email to EVERYBODY (ongoing clients, past clients, contacts who subscribe, website visitors, blog subscribers) or customize my messages for different groups? B) Put whatever I want to share on my blog and share it via social media AND send an email to my list inviting them to check out what I posted so I get the most bang for my time? (LINKS BABY!) I feel like an idiot I haven't got on this sooner but truly ANY ADVICE from somebody who has been there and done it would be GREATLY APPRECIATED! 🙂 Thank you! Matthew http://sawwebmarketing.com/internet-marketing-blog/
Industry News | | Mrupp440 -
Alexa Site Audit
Hello All, I run an Alexa Site Audit report for my client. Is it normal that my Alexa site audit report will be public i.e. S3 URL for downloading the PDF file was open to anyone knowing the URL. No re-direct to login etc was there? Yes the S3 URL is funny but Google bots have ways to find this funny URLs so is this normal? If you have tried Alexa can you repeat the problem i.e. typing your S3 report URL? can you get it to? or is it just me. I have asked Alexa about it. I think there should be some security. Thanks.
Industry News | | SEO_Z0 -
Schedule for Panda / Farmer Update rollout for non English sites?
Hey Mozzers, I just read about the global rollout of googles Panda/Farmer Update for English queries, e.g. at searchengineland. Has anyone read something about when google is planning to roll out the update for non-English speaking countries, i.e. queries in other languages? I googled a bit but couldn't find anything, not even speculations. Cheers, Frank
Industry News | | FranktheTank-474970