How to get links for boring niches/industries?

[Gordon_Hall]

I've asked this question before, but it's 12/18 months on, the SEO landscape has changed, and new people are aboard.

So basically, how do others look/achieve links for industries that generally have static sites with little to report. My books are awash with forklift truck, accountants, concrete companies. Very little happens in their businesses - someone orders concrete... my client delivers concrete. Someone orders a forklift.... my client sends a forklift.....

Yes, we can do a bit of social, but where else would people go for link building.

If my client was a wedding photographer, a mountain climber or cancer specialist, I'd be rolling in ideas, as it is, I find myself a little stumped sometimes.

[Gordon_Hall]

That's an idea Keri... I think the answers so far have helped pay for this months subscription already!!

Thanks

...but if anyone else has other ideas, keep them coming

[KeriMorgret]

Could you interview them instead, and then pay someone to transcribe it? Talk with them, get the information in person, record it (perhaps even on a smartphone), then pay a transcription service or under-utilized staff person to transcribe and then a content person to polish it up

[Gordon_Hall]

Egol, you are right, there are no boring industries, and your added point has even more relevance to my situation.

Few of my customers will actually get out a pen/keyboard and write anything, making my task even harder, and fewer still want to pay for great content.

However, regardless of my above gripes, you have helped greatly in regards to content. Links may be another matter, but of course, great content should hopefully mean the links will follow.

Thanks again Egol.

[EGOL]

There are no boring industries.  None.

If you have someone who knows a lot about an industry and is an enthusiastic person they can usually identify the topics that people ask questions about.. and what they ask questions about is what they "think" is important... but they are usually not asking the questions about what they "need to know".  And the enthusiastic industry expert knows the step-by-step guide for getting the job done.

These industries are thought to be boring because the average person knows very little about them.

I know a little about concrete....  If I had that concrete site I would be publishin' the "Concrete Bible".

----- Tell them why and when they should be using concrete and when and why they should be using asphalt

---- Tell people how to prepare  the base (use lots of photos, use lots of video), tell them how deep they need to dig, tell them how different types of soil and water conditions require different methods of base preparation, lots of jobs go bad because drainage was not done right

----- Tell them what type of stone to lay down for the base layer (show photos), if they have a choice between limestone, sandstone, river stone, granite and traprock which one they should pick, what size that stone should be, tips for spreading the stone evenly to minimize hand work.   what happens if you don't do it right,

---- Tell them the mistakes idiots make and what mistakes cheapskates make.  It's easy to screw up a concrete job.  Cheapskates screw up more concrete jobs than any other type of person and most of the professional jobs that don't go well were done by a cheapskate contractor.  .

----- Tell them how to calculate how many cubic yards they will need.... make an online calculator...  give a few ideas for using overage that might arrive on the jobsite

---- Tell them how to build the forms, what type of lumber to use, how to stake the project, how high they need to be, again tell them the mistakes that people made and show photos and videos....

---- Tell them how to finish the surface, what type of float works well, how much time you got, mistakes and videos....

---- Tell them about curing, how long it takes, what about covering it, how long to stay off, when you need moisture, tell them about care,

--- Tell them that the price of the material is only half the cost... if they live rural they will have to pay by the yard-mile for delivery and how much that might cost.

You put all of that stuff on the site and you will have a second class site.   I didn't have time to type it all and don't know everything that goes into it..... but if you do a better job than anyone else you will have a great site that people will be using for their Bible.  Does not matter if they tell some secrets, the average guy is still going to hire them for this job, you tell them enough so that they know that an expert needs to do it or it will be screwed up. A lot of people just want to know what is involved and how to spot a cheapskate contractor who is trying to give him a low quote and deliver shabby work.

The more you know about something the easier it is to write about it and the better job you will do.  That is why it is best to have the industry expert do the content if possible and if that isn't possible why you need them helping alot.

If the industry expert isn't going to write the content author needs to get out to the job site with boots, gloves and a camera and see the entire process done three or four times.  That is really expensive, you will pay them for at least four days of work....  but it is a good idea to do it unless you want crap work.

You know what I said above about cheap contractors screwing up a concrete job... the same applies to content jobs.

ADDED::   I always preach about the content expert doing all the writing. But sometimes that can't be done.... and in this situation here... it is probably going to be easier to make a concrete expert out of the gal who writes the content than it will be to make a first class writer out of the concrete guy.

[KeriMorgret]

For accounting, I think there are some big firms in the last ten years that would disagree that nothing interesting happens.

In all cases, I'd start with the person who answers the phone and answers the email inquiries. What questions do they get all the time? What information do they send out by email? How much of that can you put on the web, to both draw traffic and to ease some of the phone calls and emails you get with basic questions?

Someone can order concrete, but how much hand-holding do they need to choose which type of concrete to order? How do they know how to judge how much to order? If it's for a pathway to my front door where two people live, do I need a different mix than if it was a sidewalk at an elementary school that has 800 kids? What about permeable concrete that lets rain go through?

What size forklift do I need? What considerations do I need to take into account when ordering one? Are there some that are too high for common garages? Do I need any training to use one? What if I need one for just an hour to unload a unit of plywood, can I get the delivery person to wait while I unload so they can take the forklift back? What happens if the plywood delivery is late and you end up serving lunch to the forklift delivery person? (this paragraph is all based on personal experience!)

Those are more for content than link building, I realize. For links, perhaps a local real estate agent has a column about DIY concrete driveways and could recommend your client as a reputable company? Could they sponsor a little league team and be sure that the team has a link back? If they're a member of the BBB or trade organizations, be sure to get links.

[AndrewAtMGXCopy]

I don't have a direct answer for your questions about links, but you also seem to asking about content.

In terms of content, I'd take a look at content marketing, and I think you might be surprised at the potential.

In particular, I recommend the book Epic Content Marketing by Joe Pulizzi. He had a really interesting example about a company that sells/installs Fiberglass Pools called River Pools and Spas (that serve 3 eastern states). The company runs a blog that answers questions about all pools, and they brand it "Welcome to the Most Educational Swimming Pool Blog in the Country!" Ofc, they focus a special amount of time on pitching fiberglass pools. According to the interview in the book, the blog does quite well for them. Notice that they broaden their content (a) to include slightly beyond what they sell, and (b) beyond their geographical scope.

Look at it a different way: our company recently had to rent out a forklift company, and we Google'd for answers to my questions about renting forklift. I'm sure many others have questions for forklifts. I'm sure there are similar potential for questions about accounting/tax/financials, construction/concrete/etc.