Any Tips for Link Building for Boring Topics/Businesses?
-
I have a number of clients that own businesses in 'boring' sectors, such as:
-
Toxic Waste Removal
-
Steel Erecting
-
Household Plumbing (Boilers, etc...)
Link building for these sites is quite difficult. Creating compelling content and 'link bait' is particularly tricky.
I found a good post from Michael Gray on the subject, but I don't think food (or McDonalds in this case)is a particularly difficult subject to write about.
Any more tips on how to approach this would be appreciated.
Thanks
-
-
We also just published a YouMoz on the main blog today that deals exactly with this subject. Check it out at http://www.seomoz.org/blog/3-steps-to-social-seo-for-your-boring-ass-clients
-
See what MythBusters and Dirty Jobs have done regarding these subjects and see if that offers inspiration. MythBusters has at least once done an episode on exploding water heaters. Enough people like how Mike Rowe can clean a dump truck and recycle toilets that he (and Discovery) can make a nice living. Here are a bunch of his episodes http://www.dirtyjobsmikerowe.com/dvds/. Maybe see how he treats topics in your subject area for ideas?
-
-
Compile a guide on how to deal with toxic materials (links, references and all) and pitch to gov and edu sites for inclusion.
-
Cross promote with industry operators (builders, painters...etc).
-
DIY guides that people will appreciate. How to fix a simple problem or step by step illustration.
-
-
I would argue these topics are easier to build links for because they are so niche and therefore less competitive, so perhaps you should go back to basics and try some or all of the following:
Niche directories - i know directories are old hat and outdated, but if you could get a few links from "eco" sites (toxic waste removal) or indeed government sites such as town councils etc then you will get some benefit. Don't forget it is worth linking out to authority sites too i.e. if you link to the local council site on how to get rid of toxic waste safely then then your link neighbourhood improves.
Niche publications - If you can place articles in these sites with contextual links then you're on to a winner. Case studies and how to guides are always welcome material.
How to guides - Especially when it comes to plumbers, boilers etc. I worked with a plumbing company before and suggested they post how to guides on everything from fitting a tap to what questions to ask your plumber about a new boiler etc. The push back here is often that "if we tell them how to do it then they won't get us to do it", but would you really try and fit a boiler yourself if you had the instructions? Try http://www.e-zine-list.com/index.shtml for a list of niche pubs
Become the expert - sites like Yahoo Answers are awash with people looking for answers on various topics so if your client can put in a little time each day to answer questions they could become recognised as the go to guy on their subject.
-
Be Thematic. Find themes that apply to your subjects. Try to relate to more popular related "stuff".
Here are some quick examples:
1. Toxic Waste Removal - Work in references, images, video of The Toxic Avenger: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0090190/
2. Steel Erecting - I don't know if this is too loose, but Transformers came to mind.
3. Household Plumbing - Perhaps create a mascot, "Bobby The Hot Tempered Boiler".
Ok, so these might not be the most well-thought-out examples, but I think you get my point.
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
-
On-Page / Site Optimization+Link Building -check help!
HI all, have also Question One, i don't understand how is this website : competitor website http://hack-clash-royale. com/ beter them my website i analze i have more more backlink and my website is strong have good seo but not on first position, you can tell me what is problem, my website is 4-5# and competitor 1-2# .. thanks
Link Building | | Fahad5Saleem0 -
Link building for a 'boring' eCommerce site
Hey all, I'm in need of some serious inspiration and I'm hoping one of you generous people can help. We're looking to do a spot of link building for an eCommerce site which I would describe (without putting it down too much) as 'boring'. This isn't our fault per se as the site sells printer cartridges and there's only a certain amount of excitement such a product can create. As a result natural linkbuilding is quite tricky, especially when it comes to creating links to anything other than our homepage. For the past couple of years we have focused on creating good content and indeed have a thriving database of hundreds of helpful articles and videos on the site. These are generating decent traffic (and rank #1 for many different help related search terms) but the problem with these articles is that they don’t convert in to sales at all well. I’m also conscious that it will ultimately end in us developing a link profile which would classify us as a printer repair resource rather than cartridge sales website. I have read numerous guides on Moz but they all tend to focus on products which are a little sexier than those that we sell. Getting someone to share and link to a truly unique product would be incredibly easy compared with asking someone to engage, share and link to the latest Epson cartridge. I started writing articles on some decent quality business blogs however the links given don’t look particularly natural and the link would always be to our homepage. We have the staff and the time but we built a whole host of rubbish links back before Penguin and I want to ensure that we are going to head in the right direction before embarking on something new. If you had a site which was really dull how would you devise a link building strategy that was relevant and, most importantly, natural? Thanks for your help. Chris
Link Building | | ChrisHolgate1 -
Is tiered link building a good thing?
I think that I have watched all the webinairs and online courses available on the web, but I still don't seem to know how and where to get links from. I know what type of links I should be getting and what type I should be avoiding, but that little luck so far. I came across the website of Matthew Woodward about tiered link building where he explains how to do this type of link building in depth. It seems quite interesting but also a lot of work so I don't want to invest my precious time in something that will be penalised by Google in the near future. Is there anyone that can give me some reason why I should or shouldn't do this?
Link Building | | BridalHotspot0 -
Link building too quickly
Hi all, I have recently started trialing to outsource some SEO to a 3rd party, who obviously promissed white hat techniques and manual links etc.. All has gone well for the first month. But on speeking to another expert they point out that the search engines will spot inconcistencies in link building and penalise me. I know there will not be a know ammount but as we stand at the moment, what is the current feeling of too fast. Links built for me in one month were 100 directory submissions 80 bookmarks 16 search engine submissions 15 Article submissions 46 forum links 10 local classified searches Is this too fast? , If to do I stop and create more inconsistency or continue at a similar rate. Of course quality of link will be an issue, but how much. Many thanks from SEO jnr
Link Building | | smartcow0 -
Links I am not Building?
Hi All, I check webmaster multiple times on a daily basis, and I noticed some links that I have not worked on and look a bit spammy, is it possible for people to purposely pont bad links in my direction? If that is the case is there a way for me to remove them myself? Also the number of total backlinks are very different in Webmaster and my Open Site Explorer, is this normal? Thanks again !
Link Building | | TP_Marketing0 -
Link Building for relaunched & newly designed site
Hey all, Next week we are relaunching our brand spankin' new site. It's a major overhaul of our existing site from both a brand, design, and identity point of view. As part of the relaunch we will be reaching out to journalists in our niche with PR, and also doing a series of guest posts. But I'm wondering about other link building opportunities around newly redesigned websites. I have a list of about 2 dozen design + CSS galleries to submit to. Can you recommend other sources? I'm especially interested in sites that review web design, etc... Thanks. C.
Link Building | | cmoylan1 -
How to Define Quality of External Website During Link Building?
I want to know about process, method or tool which can help me to define quality of external website during link building. We are searching too many questions and topics on Google to resolve daily mind bubbles which land us on different website with different subject. I found that, I was able to drop my website URL over there but confuse about quality of website. I am selling Football and create external link from baby care website. So, will it make sense? My concern is that, Can we create external links from different subject website or specific to subject oriented website? Is there any specific method which help me to understand more about external website and help me to take decision about link building?
Link Building | | CommercePundit0 -
Please critique my link building plan
Hello, Here's my revised link building plan for nlpca.com Let me know if I'm off or missing anything. 1)Identify a list of competitors that are strong enough to have good backlinks (probably about 15 in our industry Look at top content for top competitors and see what type of content is being linked to. build infographics for each area we want to target based on top content Using OSE, analyze competitor backlinks and decide which sites might link to the infographics and which sites might just link to us if we asked them (our site is already an authority). In this step we would also expand the backlink analysis to include sites on pages 4-8 Only choose link aquisition for sites based on the following criteria: Age A lot of unique content A clean site Backlinks going to that site Facebook followers Which of course means high search engine rankings Publish infographics and do outreach
Link Building | | BobGW0