ADVANCED LINK BUILDING STRATEGIESFOR AFFILIATE SITESPatrick AltoftDirector of Search, Branded3
Affiliates & SEOBig advantage because sites can easily be edited & optimised compared to big organisationsBig disadvantage because affiliates struggle to get natural links unless they are brandsAn SEO savvy affiliate can always get rankings if they have the right strategy & can think big
Search Engine OptimisationMost people think SEO is aboutKeywords Page titles  Meta tagsSite structureOn-site optimisation is enough to rank for very uncompetitive keywordsWhen all your competitors sites are well optimised who gets to be number 1?
Links are the most important ranking factorLinks are what Google uses to differentiate between similar websites
Links and PageRankThis isn’t new......Since 1998 links have formed the basis of the Google algorithmPageRank is a probability distribution used to represent the likelihood that a person randomly clicking on links will arrive at any particular page.The pages that have the most incoming links are deemed more important.
PageRank≠ rankingsPageRank is quite inaccurate – a higher PR does not necessarily mean higher rankings
Research & Analysis ToolsetYahoo Site Explorer for quick checksOpenSiteExplorer.org (from SEOmoz)MajesticSEO.comAdvanced knowledge of Microsoft ExcelWordle.net
Majestic SEO
Competitor analysisIdentify 20 target keywordsRecord domains ranking in top 20 search results for each keywordRemove duplicate sites
Competitor analysisExport all links to Excel
Competitor analysisRepeat for all competitors to create one giant Excel documentRemove duplicate linking domainsSort by Domain Authority or Page Authority
Competitor analysisUse filters to find valuable linksURL contains .ac.uk , .edu , .gov , .nhsAnchor text contains target keyword
Visualising your link profile
Case study – “mobile phones”Competitive keywordGood mixture of brands & affiliate sitesSites have lots of links
Anchor text visualisationWordle.net
mobilejazz.co.uk
T Mobile
Bestcontractmobilephone.co.uk
Phones 4U
Onestopphoneshop.co.uk
Dial-a-Phone
O2
Mobiles.co.uk
Carphone Warehouse
Carphone WarehousePivot tableFind top 10 anchor texts by count
Brand link authority
Link authority
Carphone Warehouse Link Profile
Unnatural Link Profile
Unnatural Link Profile
Brand Links
Keyword links
Is this a fluke?
The importance of brand linksWe tested 30 highly commercial UK keywordsEvery single keyword followed the same pattern: sites with large brand link authority rank higherNon-brands are using branded anchor text links to make Google believe they are brands
What about anchor text & paid links?Most people think that paid or unnatural links are devalued based on the site that they are placed onFor example if the site is openly selling links and putting groups of paid links in sidebars or footers...
NaturalnessWhat we found is that Google appears to be doing the oppositeThey are devaluing links based on the “naturalness” of a sites link profileSites with very natural link profiles can use obvious spammy or paid links with immediate positive resultsThe same links pointed to a site with lesser brand authority are devalued and have no effectVery obvious if you do reputation management
ImplicationsTo succeed in Google a site needs to have a high amount of “natural” links with more brand authority than competitorsIf you don’t have this authority already you need to create itOnce you have brand authority you only need a very small number of anchor text links to rank
Good newsIt’s a lot easier to get brand anchor text than keyword anchor text in linksVery few people know about this so you can get a head start on your competitors
Easy 4 step strategyAnalyse industry & find out how much brand authority the leading sites haveFind out how much keyword anchor text link authority they haveAnalyse your link profile and build up your brand authority so it’s higher than  your competitorsThen build your keyword authority until you hit the top
Content syndicationWhen looking for brand anchor text this is highly effectiveMarketWirePRwebPR News WireEtcArticle syndication systemsBlog networks that syndicate contentGuest posts
Replicating competitor linksThink about why each link was givenIs it a paid link?Did the company attend a trade show or event?Is it from one of their business partners?What are your chances of getting the link?
Link QA processSome links are better than othersIf we’re paying for a link is it worth the money?
Link QA
Exchange linksThis still works very wellTry not to use links pagesSet up partnerships with bloggers where you link to them and they link to you once a weekDo this with 10 people and you get 520 links per year
Making contactSpeak to people over the phoneSend personal emails, one by one, to people who run relevant websitesMake sure it doesn’t start with “Dear Webmaster”Ask about advertisingAsk bloggers if they accept guest postsEvery time you get a link ask the site owner if they have any more sites
DesignInvest in stunning designDesign makes a site more linkableImproving linkability dramatically increases the efficiency of your campaignAllows the site to be featured in CSS galleries
ContentPeople don’t generally link to commercial contentInformational content attracts lots of free linksThink about added valueGuidesReviewsBlogNewsPhotosGood content improves linkability
Paying for linksGoogle is against buying & selling linksAny links that appear to be paid are likely to be devalued unless you have brand authority This is risky & delivers low ROIIf you choose to buy links sure they appear 100% naturalBe wary about using high profile link sellers......Always try to get permanent links
Don’t become a headlineBuying links is a risk, do it right or don’t do it at all
Infographics
Graphs
Tips for linkbaitMake friends with all the bloggers in your industryWhen you have a good article email each one of them individuallyHighly effective
Tools for link building
Tools for link building
Some final pointsLink-building is a very difficult taskResults can take a long time to deliverAnalyse the industry and your link profile to understand what type of links you needDon’t rely on natural link-building in the hope that you will get to the top eventually - you won’tDon’t assume that your big brand competitors who are using paid links will be penalised – they won’t
Learning moreRead Blogstorm.co.uk - UK’s largest blog about SEO with over 10,000 daily readersEmail patrick@branded3.com for free SEO advice Visit our website at Branded3.com

More Related Content

PPTX
Link building presentation
PPT
SEO + SEM Presentation
PPT
Pulling B2B Buyers Through the Funnel with SEM
PDF
Garrett French and James Wirth - Building Links to Sales Pages
PPTX
Search Engine Marketing for PR Professionals: What You Need to Know for 2014
PPTX
How To Do SEO ? SEO for beginners
PPTX
Futureproofing your SEO strategy
PPT
Web Analytics Course
Link building presentation
SEO + SEM Presentation
Pulling B2B Buyers Through the Funnel with SEM
Garrett French and James Wirth - Building Links to Sales Pages
Search Engine Marketing for PR Professionals: What You Need to Know for 2014
How To Do SEO ? SEO for beginners
Futureproofing your SEO strategy
Web Analytics Course

What's hot (20)

PPT
Top 19 Things Business Owners Need to Know About SEM in 2011
PPT
Social Media - Web Marketing's New Rock Star
PPTX
Why We Can't Do SEO WIthout CRO
PPT
Social Networking for LeaderPromos
PPTX
Surprising Facts about Google and 2017 SEO
PPTX
Integrating SEO & Social Media
PPTX
The Measure of a Marketer's Worth
PDF
How to Use the SEO Pyramid Strategy - to Rock Your SEO
PPT
Social Media Overview
PPTX
SEO in a Two Algorithm World
PPTX
The Latest Advanced SEO & Link Strategies
PPTX
Turbo-Charging your SEO & Link-Building Strategy
PPTX
How to Build Conversions Using SEO
PPTX
Patrick altoft-branded3-tfma-2013
PPTX
The Best in Landing Page Optimization Tips
PPTX
Do you want to rank higher in search engines!
PPTX
SEO Guide for Beginners, The Beginner Guide to SEO
PPT
Introduction to Affiliate Marketing
PPT
Driving Traffic To Your Website
PPTX
Introduction to SEO
Top 19 Things Business Owners Need to Know About SEM in 2011
Social Media - Web Marketing's New Rock Star
Why We Can't Do SEO WIthout CRO
Social Networking for LeaderPromos
Surprising Facts about Google and 2017 SEO
Integrating SEO & Social Media
The Measure of a Marketer's Worth
How to Use the SEO Pyramid Strategy - to Rock Your SEO
Social Media Overview
SEO in a Two Algorithm World
The Latest Advanced SEO & Link Strategies
Turbo-Charging your SEO & Link-Building Strategy
How to Build Conversions Using SEO
Patrick altoft-branded3-tfma-2013
The Best in Landing Page Optimization Tips
Do you want to rank higher in search engines!
SEO Guide for Beginners, The Beginner Guide to SEO
Introduction to Affiliate Marketing
Driving Traffic To Your Website
Introduction to SEO

Viewers also liked (20)

DOCX
SEO Competitive Analysis - Sample Report
DOC
Competitor analysis
PDF
Market & competitor analysis template in PPT
PPTX
Key Linkbuilding Strategies Patrick Altoft 2012
PDF
HR Outsourcing Competitor Analysis, April 2006
PPTX
Competitor Keyword Research for SEO [Melbourne #seomeetup]
PDF
Why are they ranking higher than me? by @kelvinnewman #tfma2014 with @theidm
PPTX
SEO Methodology
PPT
Winning Google AdWords tactics for e-commerce sites
PPTX
eCommerce SEO: SEOZONE Istanbul
PPT
LinkedIn Latest Updates 2014
PPTX
Integrated marketing 2014
PDF
Strike Ad White Paper
PDF
Conversation Research: Leveraging the power of social media market research
PPTX
Competitors analysis on Preply.com case study by Alexa Malomuzh (Preply.com)
PPTX
Steal This Slide: eCommerce Video Conversion Rates & Statistics
PDF
Marketo - Definitive guide to marketing metrics marketing analytics
PDF
BrightonSEO 2014: SEO In the Bigger Picture
PDF
DMA digital tracking study May 2010
PDF
Conversion killers, part 1 – for a webinar with Optimizely EMEA
SEO Competitive Analysis - Sample Report
Competitor analysis
Market & competitor analysis template in PPT
Key Linkbuilding Strategies Patrick Altoft 2012
HR Outsourcing Competitor Analysis, April 2006
Competitor Keyword Research for SEO [Melbourne #seomeetup]
Why are they ranking higher than me? by @kelvinnewman #tfma2014 with @theidm
SEO Methodology
Winning Google AdWords tactics for e-commerce sites
eCommerce SEO: SEOZONE Istanbul
LinkedIn Latest Updates 2014
Integrated marketing 2014
Strike Ad White Paper
Conversation Research: Leveraging the power of social media market research
Competitors analysis on Preply.com case study by Alexa Malomuzh (Preply.com)
Steal This Slide: eCommerce Video Conversion Rates & Statistics
Marketo - Definitive guide to marketing metrics marketing analytics
BrightonSEO 2014: SEO In the Bigger Picture
DMA digital tracking study May 2010
Conversion killers, part 1 – for a webinar with Optimizely EMEA

Similar to Advanced Link Building Strategies for Affiliate Sites - Patrick Atloft (20)

PPTX
Link Building Strategies TFM&A 2011 Patrick Altoft
PPT
Link Building
PPT
B2C SEO Smarts - Jessica Bowman
PDF
Backlinks Uncovered: How to Analyze Their Performance and Get More for Your W...
PDF
BlueGlassX - Building A Defensible Link Profile by Julie Joyce
PPTX
Off page seo for DSIM (Updated on 6-Dec'14
PDF
The inbound marketing guide for link building
PPT
London Blog Club MeetUp - Link Development for Blogs
PPT
Sucessful Link Development - SEM Konferansen 2011
PPTX
Link Building Workshop - SEO After Penguin & Panda
PPT
Topic 11- Generating Backlinks.ppt
PPTX
Advanced Linkbuilding Strategies SES London 2012 Patrick Altoft
PPT
Off Page SEO Techniques
PPT
Do you know how to get back links
PDF
How We've Built Almost 20,000 Links By Hand
PPTX
Understanding backlinks
DOCX
Link building strategy for 2013
PDF
Link Strategies for SEO: an SEMrush webinar
PPT
Affiliate SEO
PPT
search engine optimisation
Link Building Strategies TFM&A 2011 Patrick Altoft
Link Building
B2C SEO Smarts - Jessica Bowman
Backlinks Uncovered: How to Analyze Their Performance and Get More for Your W...
BlueGlassX - Building A Defensible Link Profile by Julie Joyce
Off page seo for DSIM (Updated on 6-Dec'14
The inbound marketing guide for link building
London Blog Club MeetUp - Link Development for Blogs
Sucessful Link Development - SEM Konferansen 2011
Link Building Workshop - SEO After Penguin & Panda
Topic 11- Generating Backlinks.ppt
Advanced Linkbuilding Strategies SES London 2012 Patrick Altoft
Off Page SEO Techniques
Do you know how to get back links
How We've Built Almost 20,000 Links By Hand
Understanding backlinks
Link building strategy for 2013
Link Strategies for SEO: an SEMrush webinar
Affiliate SEO
search engine optimisation

More from auexpo Conference (20)

PPTX
Affiliate Mobile 101: Kick-start your Mobile Success - Michael Long. Hotels.c...
PPTX
Harness Intelligence, Technology, Creativity & Quality to Acheive your Perfor...
PPTX
The Performance Search Boot Camp - Pete Newman. Found
PPTX
The Real-time Landscape: Zero-delay Advertising - Marco Kloots. Click District
PPTX
Successful Email Campaigns for the Multi-Channel Age - Suzanna Chaplin & Warr...
PPTX
Forget Google's Games. Grow Social into your Primary Traffic Source - Simon P...
PPTX
SEO for Site Owners: Remaining Agile 2013 - Jon Quinton
PDF
Performance Marketing from First Impression to Last Click - Andrew Buckman. T...
PPT
Influence, Networking and Marketing
PPTX
The Consumerisation of E-commerce - Thomas Joosten. Zanox
PPTX
CRO: It's All Psychological - Ivan Imhoff. House of Kaizen
PPTX
"Everyone is Special": Personalisation in Conversion Tactics - David Gowans
PPTX
How to build a successful e-mail marketing campaign - Suzanna Chaplin & Warri...
PPTX
The past, present and potential of display advertising - Peter Gowrie-Smith
PPTX
Advertiser and Publisher 101: 10 Insights
PPTX
Distribution & Partnership a Formidable Strategy
PPT
Engaging Facebook through EDGErank, Content and Killer Apps
PPTX
Turbo Charging your SEO Building Strategy
PPTX
For Blog's Sake - Don't You Know I Add Value?
PPT
Using Data to Value & Optimise the Affiliate Channel
Affiliate Mobile 101: Kick-start your Mobile Success - Michael Long. Hotels.c...
Harness Intelligence, Technology, Creativity & Quality to Acheive your Perfor...
The Performance Search Boot Camp - Pete Newman. Found
The Real-time Landscape: Zero-delay Advertising - Marco Kloots. Click District
Successful Email Campaigns for the Multi-Channel Age - Suzanna Chaplin & Warr...
Forget Google's Games. Grow Social into your Primary Traffic Source - Simon P...
SEO for Site Owners: Remaining Agile 2013 - Jon Quinton
Performance Marketing from First Impression to Last Click - Andrew Buckman. T...
Influence, Networking and Marketing
The Consumerisation of E-commerce - Thomas Joosten. Zanox
CRO: It's All Psychological - Ivan Imhoff. House of Kaizen
"Everyone is Special": Personalisation in Conversion Tactics - David Gowans
How to build a successful e-mail marketing campaign - Suzanna Chaplin & Warri...
The past, present and potential of display advertising - Peter Gowrie-Smith
Advertiser and Publisher 101: 10 Insights
Distribution & Partnership a Formidable Strategy
Engaging Facebook through EDGErank, Content and Killer Apps
Turbo Charging your SEO Building Strategy
For Blog's Sake - Don't You Know I Add Value?
Using Data to Value & Optimise the Affiliate Channel

Recently uploaded (20)

PDF
The-2025-Engineering-Revolution-AI-Quality-and-DevOps-Convergence.pdf
PDF
Lung cancer patients survival prediction using outlier detection and optimize...
PDF
CCUS-as-the-Missing-Link-to-Net-Zero_AksCurious.pdf
PDF
EIS-Webinar-Regulated-Industries-2025-08.pdf
PPTX
Build automations faster and more reliably with UiPath ScreenPlay
PDF
Connector Corner: Transform Unstructured Documents with Agentic Automation
PDF
Transform-Quality-Engineering-with-AI-A-60-Day-Blueprint-for-Digital-Success.pdf
PPTX
Presentation - Principles of Instructional Design.pptx
PPTX
AI-driven Assurance Across Your End-to-end Network With ThousandEyes
PDF
Introduction to MCP and A2A Protocols: Enabling Agent Communication
PPTX
Rise of the Digital Control Grid Zeee Media and Hope and Tivon FTWProject.com
PDF
The-Future-of-Automotive-Quality-is-Here-AI-Driven-Engineering.pdf
PDF
Co-training pseudo-labeling for text classification with support vector machi...
PDF
Data Virtualization in Action: Scaling APIs and Apps with FME
PDF
CEH Module 2 Footprinting CEH V13, concepts
PDF
Examining Bias in AI Generated News Content.pdf
PDF
Streamline Vulnerability Management From Minimal Images to SBOMs
PDF
5-Ways-AI-is-Revolutionizing-Telecom-Quality-Engineering.pdf
PPTX
Blending method and technology for hydrogen.pptx
PPTX
How to use fields_get method in Odoo 18
The-2025-Engineering-Revolution-AI-Quality-and-DevOps-Convergence.pdf
Lung cancer patients survival prediction using outlier detection and optimize...
CCUS-as-the-Missing-Link-to-Net-Zero_AksCurious.pdf
EIS-Webinar-Regulated-Industries-2025-08.pdf
Build automations faster and more reliably with UiPath ScreenPlay
Connector Corner: Transform Unstructured Documents with Agentic Automation
Transform-Quality-Engineering-with-AI-A-60-Day-Blueprint-for-Digital-Success.pdf
Presentation - Principles of Instructional Design.pptx
AI-driven Assurance Across Your End-to-end Network With ThousandEyes
Introduction to MCP and A2A Protocols: Enabling Agent Communication
Rise of the Digital Control Grid Zeee Media and Hope and Tivon FTWProject.com
The-Future-of-Automotive-Quality-is-Here-AI-Driven-Engineering.pdf
Co-training pseudo-labeling for text classification with support vector machi...
Data Virtualization in Action: Scaling APIs and Apps with FME
CEH Module 2 Footprinting CEH V13, concepts
Examining Bias in AI Generated News Content.pdf
Streamline Vulnerability Management From Minimal Images to SBOMs
5-Ways-AI-is-Revolutionizing-Telecom-Quality-Engineering.pdf
Blending method and technology for hydrogen.pptx
How to use fields_get method in Odoo 18

Advanced Link Building Strategies for Affiliate Sites - Patrick Atloft

  • 1. ADVANCED LINK BUILDING STRATEGIESFOR AFFILIATE SITESPatrick AltoftDirector of Search, Branded3
  • 2. Affiliates & SEOBig advantage because sites can easily be edited & optimised compared to big organisationsBig disadvantage because affiliates struggle to get natural links unless they are brandsAn SEO savvy affiliate can always get rankings if they have the right strategy & can think big
  • 3. Search Engine OptimisationMost people think SEO is aboutKeywords Page titles Meta tagsSite structureOn-site optimisation is enough to rank for very uncompetitive keywordsWhen all your competitors sites are well optimised who gets to be number 1?
  • 4. Links are the most important ranking factorLinks are what Google uses to differentiate between similar websites
  • 5. Links and PageRankThis isn’t new......Since 1998 links have formed the basis of the Google algorithmPageRank is a probability distribution used to represent the likelihood that a person randomly clicking on links will arrive at any particular page.The pages that have the most incoming links are deemed more important.
  • 6. PageRank≠ rankingsPageRank is quite inaccurate – a higher PR does not necessarily mean higher rankings
  • 7. Research & Analysis ToolsetYahoo Site Explorer for quick checksOpenSiteExplorer.org (from SEOmoz)MajesticSEO.comAdvanced knowledge of Microsoft ExcelWordle.net
  • 9. Competitor analysisIdentify 20 target keywordsRecord domains ranking in top 20 search results for each keywordRemove duplicate sites
  • 11. Competitor analysisRepeat for all competitors to create one giant Excel documentRemove duplicate linking domainsSort by Domain Authority or Page Authority
  • 12. Competitor analysisUse filters to find valuable linksURL contains .ac.uk , .edu , .gov , .nhsAnchor text contains target keyword
  • 14. Case study – “mobile phones”Competitive keywordGood mixture of brands & affiliate sitesSites have lots of links
  • 22. O2
  • 25. Carphone WarehousePivot tableFind top 10 anchor texts by count
  • 33. Is this a fluke?
  • 34. The importance of brand linksWe tested 30 highly commercial UK keywordsEvery single keyword followed the same pattern: sites with large brand link authority rank higherNon-brands are using branded anchor text links to make Google believe they are brands
  • 35. What about anchor text & paid links?Most people think that paid or unnatural links are devalued based on the site that they are placed onFor example if the site is openly selling links and putting groups of paid links in sidebars or footers...
  • 36. NaturalnessWhat we found is that Google appears to be doing the oppositeThey are devaluing links based on the “naturalness” of a sites link profileSites with very natural link profiles can use obvious spammy or paid links with immediate positive resultsThe same links pointed to a site with lesser brand authority are devalued and have no effectVery obvious if you do reputation management
  • 37. ImplicationsTo succeed in Google a site needs to have a high amount of “natural” links with more brand authority than competitorsIf you don’t have this authority already you need to create itOnce you have brand authority you only need a very small number of anchor text links to rank
  • 38. Good newsIt’s a lot easier to get brand anchor text than keyword anchor text in linksVery few people know about this so you can get a head start on your competitors
  • 39. Easy 4 step strategyAnalyse industry & find out how much brand authority the leading sites haveFind out how much keyword anchor text link authority they haveAnalyse your link profile and build up your brand authority so it’s higher than your competitorsThen build your keyword authority until you hit the top
  • 40. Content syndicationWhen looking for brand anchor text this is highly effectiveMarketWirePRwebPR News WireEtcArticle syndication systemsBlog networks that syndicate contentGuest posts
  • 41. Replicating competitor linksThink about why each link was givenIs it a paid link?Did the company attend a trade show or event?Is it from one of their business partners?What are your chances of getting the link?
  • 42. Link QA processSome links are better than othersIf we’re paying for a link is it worth the money?
  • 44. Exchange linksThis still works very wellTry not to use links pagesSet up partnerships with bloggers where you link to them and they link to you once a weekDo this with 10 people and you get 520 links per year
  • 45. Making contactSpeak to people over the phoneSend personal emails, one by one, to people who run relevant websitesMake sure it doesn’t start with “Dear Webmaster”Ask about advertisingAsk bloggers if they accept guest postsEvery time you get a link ask the site owner if they have any more sites
  • 46. DesignInvest in stunning designDesign makes a site more linkableImproving linkability dramatically increases the efficiency of your campaignAllows the site to be featured in CSS galleries
  • 47. ContentPeople don’t generally link to commercial contentInformational content attracts lots of free linksThink about added valueGuidesReviewsBlogNewsPhotosGood content improves linkability
  • 48. Paying for linksGoogle is against buying & selling linksAny links that appear to be paid are likely to be devalued unless you have brand authority This is risky & delivers low ROIIf you choose to buy links sure they appear 100% naturalBe wary about using high profile link sellers......Always try to get permanent links
  • 49. Don’t become a headlineBuying links is a risk, do it right or don’t do it at all
  • 52. Tips for linkbaitMake friends with all the bloggers in your industryWhen you have a good article email each one of them individuallyHighly effective
  • 53. Tools for link building
  • 54. Tools for link building
  • 55. Some final pointsLink-building is a very difficult taskResults can take a long time to deliverAnalyse the industry and your link profile to understand what type of links you needDon’t rely on natural link-building in the hope that you will get to the top eventually - you won’tDon’t assume that your big brand competitors who are using paid links will be penalised – they won’t
  • 56. Learning moreRead Blogstorm.co.uk - UK’s largest blog about SEO with over 10,000 daily readersEmail [email protected] for free SEO advice Visit our website at Branded3.com