Theming Your Linkbaits
A key SEO tactic is to gain inbound links containing your most sought after keywords. Many webmasters aim for their exact phrase. If you can manage it, great. The problem is this can be far more challenging than it at first seems, and secondly over-doing the exact phrase can raise red flags in search engines. The main issue I find facing clients who want a certain anchor text is they run out of things to say.
One way around these issues is to simply approach the phrases less obviously. Check out this expertly designed diagram:
This diagram shows the main phrase for my struggling Walrus Polishing Kit blog. I have been trying to get my linkbaits onto Digg using the phrase “Walrus Polishing Kit” and for some reason Diggers are not voting in the numbers required.
As you can see, we can either go for the exact phrase, or split the phrase into segments. Rather than attempt to get Diggers interested in “Walrus Polishing Kits”, we can go for linkbaits about “Walrus”, “Polishing” or “Kit”, or variations, such as “Polishing Kits”.
Finding bait topics containing one of the words, such as “kit”, is far easier than trying for the whole phrase, and while it might not give the instant results of the exact match, it does make it easier to both write and get votes.
Thinking of your site theme this way opens up many more possibilities for articles. Rather than aiming for a “sweet spot” home run, you can build the sites overall theme over time.
Posted on January 09th, 2008 by Chris Garrett in Marketing
So where can I buy the Walrus Polishing Kit? I really need one because my walrus looks rather dull.
When they come on sale you will be first to know
Please rush me my portable walrus polishing kit. Four super brushes that will clean even the trickiest of seabound mammals. Yes, I am over eighteen, though my IQ isn’t.
Nice post too by the way
Hopefully this will not constitute one of those requests that’s asking for free work
One thing I’m still trying to grasp with SEO is whether it’s wise to have a ‘list’ of keywords/phrases that I want to attract, or just stick with one phrase. (and the words in it).
Take your ‘walrus polishing kit’ example. Should I only try to attract a combination of any of those words, or, if I have content on my site for ‘walrus washing soap’ and ‘kangaroo shining butter’ is it wise to try and attract for those, too?
Does there come a point where there are diminished returns because eggs are spread out in too many baskets? Ir seems like perhaps the optimal strategy is to find a balance of eggs in some baskets–not just one, but not too many. What do you think and put into practice?
@Wayde - I am not convinced you are over 18, I might need to see some ID
@Reese - Build a laundry list of phrases that would be useful and go for them all. The trick is to not try to get all the phrases to the homepage, build sections or pages aimed at certain keywords. If you look at this blog, I rank for both “Chris Garrett” but also on occasion some of my articles rank surprisingly well for other stuff like “blog meme” etc
Hey that’s brilliant, thanks Chris
Good point Chris. That’s something that all of us can put into practice for our own blogs/websites.
Thanks Chris–good plan of action. Makes sense to not saturate them all on the front page. Appreciate your reply
@Yoav - Glad you like it
@Steven - I hope so, at the least it might help reduce the pressure to get the exact phrase in there all the time?
@Reese - No worries
Haha…I always love a good Red Dwarf reference. Thanks for making my day start with a smile.