8 replies to this topic

[code101]

Hello everyone,

I work for a marketing company whose main product is an online directory of businesses that belong to countless industries and the segments within those industries. My assignment has been to learn about link building and find strategies to mark our website's presence within a very specific industry segment through link building and then, after establishing a relationship with companies in that segment, get them to promote (i.e. place links for) a new online store that one of our clients recently launched that caters to those companies.

So after going through an hour-long crash course video on link building that the boss signed me up for, one thing that became very clear to me is that quality content is the backbone of the entire operation. Developing quality content is rather hard. I can do basic research on brands and products in the given industry, but the nature of all that is too complex and technical for me to produce content that the actual users of those products, who know 20 times more than anyone in our company, will find useful.

One of the ways that I tried getting around that problem is by making free listings for target companies in our directory (the biggest strength of which is a page ranking above 5 and fairly active presence on our facebook and twitter pages). I did that, then emailed each company, simply letting them know about the new listing and asking for their feedback on accuracy of the information. This has yielded a handful of responses, but no real feedback or dialogue of any sort.

Now running out of target companies to do the same thing for and seeing no substantial results, I'm trying to find other ways to make us useful to the target companies. All I can really think of is starting some sort of a portal that would relate to this segment. So, instead of producing quality content of our own, providing space for other people to do so. I don't know how realistic any of this is, but perhaps finding the few bloggers that are out there to contribute, starting a message board, or a section where people can review the relevant products. There isn't too much stuff like that out on the web at the moment.

I'm looking for some thoughts and ideas on all of this. I'm more than open to criticism of the approach, notes of pitfalls in logic, etc. I'm just currently stumped, there is an overwhelming amount of information out there and would like to be pointed in the right direction.

Thank you!

[chrishirst]

So after going through an hour-long crash course video on link building that the boss signed me up for,

Well there's an hour of your life you won't get back

Link building is really quite simple, you find other URLs where the visitors there could be interested in what your URLs offer.

page ranking above 5

Assuming you are talking about the SGB; deciding that you like the background colour of the document would be intinitely more useful.

[code101]

Assuming you are talking about the SGB; deciding that you like the background colour of the document would be intinitely more useful.

Color of the document? Do you mean when people check out a website, they pay much more attention to its design/appearance than the PageRank? I'm not sure what SGB is, so this whole part may have gone over my head.

[chrishirst]

SGB = Silly Green Bar

I was implying that the background is FAR more use as a measure of "quality" than whatever useless "value" the SGB shows.

[chrishirst]

No, no, sorry, I wasn't implying it at all, it IS more usefull!

[code101]

Yes and understand that and agree. The thing is that the site is not pretty to look at, it's not in my power to change it and I'm running out of ideas on how to tiptoe my way around it.

[Jill]

I think if you do some research in how to market B2B websites you may find some good ideas. You may want to even hire someone who specializes in it.

[chrishirst]

You are taking my "background colour" comment too literally, it is meant in an allegorical sense.

Wikipedia isn't particularly "pretty to look at" neither is Google not to mention "Craig's List". They are 'popular' for what they do, not their appearance.

As it is with Human beings it is with websites! "Looks are not everything"

[writerlilly]

Sounds like you're an in-house SEO or you work for an SEO agency. What we did was eventually outsource our content, Our one little writer quickly got overhwhelmed.

 

You can look to content broker sites like [REMOVED]. Our content manager takes care of all that. You could be spending a good $30 to $60 on high quality content, but it's totally worth while when they publish.

 

But you also have to keep in mind that blogmasters and website owners don't have to accept your content. So factor that into your budget. We're finding that higher quality content increases the chance of being published.

 

The key is to ensure you're linking to high quality sites. Defintiely study your client's business model. What kind of customers are they aiming to target. Understand the customer mindset.

 

For example, if your client is a distributor selling industrial parts, then it does not good for you to outsource an article that says "How this industrial part helps your business." The customer would already know how. They use it on a day to day basis.

 

But you might want to have an article written discussing "Indutrial Part A repeatedly fails OSHA safety checks despite popularity and cheaper cost". That would definitely raise eyebrows. Place that article on a high ranking industry site that the target audience would see.

 

The key to getting good content is to study the site you plan to publish your link on and having the customer in mind.

Edited by Jill, 02 January 2013 - 10:45 AM.
Removed name of content brokers as per forum rules.