In this case, however, it’s actually a pretty decent trade off.

The Authority Codes is a visually appealing, super-slick, 21-page PDF document that shows you how to use the SEO Quake FireFox plugin along with 12 customized search queries (these are the “authority codes” Ryan is talking about) that will help you find credible blogs where you can post a comment and obtain an in-pointing link.

What’s so “authoritative” about these potential links?

Well, in addition to searching opportunities within your typical “.com” extension, you’ll also be looking for “.gov”, “.edu”, and “.org” opportunities as well. The thinking goes like this…

A link from a “.gov”, “.edu”, and “.org” extension carries more weight from Google, as it is more likely to be credible. Ryan goes a little over the top (in my opinion anyway) on the whole “value” thing. He puts it this way…

“In fact, most experts agree that Google multiplies their value by as much as 5X over a regular page with the same PR.”

Unfortunately, this statement is completely unsupported or substantiated by anything remotely resembling evidence. I know of no expert who claims this – since Google and Google only knows the value of any in-pointing link, it would be foolish to do so – as there is simply no way to conclusively prove this assertion.

Not to diminish the value of any decent in-pointing link, but I recently argued that it makes absolutely ZERO sense for Google to arbitrarily assign a ton of value to a link just because it happens to sit on a certain extension (in the aforementioned article I provide an example of a post full of link spam residing on a .edu domain. Google has no doubt programmed its spider to search for spam flags, which I highly doubt are deactivated on these respected extensions).

I also take issue with Ryan’s Multiplier Chart, which is used to demonstrate the “fact” that a single link from a PR 5 web page is “worth” 555 links from PR 1 pages. Again I have to ask; where is this data coming from? Because once again, unless it comes from Google’s Webmaster Guidelines pages (and I assure you it does not),  it’s mere speculation.

There is nothing present in this document to substantiate any of the more “enthusiastic” assertions.

For the most part though, it’s a pretty solid document; common sense strategies on making value-added posts in addition to using the codes to unearth decent (and genuine) link-building opportunities.

Bottom line – download and use the Authority Codes.

It’s worthwhile.

One caveat…

Ryan is what I would call an “aggressive marketer.” Now, I realize he has GIVEN me something valuable with the Authority Codes and in return, I am willing to check out his marketing messages.

Occasionally.

Not every freakin’ day.

I unsubscribed from his list within a week. The good news is that he completely honors unsubscribe requests and I have never received another e-mail from him. My recommendation therefore is this – check out the Authority Codes and see what else Ryan has to offer. If you get tired of being marketed to, unsubscribe.

After all, that’s what I did.

Right now, I’m enjoying tinkering a bit.

Stay tuned!

The thinking goes like this…

… The “.edu” domains are usually maintained by academic institutions that have a lot of credibility, and therefore garner instant respect with Google. The “.org” domains, maintained by respected organizations and associations, receive the same.

Therefore, obtaining an in-pointing link from such a domain offers much more impact than from a simple “.com” or “.net” domain (”.gov” links, or links from government sites, are also seen as credible and highly valuable). That’s the argument being made by various marketers anyhow – certainly the ones trying to sell you the software that locates the “.gov”, “.edu”, or “.org” links.

But are these links really all they are cracked up to be?

I spent a morning doing some searches for “.edu” blogs targeted to my UltimateFatBurner.com site in an attempt to find some genuine link building opportunities. What I found wasn’t too confidence-inspiring. Here’s a perfect example of what I’m talking about, from the Stanford Graduate School of Business, no less (this is not an isolated example, by the way).

This page, which has a Google Page Rank of 2, contains a short post about Oprah Winfrey’s endorsement of Wasa crackers. Since it’s a blog, people are offered the ability to post their comments. And post their comments they did; I gave up counting after 50 – there’s at least 100 comments here. And almost NONE of them are relevant to the topic at hand - all blatant promotional material with links to various weight loss gadgets, diets and supplements.

Now believe it or not, this is a moderated blog. Yep, someone had to approve each one of these spammy posts (incidentally, the same moderator obviously didn’t see my on-topic comment as being particularly flattering towards Oprah, and rejected it).

Now frankly, I don’t care what the gurus say…

Google is not going to arbitrarily assign a lot of weight to a link from an “.edu.” page simply because it resides on an “.edu” page.

It simply doesn’t make any sense.

First…

I’m not a programmer or a techie, but I can think of a dozen ways to program a spider to flag link spam, regardless of the domain of origin. It would be programming child’s play to identify the responses to the above posts as self serving link spam, and down-grade their importance accordingly.

Do you really think Google has programmed its spider to ignore blatant spam “flags” as soon as it visits a “.edu”, “.gov”, or “.org” domain?

Regardless of whether or not domains hosted on these extensions tend to deliver greater value on a whole than their “.com” and “.net” counterparts,  it doesn’t make sense to believe so.

Secondly…

In the face of the example above (again, not an isolated example) you simply cannot argue that all domains with the .edu, .org, and .gov extension always post high quality material. Obviously, they do not (there’s nothing wrong with the post itself, of course, but 99% of the comments should not have seen the light of day). And if that’s the case, it’s tough to argue that Google arbitrarily assigns a ton of link credibility to any and all links from these domain extensions.

Bottom line?

You can bet your bottom dollar Google is well aware that marketers are trying to capitalize on the authority of these “respected domains” and has tweaked their algorithyms to adjust for it.

To argue this is both counter-intuitive, and reflective of an ulterior motive (i.e., the selling or promotion of a product that locates such links).

At the end of the day, I have a tough time seeing how a post on this particular blog would provide any link value to any web site.  And if it does, you can bet it won’t do so for long.

Of course, genuine, quality links will still count. As they always have. From any domain extension.

But as far as obtaining a handful of .edu, .gov. or .org links as the solution to your link-building woes, forget about it. Worthwhile ones are going to be really tough to get, since you will need to contribute something of exceptional quality for the moderator to approve your comment.

And the easy ones?

Google will effortlessly identify them as link spam, and penalize them accordingly.

In the end, I have this advice…

If a link is incredibly easy to obtain, it’s usually worth very little. Webmasters and moderators of quality resources (regardless of the domain extension) know what they have, and are not going to jeopardize their site’s integrity and credibility by posting off-topic comments with spammy links.

Link building is hard, tedious work. There’s no way around it. There’s just no easy way to obtain worthwhile, high-authority in-pointing links.

I rest my case.

Build hundreds, even thousands of targeted backlinks to your web site in minutes by using software that “searches out” blogs targeted to your niche, and automatically submits your comments (and your link). Some of these software services claim to be able to randomize your material, thus submitting numerous, but all entirely viable versions of your comments to the various resources.

Riiiiiiight.

If you think this is a viable way of building links, let me provide you with a real life example. As you know, I run a successful online business in the sports/weight loss supplement niche (with UltimateFatBurner.com & Real-Customer-Comments.com). Both of these sites make use of the WordPress platform to some extent – as a content management system, and to leverage the power of visitor comments to build fresh and relevant content. And yes, we have a honest-to-goodness blog which is updated daily.

So not only am I a passionate internet marketer, the fact that I manage several successful web sites allows me to comment on certain promotional strategies from a different perspective – from the other side of the coin, so to speak. In other words, not only do I get to investigate automated comment software, I see the end results directly.

And it ain’t pretty.

This morning, whilst perusing the previous evening’s comments, I came across a real gem. It was submitted by some genius named “Sam” in an obvious (but ridiculous) attempt to build links to the “Master Cleanse Diet” web site (the post in question thoroughly debunks the entire detox/cleanse fad that’s “in vogue” at the moment).

Of course, Sam himself (herself?) did not actually write this, but instead is using some automated software service which is scraping text from already approved and posted comments and serving them up in garbled mess. Here’s the comment…

“LOL – surface, flatbottom if it did “work” (at both aim) before, it sounds rattling much equal the lard crept stake on again. If that’s the containerful, such a programme is no fitter than your characteristic, “yo-yo” diet syndrome. What’s there to crow virtually?

I’ll response my own converse here: it has nada to do with the results. It has everything to do with making sure everyone knows how “disciplined” he is.”

Uh-huh. Can you tell me what that means exactly? Yeah, me neither.

If you check the post it “scraped”, you can see the resemblance, but you’ll notice the difference – Elissa’s comment makes sense in the context it is offered. This, on the other hand is garbled crap. The software has pulled some material from the post, and then apparently, inserted some randomized text to do what, exactly? Fool the moderator?

Which really makes me question why people invest in this stuff. Consider…

• How many really good, quality blogs do you know of that are not moderated? Uh-huh. And how many moderators are going to allow a post like the aforementioned to go live?
• If blog/comment posting software is only useful for posting links on “un-moderated” blogs, how much value are such links likely to deliver, anyway?

The reason why software like this sells is the same reason fat burners and weight loss supplements sell. They both offer a quick, easy, and appealing solution to a task people perceive to be tedious. In this case, the software automates the link building process. For the weight loss supplements, they promise to eliminate the hard work and smart decisions that lie at the foundation of any successful weight loss programs.

In either case, there is NO easy solution. Obtaining quality links that will actually help the link reputation of your web site is a “hands on” process. I’ve written about the value of posting quality material on theme-related web sites and blogs. It’s a worthwhile endeavor to be sure, it just ain’t a quick one.

And while there might exist “scraping” and “comment posting” software that actually compiles bits and pieces of approved posts into something that better resembles the King’s English, there’s one thing I can guarantee you…

Such a post will never, EVER see the light of day on any blog of value. The question then becomes…

What’s the point at all?

Naturally, the most obvious next element of this discussion is…

How do I find superior quality, theme-related blogs?

Actually, you really don’t need to find that many great blogs.

If you can find one or two, chances are the webmasters of those sites have done a lot of your legwork for you; just check their blogrolls to see who they link to. True quality sites will only link to other sites of equal quality. If you can find just one great blog and check out the sites it links to, and the sites those sites link to, chances are you’ll have found all the blogs you’ll ever need.

So let’s get to work unearthing that first blog “gem” shall we? Here’s some strategies you can implement…

1) Perform searches at popular directories: Perform keyword searches at blog directories like…

• Best of The Web Blogs
• BlogCatalog
• Blogarama
• Technorati
• Yahoo!’s Blog Directory (many have these have paid a $299 listing fee, which qualifies them as having met a certain standard of quality).
• Bloggapedia

2) Use software applications: Yep, there are software applications that will do the hard digging for you. I’ve used the full version of Paul Forcey’s Comment Hut (you can download a free trial version here!). It’s a pretty cool tool, but I can’t say I’d buy it again, especially since Neil Shearing’s Real Link Finder is very similar and is available for free.

3) Perform niche related keyword searches at Google: Try searching for your top niche related keywords and try adding “+ WordPress” or “+ type pad” or even “+ blog” to your search.

4) Use Google Blog Search: Who knew? Google has a blog search tool, too!

4) Check your log files: External linking to quality resources is an important part of the “blogosphere.” It may be that your site is being linked to by a prospective partner without your knowledge.

5) Check with your affiliate partners: Many successful marketers and retailers maintain a blog. It may be that there are several good ones published by marketers within your niche.

6) Check your competitors and well-known authorities within your niche: Do they have a blog? Who are they linking to?

7) Use Bloglines: Bloglines is an aggregator of syndicated feeds. Since most blogs publish an RSS feed automatically, it’s a good place to go searching for quality resources.

Once you’ve compiled a list of quality blogs, be sure to add each one’s feed to your RSS software so you can be updated of new posts (I recommend the free FeedReader). Next, follow the guidelines outlined in this article to make sure you craft great quality, related posts that are sure to be approved by each site’s moderators.

Take your time… depending on your niche, it may take a little digging to find an exceptional blog or two, but once you do, it’s clear sailing. Good luck!

Here I am, talking about link building again. It seems like every second article is about link building in one  form or another. Nevertheless, link building is a vital element of SEO, especially for relatively new sites. So it has to be talked about (if you’re familiar with my articles, perhaps you’ve already read my “linking fundamentals” article. If not, you’ll probably want to review it now).

To recap my “take” on link building; the most important element of any successful campaign is to begin with a web site of exceptional quality and sufficient depth of material. If you don’t have this, you need to take a link building chill pill.

If you’ve got this in place, you’re ready to investigate strategies to build up your in-pointing links.

One of the most common methods to do this is to submit your site to various well known directories. Some good examples include…

• The Yahoo Directory
• DMOZ
• Best Of The Web
• JoeAnt
• Gimpsy
• Business.com
• GoGuides
• WowDirectory
• Librarian’s Internet Index

… and many, many, MANY more. Of course, many of these services charge a fee to have your site listed in them (Yahoo!, of course, wants $299… per year – which puts it out of reach of most small business owners. And, other than the link it provides, I’m not sure it provides much “bang for the buck” in the means of referred traffic). Nevertheless, submitting to a handful of the better, smaller services will see you chewing through several hundred dollars very quickly. And, in many cases, you’ll need to resubmit your site in a year.

That’s why a listing service I stumbled upon whilst spending some time over at SearchEngineWatch.com looked so appealing. DirectoryMaximizer is a directory submission service that hand-submits your site to over 1200 “SEO friendly” directories (a complete list of directories is available on the DM web site) for an extremely reasonable price. Granted, many of these directories are new and don’t have much in the way of PageRank.

At the same time, your link is a permanent one, so it’s not a bid deal if your link sits for a while as the directory “matures.”

Initially, I thought it all looked a bit too good to be true, but I couldn’t find any real reason to believe the service wasn’t as credible as it claimed. So I figured… what the heck! My Real-Customer-Comments.com web site needs some in-pointing links, as does my girlfriend Marilyn’s SBI! site, Flowers-By-Marilyn.com.

So I signed up for Directory Maximizer’s service, and opted to have each site submitted to 100 directories per month for a year (you can have your site submitted to all the directories at once; not something I’d suggest, as it may raise a “red flag” with the SEs. You want your link building to appear natural).

Flowers-By-Marilyn.com was submitted at the end of February ‘09, and Real-Customer-Comments.com was submitted at the beginning of March ‘09.

Now, approaching the middle of July ‘09, how do I feel about the Directory Maximizer service? What sort of results have I seen?

That’s a difficult question, especially when it pertains to the Real-Customer-Comments.com domain. Since I’ve started using DM with this site, I’ve also sent out a press release and built numerous new pages (each one gets a link from the accompanying review on UltimateFatBurner.com, so there’s plenty of link value there, too). So it’s impossible to attribute any benefits directly to the links obtained by the Directory Maximizer service.

Nevertheless, traffic has increased (approx 20%), and using Google’s Webmaster’s tools, I can confirm that many of the DM-submitted directories are contributing to this site’s in-pointing links. So using Directory Maximizer’s service has certainly not been detrimental.

Assessing DM’s value on the Flowers-By-Marilyn web site is perhaps a little easier, since Marilyn’s been busy and has added very little content to her site in the last few months. While traffic has remained consistent, we’re finally seeing a little shade of green on Google’s PageRank (PR) tool (we’ve attained the coveted PR rank of “1″). While I’m not convinced PR is all its cracked up to be, an increasing PR score is certainly not a bad thing.

All in all, the Directory Maximizer experience has been a good one. The interface is simple yet intuitive, and it’s a breeze to use. I can’t comment on the quality of the support because I haven’t needed to use it. It’s affordable too, which makes it worth the experiment; I think I pay something like $16 per month per site for the next batch of 100 submissions.

For webmasters of new sites, especially those desperate for some in-pointing links and mindful of a small budget, the Directory Maximizer service may be just the thing for you.

There is no simpler way to syndicate your content, keep your visitors instantly informed of your site’s updates and obtain some in-pointing links in the process. (If you’re not using RSS yet yourself, download FeedReader for free, and then visit this URL. Open FeedReader, and click…

File > New > Feed

… to add the No-BS-Marketing feed to your reader. Now you’ll be updated instantly every time there’s a new post on this site. Cool, huh? And that’s really all there is to it!).

Depending on what platform you’re using you may already be publishing a RSS feed. Wordpress, for instance, publishes one automatically.  Just make sure you educate your visitors on what the feed can do for them, and make sure your “RSS” icon is displayed prominently, so interested people can subscribe to your updates.

To get the most “syndication” value from your blog, however, WordPress users may need to modify the “Update Services” settings – these are the services WordPress “pings” each time you create a new post. Here’s how to do it…

In the WordPress dashboard, look for the “Writing” heading under “Settings” tab. Click on it. Scroll to the bottom of the page and look for the textfield labeled “Update Services.” You can enter your favorite update services there, or use my list…

http://rpc.pingomatic.com/
http://api.feedster.com/ping
http://api.moreover.com/ping
http://api.my.yahoo.com/rss/ping
http://blogsearch.google.com/ping/RPC2
http://ping.amagle.com/
http://ping.bitacoras.com
http://ping.blo.gs/
http://ping.feedburner.com
http://ping.rootblog.com/rpc.php
http://ping.syndic8.com/xmlrpc.php
http://ping.weblogalot.com/rpc.php
http://pingoat.com/goat/RPC2/
http://pingqueue.com/rpc/
http://rcs.datashed.net/RPC2/
http://rpc.blogbuzzmachine.com/RPC2
http://rpc.blogrolling.com/pinger/
http://rpc.icerocket.com:10080/
http://rpc.newsgator.com/
http://rpc.technorati.com/rpc/ping
http://rpc.weblogs.com/RPC2
http://topicexchange.com/RPC2
http://www.blogdigger.com/RPC2
http://www.blogoole.com/ping/
http://www.blogoon.net/ping/
http://www.blogsnow.com/ping
http://www.blogstreet.com/xrbin/xmlrpc.cgi
http://www.lasermemory.com/lsrpc/
http://www.newsisfree.com/RPCCloud
http://www.popdex.com/addsite.php
http://www.snipsnap.org/RPC2
http://www.wasalive.com/ping/
http://www.weblogues.com/RPC/
http://www.bloglines.com/ping

If you’re not using a blog platform or any service that publishes feeds automatically, you’ll need to create and publish the feed manually. This is what you’ll do if you’re publishing in plain HTML, for instance. It’s what I do on the two HTML-based subdomains of UltimateFatBurner.com (i.e., fat burners and body building). Although XML is fairly simple to program, I use the FeedForAll software to update and maintain both of my manual feeds. Once I’ve updated my feed (which I do when new content is published) I then submit the feed URL to Ping-O-Matic. This ensures all the major services are informed of the new content.

Although on its own your RSS feed is unlikely to deliver immediate and dramatic results, it is a “no to low cost” online business-building strategy that both works, and leverages your time immensely.

Use it.

I received an e-mail (regarding UltimateFatBurner.com) from an individual at a recognizable Search Engine Optimization firm that went like this…

“I cam across your article on a websites and we would post an article of yours on one of our weight loss related websites if you would post our article on your website.”

Now I don’t want to sound like a prude here, but if you are going to send me an e-mail soliciting some sort of venture, the first thing you want to do is to make sure you spell check your message, and (gasp!) use proper grammar.

Next, don’t make the assumption the webmaster on the receiving end of your e-mail is a complete moron. Show him or her some respect. Seriously.

Because my first question is…

Oh yeah? What article? Where?

Because I don’t do article exchanges. Sure, I’ve had my articles re-printed on other web sites. These are articles obtained from an article directory, or a webmaster has approached me directly about re-printing them on his or her own site.

If you want your invitation to have some credibility, the first thing you need to do is put your money where your mouth is. In this case, that means saying…

“I came across your article at ‘www.somedomain.com.’”

Next, don’t make the assumption I am interested in article exchanges. Follow that up with…

“Are you using article exchanges as a means to build up your in-pointing links? If so, I was wondering if you would be interested in exchanging articles with one of our clients?”

Those are two good first steps.

But here’s the big one.

This individual has asked me about article exchanging without telling me what site I’d be linking to, or showing me which article I’d be posting on my site.

Accordingly, this is just about the stupidest question I could be asked. Because any webmaster who has a Net-leading resource in any niche is not going to link to any site that damages the credibility of his/her site. And she is certainly not going to post any articles that promote products or theories that are not in accordance with those published on her site.

So the answer, obviously, is “that depends.”

But, since this e-mail is coming from an “SEO expert” who darn well ought to know better, there is no “that depends.”

Instead, it’s a quick shift to the right, and a quick stab at the DELETE button.

You want a link? Make the effort.

Sheesh.

Find high quality blogs and hub pages that are related to your niche and/or theme, and make relevant posts that provide real value to the readers of these resources. If applicable, provide a link back to a related, quality article on your site – but only if it genuinely supplements the article.

(Regardless of whether or not a “no follow” protocol is followed on the resource in question, obtaining in-pointing links on credible sites is a worthwhile venture, not only for the referred visitors, but the credibility they impart on your own site).

Notice how I said “it would seem like a no-brainer” link building strategy?”

If what I see on my sites is any indication, it seems the majority of webmasters can’t seem to grasp this concept. Or, they can’t be bothered to make the effort required to put together a decent post. And by decent post, I don’t mean…

“Great site! I have a site too – click here to read about my weight loss journey!”

With that said, let me talk a little bit about utilizing this link building strategy properly. Done right, it’s worthwhile. Done poorly, it’s a waste of time…

First and foremost, no quality blog is going to allow you to muddle up an intelligent discussion by posting tripe, material that provides no benefit to the site’s visitors, or material that has no obvious purpose other than to obtain an in-pointing link.

As a webmaster, I see this as an attempt to piggyback on the success and the traffic of my sites, but without the willingness to provide anything of value in return. Frankly, I find it insulting.

Bzzzzzzzt. DELETE.

If you can’t provide anything of value to a discussion, don’t post for the sake of posting. You’re wasting both your time, and the site’s moderator.

Second, just because you can’t add something of value to a quality resource right now, doesn’t mean you’ll never be able to. I recommend using a RSS reader (I recommend the free FeedReader) to stay on top of new posts on quality blogs, so you can jump in and make a relevant post when and if you can. Just find the “RSS” button and sign up to the site’s feed, and you’ll automatically be informed of any new content.

Third, in some cases, it may be worthwhile to create a brand new article that supplements a discussion, just so you can legitimately obtain an in-pointing link from that resource.

Fourth, take some time and put a little effort into your post. Remember, you’re essentially asking the webmaster of the resource for the right to piggyback on his/her traffic and credibility. S/he does not know you, and does not owe you any favors. If you want a link, earn it.

Here’s an example of a post that I made recently. Notice how it adds some additional, relevant material and is a valid attempt to add real value to the discussion? How could a moderator refuse this?

For great resources, don’t hesitate to offer a link from your own site, or some kudos to the webmaster… this does not go amiss either.

Take a look at this example, for instance. I was thrilled to find this great quality resource, and had no reservations about telling the webmasters that. In this instance, I also added a link to a relevant, high quality article on UltimateFatBurner.com, and as a service to my visitors, added their site to my Blog roll.

Bottom line?

If done properly, you can use this strategy to obtain quality in-pointing links from similarly themed blogs or hub pages. But it’s not a quick fix solution. You need to have something worthwhile to link back to, and you won’t always have that. In both examples outlined above, I knew I had an article that would be a perfect match for the topic in question. Had I not, I wouldn’t have made these posts.

In that case, I would have simply added both sites to my RSS reader, and waited until they covered a topic for which I could provide a link of value.

Badda-bing, badda-boom.

Easy as pie. If you do it right.

Do it right.

Someone sent me a reciprocal link exchange request for a site in an obvious “under construction” state. It was a web site definitely NOT ready for links.

I’m at a bit of a loss as to why this happens so much.

Are those who are new to building an online business so bombarded by the “it’s critical to build links” message that they are losing sight of valuable perspective? I’m not being facetious here. It’s an honest question.

I’m not arguing that link building is not important, far from it (I wrote a fairly lengthy post on that topic just recently). But link building is a useless, time wasting venture if you undertake it before you are ready to do so. You simply won’t get the quality links you need to make an impact with the Search Engines. Quality, authoritative sites are not going to link to an unfinished resource. Quality directories won’t list you in their databases. Yes, I’m sure you can some links – from mediocre blogs, directories, web sites and what not. But here’s the thing…

The ROI (Return On Investment) for the amount of time it takes you to acquire these links is minuscule. Until you build your site into the sort of resource it needs to be in order to be considered an authority in your niche or subject, your time is better served accomplishing this task. And really, what good is it to drive visitor traffic to an incomplete web site? If nothing else, it damages your credibility when visitors can’t find what they need.

So create the complete resource first. Look for links only when you’re ready.

And when is that?

The answer to that question is completely dependent on your business, theme, or niche. To use the same example from my Link Building Fundamentals post, I’ve only recently started to build links to Real-Customer-Comments.com, a site I started back in 2007.

Since this site is basically a Web 2.0 visitor feedback site, it made sense to wait until there were enough visitor comments to make it worthwhile to promote as a destination. What kind of value does a visitor get by visiting a feedback site that doesn’t have any feedback? Now, with almost 200 featured products and 2,000 visitor comments, it makes sense to build links.

What about this web site, No-BS-Marketing?

Well, it will probably be a year or so before this site contains enough material to be considered an authoritative resource. Of course, this site is an indulgence of my Internet Marketing passion, and not a full time job. If I devoted more time to it, I could probably cut that time in half. In the meantime, I’ve made sure to have the basics covered.

For example, since this site is based on the WordPress platform, I’ve had my developers install a couple of crucial plugins….

1) The Google Analytics plugin: This tool allows me to use the amazing  Google Analytics software (if you’re using regular HTML, you can simply cut and paste a chunk of code into your pages). Incidentally, this also ensures Google knows all about No-BS-Marketing.com.

2) The Google XML Sitemaps plugin: I can submit the xml-formatted sitemap generated by this software directly to Google by making use of some of the options they offer in their Webmaster Tools. This plugin also submits updates to MSN, ASK, and Yahoo!, which pretty much covers all the bases.

Now, all I plan to do is sit back and work on the content until here’s enough meat here to make it worthwhile to actively work on building some in-pointing links. Remember too, the more your site becomes a credible, authoritative resource, the more likely you are to have webmasters link to it unbidden, simply to enhance the experience of their own visitors.

So please… take a link building chill pill. If your site is “under construction,” you should not be wasting time looking for links. You should be focused on building content. Period.