What are the best tactics for SEO on a brand new site?
-
What is on everyones to do list when starting SEO work on a brand new site that has had no SEO work done in the past?
-
This sounds wonderful! Can you give an example?
-
I start with keyword research then on site optimization - Title tags content etc then i do a press release with anchor text links with pr web and then move on to top level directories. Then Find sites to introduce you to the world (depends on what type of site you are) Look at competitor back links for ideas - I hope this helps with a starting point .
-
Depends A LOT on the subject matter and intended audience of your content. Whenever possible allow for user generated content as well, similar to the Q & A section. If your users can get involved they will help you build links naturally.
Otherwise I am very similar to EGOL in my methods. Great content = Links.
-
Make sure you have the space and ability to publish great content - many sites don't offer the possibility to publish exceptional pieces of content (no blog, no flexible section, etc.) and therefore won't be able to take use of this way of attracting links. There are tons of sites out there which don't even have a news page ...
Once that's checked, be creative at the time of creating content and focus on promoting it appropriately in order to attract natural linkbuilding.
-
I know where my links might come from before I build content.
In the past when I did traditional linkbuilding I would find sites that ALREADY link out to content on other domains. I would study what they link to and then build either superior or complimentary content and then let them know what I have, hoping that I would get the link.
Today I do passive linkbuilding. I decide what might succeed on sites like stumbleupon, reddit and slashdot.... or on the blogs and news sites that cover my niche. Then just post the content on my site and visitors submit for me.
-
Love the answers!
Once all that is done, What about link building? What is the first few things everyone does?
-
I like that.... "Decide what success looks like." Nice.
Thumbs up!
-
Read the SEOmoz beginners guide. It's a great resource that can serve as a sort of how to/check list of activities to develop a good SEO foundation.
-
Other than have a great product? Decide what success looks like
You haven't given enough information really, but I start with Research, Information Architecture, Paper Dolls, UX, UI, goals and analytics.
Then SEO becomes easy
-
On a brand new site? Kickass content is needed before you can optimize or do effective linkbuilding.
But... before you create kickass content it is best to do some keyword research.
But... even before that it is important to determine if you have the resources needed to compete in that niche and a method of monetization.
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
-
Am I better off with ten links from one site or one link from ten sites?
I am writing a series of linked-back articles for a highly-ranked web publisher, but wonder if I'd be better off sharing the articles across different sites. My goal is to grow our domain authority and SEO rankings.
Link Building | | Lysarden0 -
Website structure for SEO
Hi,Im working on Food Recipes website, i"m targeting "step by step recipes" how should i structure this website and what pages should i build my links to? If the whole website is about "step by step recipes" When you search for "step by step recipes" on Google, you'll see most of them are separate pages Should i create its own category call it "step by step recipes" and list all of my posts? but isn't it duplicated content ? ill be really appreciated with your help ! Thank you
Link Building | | KentR0 -
Are sites that "smell of SEO" being demoted?
I'm working with a site owner who recently hired an SEO to work on just one particular type of keyword. It seems like the more work the SEO did, the lower the keyword gradually dropped. Granted, the "work" is pretty low quality - anchor texted bookmarks, comments and low quality articles. We're doing an experiment where we are going to disavow those links and see if the previous rankings return. Another site that I am consulting with has a lot of good natural links and then some anchor texted links, but from decent sources - some guest posts (on good sites - not a spammy site that exists only for guest posts) and some places where decent websites have agreed to link to the site. The anchor texted links do not make up very much of the overall anchor text. There is good diversity and lots of brand and url anchored links. It seems like the more the SEO does for this site, the more the rankings drop. And it's not all about anchor text. The SEO placed a link in a relevant directory, using the url as anchor...rankings dropped a little. They obtained an expired domain with relevant and very natural links and 301'd it to the new domain...rankings dropped several places. And so on. Occasionally the rankings will pop up a little, but overall it's a downward spiral. Check out this post by Gary Taylor. He did an experiment where he took an established site that was ranking well and threw some spammy links at it. To quote the article, 'every day goes by my ranking for the term “domains” is getting harder to maintain.' He recently tweeted that he has been removing and disavowing links and the rankings are returning. I was looking at searches for real estate related terms in different cities. In some cities, the top sites are ones that have ZERO obvious SEO done to them. There are sites ranking on page 3 that have been SEO'd, and not all of them have poor SEO. Many are what I would consider really well done. Some of the sites ranking on page 1 have under 10 links. There was one with 2 followed links and they were not from super authoritative sites! To complicate matters though, if you look at searches like "Toronto Real Estate Agents" some of the top sites have lots of keyword anchor texted links. Perhaps this should be a blog post rather than a Q&A, but I would love to hear some of your thoughts. My personal thought is that Google's main goal with Penguin and the unnatural links warnings is to make it so that not only is it not profitable to try to manipulate the SERPS, but that every time you try to do so, you potentially do your rankings harm. I used to say that Penguin could only affect a site on the date of a Penguin refresh, but I am thinking now that Google has managed to roll Penguin into the algorithm to some extent so that it can demote the majority of any work that smells of SEO. Thoughts?
Link Building | | MarieHaynes0 -
Ebay listing SEO
Hi, I am wondering if there is any point building backlinks etc.. to ebay listings? How do I improve them in terms of SEO apart from the listing titles?
Link Building | | Mediaowl0 -
Following Penguin, what is the best practice for a web design agency placing a footer link in client sites?
For years we have included a 'Web Design by ...' link in the footer of all client websites designed by us. However, following the Penguin update, it seems that this legitimate practice could now be penalised. Should we be removing those links from our client's sites? There are tens of thousands, all with similar or identical text! For future client sites, should we avoid these footer links altogether? Or maybe limit the link to a single page on each site?
Link Building | | LewisJenkins691 -
Promoting a Technical Site
I have to promote a manufacturer's rep site. They deal in process control instruments,and they don't have much original content. Creating it is hard for me due to the technical nature of the business. If any Mozzers have an idea I'd love to hear it.
Link Building | | waynekolenchuk0 -
New PDF Guide. On My site or linked by blogs?
Hi experts, I created a new worth guide about food. Its purpose it to improve backlink by adding website's URL on PDF's footer (spider crawls that one, is it true?). I want send my guide to trusted blogs so users can download new pdf guide on the web. Is it the best way to gain popularity and let my backlinks grow? I've seen that seomoz published is guide such as html pages.
Link Building | | Greenman
Could it be the worth way for me? Thanks a bunch in advance! G.0 -
First 100 links for every new site?
Is there a rule of thumb I am unaware of or a place that others start to get links for every new site they create, something like the "first 100 links for every new site" regardless of content? I know you always start building links around what the content of your site is about, but does anyone have a rule of thumb that you always start with links from certain sites regardless of the site content. For example for a local company: Google Places, Bing Local, Linkedin, Facebook, Localeze etc. etc. I just want to make sure I am taking quality first steps for every site I start and was wondering if anyone could give me some good rules of thumb or resources.
Link Building | | photoseo10