The Maine SEO Blog

Webmasters and bloggers are more likely to link to business blogs than business websites. You might’ve heard Rich say this.

The reality is: it’s true! That’s why you need to really work on leveraging that blog. Hopefully your blog and website link back and forth, so while a link to the blog isn’t as good for the website as a link directly to the website, it’s pretty close!

How do you leverage the blog? Create captivating posts: not only what’s going on with your business, but also what’s going on around town (bringing in the local bloggers), what’s going on in your industry (bringing in industry bloggers), etc.

Then, go looking for blogs/websites that talk about the same subject(s). Google’s blog search is my favorite resource. The best way to start is by commenting on blogs you find – not just the generic “Great blog, keep it up!” but something insightful, a question, or best of all: that starts a conversation. Then, start the process of asking for a link.

The next time you write, ask yourself: what would be of interest to a blogger enough so that he/she would want to link to my blog? At the same time, these posts shouldn’t overwhelm your blog; first and foremost you write for your readers. So what’s the balance? Writing interesting posts that will entice both links and potential customers.

Nicki Hicks
Link Building for Blogs

Dear Nicki,

Are there any advantages to purchasing a domain with strong keywords and redirecting it to my website?

–Wondering in Wisconsin

Dear Wondering,

No, there are seemingly no SEO advantages. But let me take a step back. I would argue that if this was a new website, then you might as well go with a keyword rich domain. There are still discrepancies as to whether or not search engines actually pay attention to keyword rich domains. Humans, however, might click on a keyword rich URL before what I would call a spammy-looking domain.

The only way this strategy might possibly work is if a) you promote those other sites for tracking purposes or b) other websites link to your other domains (assuming they use keyword rich anchor text) and the link juice would thereby be passed to your current website. But, why waste the in-between domain and simply worry about promoting your current domain and getting keyword rich backlinks to your actual site?

The thing is, if you’re doing all the right things at your existing site, there’s no need to start building a network of keyword rich redirects.

Nicki Hicks
No Need to Red Flag Google