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How To Use Follow-Up Content in Link Building

December 28, 2016 //  by Debra Mastaler

Who out there needs to build links to their website but is tired of dreaming up original ideas and spending money to create buzz worthy content?

Yeah, me too.  🙂

While no one will do your work for you, there are ways to use other people’s content to drive links to your site.  Here’s a look at using follow-up content and how it can lighten your development load while increasing your link counts.

Using Follow-Up Content In Link Building

Have you ever watched a press briefing where the reporter asks a question and immediately asks a second “follow-up” question? Something in the initial answer sparked the reporters interest so she asks a “follow-up” question to clarify.  Good reporters know the value of a follow-up and push them since they generally lead to something “more”.

In SEO, we use the concept of the follow-up a little differently but for the same reason, we’re looking to take advantage of something already said/published for the purpose of getting more traffic and links to our sites.  There are several types of follow-up content we can use:

  • Scientific rebuttal
  • Personal opinion rebuttal
  • Add-on information
  • Comment Jacking

They’re all different but share a common denominator – the need for speed.  Launch your campaign as fast as you can or lose the momentum and interest in the subject.

Let’s take a look at how the four types of follow-up content can be used in traffic and link building.

Scientific Rebuttal

If you know a fact is incorrect in an article and you have access to sources to prove your point, create a rebuttal piece and publish on your site or on a news site.  Link to the original source and implement a strong social media campaign to get the word out.

Find out who is linking to the original article and send a nicely worded email offering your content and point-of-view as an additional source.  I don’t think it’s a good idea to knock the original article, just point out you have a different viewpoint supported by research.  People will get what you’re saying.

I am not a fan of sending content away from a site but if I did not have a large social network, email list or name in my community I might opt to publish my rebuttal on a news site simply for the exposure. You get the benefit of their marketing efforts and there’s a high likelihood you will be picked up by other news sites, especially if the piece gets any traction.

Just be sure you have the sources to back your claims or you’ll be the one in the hot seat.  I don’t believe in “any publicity is good publicity”, be wrong more than once and no one will pick you up again.

Personal Opinion Rebuttal

Yes, I know what people say about opinions but thing is, having an opinion is healthy and part of life.  I especially like chatty, opinionated people because they provide key elements I can use to create rebuttal linkbait.

Look around for a hot topic or breaking piece of news, write a rebuttal post that compares your position to the other guy’s.  Include the original article and link, be kind but firm in your responses and include links to previous content you’ve written that supports your opinions.

Backlink the original article for sources, contact the source owners and offer to guest blog your opinion rebuttal.  Or ask if they’ll include a link to your rebuttal piece in the original article.

Search through blog/forum comments for the topic you’re rebutting, reach out to people sharing similar opinions and ask for their support, include them in your opinion rebuttals. People tend to link and socialize content where they’re mentioned.

Keep an eye on who shares your rebuttal on social networks, contact those with multiple shares and look for link opportunities.  Alert tools like Talkwalker and Social Mention can help with this.

Add-on Information 

Think of this one as  writing a follow-up article that “adds on” to what someone else already published.   This is less about agreeing (or not) with the original author and more about how to milk a topic that netted a lot of links and traffic when first run. Here’s an example:

This tactic typically nets links and traffic since people like being agreed with and will readily link to and socialize positive reviews of their work.   Looking for a way to tap an influencer for help?  This is a great way to do that.

Comment Jacking

If you have a blog, go through your comments and look for hot topics and negative Nelly’s disagreeing with something you wrote.   Update your post with feedback and relaunch; contact the people who inspired the post and let them know it’s been published.  Hopefully it will prompt the negative Nelly to blog about your content or comment again which should draw more attention and traffic back to your blog.

I also troll comments on popular blogs and use this tactic, it is surprisingly effective at getting short bursts of traffic and links to a new blog post.

A Final Follow-Up Content Tip

Offering a different point of view or adding on to a hot topic is the kind of researched content journalists/pro-bloggers like.  Send your follow-up content to them later in the week, it stands a good chance of being run on the weekend when the stock markets are closed and the news cycle slows down.

A good follow-up or come-back can generate publicity, traffic and links making you the ultimate winner!

Category: Content Promotion, Link Building, Small Business MarketingTag: content marketing, link building

Are Millennials A Chip Off The Baby Boomer Marketing Block?

January 21, 2015 //  by Debra Mastaler

Recently on Medium, a 19-year-old college student from the University of Texas at Austin shared how he and his Millennial friends used and viewed social media networks.  From the article:

I read technology articles … and see plenty of authors describe the teenage audience, especially in regards to social media. However, I have yet to see a teenager contribute their voice to this discussion. This is where I would like to provide my own humble opinion. For transparency, I am a 19-year-old male attending The University of Texas at Austin… I’m here to provide a different view based on my life in this ‘highly coveted’ age bracket…this is just what I’ve noticed.

Since I am a Baby Boomer and use social networks personally and professionally, I thought it might be interesting to compare my views against the Millennial and also look for marketing opportunities anyone could use along the way. Let’s start with Twitter.

On Twitter:

Millennial:    “There are then three main groups of Twitter users: the ones who use it to complain/express themselves, the ones who tweet with the assumption that their prospective employer will eventually see whatever they are saying, and the ones who simply look at other Tweets and do the occasional RT.”

Baby Boomer:  Work wise, Twitter has become an automated broadcast medium for me, I use tools to pull relevant articles and tweet several times a day.  I also use it for link research and to check for trending terms but personally, I find it too big, too fast and too public to carry on meaningful conversations.  Most of the people I interact with personally are on Facebook.

Where we Dis/Agree:  Sounds like we feel pretty much the same way about Twitter except we Boomers tend to be the employer’s Millennials are tweeting about!  😉


On Facebook:

Millennial: “Facebook is something we all got in middle school because it was cool but now is seen as an awkward family dinner party we can’t really leave….Facebook is often used by us mainly for its group functionality. …groups do not have the same complicated algorithms behind them that the Newsfeed does. It is very easy to just see the new information posted on the group without having to sift through tons of posts and advertising you don’t really care about.”

Baby Boomers: I belong to a number of Facebook groups on a wide variety of topics and love the information and comradery they provide.  I also maintain a personal and business page which means I’m keeping up multiple accounts whereas Millennial Man maintains one.  I post on my business page daily, my personal page twice a week and spend at least an hour a day keeping up with family and friends.

Where we Dis/Agree: We both like and use groups and feel the news feed is annoying, but this Boomer also sees the Newsfeed as a research and marketing tool.  Ads are a pain but professionally, Facebook’s Ad Program can be a real boon in promoting your business.   I have no issues or embarrassments with maintaining a Facebook page for personal reasons, I like keeping up with people I know and view it as an easy way to stay connected.

On Instagram:

Millennial:  “Facebook gets all of the photos we took — the good, the bad, etc—while Instagram just gets the one that really summed up the event we went to. It is much more selective, and honestly, people spend more time on the captions to make them relevant/funny.”

Baby Boomers:  One of my resolutions for the new year was to get more involved on Pinterest and Instagram especially after reading several reports on the growth of both.

My use of Pinterest and Instagram puts me in the minority when it comes to most Boomers I know outside of search marketing.  My offline friends tend to use Flickr and Shutterfly to store photos and while a number of girlfriends love Pinterest for finding recipes, they don’t build boards or share photos there.

From a professional standpoint, I like the idea you can connect your Instagram page to your Facebook business page, gives you another way to drive traffic and build a brand.  And I like putting effort between both Instagram and Pinterest given they share similar demographics, cuts down on marketing research and resources.

Pinterest recently purchased a recommendation startup called Kosei, their technology will help make “highly personalized and powerful product recommendations”.  Gold for anyone already established on Pinterest.

Where We Dis/Agree:  We both like captions under our photos although for different reasons, Millennials want funny, this Boomer wants marketing descriptive.

[Tip]  Iconosquare, an analytics program for Instagram tells you which photo is driving the most engagement, tracks shares and likes.  No charge.

[Shameless plug] For more tools visit my Tool Directory!]

[Tip] Did you happen to catch this article showing how Ikea developed a website inside of Instagram?  That is pretty amazing and could be the start of a new marketing trend.

On Tumblr:

Millennial:  “I wouldn’t say a lot of “socializing” — at least in the way we’ve defined it in our social media society—occurs on the site, but people can really easily meet others worldwide who hold similar interests.”

Baby Boomer:  I have worked with a lot of companies who have Tumblrs in addition to blogs, Facebook Business Pages, and a Google+ presence, they are in art, food, retail, motion picture and photography niches.  If you have a lot of visual content and make it easy to share, Tumblr might be an option for you.  Take a look how Coke, LLBean and  Disney use Tumblr, very creative with little promotion.

Where we Dis/Agree:   I know several people who maintain a Tumblr for professional reasons but don’t know anyone online or off that keeps one for personal reasons. Brands and large companies flourish on Tumblr for good reason, they have the staff to maintain another presence.  Small business?  Not so much.  If you have a visual product and want to interact with a younger crowd, Tumblr might be an option but be prepared to spend time maintaining another site.

On Medium:

Millennial: “What Medium does right is the “recommend” function. This is unseen on WordPress (besides the typical website sharing buttons) and is really what makes Medium a community, not just a bunch of individual sites.”

Baby Boomer:  I can safely say none of my offline friends know about Medium.  I became aware of it last year, it strikes me as a thought provoking Blogger with an artsy-fartsy air. Lots of great photos and stories by some very talented people can be found on Medium, I love it (and Vox.com) for distraction reading.

Where We Dis/Agree:  I agree with Millennial Man, one of the best things about this site is the recommend feature and the exposure a post gets from being a staff pick.  But I have to wonder if this site will take off and go mainstream with boomers, millennials or anyone since the level of awesome seems pretty high.  The demand for quality plus a bias for posts published frequently means anyone trying to be recommended and picked by staff will have to work. hard.  for.  it.  Really hard. Can either group really afford the time to work on another site?   I’m not so sure.

On YouTube:

Millennial:  “For an avid internet user it’s almost impossible to ignore YouTube. The content is not only entertaining but also extremely helpful; there have been many classes where I have needed supplementary help on YouTube to understand the material.”

Baby Boomer:  Ditto for me, YouTube is a terrific teacher.  I also use it to catch up on TV shows and as a research tool professionally.  I think this is a content frontier many businesses need to explore.

Where We Dis/Agree:   No disagreements here!

On Vine:

Millennial:  “Vine is an application where I feel a lot of people in my group consume content but do not necessarily make content.”

Baby Boomers:  I mostly see Vine’s embedded in sales emails, they were prevalent around the holidays.  Other than that?  Don’t really notice them.

Where We Dis/Agree:  No disagreements here!

On Reddit:

Millennial:  “I know a ton of people who visit Reddit on a daily basis (an hourly basis for some) to find all of the hottest news on the web”

Baby Boomer:  Like Medium, most of my offline friends don’t know about or use Reddit.  Online friends and business associates know about it but very few are heavy or even moderate users.  Reddit is a great place to mine for content topics and trending ideas but other than that, not a site I frequent mostly because I see way too many articles like this one.

Where We Dis/Agree:   I don’t know anyone who uses Reddit as a news outlet, even the “power users” I know use Reddit mainly as a promotional tool.

On Google +

Millennial: “I personally do not know anyone who actively uses Google+. I’ve heard from some friends that Google+ is really awesome for photos and Hangouts, but that’s about it. My only friends on Google+ are those who are more interested in technology.”

Baby Boomer:  Everyone in my on and the offline world knows about Google Plus,  I use it mainly to participate in Communities and search for leads.

Where We Dis/Agree:  Agree that Hangouts are a great tool but technology isn’t the only niche hanging on Google Plus.  Surprisingly, Facebook has the biggest community followed by Instagram and YouTube.  Photography and travel rank in the top ten so if you have a site in any of those areas, Google Plus might be a good place for you to mine for marketing opportunities.

[Tip]  Circle Count is an analytic tool that pulls the number of people in a Google Plus circle by topic, shows +1’s and comment counts.  An easy way to see who is a power user, no charge.

On Quora:

Millennial: “What drives a lot of my usage of the site are the semi-weekly email reminders. This gives me not only an overview of popular questions within my specific topic interests but also tells me about popular questions throughout the network in general.”

Baby Boomer: Hello, are you really only 19 years old?  Who thinks about email reminders at your age?  🙂

Where We Dis/Agree:   All kidding aside, his point is a good one and I completely agree; Quora is a solid site to pull information from.  People seem genuinely interested in providing good answers and citing sources, you can get feedback on almost any topic under the sun.  Great place to mine for content ideas.

Conclusion:

There might be 37 years of age difference between us but surprisingly we seem to exploit social networks for the same two reasons:  information and promotion. Doesn’t matter if you’re promoting an emotion, a piece of content, or directions to the next kegger, social networks are a primary source of getting what you want.

————————————————–
Added:  The good folks over on Raven Blog posted an article on Millennials the day after I did mine, great blogging minds think alike 😉  It’s a good read, enjoy!  How Millennials Can Prove Their Social Media Skills

Category: Content Promotion, Social Media Networks

Use RSS To Create Provocative Content

September 24, 2014 //  by Debra Mastaler

RSS and Provocative CotentAre you constantly on the prowl for new content ideas?  I am and I’ve set up a system using my RSS feeds to help me pinpoint possible trends and new topics to write about.  Here are a couple of ways I use my RSS feeds to come up with new content and promotion ideas.

Finding Good Content Sources for Inspiration

I don’t believe in recreating the wheel, I like to draw my content inspiration from current news and trending advice. To find what’s hot and on the move I set up RSS feeds from:

  • At least three general news sites and
  • One entertainment/gossip site.

Our goal is to create provocative content using the articles we find as inspiration and reference material.   That means looking at what is being written in basic and topical news outlets as well as social and entertainment.  Look for articles you think are a little edgy, controversial or geographically specific, you want to take advantage of the mood and trend around these issues.

For news sites I look for two types of publications:

  • Geo news sites or those focused on a geographic  region  (Washington Post, NY Times, etc)
  • Industry specific news sites (Eater.com, Stars and Stripes, Financial Times, etc.)

Entertainment sites vary depending on the industry but most of the time I can use sources like People, TMZ and Variety to for trendspotting.

Set your feeds to capture keywords, names and brands so stories using your target list are returned to your reader from each site.

Tip:  If you need help finding industry specific news sites, take a look at this site.  It lists keyword phrases you can use to find a newspaper on almost any topic.

As you begin to accumulate articles in your RSS reader, separate them into two types:

  • Stories using your keywords (they sit on sites known to post content on your topic, contact for outsourcing
  • Articles you can tie your keywords to  (use as future topics or rebuttal content)

Using the term “kitchen cabinets”, let’s look at a couple examples of each type of content and what you can create from them.

Stories using your keyword

If this story had been added to my RSS reader, it would be something I could use.  It is from the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) and talks about the problems homes with open floor plans have with noise and acoustics.  Using the WSJ article as a reference and for inspiration I could create:

Article one:  a list of problem solving solutions such as quiet closing kitchen cabinets. My article would include testimonials from homeowners using quiet closing cabinets.

Article two:  A white paper on the technology behind quiet cabinets.

Both articles I’ve listed will be at least 2000 words long and include images.  They can be turned into podcasts, video tutorials and slide show presentations as well as chopped into smaller, more topically focused articles.  All in all you should be able to pull at least 12 pieces of content from the two main articles you’ve written, just take care to rework your content so it can stand alone.

Articles you can tie your keywords to

The WSJ article uses the terms “kitchen cabinets” in the body of the content which is why it came back in my RSS reader but what if it didn’t?   Maybe the writer grew up calling them “kitchen cupboards” instead of “cabinets”, I would be out of luck if I didn’t have “kitchen cupboards” included as a keyword phrase.

Almost every term you have in your keyword arsenal has a synonym.  Include them all in your RSS filters, and not just the primary or long-tail terms you’ve optimized for.  Using my “kitchen cabinet” example, I could also add “canteen”, “galley”, “mess hall” and “scullery”.

Here’s a synonym in action:  I set my RSS to pull published articles from the website Eater.com using the term “canteen” in the body copy.  What came back was this article which is all about food trucks.  I’ve heard of food trucks but never equated them to kitchen cabinets so this came as a little surprise.  Silly me, food trucks, also known as canteens and kitchens on wheels, are ALL the rage right now and all of them have… cabinets in them.  Not only do I have two new terms to follow closely (food trucks, canteens) I also have a new keyword niche of blogs, sites, forums, and people to tap into for content, traffic, social media mentions and most importantly, links!  Huge win here all for using a synonym.

Smut Sells

The idea here is generally the same but instead of looking for current topics in general news sites, you are looking for trends and gossip to exploit. My favorite sites for this are TMZ and The Daily Mail, between the two you will find the most unusual and trendy information on just about anything.

For example if I came across this article  using the term “kitchen cabinets” in my RSS, I’d be all over it.  It is a story about a celebrity putting an ATM machine in his kitchen.  I don’t care about the celebrity but an ATM machine in the kitchen?  Ding ding! If installing home ATM machines is a possible trend then I want to capitalize on the concept and write about it.

I can do a lot with the phrase “ATM in the kitchen“, in addition to numerous articles I can use the concept and images associated with it to make:

  • Infographics
  • Content visualizations
  • A Flickr stream
  • Pinterest board
  • Guest blog posts
  • Media bait

If I really wanted to cash out I could pursue sponsorship and endorsements opportunities with an ATM manufacturer and work my link building from the corporate side as well.  Thank you TMZ.  🙂

I’m a big believer in using what’s out there and not recreating the wheel.  Developing content from researched and published stories fits this bill, helps you find bright new ideas and saves time finding credible resources.

But best of all it keeps you current with what’s going on so you can be an early adopter and provider of new and interesting industry content.  People only share, Like, tweet,  G+, pin and most importantly, link to content they like so get creative and find the trends.

Category: Content Promotion, Link Building, RSS

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