To date the BigWing Interactive team has billed clients for more than 10,000 hours of content marketing, much of it executed with a focus on link building. This slideshow covers some of the lessons learned by the content marketing manager on how to transition a team from link building to content marketing and goal-orientated tactics from the team on content marketing activities likely to result in quality links. 'Link Building Tactics from 10000 Hours of Content Marketing' was originally delivered at SMX West 2015.

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@DavidMChris
#SMX #23A
Flickr: Wtodi Flickr: flattop431
Link
Building
Tactics
From
10,000 HOURS
of Content Marketing

2. March, 2015
LINK BUILDING TACTICS
FROM 10,000 HOURS of
Content Marketing
David
Christopher
Senior Inbound Mktg. Mngr.
@davidmchris

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@DavidMChris
#SMX #23A
Journalism
Audience Development
SEO
Content Marketing

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#SMX #23A
Flickr: Wtodi Flickr: flattop431
“I've simply lost
the ‘why’.”
Employee Survey – April 2014

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@DavidMChris
#SMX #23A
Report Like a Big City Agency
Activity Link Notes Hours
Blog http://www.sunsetvetclini
Wrote, edited and posted "Dog Parks of OKC with
Charlie the Corgi" to the blog.
1.5
Social
Media
Shared dog park blog post through Facebook,
Twitter and relevant Google+ communities, the
OKC Reddit, and answered a Quora question.
1.25
Link http://parkgrades.com/p
Ben Hazelwood, owner of ParkGrades.com, gave
+1 to previous Quora answer. I reached out and
asked if he’d feature our reviews. He obliged.
0.75
Flickr: Hakan Dahlstrom

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#SMX #23A
Question 1:
What is the goal
of this content?

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@DavidMChris
#SMX #23A
Content Social
OutreachSearch
Blog
Website
Email
Photos
Video
Events
Graphics
Podcasts
Research
Webinars
Usability
CRO
Post
Grow Audience
Reputation Mngt.
Paid
Engage
Curate
Kw. Research
On-Page SEO
Link Building
Technical SEO
SERP Messaging
Engagement
Retargeting PPC
Influencers
Webmasters
Media/PR
Collaborators
Beneficiaries
Friends
Question 2:
What is the
promotion plan?
Inbound Marketing

8. searchmarketingexpo.com
@DavidMChris
#SMX #23A
Social
OutreachSearch
Content
Traditional
Journalist

9. searchmarketingexpo.com
@DavidMChris
#SMX #23A
OutreachSearch
SocialContent
Blogger

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@DavidMChris
#SMX #23A
Content
Search
Social
Social Media
Marketer
Outreach

11. searchmarketingexpo.com
@DavidMChris
#SMX #23A
Content Social
LinkBuilder
OutreachSearch

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@DavidMChris
#SMX #23A
Social
OutreachSearch
Content
SEO

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@DavidMChris
#SMX #23A
Social
Search Outreach
Content

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@DavidMChris
#SMX #23A
Search
Social
Outreach
Content

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@DavidMChris
#SMX #23A
Transitioning
Link Builders to
Content Marketers
Fired
Quit
Moved
to SEO
Successfully
Transitioned

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@DavidMChris
#SMX #23A
Flickr: Wesley Eller

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@DavidMChris
#SMX #23A
Your Audience
Potential Customers
Desirable
Audience
Irrelevant
Audience
Hack into These

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@DavidMChris
#SMX #23A
Outreach
Social
Goals
Promotion
Search
Content
Website
Events
Link Building
Tactic: Events Link Building

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@DavidMChris
#SMX #23A

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@DavidMChris
#SMX #23A
Avg. Dom.
Authority
Problem
National Event Dir. 83 Nofollow
Local Media Event Dir. 62 Listings Disappear
Local Event Dir. 31 Some Listings Disappear
17 Links Built
18 Minutes per Link

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bit.ly/1F3nDh9
“There wasn’t one test where when we removed the links the
rankings fell back to their original position” – Rank Fishkin

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Timeframe: 2 Months
Client: Local Charity
Time: 5 Hours
Events Link Building Pageviews
14
T on P
00:15
Fol.
Link Dom
11
Nofol.
Link Dom
6
Results
James Young

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#SMX #23A
Title: Confluence conference
Client: BigWing Interactive
Timeframe: 2 years
Time: 320 Hours
Hosting a Conference Pageviews
21,815
T on P
02:21
Shares
3,865
Fol.
Link Dom
87
Nofol.
Link Dom
26
Reach
1m+
Social
756
Results
Clients: 3
Tickets: 300
Hires: 2
@DavidMChris
Email
240
Pubcon Talk:
bit.ly/1vQgwjX

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@DavidMChris
#SMX #23A
Social
Search
Goals
Content
Website
Promotion
Outreach
Media/PR
Tactic: Reporter Outreach

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@DavidMChris
#SMX #23A

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@DavidMChris
#SMX #23A
Create a profile page for
your ‘authority’ source
• Photo
• Experience
• Expertise
• Publications

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@DavidMChris
#SMX #23A
Pre-empt HARO requests
with quotable blogs

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@DavidMChris
#SMX #23A
Ideal Outreach Email

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@DavidMChris
#SMX #23A
Requests Answered: 41
Avg. Domain Authority: 49
Unsuccessful
51%Featured
32%
Linked
17%

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@DavidMChris
#SMX #23A

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@DavidMChris
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Timeframe: 1 Year
Client: Vet
Time: 21 Hours
@alex_broseph
Reporter Outreach Pageviews
20
T on P
00:09
Fol.
Link Dom
7
Results

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@DavidMChris
#SMX #23A
Content Social
Search
Goals
Tactic: Monitoring Mentions Promotion
Outreach
Media/PR
Webmasters

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@DavidMChris
#SMX #23A

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Naming Rights
So we built
landing pages

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@DavidMChris
#SMX #23A
Social
Search
Goals
Promotion
Outreach
Media/PR
Webmasters
Content
Website
Tactic: Link Bait

36. searchmarketingexpo.com
@DavidMChris
#SMX #23A
Links Requested: 22
Avg. Domain Authority: 50
Link Refused
55%
Link Granted
45%

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@DavidMChris
#SMX #23A

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Title: Wayman Tisdale &
Thunder Practice Facility
Client: Hospital
Time: 41 Hours
@alex_broseph
Link Bait Pageviews
446
T on P
01:25
Fol.
Link Dom
10
Results

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@DavidMChris
#SMX #23A
Search
Social
Goals
Promotion
Outreach
Content
Blog
Graphics
Post
Grow Audience
Engage
Paid ($40)
Influencers
Beneficiaries
Tactic: Ego Bait

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@DavidMChris
#SMX #23A

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10/25 Influencers
shared URL
1 Linked

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@DavidMChris
#SMX #23A

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@DavidMChris
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Title: 25 Men Every Man of
Style Should Follow
Client: Tailor
Time: 7.25 Hours
@thedanholmes
Ego Bait
Results
Pageviews
375
T on P
03:28
Shares
94
Reach
12,390
Fol.
Link Dom
1
Social
81

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@DavidMChris
#SMX #23A
Search
Goals
Content
Blog
Video
Promotion
Outreach
Media/PR
Influencers
Post
Engage
Social
Tactic: News Jacking

45. searchmarketingexpo.com
@DavidMChris
#SMX #23A

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@DavidMChris
#SMX #23A
Avg. Domain Authority = 73

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@DavidMChris
#SMX #23A
Title: Ozcar
Client: University
Time: 80 Hours
@The_Atom_Ray
News Jacking
Social
2
Pageviews
540
T on P
02:07
Shares
414
Fol.
Link Dom
6
Nofol.
Link Dom
4
Reach
50,824
Results
Social
2

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@DavidMChris
#SMX #23A
Social
Goals
Search
Promotion
Outreach
Content
Blog
Graphics
Research
Post
Grow Audience
Paid ($50)
Engage
Kw. Research
On-Page SEO
Link Building
Engagement
Influencers
Webmasters
Media/PR
Collaborators
Tactic: Definitive Content

49. searchmarketingexpo.com
@DavidMChris
#SMX #23A

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Question 1:
Has it been done
already?
Question 2:
Can we do it
better?

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#SMX #23A

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#SMX #23A
Involve others in
content generation
Reddit Referrals: 218

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Outreached to 30 Home Owner Associations
20 contributed or shared the guide

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Took 1.5 Hours with Mail Merge
Direct Traffic: 1,167

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#SMX #23A

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Lights Installation Page:
+242% YoY pageviews

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Competing
content
linked to us!

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Next we pursue competing contents’ backlinks
Tool: Majestic SEO

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Title: Colorado Springs
Christmas Lights Guide 2014
Client: Landscaper
Time: 14 Hours
@RachelisCunning
Definitive Content Pageviews
8,037
T on P
03:13
Shares
1,545
Fol.
Link Dom
3
Nofol.
Link Dom
4
Reach
63,099
Social
25
Results
Conversions
5

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@DavidMChris
#SMX #23A
Website
“Nobody wants to
link to my website.”

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@DavidMChris
#SMX #23A
Website
Event
Blog
Post
Post
Post
Definitive
Content
Website
Referring
Converting
Traffic
Link
Bait
Ego
Bait
Build
Linkable
Assets

62. searchmarketingexpo.com
@DavidMChris
#SMX #23A
Avg.
Conversion
Source
39%
31%
23%
6%1%
Organic Search
Direct
Paid Search
Referral
Social Network
* Sample: 25 BigWing Clients with SEO, Content Marketing & PPC

63. searchmarketingexpo.com
@DavidMChris
#SMX #23A
“Have I mentioned recently how much I love my job?”
Content Marketer Tweet
Oct 2014

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@DavidMChris
#SMX #23A