The web today is comprised of trillions of links between websites, links within social media venues like Facebook and Twitter, and even links in email inboxes. Who links to a site and how they link to it is one of the most important factors that search engines rely on when ranking results. But how do marketers control this? Link building expert Eric Ward provides the answers. Sharing little-known techniques for link building via social media platforms, blogs, partnerships, public relations, articles, and more, Ward teaches marketers which link-building techniques will maximize the quality links that point to their site, allowing them to charm both search engines and customers and which methods to avoid. This one-of-a-kind guide details a variety of link building tools, tactics, and techniques illustrated by case studies, expert interviews, and resources. Ward leaves no opportunity unexplored, and no link-building questions unanswered.
One of the best things about this book is that it's suitable for SEO's at all levels of understanding. It provides enough detail about the context of modern link building and shows you a process of link building that some tools can't give you. I recommend this book not only because it's a great read but also because it provides actionable insights which in the long-term will save you time and money. My full review can be here
Excellent, near exhaustive, reference guide for link marketing. It should be considered the link builder's bible. The content all still holds up, though it could due with including some new, modern strategies (thus the 4 stars). Unfortunately, with the passing of Eric Ward, that's not possible.
Still, the book is incredibly helpful. As an SEO Specialist it now lives over my desk, right beside my copy of AP.
Link Building & SEO Bible: In-depth How-tos & Templates This is a great 'Bible' to link building and SEO. It is very in-depth. It shows you how to find links for your field by sharing examples of search queries. There is a lot on how to search Google, and I think that is very helpful. However, sometimes the tactics and examples were not consistent when to use "" , [ ] , : , in search queries, and I had trouble replicating the results from the book.
The book shares examples of reaching out to key people in your industry to link share, build relationships, etc. It gives you example emails that you can send out. Starting with a blank email is hard so templates are always super useful.
Some intros and stories to link building sections are too long. There is a lot of in-depth information covered, and you can skip and skim as the book is well organized and indexed. However, I wish there was a quick summary of what is most important in each chapter because I didn't feel like reading entire sections to find the main point.
Interesting: First website: http://info.cern.ch/ Look into the book on Google Books - about 50pgs Search Google: [keyword] blogs or [keyword] websites or "useful keyword links" library
Total 4.1/5 Readability - 3.5 Scope - 5 Depth - 5 Format - 3.5 Clarity -3.5
Read this book if: You want to know exactly how to create links that will work for years. You want to learn tactics for building relationships and creating long-term strategies. You want to learn white-hat strategies. You want in-depth how-tos, exactly showing you how to search for what you need, how to contact who you need to and how to implement it. You are brand new or intermediate to the SEO field. You are in the business and are interested to read link-building success stories and failures from the experts.
Lots of solid material in here. Upped my link building knowledge and gave me some good ideas for outreach, blog content and the various search operators pointed out should definitely be useful.
Book definitely has to lose a star for referencing old tools that are no longer available online, even though this was published this year in 2020 (2nd edition). The "URL reviewer tool", supposedly free and mentioned on page 84, is nowhere to be found online. Also... a few too many sales pitches for the authors' products throughout the book. And a strange editorial choice to keep the epilogue recommending "LinkMoses Private", a resource that has been defunct since 2017.
Could have done without chapter 20 "bulk outreach"... doesn't add much value. Chapter 21 on building sponsorships is definitely a bit bloated and doesn't offer much non-obvious advice.
The comparison of buying links to giving out clean needles was definitely a memorable one!
Just finished this book after years of having it. I had the Kindle version but the graphics made it difficult to read on my device. As such I never finished it until a friend sent me an actual physical version of the second edition.
The book is fine, but as a long term SEO there was nothing new for me but for those new to the game it would be very interesting.
I do worry that there are aspects of this book that would get a naive website owner in difficulties with Google, but if you're reading this all the way through I would expect the reader to have understanding of the guidelines and look to multiple sources.
The book is phenominal and gives a good insight about linkbuilding based on common sense, search intentions and relationsbuilding.
For advanced SEO people and experienced marketeers the book doesn't offer any new info. The book is quite old, but the premise of SEO hasn't changed.
Don't be a d*ck (i.e. buying links), and don't do linkbuilding where you can't explain the relevance or not want to be praised for. Two strategies that applies in many situations in life.
Interesting read, author and friends coined some of the terms and techniques we now use frequently in SEO and have an experienced in-depth understanding of the subject. You can't really say it makes link building easy, but it does offer a great overview of many methods to be tried out.
The “sustainable link building” mindset in here inspired our entire green outreach strategy at enviroseo.com – only partnering with eco-sites and NGOs. 18 months later we have 300+ high-authority green links and zero penalties. Timeless. https://enviroseo.com/