It's actually impossible for me to say, "here's exactly what I do" because it depends a lot on the piece of content that I'm promoting.
For example, I promote an infographic completely different than a blog post. And even between blog posts my promo will depend on the topic, the type of post, the audience etc.
But here's the outline that I follow for most posts:
1. I email at least 100 people before the post comes out. This is the grunt work that VERY few people are willing to do. But it makes a big dent (especially if you don't already have a huge audience). The key to this step is finding people that WANT to read your content.
2. Next, I email the post to my email list. This is probably the #1 thing that I do. If you know of a way to get your new content in front of 80k people, let me know :-)
3. Then I do all the social stuff you all know about, tweeting etc. I find this makes very little difference vs. email outreach or email newsletter promotion.
4. Finally, I promote using email outreach...with a focus on link building.
For example, for a guide like this one, I'll find pages that already link to CRO-related resources. (Even better if there's a broken link).
Like I said, the specifics will depend on the content. But that's the action plan :)
@torok_tomi Interesting. Brian is doing with email what we do with social media. We have collaborators who are influential on various social platforms. When we really want to promote a piece of content, we show it to these influencers first and they help raise awareness over social media.
We also use Viral Content Buzz, JustRetweet (VCB and JR get others including many influencers to share your content, Tweet Jukebox (to indefinitely promote evergreen content to Twitter), Babbly (new, similar to VCB & JR but not as powerful yet) , and when they apply, GuestCrew Social Promotions and Thunderclap (to get people to agree to promote your project in advance of a specific date and time; these platforms then send all the shares at once).
For major projects, we also publish about them on LinkedIn, Tumblr, Medium, bookmark them, etc. It is common for us to have accounts and use 40 different platforms. If you get enough influencers interested in commenting on your content on a major site you can send it to their Most Popular page / make it trend.
@slavarybalka Thanks, Slava. Sorry about that. I edited the link I shared above to a post that explains what Viral Content Buzz is and has a video about how to use it.
We at Arkenea have been doing a lot of content promotion once the blog post or #bitesize video goes live on our blog, but I think this pre-promotion strategy is what will move the needle. Thanks a lot Brian, this was really helpful. :)
Ad.1. How do you find these people? I'm willing to do the same if it works :-)
Ad.2. This point seems to be quite clear to me. And how do you think, what email type usually converts better? The plain email or HTML newsletter that combines a new blog post along with other marketing news from the brand + other sources?
Ad.3. Under social stuff, I personally understand: Facebook, Twitter, G+, LinkedIn, LinkedIn Groups, Medium, Reddit, Quora, Inbound.org, GrowthHacking.com, maybe HacekrNews.com, some dedicated Forums hmm what else.. do I miss something?
Ad.4. Email Outreach - is it about finding accurate bloggers within your niche and trying to get them interested with your stuff, so they ultimately promote it too, isn't it?
Not sure if Brian was able to get to this question, but finding the people is not too hard for step 1. Honestly you can just do a Google search.
However if you are interested in software solutions two tools worth mentioning are NinjaOutreach (disclosure this is my blogger outreach software) and BuzzSumo. Both can take a keyword like CRO and return results of influencers, authors, etc, who you can reach out to before and after the post. I am not saying that Brian specifically uses either of these tools for his process but I know he has endorsed us in the past.
So, when I come across people who write effective emails, I create a Gmail filter for that person so that I can study/reference their emails whenever I need to.
You guessed it, I have a Backlinko file. :)
I've taken a close look at your emails to pull out some patterns:
Email length - They tend to be quite long.
Email beginning - Often start with an "I'm PUMPED!" or "I'm excited!" or something to show you're jazzed about whatever you're going to tell me.
Paragraph length - Most are one or two lines long.
Repetition - Whatever it is you are selling/promoting, you repeat it often. E.g. Your "SEO that works" email from Nov. 6 has that exact phrase written 16 times in that email.
Email frequency - Tends to be in bursts. Things will get quiet, then I get like 6 emails in 2 weeks.
etc...
Is there anything else that you try to do in most of your emails because you've found it to be effective?
Those are pretty much the rules that I follow. But I do make a ton of exceptions. Otherwise, starting every email with "I'm PUMPED" would get old really fast :-)
The only other rule I follow is that every email follows the old AIDA formula from sales letters.
Attention Interest Desire Action
Here's how I applied that to a recent email that I sent out:
@swaycopy glad to know I am not the only nerd that does that haha. I have a specific email address that I use and have opted into over 2,000 eCommerce campaigns. :P
Consistent emails make them expendable. If I don't open your email this Tuesday... I'll just get it next week.
Email in bursts, especially when the contents are time sensitive (a lot of his emails are), encourages me to engage when I have the chance.
Plus, what are the chances you have something important to tell me on a 100% predictable schedule? The bursts help me believe that you're reaching out this week and not the previous two because something interesting is going on right now.
I love the caveat, "other can capturing email addresses". You know me too well :)
Other than building an email list, here's what I'd focus on if I was building an audience from scratch today:
1. Make your blog a personal brand (even if it's a company blog).
I was having dinner the other night with a friend and he told me he yells at his 5-person marketing team every week. He points to me and Bryan Harris and says, "How are these guys getting more traction than us?! They're two guys in their home offices. We're 5 people!".
And I told him: "Yes, Bryan and I work hard. But we have a HUGE advantage over you: we're people. You're a company blog with 5 authors that no one knows or cares about."
So no matter what, put the people that write for you front and center. Even the biggest company in the world (Apple) has a personal brand element with Steve Jobs. Some examples of company blogs doing a good job at this include Moz (esp. WBF), Buffer (with Kevan being the mainstay for years), and HelpScout (Greg Ciotti is the face of the blog).
2. I'd only publish kick-butt, "wow this is freakin' amazing" content.
You can't build an audience in 2015 with 400 word posts. You just can't.
That used to work, but with almost 2 million posts coming out everyday on Wordpress alone, you need to do some crazy stuff to stand out. So I'd set up your blog so that only epic stuff comes out.
3. I'd make the rounds on podcasts, communities, guest posts, text interviews etc.
When I first started Backlinko I spent 20% of my time writing and 80% of my time promoting my content and my site (I learned this ratio from Derek Halpern).
I emailed hundreds of people asking to guest post or hop on for an interview. In fact, at one point I set up an "interview me" page on Backlinko:
That's how crazy I was about getting my name out there.
All in all I estimate that I did 150+ guest posts and interviews in a 2-year span. That way, no one who followed SEO could miss me.
@backlinko Love the focus on TRULY epic, human content.
"You can't build an audience in 2015 with 400 word posts. You just can't." -- this quote should be framed in every office.
A lot of companies know that content is important, but they make the mistake of thinking their job is done after writing 400 words and hitting publish.
Hey Brian, thanks for taking the time to do this AMA, big fan of your content!
Practical question. You have a 10,000 words amazing eBook on "topic X", how would you balance SEO/Lead Generation?
1) Publish the whole eBook in one, huge blog post targeting "topic X" keyword and providing the pdf version as an addon
2) Publish the ebook and extract 4 blog posts out of it to promote the lead magnet with a post every week but likely targeting more long tail keywords ?
I guess you'd go for N.1 as it's very similar to the skyscraper strategy you mastered, while n.2 is more the "Hubspot" way. But I'd love to hear your thoughts on both strategies!
Both approaches can work, but I'd personally go with #1.
Unless you already have a huge audience, it's really hard to promote an ebook. And if that ebook requires an email? It's 100x harder.
That's because most influencers won't share something that's behind a wall.
But they'll happily share something that's amazing and freely available. And if you get links to that page, it will rank for your target keyword. Offer a PDF version and you'll get A LOT more emails than you would if you published it as an ebook.
@backlinko Great insights. I wish there were a "save" button here. You're right - we typically don't promote things that are for sale and when we're writing for major sites we can't link to sales pages, but we can link to free ebooks.
Do you still send out messages yourself? How much do you automate (if at all)? Do you rather send a few highly targeted messages or rather dozens or even hundreds of them...
Why do I ask? I remember your articles where you explained how half of your work is actually about outreach but now that you are so successful with your training program etc. I guess you will have to cut down on that or free content creation...
I'd also love to know how much time you spend on updating/improving existing content vs creating new one (50/50 or more like 1/99 like most bloggers)?
@onreact_com Hey Tad. Glad to see your question come through (as expected, it's a good one).
Do you still send out messages yourself?
Yes. I have a policy where I hit "send" on any message with my name on it. Otherwise, it's dishonest. But I have my team set up everything else (finding the email address, drafting the email etc.)
How much do you automate (if at all)?
In my experience anyway, email outreach can't be automated without turning into a spamfest. The only automation I do is using tools to find people's email addresses. Otherwise it's all manual.
Do you rather send a few highly targeted messages or rather dozens or even hundreds of them...
I do both. If my team sees an opportunity to mention something really specific, they do that. Otherwise, we use a script. In both cases, however, we reach out to hyper-targeted people. So even if the message isn't targeted, the person receiving it was hand-picked because we feel that they'd like the content we're promoting.
I'd also love to know how much time you spend on updating/improving existing content vs creating new one (50/50 or more like 1/99 like most bloggers)?
Yup, it's about 50/50. Once Backlinko started to get some authority I found that updating and improving existing content was a better use of my time...especially for SEO. When I publish a brand new post I'll rank #8-20 before promotion. And it's an uphill battle against Forbes, Moz etc. from there.
But when I have a post that's already #8, it makes more sense to push that to the top 3.
First: Thank you for being the pioneer of "10x content" - ever since backlinko started showing results websites realized that quality is more important than quantity, "experts" like me are gladly hired to write valuable content.
Second: How would you react if someone pulled a Skyscraper over your content? It is hard I admit, but not impossible ;)
Third: How do you keep your motivation levels up when working on big projects?
First: Epic Skyscraper content has worked well for me and it raises the bar for content online. So it's a win-win. Glad to hear that it's helping your business as well.
Second: I'd tip my cap to them (and it has happened before). All's fair in love and SEO :-)
Third: I'm insanely competitive. And I'm competing against some HUGE mega authority sites. So I know I need to work harder than they do beat them. So that passion to beat the crap out of big brands drives me. Not very zen, but there you go.
Hi Brian, thanks for doing this with us. A couple of questions for you:
1- What is one thing that you would change about Inbound.org's SEO and why?
2- I'm interested in how you felt starting your company. There were clearly others out there that were already experts doing something similar, what made you feel like there was enough space to support you running this business as well?
3- We would consider you an expert, I'm sure many would. At what point do you start considering yourself an expert within your skill? When is it finally OK to say: Yes, I kick ass at this, I'm an expert.
@marygreenim Hey Mary. My pleasure. Thanks for the invite :)
1. What is one thing that you would change about Inbound.org's SEO and why?
I'd find ways to encourage more unique content. The nature of "hacker news"-style sites is that there's a lot of thin and duplicate content. Nothing wrong with that (as it makes the community tick). But those pages are tough to rank. So I'd set up more AMAs and original discussions.
I'd also use the domain authority Inbound has to create and rank landing pages like this amazing one that came out a while back: http://inbound.org/top/blogs
That page ranks #1 for "top marketing blogs", #6 for "marketing blog" and several others...which I imagine are great keywords to attract new Inbounders.
2- I'm interested in how you felt starting your company. There were clearly others out there that were already experts doing something similar, what made you feel like there was enough space to support you running this business as well?
Totally. I had imposter syndrome coming out my ears.
I had a feeling Backlinko would do well because it scratched my own itch.
In 2012, after Penguin came out, most of the SEO advice out there was obsolete. And most of the new stuff I read was basically "publish great content and you'll rank". Which I knew from my own experience wasn't true.
I was so frustrated. There were literally a handful of blogs putting out actionable SEO advice (Moz, Hubspot, Point Blank SEO, Kaiser The Sage and a few others). But it wasn't enough.
So I figured that even though the space was competitive, there were other people like me out there looking to actionable white hat SEO content. Luckily, I was right :-)
3- We would consider you an expert, I'm sure many would. At what point do you start considering yourself an expert within your skill? When is it finally OK to say: Yes, I kick ass at this, I'm an expert.
Like I said, even when I started Backlinko I still didn't feel like a real expert.
But I had a few experiences that boosted my confidence:
I took a site (post-penguin) from a blank Wordpress installation to $10k/month in revenue in 120 days using white hat SEO.
I also had a few client successes that showed me I knew more about SEO than at least my clients did :-)
So yeah, once I built Backlinko and started developing + testing more strategies that actually worked, I felt pretty confident considering myself an "expert". But I started doing SEO in 2008. So it took me 4 years to feel like an expert!
Thanks for doing this AMA! We are all huge fans of your blogs and I think everyone has tried to replicate the Sky Scraper Technique and most have had great success.
Two Questions:
1. Do you still do client work? If not when did that stop and if so how do you track your profit margins? 2. Where was your favorite place to work remote from?
@luizcent Hey Luiz. No problem. I'm happy to be here.
1. Do you still do client work? If not when did that stop and if so how do you track your profit margins?
I stopped doing client work about 2 years ago. I make exceptions when I get a call from a big brand that I like and respect. But it's literally 2-5 hours per month. The rest is Backlinko.
Hey Brian! Good to see you here and sounds like things are going great for you!
What new challenges are you facing now that you've gotten to this stage in your business and where are you planning on taking your business in the future?
That's something I've been thinking more and more about.
In many ways I'm doing the same things I did to build Backlinko from day 1.
For example, I sent 200 outreach emails to promote my last post. And I'm thinking to myself, "Do I really need to do that now that I have 80k email subscribers?". I honestly don't know the right answer.
So I'm torn between two schools of thought:
Noah Kagan's "double down on what works" approach vs. "what got you here won't get you there".
But I do know that to take Backlinko from one of the top SEO blogs to THE #1 SEO blog, I'll need to shift my approach.
Second -- We're ( @RonSela and myself) huge Brian Dean brand advocates. Following your advice has contributed a lot to growing our blog's conversion by 750% in 3 months! So thank you again!
Third -- QUESTION: We currently have about about 20K visitors a month, who generate an average of 300 signups a month to dapulse.com (our goal is signups to the tool, not to a mailing list) -- so a conversion rate of 1.5%. We don't do any paid to the blog and don't intend to, and we're just two people on the content-marketing team. So we have limited resources.
Should we: Focus on the top of the funnel -- i.e. bringing more traffic, or on improving conversion on the blog itself?
And if it's the latter -- should gated content be on the top of our list, or something else?
@darshu No problem, Daria. And congrats on your success!
That's a tough one to answer without knowing how many subscribers you already have.
If you have a few hundred subscribers, you're probably better off getting more traffic, leads, trial signups etc.
But if you have 5k people on free trials, then you definitely want to focus on closing them. A lot of companies are sitting on gold mines and don't even realize it.
But if your goal is to get more leads, I'd go with The Content Upgrade. I know you want to get people directly on the tool, but I'd see if The Content Upgrade-->email nurture-->tool signups formula works better for you.
Wow, so many of the topics you suggested I want to ask you about now!!
First off, big fan; I've been following you and Backlinko for a few years now :)
As a writer and content marketer, I'm curious as to how you schedule out promotion for your content. I've read on your blog before that you don't publish very frequently, and therefore try to get as much mileage possible out of every post.
As a content marketer for a company that believes we need to publish 5 days a week, I'd like a little insight into how you promote your posts over months at a time (on what channels, using what tools, etc.) and the results you've seen from that method versus publishing frequently.
That's true. I don't publish on the blog very often. In fact, Backlinko generates over 100K uniques a month from 32 total published posts.
Here's how I squeeze so much out of so few posts:
First, I put an insane amount of effort behind each and every post. Funny enough, this doesn't require any extra work compared to how most people blog. And it's definitely the same amount of work as the 5 posts/week publishing schedule you're using right now.
For example, the post I put out earlier this week took around 20 hours to write. And that's my only post for the month.
If I did 5 posts/week * 4 weeks, that's 20 hours right there.
The exact same amount of time invested. The only difference is that the 20 hours is laser focused on one post.
And in my experience, putting 20 hours behind one mega post CRUSHES 20 400-word "meh" posts. Trust me, I've tried both approaches :-)
Second (and to get to the meat of your question), here's the promotion piece:
-I make sure to email my list about every single post. Because I only publish monthly, it's not overwhelming. Because these people are part of the Backlinko community, they do a lot of the promotion for me. This is why building an email list is HUGE>
-I also email at least 100 people about my post. These are laser targeted people that might be interested in seeing it. For example, people that recently shared something similar on Twitter. Or maybe they just wrote a post about the same topic.
-Once I get the social proof going (shares and comments), I start link building. That's where I use a bunch of different strategies depending on the post, like broken link building, The Moving Man Method, Guestographics, resource page link building etc.
Sounds simple (and it is). But it requires a ton of work.
Because I'm competing with massive brands like Search Engine Watch, Forbes etc. I need to out-hustle them to have a change of leapfrogging them in the rankings.
Brian, same question I ask everyone who does an AMA with us: if you had to start all over tomorrow, from nothing, what would you do to make $$$ online? Walk us through it. Thanks mate!
@backlinko wait...so you don't sit at home and make money in your pajamas only working 5 hours a week? Thanks Brian, I'll check that out. Really appreciate you doing this AMA with us.
As a digital expat, how do taxes work out for you in different countries and which countries are on your list of places that you'll eventually settle at?
Good one. I'm not a tax expert and I don't play one on Inbound :)
But seriously, taxes are pretty straightforward because my business (Backlinko LLC) is registered in the states. And because I spend so much time abroad, I can use a nifty exception ("Foreign Income Exclusion") to cut down on my income tax.
I've settled in Hong Kong, Bangkok, Lisbon and Berlin. Of the 4, I'd say I'm most likely to settle in Berlin (in fact, that's where I spend most of my time these days). But I can also see myself in London (LOVE that city)
I've learned from a ton of people (including you) over the last few years.
But when I think about this question, 3 people really stand out:
1. Neil Patel: He supported Backlinko pretty much from day 1. In fact, I first chatted with him after I had a grand total of 4 posts published on the blog. And he's been really helpful in helping me take Backlinko from a side project to where it is today.
2. Noah Kagan: Like Neil, Noah has given me fistfuls of golden nuggets and sage advice over the years. He's also just a great guy to spend time with.
3. Derek Halpern: I don't know him that well personally, but his content has helped me with copywriting, biz dev, hiring, online sales, list building and more. He's the man.
Email list question. Lots of people just look at numbers and want to collect as many emails as possible. But how do you make sure that the list is the correct demographic and that the individuals are the right future customers? Do you ever survey the list?
If you get most of your subscribers from content marketing and SEO, your list should be on-target with what you sell (that is, assuming what you write about relates to your business).
For example, most people find Backlinko by searching for keywords like "link building", "on page seo" etc.
And because Backlinko is an SEO training company, those people tend to convert really well for us.
So I don't need to survey them to know that they'd be interested in my premium training products. And most importantly, they DO convert.
So if you haven't sold to your list yet, it might be time to take a segment and offer them a low-cost product just to see if your list is valuable.
But if you're really unsure of whether your list is a good fit for your product, I'd definitely send out an email that says "Hey, I want to send you awesome stuff. Tell me more about you and what you want to learn about."
Obviously, I can't promise any specific traffic figures (because it depends on a bajillion variables). But if I wanted to take a new site from zero to hero, I'd laser-focus on two things:
1. Publishing insanely valuable Skyscraper content: There are countless people that have had success with this approach...even though they run a brand new site. Here's a good example.
Of course, that also requires a ton of content promo. But it can work quickly.
2. Building your email list: This is the rocket fuel that makes the machine run on overdrive. Without this, you rely on other networks (Facebook, Pinterest etc.) for content promotion. And as we've seen with Facebook, they can pull the plug anytime.
But with an email list, you own the distribution channel.
Wow... this AMA is amazing, love Brian's approach to SEO!
Here's my question: In your opinion what's the best way to revive old content that performed well but is now outdated? Update the original article or create a new one and link it from the old article/301/canonical ?
You definitely want to update the original article. If the post got any traction at all, it might have some links, comments, social shares etc. When you 301 that page you might lose some of that stuff (definitely comments and social shares).
But when you update the existing page, you get all the old signals + new ones.
In fact, I recently re-published a page with a new case study, new info etc. It was 75% new content on the same URL. And it went from #7 to #2 overnight...and it now ranks #4 for my target keyword.
That's a great question, Garry. Brand citations and traffic from forums, comments etc. can be really powerful (Even though they usually don't have any direct SEO benefit).
And because they're from diverse sources, you're not at risk of a penalty of some algo change from Facebook cutting your traffic down by 50% overnight. So if the traffic converts for you, I say go for it!
Thanks so much for taking the time to do this. Your 'Creating Viral Content' and '16 Actionable SEO Copywriting Secrets' helped me out quite a bit in the summer.
2 observations and questions regarding Backlinko in 2015 (and beyond).
1. It appears that you only published 6 brand new pieces of content in this calendar year (not incl. updates) - but I wouldn't consider most of them 'blog posts'. Some of them were living and breathing pieces of interactive content. Filterable data etc....
Could you see yourself moving to almost quarterly 'event' pieces at this point with the amount of work involved in each new piece you publish? Or is it more just releasing something when it's ready?
2. You employ a relatively thin main column width and the images in the content are also reasonably narrow. Backlinko is extremely readable on my mobile phone.
How many readers (%) are accessing your site via mobile these days?
@massivekontent Happy to help, Jason. 1.Could you see yourself moving to almost quarterly 'event' pieces at this point with the amount of work involved in each new piece you publish? Or is it more just releasing something when it's ready?
Yes, I published 6 brand new posts. But I also re-launched 2 older posts with 75% new content. But yeah, not the typical blog schedule for sure.
I'm not sure I could go down to quarterly, but I think many companies would be smart to make that move vs. publishing "meh" content once per week.
The other nice thing about publishing once every 4-8 weeks is that it pushes you to really bring it. How lame is it to publish some "10 tips for X" article after 8 weeks of waiting? So I know that I need to publish something awesome when I do hit "publish".
2. You employ a relatively thin main column width and the images in the content are also reasonably narrow. Backlinko is extremely readable on my mobile phone. How many readers (%) are accessing your site via mobile these days?
Yup, that's true. It also makes things easier to read on a desktop. Around 15% come from Mobile. Because Backlinko is a B2B site most people are at work when they visit the site.
Apart from the income it generates, what do you get out of it (if anything)? I'm interested in any specific benefits you get from running a course like yours, be they tangible or intangible benefits.
Do you ever have to hande dissatisfied customers, and if so, is there a pattern you've identified as to why they are disssatisfied? How do you handle these situations?
I'm guessing publishing content for a course that deals with an always-changing subject like SEO means you have to have a pretty robust content management process in order to publish new content and keep older content accurate. What lessons have you learned from publishing course content that have had a positive impact to how you create and manage content for your website (and client websites)?
@steviehamilton Sure thing, Stephen. Apart from the income it generates, what do you get out of it (if anything)? I'm interested in any specific benefits you get from running a course like yours, be they tangible or intangible benefits.
-You get the satisfaction of really helping people grow and get better at something. Blog posts are nice, but they rarely take someone from point A to point B. A course gives them the structure they need to have real breakthroughs.
-You build a community. SEO That Works has a private mastermind community that's AWESOME. Because it's private people share their best tips and insights. So I'm proud and happy that I'm part of that.
-You have a list of people that you can draw on to help when needed. For example, I want to launch a new product this year. And for customer development, who do you think I reached out to? SEO That Works students of course!
-A whole lot more
Do you ever have to hande dissatisfied customers, and if so, is there a pattern you've identified as to why they are disssatisfied? How do you handle these situations?
Every business has dissatisfied customers. That's why I have a 30 day 100% satisfaction guarantee. That way, if you're not satisfied you get your money back. That cuts down on 99% of issues one might have with dissatisfied customers. That way everyone walks away happy (if someone's not happy I don't want them to pay).
In terms of patterns, the #1 reason people withdraw is that they don't have time to take the course.
I'm guessing publishing content for a course that deals with an always-changing subject like SEO means you have to have a pretty robust content management process in order to publish new content and keep older content accurate. What lessons have you learned from publishing course content that have had a positive impact to how you create and manage content for your website (and client websites)?
That's definitely true. I've made 5 major updates to STW over the last 3 years. Not to mention hundreds of tweaks, additions etc. I don't have clients so that makes things easier.
So in terms of content I have an editorial calendar for Backlinko. And I make quarterly upgrades and updates to SEO That Works (more if I discovered something cool I want to add to the course).
@billachola Hey, just jumping in here. For both Business Insider and Huff Post (also Forbes) pretty much the only way to get a guest post submission noticed is to get an email introduction from someone who already writes there. I tried for a long time before learning this...it just seems like they get so many submissions that to stand out you need to know someone - or have a really awesome idea that catches their eye. But that's kinda standard for all big publications.
Aimee nailed it. When I first started with Backlinko I pitched both these sites and heard nothing back.
It also helps if you have an existing audience. That way those big sites assume you'll share the content with your audience...which is more traffic for them :)
1. Promote to my email list: This is actually a skill in and of itself. I test subject lines, link placement etc. to get more subscribers to my content. That being said, it's still relatively quick.
2. Promote to people that shared similar content: You can use BuzzSumo for this (click on "View Sharers" on any piece of content. Even 20 emails can make a big difference.
I know you just don't get a hang of Backinko alone. You manage other websites of yours which probably need more time and you to create more content for them. The question is how do you manage them all? Any exact strategy?
Will love to know the best practice for driving traffic to a new website either apart from content...
I want to ask one question peoples are crazy in content marketing, but according to you what is actually content marketing and give some idea how can we better implement?
I'm not a big definition guy, but I'd say content marketing is marketing...with content :)
In terms of better implementing, I'd read some of the other answers from this thread. Lots of golden nuggets (from me and other inbound community members) to help you out.
Thanks for taking a part in Inbound AMA. Looking forward for some good stuff, without the traditional SEO "create a good content, bla, bla, bla" mantra ;) Here we go:
1. Do you run any other projects than Backlinko? 2. Could you describe your business model? 3. How difficult it was to build your personal brand in SEO area? 4. What was your biggest win and... the biggest lose this year? 5. What's your favorite link building method - outreach, PBN's, content, technical SEO, relationship link building... or maybe a mix of all of them?
6. Have you ever been hit with Google penalty? If yes, how did you manage to get out of it? 7. Have you ever encountered negative SEO? 8. Why SEO?
9. What do you think about Paddy Moogan's Link Building book?
10. What's your favorite set of tools (I'm not referring to the list on your blog, but rather the tools you actually use)?
@krystianwlr 1. Do you run any other projects than Backlinko? No.
2. Could you describe your business model? Backlinko is an SEO training company.
3. How difficult it was to build your personal brand in SEO area? Somewhat difficult as the space is very crowded/competitive.
4. What was your biggest win and... the biggest lose this year? Biggest win: hitting my revenue target for the year. Biggest loss: I haven't done a great job taking time off.
5. What's your favorite link building method - outreach, PBN's, content, technical SEO, relationship link building... or maybe a mix of all of them? Content + outreach.
6. Have you ever been hit with Google penalty? If yes, how did you manage to get out of it? Yes, several. I never got out of one.
7. Have you ever encountered negative SEO? Yes.
8. Why SEO? The traffic rocks.
9. What do you think about Paddy Moogan's Link Building book? It's excellent.
10. What's your favorite set of tools (I'm not referring to the list on your blog, but rather the tools you actually use)? I actually use the tools from the list on my blog.
11. How do you manage to scale content creation? I don't scale it. I only use content curation once and a while.
I wish I knew how powerful an email list was. I mean, I knew it...but I didn't know it. Know what I mean?
For my business (online training), everything lives and dies based on the email list. So I wish I focused on that from day 1.
More specifically, I wish I knew about The Content Upgrade. That literally tripled my blog's conversion rate. If I had that on day one my list would be 3x bigger than it is now!
Thanks for putting this up. I am just venturing into content marketing. To help me build my list, what's the fastest content marketing method you would recommend. Thanks
I'd definitely go with The Skyscraper Technique + Content Upgrade. The Skyscraper Technique drives traffic and rankings...and the Content Upgrade converts that traffic into subscribers. It's like magic for building an email list!
I check in my twitter search related to my industry, check in communities and answer their problems as blogs post and apart from this can you suggest me what would be a better place to look in-order to get a great topic
@rankingelite Hey Sef, Where do you think link building is heading?
I think it's pretty much the same as it was after Penguin 1.0. If you build contextual links from authority, relevant sites you're set.
How should we handle link building in 2016?
I wouldn't change your approach if it's working for you. The same type of links that worked in 2015 will work in 2016 (contextual, white hat). It's truly what Google wants.
What types of links that you would build in real time Penguin era?
Massive fan, love your advice, etc etc. Thanks so much for doing this.
Here's my most burning question:
If you could give me one tip to help generate an initial following/community for the blog I write for, what would it be? I've been using your Skyscraper technique with some success, but many topics I want to write about for my audience don't have previously popular blog posts for me to improve on (we're a video agency). It's generating that initial burst of interest in our blog that seems to be the major difficulty.
That's actually somewhat common. The Skyscraper Technique is great. But it's just that, a technique.
That means it doesn't work in every industry 100% of the time. And it doesn't replace a well-rounded marketing approach.
To answer your question: I'd look at Shoulder Niches related to video. That can open up A LOT of awesome content opportunities that can be tricky to find. Here's a post/case study that should help you find a shoulder niche: http://backlinko.com/seo-campaign
@backlinko Thanks so much Brian! I am reading fervently right now. Really appreciate the Shoulder Niche tip, I will try that out as soon as possible :)
1) Do you still run your own authority sites that you keep on the downlow that generate monthly revenue, or do you just depend on Backlinko revenue for your personal income?
2) Do you agree that long term, it makes sense for a skilled SEO specialist to move away from client work and try to build their own authority site to have their own asset that compounds in value vs trading hours for money? (Asking for a friend)
1) Do you still run your own authority sites that you keep on the downlow that generate monthly revenue, or do you just depend on Backlinko revenue for your personal income?
Not anymore. I focus 100% on Backlinko and my training course, SEO That Works.
2) Do you agree that long term, it makes sense for a skilled SEO specialist to move away from client work and try to build their own authority site to have their own asset that compounds in value vs trading hours for money? (Asking for a friend)
I think your friend knows the answer to that question :-)
For some people, client work is a dream for them. They love working with lots of clients in tons of different industries. So in their case, they should stick with that.
For me, having 10 clients felt like having 10 bosses. So I shifted to ranking my own properties as soon as I could. And as you said, that way, you're not trading hours for dollars (which doesn't scale).
I definitely think backlinks from quality, niche-relevant blogs have an SEO benefit. But not as much as a true, contextual link from a non-guest post article.
So if you want to use guest posting as let's say 5-10% of your link building, there's nothing wrong with that.
Another thing to keep in mind is that, in my experience, 40-50% of the sites you guest post on will link out to you naturally down the line (especially if you absolutely bring it with your guest post).
So in that sense a guest posting can ultimately bring the A+ links that you want in the first place.
Hi Brian, I love your content, thank you for all you do! I'd love to know how you would go about promoting a brand new social app? Step by step in your classic style. Thanks!
I have one - I noticed that you emailed me once out of the blue (pre-outreach). Then emailed me when your post went live. (outreach). You followed up my successful post with one more email saying thanks.
And that was 8 months ago. You've published a lot of new & interesting stuff since but not a word.
The article I shared is still my #1 most upvoted Inbound submission so I know the outreach "worked" for you.
So where do you draw the line between networking & staying in contact with an influencer and treating a relationship as a one-night-stand that you run out on after you get off?
Isn't treating your potential network that way something you would advise people against?
You're 100% right: it's not always easy to know when to keep the conversation going. I prefer to let the other person lead when I'm the one that initiated the outreach.
Otherwise, I might become "that guy" who emails someone again and again...and it turns out that they don't want to hear from me on a regular basis. In many cases I do get emails from people I reached out to saying: "hey, I have a question" or "can you share this for me?".
And those email exchanges have turned into legit relationships and even friendships in some cases.
So in your case, I didn't email again because I wasn't sure you would welcome that.
On the other hand, if you emailed me asking for feedback or to share one of your posts, I would have seen that as a signal that you wanted to stay in contact.
@thestaqhq@backlinko I can definitely vouch for Brian using this method, as I've asked him 2-3 questions via email over the last 3 years and he's always offered very helpful responses!
I've taken so so many. But one that stands out is Blog That Converts by Social Triggers. So so, helpful! It's basically how Derek built Social Triggers to 100k subscribers. Not cheap, but worth every penny (and then some!).
For branding for a blog at least I'd make sure that there's a PERSON front and center. I go into more detail on this in another question here.
Other than that, I'd answer the question: "What makes this site different" all over the place. For example, at Backlinko, I make sure to tell people exactly why the blog is different than most SEO blogs:
Besides your about page you can do this on your homepage, and even in the sidebar of your blog:
Hey Brian, what's your approach to deciding what to write about? Like you mention, "there's more to content marketing than great content." I'd love to know more about how you decide what topics to write about, particularly the strategic types of questions you ask to decide what to write and what not to write in order to get the biggest impact.
1. Is this a topic that people care about...and will care about in 3+ years? Writing about something that's hot can work, but I want my content to work hard for me. So I pretty much stick to evergreen topics that people will search for for YEARS.
2. Is this topic something influencers are likely to share? If not, it's a no-go.
3. Can I bring something new/exciting/different/better to the table? Some topics are covered to death. And I'd be putting just another post that's been done 100x before.
4. Is there a keyword that's rankable around this topic? Are searchers for that keyword likely to convert? That's the "making my content work for me" in action.
5. If I send this to my email list will people say "Wow that blew my mind. MORE of that please."? If so, that's a good sign that I'll go with that topic.
6. Has content on that topic done well recently? BuzzSumo is a must for this.
I'd love to know how you deal with copycats and idea thieves. Particularly the people who market services around your strategies (even using the same names).
That must be really frustrating. I don't sell my strategies as services so it's (fortunately) something I haven't had to deal with. But I've seen people sell services for things like The Skyscraper Technique without giving me credit.
I usually just reach out with a friendly email to "remind them" to give credit. If that doesn't work I usually just let it go. Fortunately, thieves don't usually last long enough to be a long-term problem :)
First, the page is super simple. And it's "convincing" because the headline is so relatable to anyone that's tried a/b testing. But most important, it's REALLY simple. That means I'm really like to convert (which in their case it to enter my URL). It hasn't changed must for years so it must be working for them.
I stick by the golden rule of landing pages: one page, one action.
@andraepalmer Hey Andrae, I used a bunch of different strategies. But most of them involve having tons of forms on every page.
That being said, the most powerful strategy for me has been The Content Upgrade. It's a game changer.
The first dollar I made from my blog was a small course (sort of an MVP for SEO That Works). It sold so it showed me there was demand for an online course about SEO.
It would definitely be nutrition. I studied nutrition for 7 years (I have a MS in nutrition) and am very into fitness, health etc. So if it wasn't for Backlinko I'd probably have some sort of paleo diet blog.
In reference to doing email outreach do you find you get more conversion when you write a short to the point emails or is it more beneficial to write longer more in detail emails?
@_mrtoast Corey, I actually do a combo of the two.
The first email is usually short and sweet to gauge interest. So something like "Hey, I noticed you write about X. I have a guide about Y. Want to see it?".
When they say yes, I follow up with more detailed info. So something like, "Cool. Here's the post. Then transition into some sort of pitch."
My question is around your most recent post update: http://backlinko.com/white-hat-seo
What is your strategy and reasoning behind updating, albeit enhancing the old content?
Was the previous post not performing as well as you'd like, and you're trying to drum up addition interest?
Understanding that a longer term goal is to target "white hat seo" (already working though), how do you decide on the overall intent of the post. i.e. A case study vs what is white hat seo
Lastly, what's the average of breakdown of time you spend in its entirety when publishing a new post? The keyword research, the competitive research, writing the post, editing the post, finding the appropriate 100 people, and the actual outreach.
My question is what's the best way to outreach as far as guest posting is concerned. It's no good if we send mass mails with copied template to bloggers asking them to publish our post on their blogs. This method has a very low success ratio.
i believe we have to build relationships and then try to push our blog posts. But it's easier said than done. What plan of action do you like to suggest ?
Backlinko is awesome, as it has practical information to read and implement.
My question is?
How to convince client about "don't fight for the keywords ranking" and instead let us tell them create something valuable that ranks on "intentional queries".
Building an online course how long did it take you, did you do anything to save time. What software/platform did you build it with? Most effective promo methods for the course as well? When are you coming to Australia - Sydney :)
1. It took me 4 months of almost full-time work. And that was just the first version! I've invested an additional 250+ hours into it.
2. My developer built a custom platform for us. At the time nothing out there did what we needed. But if I was starting a new course today I'd use ZippyCourses.
3. Email, email, email! There's no other way to market a course that even comes close.
I am really happy to see you here. Big fan of yours. I have been following Backlinko from almost 2 years. I don't miss any single post and even love to read your every mail. To be honest I learned a lot from you.
I have some questions for you.
How to write an epic content on the boring niche. Which have almost nothing on the web.
How to build an email list for the business if very few people search for that business.
If you could buy only one tool for competitor analysis and creating buyer persona, which tool would you buy?
@backlinko Hey Brian. This is super. I've been reading and admiring your work for some time.
You have been on fire lately man. So my question is this - What do you feel was the "turning point" for you in your career? The moment things began to really kick off and spiral for you? Then what to you think contributed to that?
I always got inspired with your ideas, implemented them, they work magic, I see you travel a bit, hope you make to bali sometime assure you of great hospitality:) .
when i saw this coudnt resist to ask few questions
1: Link relevancy
- Is this the most important factor ?
- Can google really Define relevancy, for example if if you run a coupon website its literally relevant to every niche
- If you were given a chance to get a high end link like forbes.com or exactly relevant link which would you choose and why?
2: Panda:
- Is bounce rate rate really factor? if yes how important is it
- How would google treat coupon websites, which by nature promote how bounce rate ?
3: Guestographic:
- you always mentioned its better to get a backlinks in content than code at the bottom " original graphic by XXX", though most times when sites pick up graphic organically they just link us at bottom , in your view does google discount those type of links? if yes how to avoid that
4: Mentions and social media
-Does google really care about brand mentions, any insights would be helpful.
- Does social media have any direct impact?
5: How long to rank, trust, so on
- Just want to know your view google really trust your website and rank for new website, though i see this more generalized, any insights would be helpful
I am content writer and I always tend to craft contents in fashion of storytelling but I am forced to write posts or articles that could accommodate keyword(s), this practice actually kills essence of concept, !! So what remedy do you have for this ??