First Step: I am an Alexaholic

Ok Alexa data is not the most accurate traffic measuring tool in the world but it is very good at showing traffic trends.  One of my favorite sites to play around with and compare trends against other ad systems is Alexaholic.  Here is our graph.  This graph represents Text Link Ads compared to other top blog ad systems.














As you know the end goal of building links to your site is increasing your site's traffic.  This can come from the direct traffic from the links and from the indirect benefit of higher natural search rankings through the increase in link popularity.  Try comparing your site's Alexa data to some of your competitors and see if you are seeing the right kind of trends, if not, it may be time to get your link building in gear!

Links to Rankings - A Test Of Wills

One of the biggest changes in the seo world in the last few years is the time it can take to rank a website, particularly in Google.  A bit back Rand noted that even established "trusted" domains were taking 10+ weeks to see some traction in terms of higher rankings after building links to these pages.  The amount of patience needed to see results is even greater when talking about new domains.

Our own LinkBuildingBlog.com has not earned top rankings in Google until just the last few weeks when we have spotted our blog jump from out of the 100's for "link building" all the way to the top 10 on most data centers.  We registered the domain May 12, 2005 and our first post was May 16, 2005.  Our blog was a site that seemed to receive all the right links since the first day Andy and I started posting.  A quick search on Yahoo shows over 20,000 links into our domain!  Even with this nice linkage from many quality sites it seemed we had to wait for our domain to age past that magic one year mark before we saw what we thought made sense for our blog... a top 10 ranking.

The good news for new sites is I have personally seen three unique sites (12 to 14 months old) that I track recently break out of no where into the top 15 on Google with their latest index tweaks.  Andy is also reporting some sites that were created much more recently showing signs of ranking in Google much faster than what we have seen in the last year.  Now we all know results can be seen in MSN and Yahoo much faster but the holy grail is top Google rankings for most sites.  As a very general rule for link building (always exceptions of course)...

Established Domains (domains that are over 1+ year old or are already ranking for many terms)    *build links -> 10-12 weeks later see results.

New Domains (domains under 1 year old and are showing no strong ranking results) *build links -> 12 weeks to 16 months later see results. 

There you have it, I have oversimplified a very complicated issue.  Readers, what are you seeing in terms of time it is taking you to see traction in search rankings after building new links?

Best... SEO Advice... Ever.

Let's get one thing straight -- I disagree with a lot of what Michael Martinez posts on SEOmoz. But I have to credit where credit's due and I think his comment on an SEOmoz post should get an award for 'best SEO advice of 2006'.When what you're doing doesn't work, do something different.I know, I know, duh, it's so simple, etc. But when a recent site launch has been mediocre or even subpar, how often do you really step back, overhaul your strategy and tactics arsenel, and then implement the new one without falling back to those same old tricks?

I have to confess I'm guilty of this a lot, especially with churn and burn (not autogen, but thin-ish) affiliate sites. I use mostly the same methodology I used in '04 (then, targeting Google... now, targeting MSN/Yahoo!). The system is efficient and profitable. Why mess with a good thing?

(For the record, I can still get a site to rank in G. It's just for many sites I get faster & higher ROI by going for the other 2.)

But anyway back to the subject at hand. For a 'real' site for a 'real' business, you need to rank in Google. And every one of us -- from me, Todd, and Aaron to your local neighborhood amateur SEO -- has launched a site this year that's not performing as well as it should in Google. You readers who do client work, or have several sites- my guess is that you're in the same camp.

Ask yourself this: "Am I actively using new and different tactics?"

Maybe the extra push you need is something you've written off years ago (personalized link requests), or something you think isn't applicable to your theme (a niche real estate page getting on the Digg homepage?), or maybe even what's old is new again (need trusted links? Submit to directories).

The bottom line is, if it's been 9 months and you're still sandboxed, it's time to:

First, admit that the tactics you used were insufficient, and that something needs to change.

Second, concretely plan some new tactics you will use to to defeat the sandbox.

Finally, implement those tactics (the perennially underrated step).

OK...go!!!!!!

On With Shoemoney Tonight

LBB'ers, I am a guest co host for Shoemoney's new "Net Revenue" show tonight at 6pm EST.  I will be giving out four $250 coupons for Text Link Ads during the show too.  The show can be accessed here and you can hit the chat room here.  Jeremy (Shoemoney) is a very smart and talented internet marketer, should be fun!

Jim Westergreen's Linking Guide

I don't often like to make "me too" blog posts, but in case you missed it on all the other SEO blogs, make sure to check out Jim Westergreen's guide to building links. It's a very good introduction to what everyone's actually doing in the trenches (sometimes different than what you read on ClickZ), and I think there's some nuggets in there whether you're a seasoned link hound or a n00b.

...And Now For Something Completely Different

Excerpt from Webmaster's SEO LamentBy Madeleine "Mad" Kane

(Sing to "My Favorite Things"  from "The Sound of Music.")


.............

Wishing that Yahoo and DMoz would list them.
Wond'ring what causes those sites to resist them.
Viewing directory listings each day.
"I'll never get there," they moan with dismay.



Updating pages in quest of a breakthrough.
Hoping new  phrases will bring them more clicks through.
Checking competitors' links and their stats.
Wond'ring if they should employ a black hat.



Relevant content, reciprocal linking.
Publishing articles.  Now that's good thinking.
Linkage in edu and government sites.
Vowing to soon their competitors smite.

.............

Read the lyrics in their entirety

(Thanks Mad)

Boring our readers to death

I am guilty of it and so is my friend Andy Hagans.  I am going to wake him up with this post though and we both will do a better job of getting some original linking news up on this site again.  In the meantime I have to link out to a couple new interviews I stumbled through recently.

I did one for Brad Fallon's SEO RADIO, here.  Brad Fallon is one of the most underrated seo's in the world.  How this guy is not bribed into the seo conference circuit is a mystery to me.  Check out Brad's blog when you can.

If interviews that are rated 3/5 stars are your thing, check out the interview I did at IT Conversations.  3/5 is no complement from the listeners but I'll take it because it was nice being able to sneak on such a high quality site.

Hagans come back soon before our rss subs go in reverse...