As always, here are our SEO company’s favorite search engine optimization and internet marketing related links of the week.

Wondering about whether or not having a presence on Twitter would be good for your brand?  SugarRae has performed “an actual non-big-brand” Twitter case study.  The Wall Street Journal also featured an article about Twitter this week.

Yesterday our SEO company blog covered one way to get bloggers and influencers to link to your website; today we will cover how NOT to get links and the common mistakes made by SEOs and internet marketers.

First of all, any blogger who has achieved even a small degree of popularity has probably received an email or two from someone asking them to link to their website. Sometimes these sites are actually relevant or useful, and the person doing the emailing took to the time to make sure of that, and to actually read the blog they want to be linked on. Yes, this tactic is the link-building equivalent of cold-calling, however, with a little research it can still be moderately successful.

As the majority of our readers are likely already aware, getting high quality links to your site is a critical aspect of search engine optimization.  While there are almost as many ways to go about getting links as there are SEO companies, one way to ensure that the linkerati in your niche (the other bloggers who tend to link out to content they like) notices your blog or website to mention them by name and link to their site.  Rohit Bhargava, author of the Influential Marketing Blog, coined a term for this sort of attention-getting strategy - he called it “egomunnication“. 

As we said yesterday, today’s post is all about creating authority content because after all, authority content is a key aspect of a solid search engine optimization strategy, because it is beloved by search engines and humans alike. However, creating solid, authoritative content is not that easy. Accordingly, here are ten types of articles or blog posts that help boost your authority - and your reliability, credibility, and therefore your site’s link profile.

Many people who are unfamiliar with the search engine optimization industry assume that it is something entirely focused on technology - the process of designing and developing websites and finding tricky ways to dominate the SERPs (or they have the even more negative perception that SEO companies are all black hat types on step removed from spammers).  However, this hardly the case.

The concept of linkbait is simple - linkbait is a post, video clip, podcast, or article created specifically for a particular audience or niche (or social media) that has some kind of clever hook or unique angle that encourages other bloggers to write about it and link to it, resulting in more traffic and a higher position in the SERPs. Obviously, creating compelling linkbait can be excellent for your website’s search engine optimization. However, while the concept itself is simple, writing quality linkbait is something that is easier said than done, even for an experienced SEO company or consultant.

There are six main types of linkbait:

1. Useful Resources/Tools

2. Humor/Entertainment

3. Breaking News/Scoops

4. Shock Value

5. Research & Analysis

6. Controversy

A Long-Term Strategy and Dedication Yield Search Engine Success

Our Chicago SEO company knows that the number one attribute of a solid search engine optimization strategy is consistency. The consistent use of keywords, the consistent updates to your site’s content (such as regular blogging), and consistent link building are imperative to your website’s long term success. Furthermore, stellar search engine rankings don’t happen overnight; rather, page one rankings are the product of a long-term plan and dedication (as always, you should use our free seo tool to see how your current SEO strategy is working).