Awesome Search Engine Optimization Ideas

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A curated list of backlink, social signal opportunities, social media marketing, referral traffic generation, writing ideas, and more.

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General Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Articles

• Google announced that Search Console only reports on 35% of your website's performance data
• How Google handles JavaScript throughout the indexing process
• Learn how to create Pillar Pages
• Search Engine Land: HUGE Google Search document leak reveals inner workings of ranking algorithm see also Slashdot: Huge Google Search Document Leak Reveals Inner Workings of Ranking Algorithm and see also @hridoyreh: 13 things found
• @hridoyreh: 10 best SEO Case Studies.
• John Mueller Of Google: SEO Lives & Dies With Consistency "In 2015, John Mueller said this at SMX conference. He said his top SEO advice is be consistent. He reiterated it again in 2019 and 2018 and numerous times before and after this."
• Consistency Is King In SEO While this article was written in 2010, it's still very much worth a read: "In SEO, the small stuff truly matters, and consistency is especially powerful. At the enterprise level things like page titles, internal links and duplicate content may seem almost trivial compared to the overall complexity of the site. But they are hugely important, and when well-optimized in sum can literally make or break a site’s SEO potential."
• Google Search Essentials -- "The Google Search Essentials make up the core parts of what makes your web-based content (web pages, images, videos, or other publicly-available material that Google finds on the web) eligible to appear and perform well on Google Search"
• Why Does Your Search Traffic Suck? The 7 Most Likely Reasons - Moz
• Holy Grail SEO: High Volume, Low Competition Keywords -- "Instead of targeting keywords or topics that have high volume, we need to target keywords and topics that we actually have a chance to rank for, making the best use of our time and SEO efforts."
• Long-tail Keywords: What They Are and How to Get Search Traffic From Them
• Ultimate SEO Guide for Startups (18 chapters)
• Structured data markup that Google Search supports

Link Building Strategies, Internal Linking, and Backlinking Ideas

• Codementor: Write new and import existing posts. Links added to articles posted on CodeMentor are nofollow.
• Code Project Allows cross-posting articles.
• SitePoint
• Leigh McKenzie on LinkedIn : Every marketer wants more backlinks. But, you’ve got to earn them. Nine strategies used at Backlinko.
• @JackCulpan: Build a Google Chrome Extension
• How to Build SEO Backlinks with Google Search Data by Connor Gillivan on LinkedIn.
• ITNEXT and see also Write for ITNEXT
• freeCodeCamp.org includes a follow backlink in the profile settings -- if you're developing content around software development consider checking this website out.
• 23 Million Internal Links – SEO Case Study
• @ConnorShowler: Sneaky Backlink #49: from HashNode Software developers who manage their own blogs may benefit from earning a backlink from HashNode (HN) since it should be contextually relevant; HN may also serve as an excellent platform for cross-posting content (requires further investigation).
• @ConnorShowler: Build backlinks with Evernote. I've only looked into this idea breifly however so far it makes sense and may be a good idea too but that's TBC. Evernote is not free however considering what other solutions in this space cost it could be a very attractive option.
• @ConnorShowler: Link Tree landing pages Not confirmed however if everyone is doing this the backlink is probably not worth much, if anything at all. We can look at this from a different angle though and that is how many backlinks a site like Link Tree has and, as of 25.Nov.2023, this is 162M from 551K referring websites as per ahrefs website authority checker.
• @illyism: I got 2400 backlinks from 170 domains in 1 week Possibly gray hat SEO so I'm not sure about this one and requires further investigation.
• GoDaddy Auctions
• @SearchForRyan: Five things you HAVE to do to build internal links correctly
• Articles with dead external links on Wikipedia
• Link rot on Wikipedia
• @FeryKaszoni: Link building plan for every budget
• Unveiling the Dark Art of Parasite SEO: Risks and Rewards
• How to use HARO
• featured.com / previously terkel
• SourceBottle
• Help A B2B Writer
• HARO: Help A Reporter Out
• Write for the GoDaddy blog
• @webjuice_ie: How to get a dofollow backlink from Flickr (DR 94)
• @serpinsider: 3 ways to find expired domains for backlinks, new niche sites, or just to flip for profit
• Which Question-Optimized Queries Perform Well? -- this section talks about building a backlink magnet using "How To" style questions.
• Guess which Content Types Get the Most Backlinks?
• @Adoubleagent: Nine public internal linking case studies from SEOs to help SEO professionals identify what works.
• @seochatterblog: 10 Internal Linking Best Practices for SEO
• @hridoyreh: best-of posts
• @hridoyreh: X vs. Y posts
• pressrelease.com: paid service, see pricing
• @hridoyreh: Dead links on Wikipedia
• terkel.io: Grow your Brand Answer Questions, Get Featured in Articles. see also Markitors: Introducing Terkel
• @Nick_zv_: No-BS Guide to Link-Building
• Andrew Holland on LinkedIn: 19 Secrets to Generating Massive Website Traffic
• @ericlancheres: Here are some of my favorite link baits
• @RyanJones: My best backlink secret?
• @Nick_zv_: Want to build a LOT of backlinks fast?
• @Nick_zv_: Your competitor has 2,000 backlinks...
• Pet niche statistics backlink strategy using Ahrefs
• @Nick_zv_: These pages were ENGINEERED to drive thousands of backlinks.
• Backlinko: Link Bait / linkbait "the process of creating content designed to attract backlinks. Common types of Link Bait content include controversial content, data, guides and newsworthy pieces."
• How I Mastered FREE Backlinks with ChatGPT (Link Magnets)
• 5 Types of Link Magnets that Can Skyrocket Your SEO
• Search Engine Journal: Reciprocal Links: Do They Help Or Hurt Your SEO? Reciprocal link building isn't bad for SEO, but only if you do it right. Learn the right and wrong ways to build reciprocal links.
• How to Perform a Competitor Link Analysis in 3 Steps "A competitor link analysis is an assessment of the link profiles of major competitors where you look at their link building strategies to gain insights. Implementing some of the same strategies in your own link building can lead to higher rankings in search engines and increased business outcomes."
• 11 Creative (But 100% White Hat!) Ways to Earn Backlinks in 2022
• Help a Reporter Out (HARO), see also How to Get Backlinks: 11 Strategies
• Register with your local Chamber of Commerce -- the business directory may offer a backlink opportunity.
• Are Link Exchanges a Legitimate SEO Strategy in 2021?
• Google Search Central -> Link schemes note "[e]xcessive link exchanges"
• An easy way to build links (no fluff)
• Further research required, mentioned but not endorsed: Engage a link-building service (RhinoRank, Authority Builders, Crowdo).
• Create an infographic (a dated strategy) -- from What Type of Backlinks Does Your Business Really Need Right Now? : "[a]t the old KISSMetrics site, 47 infographics generated 2,512,596 visitors and 41,142 backlinks from 3,741 unique domains" and "...at Quicksprout, every infographic I published generated 41,487 visitors and 469 backlinks from 38 unique domains" -- when we're talking ROI creating an infographic, at least insofar as these numbers go, probably has the highest potential return. See also 12 Infographic Tips That You Wish You Knew Years Ago. See also Canva: Free infographic maker.
• Create an image and release it on a site such as Flickr under creative commons distribute with attribution as a backlink to your website (source: Creative Commons Image Link Building Strategy — Free Template). See also Using Flickr To Help Generate Backlinks.
• Add a link on a page from your company website to the project
• Add a link on a page from your blog to the project
• Twitter (social signal)
• LinkedIn Company Updates - Add a URL to the project will be available for indexing (shortened links are considered redirects by Google).
• LinkedIn Group Posts - Do NOT count as backlinks but may help to bring awareness to a project.
• LinkedIn Personal Posts - Do NOT count as backlinks but may help to bring awareness to a project.
• Write an article on _____ and backlink to the project.
  • Medium.com Medium publications may publish an your article if it meets their criteria. This would expand the audience size considerably, for example:
    • HackerNoon.com has ~484k subscribers (FYI no longer on medium.com)
    • PM Insider has ~18k members
    • Startup Grind has ~414k members
    • Better Programming has ~ 168k followers.
    • [WANTED: Other publications here]
  • DZone.com has ~1mm+ subscribers (TBC)
  • A List Apart allows follow backlinks.
  • dev.to
  • reddit.com