Rediscovering link building

Since Threadwatch closed it’s killed off my social respite time, forcing me to concentrate more on work.

It’s sad to lose that social connection with the SEO world, but since then I’ve found myself being creative again with link building, and discovered some interesting new solutions.

Some I know other SEO’s are already using - some I know I’m trailblazing in, which is great.

The whole process feels like a new process of rediscovery in link building, which could otherwise have felt very stale.

I used to read a lot of SEO blogs, and the vast majority of them are hot air - no matter how expert someone is, or feels they are, they are almost never passing on any useful information that others can use to improve SEO performance.

I’ve posted a few tips here - titles for Wordpress comes to mind - but the best I always have to keep to myself for competitive advantage.

There are some people out there blogging who actually do give great tips if you know how to read them - Aaron Wall, Dave Naylor, sometimes Jim Boydkin, and probably Todd Malicoat. Very few others.

In the meantime, Danny Sullivan’s set up Sphinn and all I see is ego’s battling for supremacy. That’s not to say Sphinn is a bad idea or I’m knocking Danny - simply that in an environment where promotion of one’s self in front of the industry matters, it’s going to attract those with egos to feed.

I want no part of that. I’m making a concerted effort to avoid the SEO sphere and just put my head down and work. I have nothing to prove to the industry - just to my clients and business bank manager.

I’ll still visit Sphinn, SEOmoz, and similar places just to keep abreast, and probably stick my ugly cynical oar in too much every now and then. But in the meantime, I’m on a policy of STFU and get back to work.

So far it’s paying dividends. Literally.

Bottom line is - link building isn’t about using tools, reverse engineering competitors, and finding ways to tread where everyone else has trod. It’s about finding new ground, engaging real creativity, and finding and creating opportunity ahead of everyone else - so that they are left trying to use tools and reverse your backlinks to determine where your advantage comes from.

SEO blogs won’t teach you that. You have to make your own way out into the wider web and discover them yourself.

That’s where the process of real discovery is, and that’s what I’m rediscovering again.