Link Wars:
The SEO Awakens
Amanda Jordan
RicketyRoo
Speakerdeck.com/ajordanseo
@amandatjordan
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Why This Topic???
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2023 Local Search Ranking Factors
Source: https://whitespark.ca/local-search-ranking-factors
Local Pack
12
of top 50
Local Ranking
Factors
Organic
5
of top 15
Local Ranking
Factors
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Local Organic
Ranking Factors
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Link Reminder:
Quality>Quantity
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What Makes a "Quality" Backlink
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Quality backlinks for local
businesses can be relevant
to either the topic or the
location
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Hypothesis
High-performing websites are
more likely to focus on locally
relevant link building instead of
topically relevant link building.
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Why?
Ideal backlinks provide context
and helps establish clear
relationships between your site,
your topic, and your location.
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This is the Way
These types of backlinks are more
likely to provide actual referral
traffic in addition to providing
more connections, more
information, and more context for
AI and LLMs.
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Case Study
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Methodology
Top 50 Cities & HVAC Industry
Websites with First-Page Rankings
Categorized Links
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Top 5 Sites and Their Link Profiles
1st-Page
Rankings
63
Average # of
Keywords
87%
Of 1st-Page
Rankings Came
from 5 Sites
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Top Performing Pages
High # of Backlinks
≠
Better Rankings
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Top Performing Pages
Site # of Backlinks Page 1 Terms
Site 1 59 133
Site 2 58 191
Site 3 32 121
Site 4 17 146
Site 5 7 118
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Top Performing Pages
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What You’re Probably Missing
Truly Local Links
A Diverse Link Profile
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So How Do I Use This to Build Better
Backlinks?
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Identify Competitors
Choose competitors who
are consistently eating
your lunch.
Tip: BrightLocal’s Local
Search Grid is great for
identifying these types of
competitors.
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When Competitors Have Poor Links
Choose a larger nearby metro and
complete the process again. High-ranking
local businesses in a more competitive city
could turn up more opportunities than your
smaller, local competitors.
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Get Backlink Data
Use your favorite link
analysis tool to get
competitor backlink
data.
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Categorize Backlinks
Create your
categorization guidelines
and start categorizing.
Tip: You can do this one-by-one,
you can use a tool, you can build
a tool. I’m not going to tell you
how to live your life, friend.
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Analyze Data
What does the data tell you
about your top-performing
competitors? Are they
favoring a type of backlink
you currently ignore?
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Identify Opportunities
Identify backlink
opportunities that meet
the traditional link
quality guidelines PLUS
have a local focus.
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Acquire Links
Once you’ve identified
where the gaps are in
your backlink profile,
go after your
competitors’ best
quality backlinks.
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Okay But I Don’t Have Time to
Categorize a Ton of Links
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What We’ve Been Up To
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What We’ve Been Up To
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Case Study:
Local Links Increases
Franchise Clicks by 38%
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The Client
Nationwide house cleaning franchise
The Competitors
SMBs and national franchises
The Findings
Competitor-based link acquisition WORKS
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Results
Test
Locations
38%
Clicks Increase
YoY
Control
Locations
14%
Clicks Increase
YoY
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Find Out More
ricketyroo.com/blog/link-benchmark/
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Capitalizing on Competitor Opps
Reverse Engineering Most Linked
Content
Target Links from 301s or 404s
Find Unlinked Competitor Mentions
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Reverse Engineering Most Linked Content
Target Competitor Articles That Are:
Outdated - Published over a year ago
Evergreen - Topic is always relevant
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Target Links from 301s or 404s
Use This Tactic When:
A relevant article/post has been removed
but still has links pointing to it
A relevant page has been redirected to a
home or contact page
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Find Unlinked Competitor Mentions
Target Competitor Mentions When:
Content isn’t competitor-specific
Industry or niche blog with no brand bias
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The Power of Round-Up Articles
Round-up articles that
your competitors are
listed on can be
extremely helpful and
could be the difference
between an AI search
recommendation or not.
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Round-Up Articles & AI
AI uses round-up articles
to create many of their
recommendations for local
businesses. They are often
shown as the sources in
ChatGPT and AI
overviews.
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Round-Up Articles are Good for AI
It’s easy to understand
why. These roundup
pages are often from
topically relevant or
local sites and provide
a significant amount of
context.
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Round-Up Articles Testing & AI
During testing, I discovered that in
addition to getting a link, businesses that
are highly ranked on roundup pages are
more likely to be featured in AI results.
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Round-Up Results & AI
All three of these sites
from this one cited
source show up in AI
results in exactly the
same order. This is
the only cited source
that included all 3.
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Round-Up Articles Increase Visibility
Your visibility on these
round-up pages could be
the difference between
showing up in AI
searches.
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The Benefits of Choosing the Right Sites is
More Than Having Just Another Link
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Remember: Having the Right Links is
More Important Than Having the Most
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Remember: Truly Local Links and
Topical Links are Best