PATRON SAINT PRODUCTIONS, INC. ~ CHAT TRANSCRIPT ~ Patron Saint Productions, Inc. Online Publicity Chat Series Topic: Session #3: The Web Site Linkage Campaign Guests: Steve O'Keefe, author of Complete Guide to Internet Publicity Date: September 24, 2002 Welcome to the Online Publicity Chat Series. Today's topic is the web site linkage campaign. Hi Katherine. We'll be starting in just a moment. Hi Steve, this is right up my alley because I am just starting to find some links and get them set up on my website Hi Linda, Ayn. Hi, Steve We'll be starting in a moment. We're having a hurricane down here, you know. oh, dear! How terrible. I wish you well. My Tulane class has been cancelled tonight, but the chats must go on! Hi Shirley, we're just about to get started. Hi, Steve. Hello, Joe. We have no moderator today, so please wait for me to type NEXT before asking your question. Thanks! Let me start by defining a linkage campaign and specifying some of the benefits, then I'll open it for questions. A linkage campaign is a systematic attempt to solicit links to your site from other sites. Here are some of the main benefits of conducting a linkage campaign: * It increases web site traffic. * It improves your search engine rank. * It reinforces branding efforts, especially when a graphical link button is included. * It gives you a greater understanding of the state of your industry online and your place in it. * It exposes you to what many other people in your field are doing on the web (you can steal their good ideas and avoid their bad ones). * It helps you build a database of online media contacts in your field. * It opens the door to partnerships and other collaborations. At this point, I'll start taking questions, and between I'll keep discussing some of the how and why of linkage campaigns. Welcome Duncan. If you have a question, just blurt it out, and I'll let you know if I'm having trouble keeping up. Questions don't have to be limited to today's topic: Linkage Campaigns. Can you address the link button? I'm no HTML expert, but I can hold my own if there's a place on the Web to help me create one. Does such a site/sites exist? Shirley, Here are the four characteristics of a good link button: 1) Small (under 10 k) 2) Simple (branding -- not cramming) 3) Universal (looks good against any background) 4) Timeless (won't go out of date). I'm not sure exactly what web sites have good button archives you can use. I used to track these, but stopped about 2 years ago when I couldn't keep up with the merging and closing of sites. Does anyone have a suggestion for Shirley about sites that have free clip art link buttons? Isn't it just as easy to click on the link itself and not bother w/ buttons? Didn't want to use a button. Want to create one. I'll look around; perhaps a button tutor still exists. Shirley, you can also just grab a generic button off a site and use it as the basis for your own. True, thank you. Creating a button is simple in PhotoShop. You make a small square or oval (about 1 inch max). Pick a background color, put your logo in, save it as a GIF or JPEG file. You can also scan a logo you already have, and size it down. Nice. I'm going to try that. Thank you. Timeless means you don't say anything like "version 2.0" in your button. Netscape did that: They had a linkage campaign to support Netscape 2.0. Only now they're in Release 6 or something and all those 2.0 buttons are still out there on the Internet. "Universal" means but a border around it, so it will set off against any background color. If you have questions, folks, just ask, and I'll keep talking theory in between. What two things do you need for a linkage campaign? A "Linkletter" and a list of sites to approach. There is a sample Linkletter here in the Resources/ Templates section. It's a WORD file. A Linkletter is short and sweet: First, compliment their site -- that helps break the ice and make a connection. Second, ask for a link to your site, and say why. Third, tell them *exactly* where the link should go: give them the URL of the page you think the link should go on: "It would look great on your "Links to Cool Sites" page..." Then give them the simple HTML language for the link -- your "positioning line" -- and offer to send a graphical link button upon request. NEVER attach a link button to a linkletter without the person first requesting it. Is it necessary to ask permission from another host to link to his/her website? Okay, Katherine, No, you do not need permission to link to someone else's site. Don't let anyone dissuade you about that. IF someone is upset, they might ask you to remove the link, and courtesy dictates you comply. And they could sue you if they were mean, nasty people, but -- not speaking as an attorney -- I think the chances of losing damages in such a suit is slim -- unless you are perpetrating a fraud of some sort. Having a set of links to other sites on YOUR site will increase the likelihood of success with a linkage campaign. Many people will ask for a link back. Okay, thanks We have no moderator today, so please wait for me to type NEXT before asking your question. Thanks! Join us next week, same time, same place, when our topic will be Online Content Syndication. If you have questions, fire away. In the meantime, some theory. We talked about a linkletter -- what it should contain. Where do you get a site list? You can start your search at general directories such as Google, Yahoo, and especially DMOZ -- also called The Open Directory Project (www.dmoz.org). It is one of the best directories online, and rates top sites. So let's say you're in book publishing. Any time any trade customer or retail customer is looking for book publishers, you might want to be there. So you go to DMOZ and look for sites that catalog the book publishing industry. What you're really after is a great trade directory -- a specialized directory with links to every site that matters in book publishing. There is such a site on the Internet for any topic you can imagine: dog grooming, hamburger recipes, how to cut paper snowflakes, etc. I call such sites "SuperSites." Find the SuperSite, and your linkage campaign is made infinitely easier. In Book Publishing, it might be BookZone, or PMA Online, or Publishers Weekly, or Writers on the Web. Would one search engine be better to research to find a SuperSite? Shirley, DMOZ is the best search engine for finding SuperSites. Once you've found a SuperSite or two, they're much easier to use than search engines for the linkage campaign: you already have a perfectly groomed set of links to sites that matter in your industry. So you bookmark the supersite (add it to your favorites) and then go from site to site with your linkletter handy and anytime you find a Quality Site, you ask for a link. I'm taking any and all questions, whether about linkage or not. What makes a "Quality Site"? Well, it should be active (updated in the last two months). It should have a logical place to put your link. You need to be able to find contact information of the person you think controls site content. Is there someone in particular you should address the linkletter to? Katherine, sometimes there's a form on the site for making link requests, sometimes there's a special e-mail address, sometimes you can find the name of the content editor for the site in the About Us page or on the Advertise With Us page. A last resort is to send the linkletter to "webmaster@sitename.com" You might include in your linkletter a line asking for it to be forwarded to the person responsible for maintaining the links page. I have a set of links on my site, and I get about 10 linkletters a month. Maybe *one* follows good linkletter protocol. TIP: Include your name and phone number at the end of your linkletter. I always do, and just took it for granted. But a client recently told me she used to send anonymous linkletters and after seeing my instructions in my book, she started putting her name and phone number at the end of link requests and her response rate doubled. The response rate for these kinds of requests is about 20 to 25 percent. In a half day, you should be able to make 20 Quality Link Requests. The same person who started using her name in her linkletters told me that when she began her campaign, about 20 sites linked to hers. Within two months, she had 280 sites linking to her site and her site now appeared in the first page of Goggle results for key terms. She wasn't doing linkage fulltime, and her Google rank was the direct result of better linkage. thanks! Do you folks know how you can find out how many sites link to yours? The syntax is as follows: link:www.sitename.com -www.sitename.com If you use that phrasing at Google, it will show you a list of sites that link to yours -- excluding internal links from your own site. This little gem was in my newsletter, The Beautiful Plan, in April. At that time, there were 676 links to Seussville (the Dr. Seuss site) 35,000 links to randomhouse and 4.1 *million* links to Amazon. I consider the Amazon Associates program to be the greatest example of a linkage campaign. Ancillary links still account for "good" links, don't they? For example, dog books = dog grooming site links, pet product site links, etc. Not just other dog book links. Maybe not ancillary but complimentary. Shirley, Absolutely, ancillary links are important. Often, they're more important than what you call "standard links" The more focused the traffic, the better. One link off an America Online forum generates more web site traffic for me than all the search engines and directories combined. And it's better traffic -- more focused, they arrive knowing what I offer, and that's what they want. Please feel free to ask questions while I flog some more theory. It's important to TRACK your link requests. You can do this using Bookmarks or Favorites, and then annotate them with small descriptions. A good annotation should include: Date of link request, Area of site where you asked for link placement, Name & e-mail address of person you requested link from. You can then follow-up with dates of any actions taken. An example of an excellent Linkage Report is stored here in the Samples section of the site under Web Site Launch Campaign. There's also a Linkage Report template in the Templates area of the site. It's an HTML file, and will open in your web browser. But you can "save it as source" and use it as a template for your own campaigns. I just completed a campaign for a book called CAT BOOK. It's amazing how many sites there are online devoted to cat lovers -- there are thousands of them. Finding the good ones was tricky. I found 3 or 4 SuperSites, and used them for the duration of the campaign -- but I only scratched the surface. My client should make a commitment to approach at least 20 sites a month. That's four hours work each month and it's like compound interest, the way the results accumulate over time. Any questions? This is a quiet group today. You've placed the words "purchasing links" in your synopsis. Can you address this? I've just about exhausted my full knowledge of linkage, and we've got 10 minutes left. You don't want to talk about hurricanes, do you? Maybe I'll mention that Patron Saint Productions is relocating next week to larger offices. A change of address will go out soon. It's exciting, but I'm nervous about moving during a flood. Okay, back to linkage. You'll get a variety of responses to link requests. Most often, the response will be nothing -- a lot of sites just can't handle the e- mail they get. Sometimes you'll be solicited to advertise, and this is almost never a good idea. Better to trade links, offer content, or some other trade, than spend cash for links. Okay, that's what you mean by "purchasing links." Thank you. When you get a request for a link button, include the HTML language in your reply with the button graphic attached. TIP: Set up a separate e-mail folder for linkage requests and responses. You can even filter incoming e-mail to move linkage e-mail into that folder automatically. When listing the link on you website is it best to name the organization as well as give the URL or is the name enough? Katherine, I think the best format for a links page on your own site is to 1) name the site, 2) show the URL, 3) add a short site description. In other words, the linkage report from your own campaign makes a great list of links you can use on your own site with little tweaking. I also add a graphic for each link in the links section of my site. I like to give other sites branding, and it makes for easier recognition. Larry Chase has a new product: a CD full of marketing links. It's really very good and useful. Larry edits "Web Digest for Marketers." The CD is just an annotated bookmark list. But I like it that Larry tells you WHY a site is good. And usually every site has ONE THING that they just do better than anyone, and Larry tells you what that thing is. So when you're linking to other sites, tell people why, and lead them to that BEST THING the site does. Can you explain what branding is? Katherine, Branding means getting a little brand name penetration, or mind share. I think logos have a lot to do with branding -- more or less the visual component -- which is why you'll often hear me speak of branding in the context of getting the company name and logo out there. Publishers are terrible at branding. Write-ups for books are always focused on the author and the content. No one gives credit to the publisher for editing, design, packaging, distribution, etc. -- except in the trade press. Publishers really need to work on getting their own names out there. We'll talk more about that in the coming weeks. I have to go now and prepare for a visit from Hurricane Isidore. Thanks Steve Thank you all for joining me for one more week. Thank you. Best wishes to you. Thanks Steve Thank Steve, this was quite useful and helpful I'll be in boxes next week, but I should still make the chat come hell or high water, as they say. Thanks for all your expertise! Join us next week, same time, same place, when our topic will be Online Content Syndication. Good Day! __________________________________________________ ABOUT THE GUEST STEVE O'KEEFE wrote the book on Internet publicity Ð- literally. He is the author of the first book ever written about online publicity, the best-selling "Publicity on the Internet" (Wiley, 1997), an award-winning guide considered the Bible of the industry. That obsolete classic was replaced by Steve's newest book, "Complete Guide to Internet Publicity" (Wiley, 2002) -- his long-awaited magnum opus based on over 1000 campaigns. Steve pioneered many online marketing techniques which are now considered standard practice, including: * Web Site Registration Campaigns * Web Site Linkage Campaigns * E-Mail News Releases * Chat Tours STEVE O'KEEFE's writing has appeared in over 100 publications including The Wall Street Journal, Harper's, Internet World, PR News, Outside, Small Press, Salon, Curio, NetWorth, and HotWired. He is a member of the adjunct faculty at Tulane University where he teaches online publicity and public relations. Steve is Executive Director of Patron Saint Productions, Inc., a publishing consultancy specializing in online marketing strategy, campaigns, and training . __________________________________________________ ABOUT THE BOOK Complete Guide to Internet Publicity: Creating and Launching Successful Online Campaigns by Steve O'Keefe Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. (2002, ISBN 0-471-10580-5, 436 pages, softcover, $34.95) Available in most bookstores online and off. "Nobody knows more about making a splash on the Internet than Steve O'Keefe. And no book reveals better how to do it than this one." -- Fraser P. Seitel, Author of "The Principles of Public Relations" "Steve O'Keefe's book is, by far, the most comprehensive Internet publicity book available. It's a tool that any business owner or publicist needs to read to conduct an effective online PR campaign." -- Lorilyn Bailey, CEO, NewsBuzz.com "Complete Guide to Internet Publicity" is the bedrock reference book for designing and implementing online publicity campaigns. The book takes a "how-to" approach, with detailed instructions for planning the campaigns, creating the materials needed, launching the campaigns, dealing with any problems, and measuring the results. The instructions are highlighted with anecdotes culled from hundreds of campaigns conducted by the author and other Internet publicity professionals. Chapters include: 1. The Power of Internet Publicity 2. E-Mail News Releases 3. Online News Rooms 4. Discussion Group Postings 5. Newsletters and Direct Marketing 6. Chat Tours 7. Online Seminars and Workshops 8. Web Site Registration and Linkage 9. Contests and Other Fancy Promotions 10. Syndicating Your Promotions 11. Building an Online Publicity Operation "Complete Guide to Internet Publicity" is a goldmine for those people responsible for online publicity operations, whether as managers, professionals, instructors or students, including such professions as marketing, advertising, web site design & construction, e-commerce, direct marketing, and customer service. The book and companion web site both include templates for all the campaign materials described, and time-saving resources to help locate target audiences online. This book is essential to anyone charged with promoting a product, service, company, person, or web site. Order your copy today. Please join Steve O'Keefe for a free, open chat program about online publicity techniques. Chats are held every Tuesday afternoon from 4-5 p.m. Eastern Time at the Patron Saints Productions web site, http://www.patronsaintpr.com. __________________________________________________ Copyright ©2002 by Patron Saint Productions, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Please request permission before duplicating or distributing this document. For reprint permission, send mailto:permissions@patronsaintpr.com. Thank you. Chat Transcript Page 11 of 11 Copyright © 2002 ~ PATRON SAINT PRODUCTIONS, INC. ~ All Rights Reserved 741 Saint Philip St. #241 ~ New Orleans, LA 70116 U.S.A. ~ http://www.patronsaintpr.com Voice: (504) 586-9517 ~ mailto:info@patronsaintpr.com ~ Fax: (504) 586-9518 Copyright © 2002 ~ PATRON SAINT PRODUCTIONS, INC. ~ All Rights Reserved 741 Saint Philip St. #241 ~ New Orleans, LA 70116 U.S.A. ~ http://www.patronsaintpr.com Voice: (504) 586-9517 ~ mailto:info@patronsaintpr.com ~ Fax: (504) 586-9518