Assignment 8, Bootcamp #5 - Backlinks Report

[JaJeJems]

Hi Fairy C nice to hear from you!  Thanks for pointing out the error in my link - yikes already had to change it once.  Oh well guess that is how we learn.  I have my second blog post done and it is ready to be published today I hope.  I have double checked the links this time!

Admin,  I had another question, really just a review.  Did you tell us that it is better not to do a lot of guest posts from the same site?  I think that I remember that from our earlier assignments.  Just asking because my first guest post host mentioned the opportunity to blog regularly on their site.  If it is not a benefit I would rather spend the time elsewhere.

[JaJeJems]

Second guest blog published today http://www.birtlebeadstudio.com/news/

[iCraft Admin]

Nice post, JaJeJems!
Ideally, URLs should be placed higher on the page, but if not possible, the author section at the bottom is fine too.

[iCraft Admin]

Yes, JaJeJems, it's better to generate links from as many unique domains as possible. So for you there is more benefit doing guest blogging on different sites, than on the same site.
The only benefit of guest blogging on the same site is if that site has a huge readership and you gain a lot of fans there. You'd have to be a pretty good writer for that too.

Admin,  I had another question, really just a review.  Did you tell us that it is better not to do a lot of guest posts from the same site?  I think that I remember that from our earlier assignments.  Just asking because my first guest post host mentioned the opportunity to blog regularly on their site.  If it is not a benefit I would rather spend the time elsewhere.

[iCraft Admin]

Hi Fairy Cardmaker,

Every service has its own ranking system. As you said, just compare it to your previous rank and keep improving it.

I find the Ahref site hard to read.  It gives me a rank but I don't know how that compares to an "optimal" rank.  I suppose the goal is just to keep improving your own rank.

It's ok to guest post on multiple blogger blogs. Google and other search engines know how those platforms work, so they will not count those posts as if they are all coming from the same site. However, as with anything that comes to SEO, variety is the key. So try to mix things up and create backlinks from different platforms and domains too.

Question: Is it okay to guest post on multiple blogger blogs?  Or would it be better to target multiple platforms like Wordpress and Typepad also?

[iCraft Admin]

So here are my thoughts on everyone's backlink reports. I'll post them one by one, as I have to review all the data for each store individually.

First review is for Fairy Cardmaker

• You have too many backlinks with the anchor text "Fairy Cardmaker". That looks unnatural and l'd worry about this one.  
  You need to work on adding more backlinks with a variety of anchor text, related to your primary ( "hand made greeting cards") and secondary keywords (can't remember now) that we chose for your store in previous Bootcamps.
  
  Your backlinks profile should be something like this:
  - hand made greeting card
  - hand made greeting cards
  - handmade greeting cards  
  - Handmade Birthday cards and more
  - Fairy Cardmaker (you already have enough backlinks for this one)
  - my iCraft store
  - my cards store
  - click to see my handmade cards
  - https://icraftgifts.com/fairy-cardmaker
  - My latest handmade Xmas cards
  etc
  
  The variety of anchor text is very important. Some more optimized, some less optimized. Overall that looks more natural to Google.
  However, you can always have your primary keywords placed close to the anchor text and repeat them throughout the body of the articles. All that would still give Google a signal that all you do is related to "hand made greeting cards" and you should start seeing a boost in ranking for that and other related terms with each new backlink.
  
  
• You have something like 800 backlinks, but all from a handful of referring domain ~16 . The number of referring domains should be much higher with that many backlinks.
  
  
• You had majority of links to your iCraft store from your own blog. Now the number of referral domains went up, since the beginning of this Bootcamp. That's a good thing. Just keep adding more links regularly from a variety of domains related to "hand made greeting cards", handmade and crafts in general. Variety is the key!
  
  
• I didn't see backlinks from popular social media sites, like Twitter, FB, Google + or Pinterest. Social signals are part of search engine's algorithm now, so I'd add a few backlinks from those sites regularly as well. If you have no time to post manually, simply setup auto feeds for your product updates, once a day or so. That should be enough!

[iCraft Admin]

Here is my review for Jewelry by Kat.

Since for some strange reason, we couldn't get any data on Kat's store from Google, I had to use other services, like Majestic SEO and ahrefs.com to get some baklinks data.

• Similar problem here, as with Fairy Cardmaker's backlinks profile. Not enough variety of anchor text in backlinks. Most backlinks have "Jewelry by Kat" anchor text. So you need to add a lot more keywords and phrases in your anchor text related to your primary keyword ("Beaded charm bracelets", if I remember it correctly)
  
  Here are some ideas for the anchor text for you, Kat:
  - Beaded charm bracelets
  - beaded cha cha bracelets
  - beaded handmade bracelets
  - handmade bracelets made of beads
  - beaded earrings & necklaces
  - my handmade store for beaded bracelets
  - my iCraft store for beaded jewelry
  - Beaded charm bracelets, necklaces (and more)
  - https://icraftgifts.com/jewelry-by-kat
  - click to see more of my beaded jewelry
  - click to see my latest beaded creations
  - buy this beaded charm bracelet (in my iCraft store)
  - Jewelry by Kat (stop using this phrase in your anchor text for now until you add more variety to your link profile)
  etc...
  
  Words in brackets can be outside of the anchor text.
  It's important to check how your link profile looks over time to make sure it has enough variety of keywords in anchor text, while at the same time still maintaining all important keywords.
  
  
• You have one backlink with "blog by Jewelry by Kat" anchor text pointing to your iCraft store. That's a wrong anchor text and will only confuse search engines. So make sure you link with the Keywords that indicate that this is a store and not a blog. 
  
  
• You have only 5-6 different referring domains right now (those that I can see reported). Try to increase that number and check it again in a couple of months. With 2-3 backlinks from different domains per months, you could double that number in 2 months.
  
  
• The good thing is that all reports indicate the the number of backlinks and referring domains went up dramatically since the beginning of this Bootcamp. This means all the work you've done was counted as positive. Just keep working on adding more backlinks from a variety of domains related to crafts, handmade and beaded jewelry.

[iCraft Admin]

I'll add 2 more reviews for JaJeJems and Red Rock Designs next, as well as Next Steps and a summary of Backlinks Best Practices. So stay tuned!  

[iCraft Admin]

This is a review for JaJeJems

• Only 3 referring domains reported by ahrefs and majesticseo, though Google reports 12. That's still very low. Try to increase that number every month by at least 3. That's only 3 new links from 3 different domains.
  
  
• You have a bit more variety in your anchor text - 5 different Keywords. However, words like "Picture" are not related and you don't use even single time word "Seaglass". You should use it a lot more in your anchor text, as that's what your store is optimized for.
  
  Here are some anchor text suggestions for you:
  - Seaglass Jewellery
  - Our Seaglass Jewellery collection
  - Beach Glass Charms
  - Seaglass pendants and Bracelets
  - Our Seaglass Jewellery Store (on iCraft)
  - Visit our iCraft store (full of Seaglass Jewellery, Beach Glass Charms etc)
  - https://icraftgifts.com/jajejems
  - Click to view my Jewelry store
  - My latest Seaglass creation
  
  Words in brackets can be outside of the anchor text.
  It's important to use "Seaglass Jewelry", as you want to be found in search for this term. However, we can't overuse the same term. That's why we mix things up and bit, but still keeping it close to the theme of  "Seaglass Jewelry".
  
  
• Your backlinks went up since the beginning of the Bootcamp, but the overall number of backlinks is still pretty low - 12 reported by 1 service, 73 by another, 124 by Google.

[iCraft Admin]

Here is the review forRed Rock Designs:

• Google reports more links than any other service, however the only variety of anchor text in backlinks is associated with the single frugalmommy's blog post. All other links use "Red Rock Designs" as the anchor text. So you need to diversify anchor text a lot more going forward.
  
  Here are some anchor text suggestions for you:
  - chainmaille jewelry
  - handmade chainmaille jewelry
  - chainmaille bracelets and necklaces
  - chainmaille earrings and keychains
  - my latest chainmaille creations
  - Visit my iCraft store (full of chainmaille bracelets, necklaces etc)
  - https://icraftgifts.com/red-rock-designs
  - Click to view my chainmaille Jewelry store
  - elegant and versatile chainmaille jewelry
  - unisex chainmaille jewelry
  - Byzantine bracelets
  - chainmaille jewelry for Mother's Day
  - Xmas chainmaille collection
  - chainmaille jewelry for casual wear
  etc.
  
  
• One way to diversify your anchor text is to ink to Custom Collections, Product Categories or to Holiday/Occasions list displayed on the left within your store.
  Those links, like this one https://icraftgifts.com/red-rock-designs/by-holiday-2667/#products for Mother's Day Jewelry sends users directly to a sub-set of your products, yet it still counts as part of your store backlink. So when you link to those sections of your store, you can use anchor text like "Mother's Day Chainmaille Jewelry" or "Chainmaille Bridal Jewelry". The variations are endless.
  
  
• Google reports 8 referring domains for your store. Other services report 1 or 2. Either way, that's a very low number. You need to improve it by 2-3 each month to see any difference.

Hope this helps!

[Fairy Cardmaker]

Thanks for this thorough report.

For all of us, it seems, we need more volume, more variety (of both key words and source domains).  I have an idea for us to help each other, but I don't have time to flesh it out right now.  I'll let it percolate.

I'm not sure where I can get more sources.  I was fairly unsuccessful finding sites related to greeting cards with which I would like to be associated.  I'll guess I'll just keep my eyes open.

[JaJeJems]

Thanks again admin for giving us so much information and assistance.  I can see that there is lots to work on!  Good luck fellow bootcampers, and please keep in touch!  Count me in Fairy C if you come up with a plan!

[iCraft Admin]

Glad you guys found this Bootcamp useful and learned something new.

Fairy Cardmaker,
You don't have to choose only cardmaking sites or blogs. Any site related to crafts or handmade will do, and there are millions of those.
Also, I think working as a group to promote each others store is a smart idea, especially when it comes to social media promos. So I hope you all will keep in touch and brainstorm ideas together in the future.

[Red Rock Designs]

I too enjoyed this Bootcamp...learned lots.  I definately do need to improve on my backlinks.  Admin, thanks for the backlinks review and suggestions.  I know I have lots of work to do on building a customer base and gaining /keeping followers. 

Fairy C, I'm in on your plan as well.

[Fairy Cardmaker]

This isn't the plan, but I thought I would share.  I just submitted a guest post here.  You guys can too:

http://www.madebyhandshow.ca/guest-blog-for-mbhs/#more-1047