Assignment 8, Bootcamp #5 - Backlinks Report

[iCraft Admin]

Kat and Fairy Cardmaker, could you please post your thoughts on backlink reports?

[JaJeJems]

Yes admin I see what you are saying about anchor text!  I thought I knew that!  It's all about applying what you learn I guess and you are right about this not being an easy topic.

[Jewelry by Kat]

Sorry I did not do assignment completely  been in the hospital.  I have noticed that guest blogs and  reviews get a lot of activity

[JaJeJems]

Gosh Kat I hope you are ok!  Take care!

[iCraft Admin]

Hope you are feeling better, Kat! I was wondering why I don't see more posts from you. Take care and don't worry about the assignments.

[iCraft Admin]

Fairy Cardmaker, I am going to wait till end of this week for your report, before I post my recommendations and then a summary for this Bootcamp. Hope you are doing ok and just busy with work.

[JaJeJems]

My first guest blog http://www.cravehandmade.com/featured/lampwork.  They only allowed a link in the bio.  Thought you might see that I have been continuing in with my homework.  I have another guest blog to do for the end of the month.

[JaJeJems]

I know this is a bit late but I was just reviewing one of my reports and noticed that I had 179 backlinks from a site that I didn't remember so I had a look and I had made a comment on one of their blogs!  I guess that was worth the few words that I said.  I can see the value in checking out other people's reports.  Here is the site https://nelsongemstones.com/gemstone-beads

[iCraft Admin]

Hi JaJeJems,

No, it's not too late to post your questions. I still didn't post my summary report on this Bootcamp (hopefully this week!), so pls keep asking questions, if you have more.

As for your last post - If you left 1 comment on the external site, it would create 1 backlink to your page, not 179 backlinks. So I'd look closer at why you see that many backlinks from that domain.

Congrats on the guest blog! ...However, I don't see a link to your store there, only to your personal site/blog. You can promote your blog with backlinks, but only if the page you link to has a direct link to your store. That would indirectly help your store. But if you link to any blog pages, that doesn't help your store.
The whole idea with backlinks is that you create them strategically, always aiming at promoting 1 particular page. Linking to random blog and product pages doesn't hurt, but doesn't really help either.

[JaJeJems]

Thanks admin, maybe I am reading that report wrong.  I really wondered how that was possible!

[JaJeJems]

By the way I ask Crave to change the link to my icraft store which I will try to do from now on.  I was hoping hey would publish both.

[iCraft Admin]

JaJeJems,

If you see URLs of those 179 backlinks, try clicking on them. Are all of them taking you to the same page where you see your comment? Sometimes dynamic URLs counted multiple times because of the parameters they pass in it, though it's still the same page that they are all linking too.

[JaJeJems]

Ahhhh, I see what you mean!

[Fairy Cardmaker]

Sorry I have been MIA.  I am healthy - just tough juggling a duo career as I am half in client services and half in internal education and template building within the firm.  Those two aspects have offseasons that are opposite, so working in both arms means I have no more offseason.  But I like the education and template stuff, and that is the summer work, so I'm not complaining!

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.

The site I'm surprised I don't see is .... uh it's gone.  It was where I did my first ever guest post and it used to show up in my blog stats.  But it's gone.  Oh well!

By far, I find that guest posting is the best way to build back links.  I think the overall message is to get links in to your store from as many different places as possible while ensuring:
- those are relevant sources - not necessarily *related* but at least relevant
- the anchor text incorporates your keywords, including appears in context with good keywords or your shop name.

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?

JaJe, I like that your article shows more than one way to solve a problem.  Great thinking!
I do notice, however, at the very bottom, the button that says "website" is linking to iCraft Gifts home page and not your particular shop.

Kat, I hope you are on the mend!

P.S. My second guest post never got published and now it is no longer time relevant.  I have a feeling the other blogger did not quite understand the request.  Oh well, I can keep looking for other avenues.

[iCraft Admin]

Hi Fairy Cardmaker,

Glad to hear you are ok. Thanks for posting your final report. Great questions too!
I'll now summarize my notes and post them shortly.