Pubcon is always a fun time. We learn more by meeting people at private parties and the expo hall than we do going to the actual conference. That’s true every year. In fact, the actual conference only has a few good takeaways and most of those you can find on Twitter. That being said, here’s what you would have discovered at Pubcon.
Affiliates
Where the hell are the affiliates? There has been a major shift. We knew it hit us, but it turns out it really hit everyone in all different markets. This picture was taken in a session for affiliates. We’ve been receiving calls from other big affiliate players who had their commissions cut, trademark domains seized, etc. After the webinar, Larry posted in our group:
to give example from yesterdays call, got this email just now,
” This is a notice to inform all of our affiliates that effective November 18th, we will no longer allow bidding on any combination of our trademark with the keyword coupon, or any variation of these keywords (as an example, “trademarkname coupons”). Please update your campaigns appropriately to avoid any problems.”
Affiliate marketing is changing in a big way. It’s all about media buys, branding, owning a funnel, etc. You can’t rely on coupons in 2014. You must change your model so that you are in control. You can still do that with SEO, even ranking coupon or reviews terms and hijacking them – but it has to be intelligent.
One speaker at Pubcon made a comment regarding merchants and affiliates, (paraphrasing) ‘you want to scrub enough sales so that your numbers go up but keep the affiliate just happy enough to keep sending traffic.’ That’s painful to hear, but our attitude is that people aren’t against you, they are for themselves. The faster you can accept that, the better off you will be.
Popular Topics
We are going through all of the presentations from Pubcon and will post the best takeaways over the coming weeks. But the hot topics in 2013 were:
- HTML5 & CSS
- SEO
- E-Commerce
- Tools
- Hummingbird
All of these sessions were packed. Most were standing room only. The information quality in them? Some presentations were decent, most were a joke. It was hilarious how many examples of “safe” link building took hits in rankings. There was one tool that everyone should start using today, follow.net. Use it.
Things We Learned
Algorithm vs. Infrastructure Change
We understood Hummingbird wasn’t an algorithm change, but we didn’t know that it was machine learning. That’s a game-changer for Google. We now have an algorithm that can think for itself. That’s awesome and scary at the same time. There are some parts of Hummingbird that are triggered like an algorithm, specifically when BaconRank kicks in, but the overall process makes sense. However it is overly sensitive to question and answer-type posts.
Webmasters Are Paranoid and Naive
Everyone is desperate for links that won’t be penalized. The reality is there is no such thing as safe link building. It’s all about “quality content” and however Google will adjust those dials in the future.
Real Company Shit
The wild west days are over. You have to grow up and do things a real company would do. We’ve been preaching RCS since last year, but the consensus at Pubcon was overwhelming: you need a real company.
Affiliate Marketing Is Dying (Changing)
Real companies will accept affiliates who offer a large email blast, or driving massive traffic on Facebook, or being featured on a major website. They will partner with people to run their Facebook and media buying campaigns. But the average affiliate marketing channels for ranking a few keywords? That’s going to die off in a significant way. You can’t rely on coupons or reviews in 2014. If your business model relies on using a trademark keyword, you need to change it now.
TLA Comeback?
Yes. With relevance so strong, and contextual links being so important, TLA has made a comeback. They are now known as MediaWhiz. Several members have asked us in email and the group about how to go about getting these links.
MediaWhiz
Who do I talk to?
You can contact our long-time friend, David Stellato directly: dstellato@mediawhiz.com
Let him know we sent you to get the discount. He also said you can use the code “jwest” at checkout to get the discount.
Which type of links do I need?
The two best types in their set right now are ‘webmaster outreach’ and ‘content marketing’. Go with content marketing. Talk to David about your needs, he will make sure you are taken care of. We have our guide on webmaster outreach in the grey hat section. When he sends you a proposal listing the different tiers of links and pricing, it’s really up to you. Remember it’s unnatural to have all PR5 links to your site so the cheaper tier may be the way to go.
Why should I not use this?
You must have a quality branded site for this. You do not want turn-and-burns. This is a slow and steady ranking process. It will look natural this way. David will tell you if your site won’t fit with this plan. But this is the direction we are moving in with our long-term sites, and we highly advise you do too.
How many do I need to buy?
Go slow and steady. It screws up their content team if you order 45 links in a month, then order 45 links 3 months later. If that’s your budget, order 15 a month. Go with what works for you, this is a long race. If you start now, your competitors won’t be able to catch up easily. Plus their content team can plan great placements for you over the long run that you wouldn’t normally catch.
Where do these links need to go? What kind of anchor texts?
It’s best to let David decide. He knows how we like to buy them, but ultimately he knows what is natural. Having links go to the homepage and the money page and nowhere else? That’s fishy. Let him distribute them as they see fit. If you have a blog section with ‘celebritized’ news? He will pull that into the link building. He will make sure you are taken care of for the long haul.
Were these domains hit by Google’s sting?
Start thinking RCS. Rephrase your question. “Were these publishers penalized for selling links?” No. Blogrolls were hit. That was a fraction of their inventory. They have a big range of relevant publishers that you would be proud to have links on.
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