Smart strategies for identifying and controlling fresh links

The growth of URLs can be unruly. This statement can be best proved if you observe enterprise level websites. Links pop up from all over, even if your content is great. And when many users are attacking one link, its value does not remain. Almost every site experiences these issues.

You may not notice useful links while unknowingly be pointing at links that do not even exist. Getting lost in the maze of a website is quite easy! Let us now discuss how you can handle your website puzzle in a smart and effective manner.

Quickly going after new links

Search engines do not let you get your hands on each and every link they know about. You have to make some effort and chase links that have not been reported.

Those who provide backlink data:

Backlink providers have a section that reports new and fresh links. These reports are very helpful as they leave a whole lot of new links on the plate for you to explore. Copy these links onto your spreadsheet and explore them.

Webmaster Tools

Some interesting link data can be found from these

Linkody

This is an interesting and unexplored tool that allows you to monitor links as well as find new links that Google Analytics has referred to.

Fresh Web Explorer

This search engine allows for searching keywords as well as mentions of your brand. Links found here are unique because they are usually not listed in the fresh links report.

A slower, yet advanced approach to chasing new links

Referral report of Google Analytics

A simple way of identifying fresh links is to look at your referral data. Just one click is all you need for gathering years of referrals. It involves a time consuming task of scraping links from emails but it is definitely worth the effort.

Error Reports

Analyze your 404 error reports and go to the “linking from” tab. Here you can find old links and retain their value.

Scrutinize your master list of links

Now that you have collected links from all over, there is a high possibility that many of these links are dead. It could be due to an obsolete website, a penalized website or it could even be because the tools you used have outdated indices! You now have to check each and every link on your spreadsheet to make sure it is a valuable one. Online tools are available to make this task a wee bit simpler for you.

Attach valuable metrics

Metrics attached to your huge list of links will inspire you to take action. Upload and store the links into your preferred link manager. It could be an online tool or a simple Excel sheet. Use a URL profiler to copy the metrics of your links onto your master sheet as well.

Seal the deal!

Imagine that your links are opportunities for better business. Be informed that small links are useless while relevant links are of utmost importance. Also, for modern day SEO, digital relationship building is a prime focus. Accordingly, you should optimize your link profile and control you links, or rather opportunities, to the benefit of your business.

Sort your links list in order of most favourable metrics and search for opportunities.

If you find links from high authority domains, track the source and begin a conversation with the author.
If links have incorrect information and if they are fresh links, the author will probably respond better to your suggestion email. Grab this opportunity to get the author to add information relevant to your field of business.
Identify links that are included in a conversation and involve yourself to add more to the content. You could end up making that link more valuable.
Do you observe a trend in content that attracts more links? Follow that path and add some fresh content of that kind.
If you spot any content that has been re-published, contact the webmaster and ask if he would like some original posts.
If you come across new sites, find out if the webmaster would want you as a columnist in his site.

These strategies are a great approach to having leverage over fresh links. It is advisable to complete this process every quarter if you want to keep up with the fast-paced nature of the online world.