I can yell til I am blue in the face about the importance of optimizing your posts for the Search Engines, and I can scream until the cows come home about the incredible profitable relevance of researching and utilising the best possible key phrases in each and every article you write, but what’s the point in doing that when I can just show you why it’s important.
Anchors and Articles
The Anchor text that links to your site is one of the most important aspects of offpage Optimization – a point a brought up in a recent post ‘Show them you care with a bouquet of Keywords ‘ I have always made an effort to make sure that when I link internally I hyperlink ‘Keyword Research Blog’ because that is what I want to rank for. Mark from IceBlueBanana, being the complete and utter champion that he is grabbed this concept by the horns and now only links to me through ‘Keyword Research Blog’ which is only helping me.
The only true control we have over incoming link text is through Article Marketing. I will be posting an indepth guide to the how what and why of Article Marketing for Niche sites and for this blog in response to a lot of reader questions on the subject, but for now – know that I use Article Marketing to promote posts that I have made and want ranked.
Who’s ready to monetize?
Just under two days ago I posted my first Review on this site, The Keyword Research Pro Review’ and because this was the first real attempt at monetizing AlexWhalley.com I wanted to make sure it stood a chance to rank in the search engines – because Organic traffic is Targeted traffic, and targeted traffic buys stuff!
The first step in this process is to find the optimum Keywords to rank for, in this case it was simply Keyword Research Pro, so I optimised the post for the keyphrase, optimised the page, and then submitted about 50 articles to various sites using the keyword in the bio, thus creating an armada of keyword rich inbound links. This whole process took me 30 minutes maybe and this is the results after just over 24 hours.
I know I am still ranked 8th but the fact is that it has only been about 24 hours, I’m still on page 1 of Google out of more than 5 million results, and the best bit is that I am ranked above Fabian Lim, the guy who created the software! All this from using KRP, then about 30 minutes of work distributing Articles (let that secret out in an upcoming post), and a bit of smart onpage optimisation.
I am now in a position where hundreds of targeted visitors will find a very well written review on a product and decide whether to purchase. Granted a mailing list beats this any day of the week, but how easy was this for me to do? Rinse and repeat this process and it is almost impossible to not make affiliate sales.
What About Alex Whalley – the Keyword Research Blog
The other result I wanted to share was for my own main site and only recently have I jumped up like this, mainly because I have always made an effort to link ANYTHING pointing at my site with the key phrase ‘Keyword Research Blog’, and partly because of all the awesome bloggers out there who make an effort to do the same for me. Keep in mind that a lot of my posts are optimised for this phrase, and so there are a lot of ‘CommentLuv’ links and trackbacks with this phrase in the title.
Anyways, here I am on page 1 sitting at number 8 out of over 5 million results.
This is the power of Optimising posts and making an effort to link to yourself and others with the right Keywords. Do it consistently and you will be amazed at the results you can achieve.
Stay tuned for my upcoming eBook which will help you through the process of getting results like this yourself each and every time! (it is coming guys, I promise 
)
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{ 54 comments… read them below or add one }
Twitter: websitebegin
July 12, 2010 at 3:34 PM
SEO and keyword optimization is one of those things that I know I need to do and would love to do it, but don’t feel like doing. Kind of like sleeping. (
)
I’ve written about how SEO isn’t a waste of time, but I just don’t feel like doing my homework. I guess I will suffer until I start doing so. I have over 1700 backlinks, though… Is that a start?
Twitter: buildrankprofit
July 12, 2010 at 10:02 PM
Tsk Tsk young Joe.
LOL @ your sleeping comment, mind you I am jealous because you can sleep but choose not to. I have two young children so I don’t sleep either – it’s just not by choice. Damn you! LOL
1700 backlinks is better than nothing, unless that’s 1000 backlinks from your about page and 700 from your facebook page. (don’t laugh I have seen it)
How you been anyway mate?
Twitter: techwalls
April 1, 2011 at 3:21 AM
Hi Joe,
Long time not seeing you. What’s happening with your blog, I can’t access it now.
Btw, this is a good post, Alex. I also has a few keywords to optimize and when I publish more post with the key phrases, I can see my posts ranked higher on search engines now.
Tuan @ Tech Blog´s last [type] ..Essential Tasks after Installing WordPress
Twitter: markbell10
July 12, 2010 at 10:02 PM
Hey Alex,
This is a great post, and it has inspired me to pay more attention to my posts. I had just finished reading the second paragraph of your article when I took a pause to update your link on my site to the “Keyword Research Blog”, rather than “Alex Whalley” – every little helps!
I’m looking forward to your ebook. Have you a mailing list?
Mark Bell´s last [type] ..Word Press- Joomla- ModX CMS… What do I use
Twitter: buildrankprofit
July 12, 2010 at 10:17 PM
Hey Mark!
You’re a champion mate, I was only at your site a moment ago too. Every little bit does indeed help, so thankyou my friend, Sorry, I mean Mark Bell
NO mailing list yet, but will setup at the sametime as I build site to promote eBook.
Glad the post inspired you mate, keep it up – as I said over at your last post, when momentum builds, boy does it build!
Twitter: joshuanoerr
July 12, 2010 at 10:29 PM
Great results my friend! Looking forward to the new book. Sometimes I like to go back through old posts and give them a little SEO treatment for better search results. That way, instead of killing myself over it at the time of writing, I can sit down for an hour and focus completely on SEO.
It may seem like rework, but it actually works pretty well for me. Cheers!
Joshua Noerr´s last [type] ..5 Kick Ass Blogs I’m Reading-July 2010
Twitter: buildrankprofit
July 13, 2010 at 10:31 AM
Hey Joshua,
Thanks for the comments and feedback mate. THat is a great tip you gave too, I think treating the optimisation as a seperate part to the actual writing of the post is a really good way to approach it.
Awesome Advice man!
Twitter: icebluebanana
July 12, 2010 at 10:37 PM
Hey krb (short for ‘key research blog’) -
This is great & something that I am (slowly) learning about. Also, thanks for the glorious mention
It is amazing to me that you can submit “…50 articles to various sites…” in 30 minutes. You sir, are clearly smarter than me (granted, that does not guarantee that you are as smart as Einstein, but still). I am looking forward to learning about that.
Get that ebook done – you don’t need sleep anyway!
Have a great day!
mark´s last [type] ..How to Determine If You Use Your Time Wisely
Twitter: buildrankprofit
July 13, 2010 at 10:34 AM
KRB, the dyslexic russian FBI. I like it.
NO worries for the mention man, you ROCK for all that Keyword rich link love you keep sending my way!
Now that you think I am smart I don’t want to tell you how I submit the articles, because then you will realise I am not smart at all – hmmm, now I must go and pontificate…. (I just wanted to use that word in a sentence)
Twitter: TheJohnSoares
July 13, 2010 at 1:25 AM
Alex, congrats on the “keyword research blog” success in Google. I’ll keep that in mind when I link to you.
I’m looking forward to what you have to say about article marketing. I’ve focused so far on ezinearticles.com.
John Soares´s last [type] ..Free Podcast Interviews With Successful Bloggers
Twitter: buildrankprofit
July 13, 2010 at 10:23 AM
Hey John,
Thanks for stopping by and helping me with my long term link love. Awesome.
I will make an effort to link to you through Selling Information Products (I assume that’s what you want optimised?)
Just writing that article now actually, will probably post it later in the week.
Thanks again for your comments John, always a pleasure
Twitter: kruby
July 13, 2010 at 4:14 AM
Hi Alex,
Did I miss something? How the heck did you write 50 articles in 20 minutses? or was it the same article that you submitted to the sites to get the backlinks?
That’s pretty awesome that you are ranking higher than the guy who created the software! Obviously you know something that he doesn’t
Great tips here. I do some SEO on my articles, but not much. Is it worth going back to older articles and updating them with SEO? Would my rankings improve?
Karen
Karen´s last [type] ..100 Things That Make Me Happy
Twitter: buildrankprofit
July 13, 2010 at 10:30 AM
Hey Karen!
Ah ha, now that’s the million dollar question isn’t it.
I am going to write a post detailing the how and what of article marketing so you will find out then how I do it – let’s just say that I only write 3 articles and the rest are created like magic -lol
In relation to older posts, I think it’s not necessary to go and optimise them unless you are also going to add affiliate links to the end or Adsense to the post – remember that plug in we talked about?
THe only reason you want to optimise your posts is to get targeted traffic to the page. Granted we all want more subscribers, but generally speaking -Google visitors just want an answer quick, so if you can provide it then bingo -pay day.
Thanks for stopping by Karen
Twitter: jblack2012
July 13, 2010 at 5:18 AM
This is a great example of SEO Alex. It’s realy powerful that you can show your audience how you do this in just a day. Can’t wait to see what else you have up your sleeve.
-Joshua Black
The Underdog Millionaire
Joshua Black | The Underdog Millionaire´s last [type] ..5 Little Tools Every Entrepreneur Needs
Twitter: buildrankprofit
July 13, 2010 at 10:27 AM
Thanks Joshua,
Glad to get the backing from someone who actually knows what they are talking about
Awesome Underdog!
Twitter: LouisSelvon
July 13, 2010 at 9:14 AM
Hi Alex,
With 1,900 monthly global search sounds like a good target. And with the commenting showing on the url as well is bound to help the review to get some sales. Has it generated sales as yet ?
Keyword research blog with only 110 global monthly searches is a bit on the low end. I normally target minimum 500 global monthly searches. I have my own series of long tail that I will focus to my blog to get the organic flow going. Google is sending regular traffic to my sub domains on my blog. Need to focus on the direct url since I started the blog.
By the way for how long did you do blog hopping since you started this blog ?
Louis
Louis´s last [type] ..Article Marketing Automation Review – The Recommended Backlinking Tool For Internet Traffic Building From Search Engines
Twitter: buildrankprofit
July 13, 2010 at 10:26 AM
I have made one sale, and it is my second ever affiliate sale so I am pretty stoked. Only posted two days ago and already the ROI is awesome!
I am going to start pumping out the reviews from now on I think.
In regards to Keyword Research Blog having few searches, I don’t mind because I am still ranking for the phrase ‘keyword research’ within that longtail – you should know this Louis!
I have been blog hopping since April I think, yeah blog was about 6 weeks old when I attached the blogosphere headfirst.
Twitter: LouisSelvon
July 13, 2010 at 12:45 PM
Reviews help when you give an honest thumbs up. Yeah smart move as the practice is going for the long tail and then the big ones around the long tail will follow. The commenting will help with getting more sales from new visitors. Once you have a list, and you have built credibility, is where the serious money will then kick in. Keep up the good work.
Louis
Louis´s last [type] ..Article Marketing Automation Review – The Recommended Backlinking Tool For Internet Traffic Building From Search Engines
Excellent keywords. I love how fast Google is. SWEET! I also find myself tweaking old posts and adding in anchor links to newer posts. Those pages are already well spidered and page ranked so that works almost instantly as well. I’ve just started using Market Samurai for the past couple of weeks so it will be interesting to see what my keyword changes will do. Especially with straight HTML.
Twitter: buildrankprofit
July 17, 2010 at 6:22 PM
Thanks Richard – and in regards to Google – SWEET is certainly the word.
You make a good point about old pages being well indexed already so linking from them only helps the newer page.
Love to hear how you find Market Samurai btw.
Thanks for stopping by Richard. Awesome
Twitter: anna_haller
July 13, 2010 at 5:42 PM
Wow that’s very impressive to be #8 on the first page of Google within 24 hours, that just goes to show us that you know your stuff! I definitely need to do a better job at this and all of your tips will be very helpful for me. Thanks Alex!
Anna
Anna Haller´s last [type] ..Outsourcing Interviews Revealed
Twitter: buildrankprofit
July 17, 2010 at 6:22 PM
Hey Anna,
No worries at all, glad you enjoyed the post and as always, it is a pleasure to have you drop by and thank you for your comments
Quick question with all your results – did you check them with personal search switched off? I have been unable to see your success, so suspect it could be.
Rhys´s last [type] ..Social Media Day Manchester – smdaymcr – Thoughts
Twitter: buildrankprofit
July 14, 2010 at 7:14 AM
Hey Rhys,
Yeah I always remove the personalization but thanks for raising a good point about this process! Awesome mate cheers.
Nb: just checked and I’m ranked 14th now dammit! Lol that’s Google for you.
probably why I couldn’t see you then
Did a top 100 check and you were middle page 2.
Still good
Rhys´s last [type] ..Social Media Day Manchester – smdaymcr – Thoughts
I’m not sure why so many bloggers ignore the importance of keyword optimization. It’s like they really don’t want to succeed at all.
Great article Alex. Hopefully you’ll reach lots of resistant bloggers who will wise up about the need for keywords.
Blog Angel a.k.a. Joella´s last [type] ..Followers On Twitter Find The Ones That Really Matter
Twitter: buildrankprofit
July 14, 2010 at 5:10 AM
Hey Joella,
I’m with you on that one. It’s so easy to do and yet noone does it. Fine with me.
Glad you enjoyed the post, always nice to see you – which reminds me, I have not been to see you in a while…
Yes, Yes, and one more Yes.
I don’t know what else to add to this. I asked a blogger the other day if he did SEO and he said NO. What a liar, I found his articles on ezinearticles.com linking back with related keywords.
Why would a blogger that teaches blogging not tell his readers about this?
How sneaky is that?
Wilson´s last [type] ..Read My Interview with Mike Ziarko
Twitter: buildrankprofit
July 14, 2010 at 5:09 AM
Hahaha, Awesome Wilson!
Maybe this blogger did not know he was doing it, I mean everyone says to submit to Ezine but noone tells you why.
Thanks for your comments and for stopping by Wilson, glad you enjoyed the post
Twitter: LouisSelvon
July 14, 2010 at 5:35 AM
Well I do say why at my blog on my post on article marketing at EzineArticles. Let’s just say it seems just me and you seems to show results on things.
Louis
Louis´s last [type] ..Article Marketing Automation Review – The Recommended Backlinking Tool For Internet Traffic Building From Search Engines
Another great article that proves all the reasons why I should be doing something I don’t do. Coming to your blog is sort of like going to church
Seriously, you do a great job writing about this stuff. I stay interested and my eyes never glaze over at all. Plus, I always feel a bit guilty about my SEO slothfulness.
Jean Sarauer´s last [type] ..How to Avoid Blog Plateaus and Grow Your Blog Infinitely
Twitter: buildrankprofit
July 14, 2010 at 10:24 AM
Hey Jean,
That’s such an awesome comment! …like going to church..LOL! I mean really.
Now everyone repeat after me in a gregorian chant like manner : “I will Optimiiiiizzzzeeeee”
Glad that my writing in engaging enough to cover a mundane topic and keep the Jeanie interested.
Thanks again for your comments Jean
Twitter: danielsharkov
July 14, 2010 at 6:21 AM
I am yet to see how effective article marketing is for getting quality backlinks. At the moment the only article site I have used is Ezine, where I have just 2 live articles. I’m probably going to add some articles on Squidoo, which also seems like an effective method to get some backlinks.
Daniel Sharkov´s last [type] ..Histats – Free Real Time Traffic Counter and More
Twitter: buildrankprofit
July 14, 2010 at 7:18 AM
Hey Daniel, if you only have two articles published then of course you are yet to see it’s effectiveness.
Isn’t this post the proof you need? It’s not about posting to article directories anyway… All will be revealed in an upcoming post.
Thanks for stopping by Daniel
Twitter: LouisSelvon
July 14, 2010 at 7:42 AM
Am waiting to see on this one so that I can compare. I still get decent traffic from ezinearticles.com on top of SE as well. I did notice the drop in your ranking. You will get a fast burst initially, and then eventually the site will settle. The top 10 for this keyword have a few sites < 50 inbound links. You should be able to go up again.
Louis
Hi Alex,
Some fantastic ideas for me here on this post…many thanks mate.
Your listing in the Big G at position 8 from so many competing sites is bloody awesome!
By using less competitive long tail key words for our Thai silk website we have been successful in first page ranking…but this is definitely NOT the case for this little bunny’s blog. My only ranking is for my surname despite the fact I have in excess of 1200 back links to my blog. Obviously not many from high PR sites.
My challenge Alex is to decide exactly where I want to go with my blog…as I do not intend to stay in the IM niche. My niche research is shown me some really interesting micro-niche opportunities but I have to finalise that before I can do any keyword optimisation.
Thanks again Alex …I always go away from your blog with lots of creative ideas as well as a sense of fun!
Peter Beckenham´s last [type] ..Are You Getting Enough Traffic
Twitter: buildrankprofit
July 15, 2010 at 9:51 AM
Peter,
Once again you have taken the cake for the best comment, both for constructive feedback and unintentional ego stroking!
Awesome mate! Especially because I finally have a ‘bloody awesome’ in my comments thread – THAT is bloody awesome LOL!
Glad you enjoyed the post and found it entertaining and valuable Peter. It is interesting that you do not want to stay in the IM niche, more so because you want to take your blog to another niche.
Maybe make your blog a hub for learning about how to find your niche and build from that, that way you keep the higher pagerank you have and can use it to boost the rank of the new niche site or sites that you build in future.
Anyway – good luck with it all Peter, talk soon
Twitter: Craig_Sowerby
July 15, 2010 at 8:15 AM
Hi Alex,
It just shows that SEO is important. Many bloggers/marketers are uneducated or just don’t really bother. This post has made me really look at my site on past post’s and articles that I have submitted.
Cheers
Craig
Craig´s last [type] ..Put Your Email Marketing On Auto Pilot By Using An Auto responder
Twitter: buildrankprofit
July 15, 2010 at 9:44 AM
Craig,
Exactly right my friend SEO is such an integral part of being online and yet it is largely ignored, glad you found value in the post and that it has called you to action.
Thanks for stopping by and commenting Craig
Twitter: slcroft
July 16, 2010 at 10:17 AM
Hey Alex,
Awesome post again and nice job in getting ranked on page 1. Anchor text is another concept that I have got to grasp and use more if I want to make an headway. Still, the more I read on the subject (from your blog of course) the more I learn.
Cheers
Simon
Twitter: buildrankprofit
July 17, 2010 at 10:19 AM
Simon,
Thanks mate, glad you are getting value from this blog and that you see the importance of anchor text. Another good point about it is using it makes you get noticed even more.
Thanks again for the comments Simon
Twitter: Aljakula
July 17, 2010 at 9:55 AM
it was very interesting to read.
I want to quote your post in my blog. It can?
And you et an account on Twitter?
Twitter: buildrankprofit
July 17, 2010 at 6:25 PM
Go for it Vera (or should I say Da!
), Glad you enjoyed the post, obviously Google translate works well 
Twitter: websiteweekend
July 18, 2010 at 12:49 AM
I’ll link back to you no problem. You’re definitely on to something here.
I also like that your using categories in your permalink. Bit of controversy about that one.
Dave Doolin´s last [type] ..Are you blogging or web logging Is there a difference
Twitter: buildrankprofit
July 19, 2010 at 11:31 AM
Hey Dave,
Cheers mate, much appreciated.
Controversy over the categories in the permalink hey? Never heard of that one before
Very informative and interesting Alex. I came visiting because you are number 5 on Sally Neill’s list of Top 10 Blogs. I already have Market Samurai for keywords (although I don’t actually use it yet)
………..Your blog is definitely worth visiting, so expect me back soon. 
John
Twitter: buildrankprofit
July 19, 2010 at 11:34 AM
G’day John,
Glad you hopped over from Sally’s top ten blog and even more so that you enjoy the content and commented as such. Awesome mate.
I used MS a while back and did not like it but I am thinking of getting it again just so I can compare the two – I am the keyword research blogger after all
Thanks so much for your awesome feedback, hope to see you again soon John
Twitter: stanmyoung
July 20, 2010 at 2:18 PM
Hey Alex
I guess I will start off by saying I don’t no much about all this stuff! But on the brief overview that I have read you certainly have my attention. Thanks for educating me on the things I need to do for key word optimisation on my blog. It is impressive that you are ranking higher than the guy who invented the software. I am interested how you and others are linking to sites through your blog articals. Thats how I found you!
I look forward to your further installments.
Stan Young´s last [type] ..I wish there were No Problems!
Twitter: buildrankprofit
July 20, 2010 at 11:03 PM
G’day Stan,
First off, thank you for the awesome feedback and I am glad that you are learning about the most important aspect of any online marketing endeavour!
I love that I am ranking higher than the creator of the software! (still am too)
In regards to how I am linking to other articles, what particularly do you mean, and just out of curiousity – how did you find me Stan?
Thanks again for stopping by and commenting mate, hope to see you around.
Twitter: trendyblog
July 26, 2010 at 1:06 AM
It does take time to build up good off-page optimization, but it is well worth it. I find that leaving comments and writing guest posts are both good as well as writing articles. Not every single link has to be your keyword, but having a good range is good as well I think.
There are plenty of CommentLuv blogs out there that can help you out with long tail keywords as well from your blog posts. I find it one of the best plugins ever made and it is a champion for me and also bring more people to add to the conversation on every blog post.
Aaron´s last [type] ..blogReaction Introduces Revenue Sharing on Free Blogging Platform
Twitter: buildrankprofit
July 27, 2010 at 11:43 AM
Hey Aaron,
Ummm, yeah.
SOrry, your comment is perfect in its own right, can’t really add anything except, I TOTALLY AGREE and think you have the perfect balance working for you.
PS: What is with your blogreaction site? is it a hosted blog that you get part of or is it yours and you host out? I am confused – it’s not too clear, certainly covers EVERYTHING but not enough direction for my little brain to get around.
Thanks again for stopping by and adding this awesome comment man
Thanks for the article. I am new at all this and reading as much as I can about it.
Hi Alex,
I have a question about internal anchor text linking. I am using a sitewide navigation “home” to link back to my home page, which I am targeting my major keyword in my homepage landing page. Since I am using a sitewide navigation to link back to my home page, should I still use link back to my homepage with keyword anchor text within other pages? I see articles before that said only the first anchor text count (which it’s the “home” in the navigation bar), the second anchor text will not count if linking to the same page. How should I better to optimize my main keyword by linking back to the homepage?
Thanks,
Twitter: buildrankprofit
January 2, 2011 at 9:09 PM
Good question Ken,
The Home anchor text you refer to is your nav bar I assume, and in this case the tags in the header are read in place of the actual word home – in regards to how Google reads your Homepage anyway.
The anchor text you use in each post is still great for SEO as each post is its own page – and therefore the more pages you have pointing to your home page with the right anchor text – the better off you will be.
I think once you hit 100 or so links then you start to lose the overall value of them, but that’s a long way off I assume.
Thanks for stopping by
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