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Using Twitter For Link Building

Eric Ward illustrates

By · April 21, 2009 · 117 Comments
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Links on Twitter are already nofollowed and most are shortened anyway by a shortener. What use can Twiitter be for link building? Link building Eric Ward says the site is perfect for finding niche experts.

It’s not about huge amounts of followers or traffic spikes. You can get that kind of traffic from Digg. But the advantage of Twitter, says Ward, is that people specific to an industry are out there, findable on Twitter.

So if you specialize in little plastic doohickeys they put on shoestrings, irrelevant traffic is not what you’re after. At Search Engine Land, Ward explains how a message that begins as a tweet ends up as a link from a highly trusted website:

 

A few weeks ago I announced a new site via URLwire, and whenever I do this I set up several alerts/trackers to see where mentions/links show up.  I also set up a Twitter search for that new URL….the new site I announced has been tweeted or re-tweeted by seven people…I discovered all of them were health experts in one form or another.  Also, all of them had several hundred followers (one had 780), and a quick check of a few dozen of those showed some overlap (expected) as well as frequent health URL tweets.  In other words, I’d found a loose community of several thousand collective Twitterer’s who had shared news about a new web site URL.

 

One of those re-tweets came from a librarian at a med school web site, who did one more thing with that URL. She added a link to it from the med school web site she’s in charge of editing.  What started to her as a tweet ended as a permanent link from her high trust web page.

 

What’s even better about that is that earned link was a free, organic one, the best kind. No manipulation, no buying, no trading. And that one very trusted link is likely to outweigh many links (however they’re gotten) from not-so-trusted websites.

 

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There are 117 Comments. Add Yours.

  1. Interesting stuff, although it’s just like any other social thing online. You could probably get those same results from Facebook, a blog, Digg, or any other social media site for that matter.

    Reply
  4. Like (0) Dislike (0)
    Guest

    About mobile cell phones. Reviews and specifications, manuals. New games reviews. Codes and other services

    Reply
  5. Like (0) Dislike (0)
    Hicham

    As a microbloggoing tool, I see twitter plays a good role for social interaction so you can have new visitors; i.e. more readership thank linking which came after that from your visitors if they are interested

    Reply
  6. Like (0) Dislike (0)
    Cielo

    Interesting….. well site like tweetmeme is awsome thing. Let’s tweet some hot stories.

    Reply
  7. Like (0) Dislike (0)
    abby

    very interesting information!
    here I have another good share:
    tradestead
    there are many kinds of beautiful and lovely consumer electronics that I like it very much!

    Reply
  8. Like (0) Dislike (0)
    Eric

    Great article!
    Don’t you think that it is one in a millions thing that someone gets an organic backlink from twitter?

    Reply
  9. Like (0) Dislike (0)
    The System

    Just say something interesting and you can have loads of people and companies in your niche following you, and consequently the possibility to generate loads of links to your site. Visit http://www.twitter.com/paulmoran

    Reply

  10. If the links on twitter are nofollowed and you don’t get a lot of traffic from twitter, then why are some many companies using it then. They have to be getting enough traffic to keep using it.

    Reply
  11. Like (0) Dislike (0)
    Trader X

    I have read some stuff lately that the search engines do look at no follow links and add them into the mix – several people have tried experiments with nofollow links and seeing if you can get traffic – same with PR0 websites – are 50 or 100 PR0 links better than 5 PR7 links etc.

    The general commentary is that the engines (Google) does find those links but does not count them as a backlink explicitly because they are nofollow – its more of a measure of general interest in a site and gets worked into the mix somehow. I cannot confirm this, just throwing out there what I have read from others trying and it could be totally off base.

    Reply
    • Like (0) Dislike (0)
      Trader X

      Actually after posting that comment, it could be the experiments others have done are a result of the same thing seen with twitter – you post a bunch of no follows but people read them, go to the site and some DO put a link somewhere as a result – so its a backend way to get links and that is what actually causes a pickup in regular traffic – just a thought.

      Reply
  12. Like (0) Dislike (0)
    Kalai

    It really worked for my site. I have a blog for which features Computer, Internet & Technology Tips( http://thepicky.com)

    Reply
  13. Like (0) Dislike (0)
    TampaSEO

    Jason great job pointing out what Eric said. Building links via a social community is a secondary benefit but a VERY good one. You just never know who will post it somewhere else.

    Reply

  15. I mainly use Twitter to socially market my safety and security web site http://officialsafetyandsecurity.com and raise awareness for my products as well as safety in general. I like to let people know when I’ve posted an article on my forum or when I have a product on sale. I’m following everyone who is following me but I need to find my niche to get the attention I’m looking for.

    Reply
  16. Like (0) Dislike (0)
    jjray

    The tinyurl thing pretty much kills twitter as a solid link source IMHO (unless your URL is small and you are twitting with a link to the home page as opposed to deep linking). Is it worth twittering with links to stuff on the off chance that somebody gives you a link based on the tweet? The odds are long of that happening. But the opportunity cost is low. How much time must one invest to pop a tweet with a link? Guess it can’t hurt.

    Reply
  17. Like (0) Dislike (0)
    Flyssy

    I have also received a fair few high quality links through Twitter.

    I have built a following of around 750 people so far, mainly in relation to guitars..my main website. By interacting with these followers I have have had many nice links added from other guitar related sites and blogs, as well as driving targeted traffic to my site.

    It may be a slow organic process, but it is definitely a valuable thing to continue with..

    Reply

  18. Twitter is great for building links~ I have sites on MySpace & YouTube & regularly get new subscribers that found my link on Twitter~ so I invented a new Twitter Word ‘Treality’ which means Reality in Twitterland GO Twitter LOL!

    Reply

  19. In fact, as Cristian said before, it’s just the usual advantage you get from social media, nothing else. Maybe it’s just the buzz around twitter that makes it today’s topic.

    Reply
  20. Like (0) Dislike (0)
    Glen Woodfin

    It’s been hard to measure, but I do believe I’m getting some PR off of no follow links. My assumption is that if I do a search of a particular domain name in quotes and if no follow links show up in a Google SERP, then I believe their must be some benefit, though it my be mitigated.

    I Really Appreciated Everyone Elses Comments, Great Article,
    Glen Woodfin
    http://Twitter.com/GlenWoodfin

    Reply
  21. Like (0) Dislike (0)
    LaptopLuva

    I hear and read constantly that only sites that don’t have nofollow will only count as a backlink in google’s eyes. Of course I don’t totally agree with this but I do want to know your input about that?

    Is it worth it even though its nofollow? Will it affect ranking? Again, I totally agree with you I’m just confused because of what my supervisors at work keep telling me.

    Reply
  25. Like (0) Dislike (0)
    DSL

    I had try that for a time for http://twitter.com/dsl_flatrate dont think that it brings very much! Sometimes a PR7Site is not better as 50PROLinks because that is not nice links. It is not realistic a Link from a PR7 Site for my little Webpage! So i don not think what Trade X means.

    Reply

  26. If you aren’t Twittering to provide value to your followers, then what are you doing it for?

    Shallow purposes generate shallow results.

    I would be extremely happy to get even one trusted link for my efforts, because for me it is more about sharing innovation and conversational marketing information that people will find useful.

    If you would like to receive useful innovation and conversational marketing tweets, then please follow twitter.com/innovate”>@innovate

    Braden Kelley

    Reply
  27. Like (0) Dislike (0)
    kim

    that’s good

    Reply
  28. Like (0) Dislike (0)
    Guest

    We are still working on it. Bloging works well, now it’s time for the next step, but we don’t want to trip.

    Reply
  29. Like (0) Dislike (0)
    Gues

    Twitter is a great way to express yourself and mostly connect with potential customers without showboating or advertising

    Reply
  30. Like (0) Dislike (0)
    Michael

    I will test it in the near future…

    My Factoring Website…

    Reply
  31. Like (0) Dislike (0)
    Ann Stanley

    I find that by following keywords using Tweetdeck it allows me to follow the subject rather than the person.

    My area of expertise is Adwords, so I follow this and try and answer any questions in the tweets.

    It also allows me to link to our library page where there are loads of free useful articles. http://www.anicca-solutions.com/internet-marketing-articles-case-studies-blogs.htm

    Had lots of thanks and traffic but not sure if anyone is booking marking or linking to the site yet!
    cheers Ann
    Anicca Digital Solutions UK

    Reply
  32. Like (0) Dislike (0)
    Horozima

    Twitter is very useful for those who could not reach top positions in Google rankings . Your Twitter profile can provide latest updates to your followers and it gives a real time search experience.Google takes hours and days to index a particular article but today we need fresh content and latest updates.

    Reply

  34. I started tweeting a few months ago. I now get 12% of the traffic to my web site from Twitter according to my latest analytics. I offer tips about home staging, interior design and Feng Shui in my tweets. I am also a generous re-tweeter and offer assistance to other Tweeters if I feel I can be of service. I don’t actively promote my company as that is a real turn-off to the twitter community.

    You can follow me @HomeStagingPro http://www.twitter.com/homestagingpro

    Another benefit for me is that I’m now followed by hundreds of real estate agents and 4 of those followers have turned into referrals to paying customers. A great ROI for the 15 or 20 minutes per day I spend on Twitter.

    Reply
    • Like (0) Dislike (0)
      Laura

      Hi! Can you post a link to a screen shot of your Google analytics which shows that? Because if it is true, I’d really love to see it. I get .4% of my traffic from Twitter. That’s about 210 visits in a month. I’d love to see comparable numbers and learn more.

      Reply

  35. I’ve been reading many articles about Twitter and its uses for marketing.

    It’s made a lot of progress and has certainly made leaps and bounds since its beginning.

    Reply
  36. Like (0) Dislike (0)
    Samsul

    Yes, i really enjoy using twitter to promote my GDI business, i hv followed by minded person who r looking for an opportunities n turn to my referrals

    this is one of my favorite tools

    Reply
  37. Like (0) Dislike (0)
    Avante

    We just joined Twitter as the concensus in the media marketing world is that it will work helping to build organic links. The key is to having something useful or newsworthy. This article is great and I will refer back to it.

    Thanks!
    AvanteHandsFree.com – Site

    We are AvanteHandsFree on Twitter

    Reply

  38. Making good contacts and getting some link backs. So far more from forums but I’ve been posting to forums for years

    Rick

    Reply
  39. Like (0) Dislike (0)
    Martin

    Flotte herresmykker til Danmarks laveste priser.
    Tjek vores flotte kollektion, og vi sender selvf

    Reply
    • Like (0) Dislike (0)
      Guest

      Hey check this out…

      I just found this site that shows you a
      way of getting 1000′s of new followers
      on twitter, I just started using it
      myself and its starting to work
      already.

      http://tweetergetter.com/godinvest

      Reply
      • Like (0) Dislike (0)
        Hisham

        I have used this before when you send it to me, I didn’t get more than 3 followers, I think you got this big number because you created the page, and you are pushing it!

        Reply

  40. I didn’t even realise twitter was dofollow. I would have thought that it was nofollow. Interesting method though

    Reply
  41. Like (0) Dislike (0)
    Hesham

    Very interesting post as it says on the home page of web pro news :)

    I think I have lots to learn about Twitter, I like it as a very simple but great tool!

    Reply
  42. Like (0) Dislike (0)
    Petra Weiss

    I love Twitter, and as a matter of fact I have done “link building” for other sites before. I have found a few Tweets on my home page with links to websites or articles that I found interesting, and published those links in a post on my blog http://www.petra-weiss.com. So it does work!

    Reply
  43. Like (0) Dislike (0)
    rovoo

    i need to learn more about tweeter.

    Reply

  44. I love using twitter to get leads. I’ve gotten some of my best clients as a result of my interaction on twitter. It doesn’t happen overnight, though. It takes time to build up the know, like and trust factor everyone keeps talking about.

    Reply
  45. Like (0) Dislike (0)
    Gabrielle

    I’m glad that so many of you think Twitter is so wonderful, but I haven’t seen any value whatsoever nor had a single lead from Twitter. I find the tweets interesting but not particularly helpful. I have followers but there is little interaction. I much prefer Facebook where I’ve had a lot better success and there are many options for events and more.

    Reply
  48. Like (0) Dislike (0)
    Guest

    I have a health & wellness business, and overwhelmed with all the online marketing as it is. How do I know Twitter will work with my type of business considering what I saw as top searches on Twitter.

    I am already on LinkedIn, MySpace, Facebook, and Law of Attraction Creators. I also run and moderate 2 groups on Myspace and one on LinkedIn. Not to mention the best site for referrals for me so far has been Craigslist.

    Confused and virginal to all this surge in online sites.

    Laura

    Reply
  49. Like (0) Dislike (0)
    Faraon

    It really works very well. I think this is meaningless.
    twitter.com/ofree”>ofree (ofree) on Twitter

    Reply

  50. I think twitter has driven traffic to my site, http://www.seosandiegoca.com, but I’ve yet to hit the organic link jackpot! :)

    I have left messages on other people’s websites and blogs that I have found on Twitter. Those people are much more receptive to receive my posts than randoms.

    Reply
    • Like (0) Dislike (0)
      Laura

      If you “think”, then you’re probably doing something wrong. What do your Google Analytics and referrer logs tell you? That’s SEO basics. You have those tools to determine the effectiveness of a link building campaign.

      Reply

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