Getting it Done: Overcoming Common Link Building Blockers

I’ve repeatedly mentioned, and will likely continue to emphasize, that link building is a challenging endeavor.

Specifically, content-driven link building is difficult because it relies on the strength of your idea and its execution to garner links. You might believe you have the most brilliant idea in the world, perfectly executed with outstanding design, but if the recipient of your outreach email disagrees, your content can fail spectacularly.

Despite its challenges, running a successful link-building campaign isn’t impossible. Today, I want to discuss how to identify and overcome what I refer to as "blockers," which are issues or circumstances that can hinder your progress. You might be the best agency globally, but your achievements won’t matter if you can’t execute effectively.

Minimize Loss

In our agency, client attrition is rare, but it does happen, which is an inherent part of agency life. We strive to minimize our losses as much as possible, but there will always be occasions when things don’t work out. Sometimes prevention could have saved the project, other times not. While I don’t claim to have all the answers, I want to share the most common link-building blockers I’ve encountered.

I’ll also share an example of a project we lost due to not effectively identifying and overcoming the blockers discussed below.

The following principles could apply to most types of projects, not restricted to link building or search engine optimization (SEO), but extending to general marketing endeavors. From experience, the outlined blockers are particularly prevalent and critical in content-driven link-building projects.

For clarity, the link-building project mentioned here focused on content-driven methods using elements like guides, white papers, and infographics to attract links.

Identify Link-Building Blockers Early

Every project comes with obstacles that hinder progress. It’s essential to discover these "blockers" as early as possible. Although unforeseen blockers will arise, there are a few common ones in link building that you should always inquire about when beginning a project.

The content-driven link-building process varies slightly for every agency or client but generally includes the following broad steps:

[Image showing content process steps]

Each step may require approval from multiple individuals at different stages. Some people may need involvement throughout the process, others just at one step, and some only for final signoff. Therefore, mapping potential blockers to each step is crucial for your team to understand two core elements:

1. What blockers exist at each step.
2. How to adjust the project plan accordingly if someone requires a certain amount of time to approve something.

Addressing the latter can slow down or disrupt project plans swiftly. For instance, if a legal team requires two weeks to review your content, it significantly impacts your timeline.

The Most Common Link Blockers

Here are a few of the most prevalent blockers encountered during this process:

The Digital Team: This is the team you engage with daily and is least likely to surprise you unexpectedly. Ultimately, this team will be accountable for your work and will need to approve it. Identifying their common concerns is key, typically achieved naturally over a project’s course.

Common concerns and questions from the digital team include:

• Will the content idea work and attract links?
• Will the inbound links originate from high-quality websites or lower-tier sites?
• Will the execution look visually appealing?
• Can other company teams, like social or public relations, utilize this content?

The Legal or Compliance Team: Particularly a potential blocker in larger organizations with dedicated legal teams or external advisors ensuring that any content the client produces doesn’t pose legal risks.

Their concerns don’t align with those of the digital team. They don’t concern themselves with whether your idea works or gains links; they focus on avoiding legal risks from publishing certain content.

Their concerns are likely to be:

• Do we have the rights to publish the content?
• Is there third-party text, images, or data needing attribution or payment?
• Are we using any copyrighted items, such as logos or trademarked terms, and if so, do we have permission?
• Are we making any statements or claims that could be challenged by third parties?

The Brand Team: This team is commonly involved in large organizations. In smaller businesses or startups, the "brand team" may simply be the company owner or a C-level person. Their concerns typically include:

• Does the content adhere to our existing tone of voice if written?
• Is the language consistent with the rest of the website?
• Does the visual content align with existing color palettes and fonts?
• Are images in a style consistent with those currently used?
• Is our logo used appropriately?

The UX and Design Team: Concerned with fine details in design and usability, they might share certain brand team concerns or be responsible for brand guidelines and signoff.

If distinct, their concerns include:

• Responsiveness: Does it function well across devices and browsers?
• User experience consistency: Does it match the overall site experience?
• Consistency: Does navigating from the content to the homepage feel different?
• Accessibility: Is the piece accessible to all users, including those partially sighted?

Copywriters and Blog Teams: You may encounter clients with a content team focusing more on product pages, a blog, or a knowledge center. They will care about the copy used, particularly if the content publishes within a CMS they manage. Their concerns might be:

• Does your copy adhere to their tone of voice and fit with the site?
• If visual, will it "fit in" with previously published blog content?
• What is the scheduled publication date, and does it conflict with other planned content?
• Is the content topic already planned or previously covered by them?

In-house Public Relations and Outreach Teams: Some large clients have internal link and public relations teams, focusing more on traditional PR rather than content-led link building. Avoiding issues with them involves:

• Content Duplication: Internal teams might have topic lists they are pursuing and wish to avoid duplication or steer clear of controversial topics.
• Outreach Contacts: Preserving existing relationships with journalists, bloggers, etc., is crucial.

Due to General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in Europe, sharing personally identifiable information like journalists’ names or email addresses between clients and agencies is challenging. We, therefore, coordinate outreach targets at the domain level.

Web Development Team: Whether in-house or external, you may need to work with them when uploading interactive content to a site. Considerations include:

• CMS Limitations: Be aware of any Content Management System limitations.
• Guidelines: Ensure compliance with guidelines on creating interactive content, such as CSS naming conventions or server types.
• Development Cycles: Learn about their sprint cycle, adding work to it, and navigating any backlogs or FTP access limitations.

External Agencies: You might work with agencies conducting similar work. Maintaining positive relations is key, as poor relationships can slow progress, even if they can’t officially block you.

[Image of broken links]

That Time We Failed

Let me share an example of losing a client due to failing to identify and overcome some link-building blockers. This client, Company A, sought our help to generate content that would drive links, coverage, and brand awareness. They had technical and keyword fundamentals covered, so our contribution involved checking and validating their SEO roadmap rather than creating it from scratch. This allowed us to initiate content strategy, production, and outreach quickly.

Departments we engaged with included Editorial, Brand, Design, and UX, alongside a development team with a product roadmap that didn’t allocate time for content uploads and pre-outreach testing. Multiple levels of signoff, feedback, and development created frustrating delays and often led to ten to twelve-week launches instead of the planned four to six.

These delays hindered our ability to secure links due to the absence of domain content. When asked what was being accomplished, the honest answer was "not much." The process constrained us, and everyone involved shared the frustration. Ultimately, Company A, unable to see a return on investment, discontinued services after about nine months.

Was the Project Salvageable?

Here’s what we could have done differently:

• Suggested Alternative Upload Methods: Developers are busy with numerous responsibilities. Suggesting alternative methods for content launch could have mitigated the delays.
• Understanding Internal Culture: Recognizing factors, like necessary signoffs from various departments, would have prepared us for the extended timeline.
• Using Existing Assets: Utilizing existing content assets for outreach could have helped in building links and increasing organic traffic while awaiting new content.

Taking time to grasp potential link-building blockers enables working around them or preparing for their challenges, leading to successful outcomes.