When Building Communities Isn't the Best Way to Build Links |
| When Building Communities Isn't the Best Way to Build Links Posted: 18 Mar 2014 04:15 PM PDT Posted by John-Henry This post was originally in YouMoz, and was promoted to the main blog because it provides great value and interest to our community. The author's views are entirely his or her own and may not reflect the views of Moz, Inc. I entered SEO as a link builder. In 2010, my job was easy and my toolset mainly consisted of article marketing software, directory submissions, comment posting and link networks. Fast forward four years >> I now solely create visually engaging content in an effort to scale link building. I didn't make this career shift because "link building is no longer effective;" quite the opposite: I changed focus from manual to scalable link building because I now work in more competitive industries and my clients generally need 100+ links per asset to move the needleâ€"content helps me meet that demand to acquire large amounts of new linking root domains at once. Over the past two years I've become obsessed with content (and Reddit, unfortunately). I've started to keep the companies that are producing the best and most successful digital content on my radar. Two companies that have recently started to stick out are Movoto and Airbnb. Both are scaling link acquisition via content, but they are going about it in entirely different ways. Airbnb is growing its own grassroots community, while Movoto is actively targeting existing and passionate online communities with its content marketing. Before we dive in, both companies are growing rapidly in terms of organic search according to SEMrush: Airbnb
Movoto
Both of these companies are starting to do exceptionally well in the SERPs, primarily due to either growing (Airbnb) or targeting (Movoto) an audience. Perception, product, and contentAirbnb and Movoto are both trying to rank for extremely competitive terms, however their content marketing strategies couldn't be further from each other, and that fact hinges mainly on two aspects of these businesses' models:
Movoto and Airbnb's business models differ in the sense that Airbnb is incrementally extracting value out of customers over a long period of time, while Movoto is most likely getting 100% of the customer's LTV at the first purchase. For Airbnb, creating their own community is a pragmatic marketing strategy for keeping users engaged. I theorize that's why most of Airbnb's content is either about their business, their community of users and hosts, or about their product. Where Airbnb is winning in content
The Neighborhood pages have been created with the typical guests & hosts in mind first. Delivering a best in class user experience, both from a content standpoint, as well as making it easy to navigate, has proven to be successful for Airbnb. This is where I would like to point out that content does not only include the written text, but the story is told in the form of images, which were specially taken for this project with the storyline in mind. This gives every page a unique peek into the characteristics of the Neighborhood, which makes these so useful for people planning to visit that city, as well of the locals exploring their own city."
The overarching theme of Airbnb's contentAll of Airbnb's content keeps the brand, its product and the Airbnb community in the front of the users mind. Airbnb relies on a community in order to function, and because that community is inclusive, empathetic and charitableâ€"it's one of the most marketable aspects of the Airbnb brand. Airbnb also faces certain challengesâ€"like regulation and challenges from the hospitality industry. Because their business model is still being established, they need those hearts and minds on their side to fight for them and champion their product. Movoto is taking a different pathBecause a home purchase is so infrequent, constantly trying to grow a community through ongoing social media and brand-centric content marketing could get tiresome for readers, especially because those interacting with the brand would most likely have little motivation to purchase a home until a major life event occurs. However, Movoto still needs to scale link building, and in order to do that without building a community of their own, they must engage an audience in a way that causes them to share and tweet the content they produce. Targeting existing audiencesMovoto creates content that appeals to pre-existing audiences. They are also great at picking their subject matterâ€"they choose topics that are popular enough to be covered in mainstream press, but also appeal to the hardcore niche fanboy sites. Their most successful content takes some type of pop-culture reference or hot topic, applies it to real estate, and then earns press from both big news sites and mid-level authority blogs. The Harry Potter Hogwarts Property Evaluation Infographic may be the best example of this strategy in action: It's earned links from over 140 domains including mainstream sites like Daily Mail, Fox News, and Daily Finance, and it also earned links from fan sites like Nerdophiles, Toy To The World, and Potter Talk. Movoto is creating and marketing useful, fun and informative content that directly appeals to a particular niche audienceâ€"but it also has a larger mainstream appeal. Because Movoto executes content well in terms of information and visualsâ€"they are racking up links and quickly rising in the rankings. They've also produced a number of successful interactives, like How Many Legos Would it Take to Build your House, or alternatively How Many Tetris Blocks. Many of Movoto's blog posts have earned over 100 linking root domains, primarily due to their ability to target an audience that will engage and share content online. Because they don't have to structure their communication around a growing community, like Airbnb, they are free to be pretty creative with their subject matter and publish things that are going to get a strong response (like 54,000 shares on Facebook for that post alone). Community building isn't for everyone. It's best suited for communal productsAs digital marketers we're quick to champion new strategies that result in increased traffic, links and social sharesâ€"but it's important to consider how our marketing efforts fit with the overall business model. After all, it's not just links and shares we're after, we are all trying to grow businesses in the most cost effective manner possible. Community building really only makes sense for communal products. So, while it's the perfect growth strategy for a product like Airbnb, it makes no sense for a real estate site like Movoto. If you're stressing over social singles and your lack of community engagementâ€"maybe you don't have a product that the community can get behind and actively supportâ€"and there's nothing inherently wrong with that, you just need to go elsewhere for your links because that's what your business model demands. Sign up for The Moz Top 10, a semimonthly mailer updating you on the top ten hottest pieces of SEO news, tips, and rad links uncovered by the Moz team. Think of it as your exclusive digest of stuff you don't have time to hunt down but want to read! |
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