Outbound Links for SEO, or Other Reasons?

Here's a recent, but common question that came in:

"What's your advice regarding adding external links to page XXX on my site?" (An "About Us" page)

Quick Answer:

External links (to information pages, not other services or applications) are used to accomplish these primary goals:

1. Purely to help the reader understand the content/topic better, or to support or find what they’re ultimately seeking – this probably doesn’t apply on this page, unless the executives on the page have material elsewhere on the Internet that they’ve published, or qualifications/recognition/news that’s related.
   
2. To satisfy an objective related to support for the target, i.e. we’ve got a business relationship, we actively support the link target from a marketing perspective, we’re obligated to link to them – this may not apply to page XXX (like it might on a “partners” page). However, the one “XXX” link, since they’re a client, could point to a credential posted on the site, or to a client page that you've influenced.
   
3. To help SEO - outbound links to pages that support this page’s topic, and build the context of credibility and authority around the topic and our relationship to it, are good (only if the target links themselves are very good, like a Wikipedia page, or recognized industry expert) – this probably doesn’t apply to this page
   
4. For governance reasons – i.e. law, mandate, policy, affiliate agreement, copyrights, etc…like links to certifying authorities, legislation, etc.
   

SEO Help Wanted/Job Now Available - DC Digital Marketing Specialist

KME is currently interviewing for the following position; target starting date 4/1/2011:

Digital Marketing Specialist

Job Description:

Full-time, salaried position delivers full suite of Interactive Marketing activities including search engine optimization (SEO); search engine marketing and pay-per-click(SEM/PPC); e-newsletter marketing; social media (i.e. Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn) marketing, campaign development and oversight. The candidate will oversee day-to-day Internet Marketing activities for specific clients, and will oversee KME administrative staff. Clients range from local businesses to Fortune 500 companies.

This is a full-time, salaried position during normal business hours, with significant telecommuting options available; KME and client meetings are in Northern Virginia, Fairfax and Loudoun counties (local candidates are preferred). Salary Range is $35-$45K, commensurate with experience, motivation and best fit. Additional business development bonuses or other benefits are available.

The most qualified candidates will be very comfortable with Microsoft Office (Word & Excel), be professional communicators in speech and written American English, be very comfortable using Internet applications, search engines, websites and social media, and be thorough and organized with superior time management skills. Website design and development skills (HTML/CSS) including graphics design is a definite plus, but not required.

Significant training and experience-building opportunities is available from local industry experts, as well as significant growth and responsibility opportunities commensurate with early addition to a startup-style company.

Core Duties & Responsibilities:

• Keyword Analysis & Research
  
• SEO Implementation & Basic Analysis
  
• Online Paid Advertising Management
  
• Client Management & Communication
  
• Social Media Implementation & Oversight
  
• E-Newsletter Development, Review & Optimization

Please send resume (no calls) and/or online portfolio information to:

resumes at(@) kmeinternetmarketing dot(.) com

Can we post jobs to Groups on LinkedIn?

Here's a recent question that came in, about use of LinkedIn for job postings - not the paid the kind of advertisements.

"If we have open positions we want to promote on Linked In, besides the careers tab under the company profile, is there another way to maximize exposure? Is this the type of information you would post in a group discussion?"

Answer: Overt "selling" or "promotion" in a group takes some finesse - some groups tolerate it, if within the bounds of the social protocol or policy; other groups will flame it. On Linkedin, I don't see jobs posted too much in groups and updates, other than the occasional, subtle, reference to a job or need...usually without much detail, just a simple note that there's a position open or an interesting opportunity available.

You can pay to post jobs, of course, on LinkedIn. Use of your own, public news/social media channels is good for this purpose - like tweeting, facebooking or blogging about it...for example, a blog entry about all the new, cool openings available in a very fast-growing, exciting industry. If you post something like that on one of your channels, it can then get amplified by (A) anybody else, (B) you and your employees, through their own social media channels/bookmarks/etc., and (C) by us through our content network.

Here's a possibly useful article, about helping your employees (as an employer) understand how they can help promote their company, using their own online/social media activities. Employees promoting Employers via Social Media .