By Cory Collins
31 Aug 2015

The Role of Technical SEO in Link Building - #LinkaratiChat with Jeremy Rivera

Link building is the manual promotion of your site, pages, and linkable assets to relevant communities/websites in your niche.

Typically offsite SEO development follows on-page optimization, because building links to pages/sites with shaky technical on-page SEO is like pouring water into a cup with holes - wasted effort.

Link building is the manual promotion of your site, pages, and linkable assets to relevant communities/websites in your niche.

Typically offsite SEO development follows on-page optimization, because building links to pages/sites with shaky technical on-page SEO is like pouring water into a cup with holes - wasted effort.

But are there elements of technical SEO within link building itself? That's the question(s) we asked in our Twitter chat with Jeremy Rivera, an SEO consultant in Nashville, Tennessee, and formerly of Raven Tools.

Let's get into a recap of the questions (and answers!).

Question One: How Do You Use Technical SEO in Pursuit of Links?

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Jeremy kicked off the chat pointing out that bad on-page SEO will diminish the effects of links:

Solid technical SEO will ensure maximum performance of your links, but there are also technical SEO skills that will help you secure wasted links:

Dan Callis agreed, pointing out broken links on other sites can help you secure links as well:

Wojteck Mazur reminded us not to forget about internal link structure:

That of course would necessitate a site audit, which brings us to question two.

Question Two: What Role Does A Site Audit Play In A Link Campaign?

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How does a site audit function within link building? It should be the foundation, says Jeremy:

Jeremy even had a simple DIY audit to share:

Andrew Dennis agreed, pointing out that a site audit will help uncover linkable assets and opportunities, which is the foundation of link strategy.

Annalisa Hilliard echoed the sentiment, citing site audits as a source of inspiration:

John Gibbings stated that site audits can help you understand your audience better.

Speaking of understanding - a site audit will help you understand who's linking to you currently, which will help you better understand what's worked in the past.

So now that we've established the benefits of technical SEO, what skill overlap exists between technical SEO and link building?

Question Three: What Skills Are Vital To Both Technical SEO and Link Building?

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Jake Bohall thinks effective communication is key.

Liam Barrett emphasized the importance of understanding the various Google algorithms.

Adegboye Adeniyi had a list of admirable skills any SEO would do well to achieve:

Netvantage Marketing also wisely pointed out the need for attention to detail and writing skills.

And our featured guest encourages SEOs to be judicious and methodical:

Next, we discussed technical SEO within actual link building tactics.

Question Four: Are There Specific Link Acuisition Tactics That Rely On Or Are Improved By Techncial SEO?

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So what link building tactics are improved (or rely upon) technical SEO skills?

Our guests pointed out specifically that broken link building, link reclamation, and competitor analysis rely upon technical skills.

The fact of the matter is that most tactics can be improved/enhanced with a bit of technical SEO skills, according to Jake Bohall:

But what about the reverse? Can links help empower on-page SEO? Yup!

Question Five: How Do Links Help Fuel On-Page SEO? What About Technical SEO?

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Callis points out that on-page work alone might not be enough to rank in competitive SERPs.

Jeremy agreed, pointing out that links are the fuel in online search:

Jake explained that link prospecting can help you better understand the wants and needs of your audience, particularly within creating new content.

And Andrew Dennis drew attention to the fact that internal links are an inherently important piece of on-page SEO.

Question Six: What Tools Are Valuable For Both Technical SEO and Link Acquisition?

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Jeremy, our featured guest and a well-versed technical SEO, had a variety of recommendations:

Jake had some great recommendations as well:

John recommended SEMrush and Sistrix.

Callis recommended a few key tools as well:

And our own Andrew Dennis reminded us of the importance of Google's own tools:

And That's A Wrap!

Thank you so much to Jeremy Rivera, our featured guest, and everyone else who participated! It was a fun event and helped us kick off a great week. 

Thanks again everyone!

Cory Collins

Cory Collins is the Business Development Manager at Page One Power and has been with the agency since 2012. Cory is an SEO strategist, writer, runner, and outdoor enthusiast residing in Boise, Idaho, with his wife, daughter, and (too) many pets.