Backlink Counts, MozRank and Graphing

10/15/10

This month we are happy to announce the addition of several great statistics for our SEO resellers. Specifically, in the October release we are focusing on backlinks. We know that many clients don't understand what a backlink is, but our SEO resellers sure do. They know that rankings don't happen without a well developed backlink profile. We often quote Rand when we say that SEO is 30% onsite and 70% offsite. Offsite SEO is almost all backlink acquisition.

One major challenge associated with reselling SEO is the time it takes for high quality search engine optimization to have an impact on a website. I have addressed this issue before when I blogged about how to set appropriate SEO expectations in the sales process. We all know that customers are an impatient bunch. This is why we try to get all of our resellers on the same page about what can really happen when you outsource SEO. Still, many are looking for the mythical magic bullet. Even so, Chad and I wanted more tools to help the situation.

Our thinking went something like this:

If we can't show results in the search engines for at least 90 days, how about showing the customer how their backlink profile is shifting?

Several resellers thought this was a good idea. This gives the account manager (the reseller) the ability to show quantitative progress even before the rankings have really shown a positive jump. And that's exactly what we're releasing in our October release of HubShout. Specifically, we are using API calls to Yahoo Site Explorer and SEOMoz to gather several valuable statistics about your client's backlink profile. You will find these additions in your private label technology portal at no additional charge (of course).

I look forward to your feedback.