Internal Linking
It makes sense to start any linking operation at your own website.
Begin by running a link check. Fix any broken links revealed.
The next step is leveraging the power and trust that is previously flowing to your website. This is where competitor analysis comes in.
For the unversed, Google Ventures is the venture capital arm of Google. They offer seed venture and growth-stage funding to companies – with Uber, Nest, and Retail Me Not. They are financially forced to build a company, and then sell it at crazy multiples. One means to do that is to drive gobs of organic traffic to their ecommerce holdings.
Websites owned by Google Ventures have direct access to Google. Quoting from their own site "We offer unparalleled (and real) access to Google's massive network of employees and alumni." I think this includes people that know how the algorithm works and how to optimize for it. I can't imagine a improved resource for competitive or relative analysis.
Start your research by navigating to the portfolio page. You will find over 200 companies that Google has invested in. These companies are categorized as: Consumer, Commerce, Enterprise & Data, Life Science & Health and Seed. Look for a related site.
One of my beloved Google Ventures websites is CustomMade. This website is a marketplace for custom-made products crafted by woodworkers, jewelers, metalworkers, and others. The architecture and navigation, however, is perfectly suited for any ecommerce site.
Like most websites, the majority of linking domains point to the CustomMade home page, building it the most powerful page on the website.
What sets CustomMade apart is how they attach that strength. Check out this footer:
Loads of keyword rich links point to group pages. With the Maker & Gallery indexes, they have fundamentally placed a sitemap on the main page. I think it's brilliant. Others have called it spam.
Some might argue that GV sites, by asset of their special relationship with Google would get a pass. I don't believe that's the case here – at least not algorithmically. CustomMade has been affected by various Google algorithm updates, but the present version is generating record traffic:
Because this website has had its ups and downs and is currently on track, it deserves awareness. Particularly if one doesn't have Google as a colleague, but wants to see how Google Developers like Michael Margolis navigate thru SERP turbulence. Margolis' first stab at optimizing the site resulted in a 100 percent increase in natural traffic.
External Linking
Custom Made also employs one of my preferred link building tactics – attracting links form colleges and universities (a.k.a., .edu link building). As with any form of link building, the achievement rate is directly proportionate to the value of the content.
Before sending any link request, you should ask yourself "what forceful reason does this site have to link to me?" If you can't answer that question, there's no point in beating the send button.
Conclusion
For those who have wondered "what would Google do?", now you have an answer. If you're in view of a link building campaign in 2014, following their lead is a fine place to start.
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