Interviews with SEO pros: Part 2, Tom Niezgoda

What’s better for an SEO pro than real tips from those who’ve been in the trenches?

We just kicked off a series of interviews with top SEO experts. They’ll spill all the link-building secrets, so you can put them to work right away!

Our second interview is with Tom Niezgoda, Co-founder & Head Of Marketing at Surfer, a popular SEO content optimization tool.

What are the biggest changes in link-building that you’ve noticed this year?

Tom: Honestly, I haven't noticed any major changes this year. Everything seems business as usual—link-building is still all about relationships. Nothing groundbreaking there.

What link-building tactics worked best this year? Which ones would you avoid?

Tom: For us, free tools and data studies have been incredibly effective. We’ve focused on creating a lot of value that can be accessed for free, and that’s worked really well.

As for the things I wouldn’t waste time on, I’d avoid tactics that don’t offer real value, like using weak content or manipulative strategies.

What are the biggest no-nos in link-building?

Tom:

Don't use anchor texts like "click here" or "read more". It’s a missed opportunity for SEO and doesn’t provide much context for the user or search engines.

How should marketers properly measure the effect of link-building campaigns?

Tom: When evaluating the efficiency of your link-building campaigns, pay attention to these key metrics:

Win ratio

That's the percentage of your outreach efforts that actually result in backlinks.

Absolute # of backlinks acquired

How many links are you actually securing, in absolute terms?

SEO impact

Use SEO tools to measure whether these backlinks are moving the needle in terms of rankings or traffic.

Read more: Can't Measure Link-Building ROI? Read this (A 5 steps’ Guide)

Link retention

Keep an eye on whether the backlinks stay live because sometimes getting them back can be an easy win.

Cold emails for link-building — is it still a valid approach today?

Tom: From what I’ve seen, cold emails are still effective.

Personally, I delete most of them, but occasionally one will have such great copy or offer a solid opportunity that I’ll forward it to our content team.

What tip would you give to SEOs who struggle with link-building?

Tom: Give more than you ask! If you’re providing real value upfront, people are much more likely to engage and link back to you.

Thank you for talking to us, Tom! Here's to link-building that brings real value to both sites and their visitors.