Andrew’s Sico (Cartagena, 1972) is the CEO of Link Affinitybut also the CEO of expertmy and MocMoc Life, in addition to the founder of the congress on the beach. A professional with a long career who also has time to write books, like the one he just launched with Anaya « in presale format. To learn a little more about this book and his vision of the sector, we have spoken with him.
For a few years, periodically, there has been talk of the end of SEO. With the increasing presence of paid positions in search results, enriched formats with automatic responses, Google Shopping proposals… What is the role of SEO today?
Yes, it is a recurring phrase that I have been hearing since I started back in 2002. Many people have “killed” SEO throughout history but the reality is that as long as search engines are used, and organic results continue to exist, SEO will be necessary. It is true that all these Google modules complicate the task, but at the same time others give us new opportunities. SEO evolves at the same time as the search engine and if there is something true in that phrase, an SEO that does not evolve, dies.
That’s why so many people kill him. In most cases, he gets killed by people who don’t advance and his techniques stop working. It is surprising to see agencies doing the same thing for ten years.
And in this context, your book arrives. How did the idea of writing it come about? Who is it addressed to?
It arises precisely as a result of seeing how agencies and professionals in the sector continue to work with obsolete techniques focused on buying media links for their mathematical authority. As the CEO of Link Affinity I speak daily with SEOs who want to change the way they work as it becomes much less effective over the years.
I think a book like was needed in the industry. Just as we say that SEO is dead and we understand it as an evolution, we could say “link building is dead” as it has been understood for many years and is even currently understood by many professionals in the sector.
“Do not focus your strategy on buying links”
What is ethical link building?
Ethical link building, as I understand it, is to carry out actions (because the links are not going to come by themselves) that do not violate Google’s guidelines. From requesting a link to a medium that has mentioned your brand, collaborating with the media through interviews, data or anything that you can contribute as an expert, etc.
As I say, the links do not come alone. To believe that by the mere fact of creating content people are going to link to you would be something delusional. But from there to your strategy being based on buying links there is a big difference. The link building is in that section where you work to get links and brand mentions in the most organic way possible thinking about the real authority that this content is going to give you and not about the Pagerank that it is going to pass on to you.
The (external) link building has always been closely linked to the purchase of links, through agencies or content exchange platforms. What is Google’s policy towards this type of practice? Are they dangerous for those who carry them out?
To say that they are dangerous would be like trying to say that the coconut is going to come and eat you if you don’t sleep. Of course, if you do many things wrong and among them is the massive purchase of links, Google could penalize you, but buying links on a small scale does not usually produce this effect.
Most SEOs don’t buy packs of 1,000 links or anything like that. They buy some links monthly and are pulling. The issue is that these links in most cases, have no effect. I see authentic outrageous purchases shared in general media or post orders for €20 on a site that is offered on all platforms. My recommendation in this regard is that do not focus your strategy on buying links. In the book I talk more about this hehe :“read bait”
Let’s get to work. What should be the first step when planning a link building strategy? What are the essential keys when starting it up?
Difficult to answer this question quickly. Here I do openly say that in my book I explain all the techniques I use both for SEO and to manage a reputation crisis in Google. To give some brushstroke: first of all you must analyze the status of your link profilethen look for the sites with which you would be interested in relating (without thinking about SEO) and then get down to work and with each site act in the best possible way to get them to end up linking to your website.
In order to achieve the best results with link building, what role do factors such as the anchor text of the link or its position within the text play?
The anchor text has an important weight but I am one of those who thinks that they are entering the game other factors related to semantics that make us have to understand it as part of the strategy and not as the center of it.
Is it better to have few links on relevant websites or many distributed on less important websites?
A classic question. The more and the more good the better. But yes, better few and good than many on less relevant sites. In any case, if you work as naturally as possible, you will have both types. It is no longer a matter of choosing but of being chosen.
How do we measure that relevance? By affinity to our sector, by volume of traffic, indicators of authority of a site such as those provided by some tools such as Moz or Semrush?
For me, the authority offered by these tools as a story in the book is a purely mathematical factor that gives us many clues. But I base the relevance of a link on semantic affinity. Of course, I will not work the same to contact a medium that has a DR of 80 as with a medium that has a DR of 20, but if I think my audience is there, I will include it in my link building ecosystem to work on it.
“Detecting a crisis is easier than managing it”
Another of the topics you talk about in the book is online reputation crises. How do we detect it in time?
I am passionate about reputation on Google. It is somewhat complex and working with some projects is really complex. In the book, I tell not only how to detect it, but I also teach the formula that I use to quantify the scope of the crisis. I think you’re going to like this a lot. Detecting a crisis is easier than managing it. With Google Alerts, SE Ranking and other tools it becomes a very simple task.
What should we never do in the face of a crisis of this type?
If you only carry the SEO of the web, it should be noted that you are working to lower the negative results. You have to work the way as discreet as possible because it could turn against you.
In general, when we talk about SEO we always think of Google, but does it make sense to think about optimizing our content for other search engines? Is there any relevant difference when doing SEO for Google or for other options such as Bing, Yahoo, etc?
Well, as you know, Google here in Spain eats the cake almost by itself, but when you work for other countries you have to take into account the market share of each search engine and see their differences and even the functionalities they offer. There are people who do not know, for example, that Bing also has a function to disavow links. Well, you must be clear about all of this. depending on the country for which you are working
Let’s take a trip back in time: How do you imagine SEO towards 2025?
You see, I can’t imagine what I’m going to do tomorrow morning so you can imagine. It’s a joke. I have no idea. What I am clear about is that it will not be 2025 overnight and we will have to evolve so that 2025 does not arrive and let’s say, damn it, “SEO is dead”.
And a little more complicated: if you traveled 10 years ago, what advice would you give to the Sico of 2012?
I would tell him, keep it up, you’re doing well, but don’t stress so much 😉 Oh yes!, and ride a conference on the beach that even if they call you crazy, you’re going to hit it.
Stay informed of the most relevant news on our news channel
Facebook Comments
Disqus