It’s not who you know, it’s who knows you

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The popular saying goes, “it’s not what you know, it’s who you know”. But on the web, I’d argue this doesn’t hold true!

Bonus: Download the 33 free templates from the book Web Marketing That Works.

Why? Two reasons.

1. ‘What you know’ is very important. It matters to Google, therefore it matters! Your search engine rankings are based primarily on the content you publish on your website. If you don’t publish what ‘you know’ about XYZ then you won’t appear in search results for XYZ. On the web you are what you publish.

2. “It’s not who you know, but who knows you.” Links are the currency of the web and the ones you want are inbound links. The second factor that determine’s your Google rank is the quality and quantity of inbound links. So, whilst you may ‘know everyone’ on the web, if they don’t know you, they won’t link to you. And if you don’t receive any link love, then your search results will suffer. On the web it’s very important to be known (and linked to) by other people!

A useful, free tool for seeing who links to you is BackLinkWatch.com

Of course, ‘what you know’ and ‘who knows you’ are beautifully aligned. If you have useful, relevant content on your website (what you know), then it’s much more likely that people will link to you (who knows you)!

I wonder what other popular sayings don’t hold true on the web?

SEO Copywriting Brisbane: If you’d like to know more about writing about what you know & attracting quality inbound links, call Bluewire Media on 1300 258 394.

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About Adam Franklin

Adam Franklin is the bestselling author of Web Marketing That Works. He is an international social media speaker and CEO of Bluewire Media. His blog was Australia's #1 Business Blog and his podcast was #9 on the top marketing podcasts in Entrepreneur magazine. His work has featured in Forbes, Entrepreneur, The Australian, Sydney Morning Herald, Huffington Post and iTunes. Download the popular Web Strategy Planning Template which has been used by hundreds of thousands of businesses worldwide. His weekly 'Bluewire News' email goes out to over 32,000 readers.