Simply put, a Link Wheel is a group of pages on different hosts, that are about a specific product, subject or service, which all link to each other, and also link to a particular URL, or “money site”.

Some call them “link wheels”, some call them “authority hubs”, and some, I’m sure, use names I haven’t even heard of.

One of the first advanced search marketing books I read was called Revenge of the MiniNet, by Michael Campbell. In a nutshell, this is the strategy it talked about:

Using multiple domains, build multiple niche websites that are very tightly focused about a specific aspect of your business.

In turn each of those websites would link to each other, and each of those websites would link back to your core URL

You might build multiple websites, one for each model of Sunbeam Toasters, and each of those websites would link to each other, and each of those websites would link back to your primary Sunbeam product page, or toaster page, or main domain, etc.

In doing this, you create relevant content rich mini-sites, that link to other mini sites, and to a central hub, which gets authority from the links within those domains.

The Problem?
The problem with that, was that besides being an awful lot of work, it was relatively transparent, and your new domains had no authority at all, so it took a long time before you might see the benefit.

Also, people were regularly going to great pains to register the domains under different name, host the domains at different IP addresses with multiple hosting accounts, and basically spent a ton of money trying to hide the fact that they were building their own web of links.

A Better Strategy
Jumping ahead to today, many people are doing the same process using some of the Web 2.0 content sites that are out there, which automatically removes most of those transparency factors by having all of the sites hosted on quality domains with lots of trust.

With all the talk about the importance of domain authority and trust, you must know that some domains carry an awful lot of extra weight. I’ve seen this linking strategy be quite effective over the past year, and I know people that have been doing it a lot longer than we have.

For Example:
For example, let’s say the goal is to increase rankings for “blue widgets”, to this URL – http://yourdomain.com/bluewidgets.html

• Create an account at Blogger, Tumbler, Knol, Slideshare, squidoo, Weebly, and Hubpages, to name just a few.
• Go through the process of building a lens, a hub, a blog, a mini-site, or whatever each of those entities decides to call it.
• Ensure that the subject of each one is entirely devoted to specific things to know about blue widgets.
• From each of those, be sure to link to one of the others, and be sure to link to your primary URL
• Be sure to use the anchor text, “blue widgets” as well as other similar variations.
• Be certain that the URL you are linking to is optimized for that particular phrase, with “blue widgets” in the title, header tag, alt tags etc.

There’s probably tons of content you could create, all the way from the history of blue widgets, to specific features, benefits, and even potential future evolution of the product.

The point is to create whatever they offer, and to put up a good piece of original content that actually has some stand-alone value. Do *NOT* be overly commercial, or put up duplicate garbage, or you will likely get your creation declined.

Some people call this “parasite hosting” but that sounds somehow unethical. I don’t believe this is “black hat” or even an “inappropriate” strategy at all, as long as you are providing value to the end reader.  After all, you’re going to get far more exposure at these web 2.0 properties, and educate far more people than you otherwise may, simply by posting on your own domain.

This strategy can be used to build multiple authority hubs to multiple areas of your site, and in 2009, it’s becoming more and more necessary to have these be tightly focused.

A true “widget baron” who is dominating the Internet will likely have multiple authority hubs for every color and style of widget, with their primary for that particular widget at the center of the wheel.

Outsource the process

*** December 20, 2009 – I’ve received reports of problems outsourcing to the company i was recommending, so i’ve removed them from here, and removed them from my SEO Toolbar too, until they improve their quality.

I’ve actually run across a business that specializes creating these Link Wheels far more economically than we could ourselves, and I just ordered yet another one, when I decided to write this post.

• All the user accounts are created using United States IP addresses
• All of the web properties are created by hand, with no automated software.
• All content is written by authors with a good command of English.
• All of the usernames and passwords provided for your profile completion and future content additions.

It’s really a no-brainer, and I can’t speak highly enough about how happy we’ve been with the quality o f  the stuff we’ve gotten from these guys…

Updated 11/10/2009 -

I’m revising my page, because after ordering a few of these, I realized that its’  NOT a “no brainer”,  and if you don’t pay attention, and provide them with good details, the quality will suffer.

I (incorrectly) assumed it went without saying here that you DO need to intelligently choose your anchor text and backlinks.

You also want to ensure that you have decent profiles, because you want maintain these properties later, if you’re not doing so monthly. You need it to actually “look” real, because it IS real!

It’s not some magic bullet that you only do once.   You have to add stuff,  and build them into true mini authority sites, developing trust.  Yes, you basically “fool” Google into thinking you’re a website that’s providing value by actually becoming one! 

Be sure whoever is building your link wheels is using a good name, good profile info, a good company description, a photo, a logo etc. and you’ll fare much better over the long haul.

Are you tired of trading your time for money? Are you worried you’re going to run out of time? Well I am, but no, I’m not selling Amway any time soon.

What I’ve assembled below is a list of ways that I can probably be 2 to 3 times more productive than you, given the same amount of time. It’s not because I’m any smarter, so don’t get defensive, it’s just because I’m on this everlasting journey to find ways to become more efficient – i.e. I’m a cheapskate!

In the interest of full disclosure, I do have a financial interest in everything below – they save me a lot of money and time by using them! Some are affiliates, some are not, and some are my own stuff, but one thing they have in common are that ALL are an indispensable parts of my job.

Firefox Session Manager
I have a frequent need to open multiple windows, sometimes as many as 20 or more, going to various parts of a clients website, stats, analytics, PPC, Webmaster tools, various other admin logins, and even their credit card processing windows.

When I get ready to do end of month reporting for a single client, or devote some time to a particular domain, just getting started can be an enormous pain in neck. With FFSM I can instantly open up an entire browser full of tabs, and even multiple window sessions, with tabs in each. I gave it a full review here and you can get the free Firefox add on here. -  (Time to learn? Under 2 minutes)

My Speed – (Play Videos Faster)
I subscribe to quite a few paid membership sites, and these days a lot of them are sharing things with videos. My son and some friends are also constantly sending me Youtube links, and I just don’t have the time!

There’s nothing worse than watching a six minute video to get to the payoff, when I can accomplish the same thing in two minutes or less, or, to listen to a “slow talker” for long periods of time! That’s where this software shines, and lets me get back some of my life for reuse elsewhere!

Using Myspeed, I can play Flash videos at 2x or even 3x their normal speed, without downloading them or distorting the sound, and getting right to the juicy stuff. I have a full review here, and they have a free 7 day trial here and if you don’t think it’s indispensable, I’ll be stunned. -  (Time to learn? Zero – works automatically)

Roboform
Having multiple logins and passwords for multiple sites and multiple clients can be challenging at best, and that’s if you’re using Firefox. Quite often , usernames and passwords simply will not autofill, and as security improves on websites, I’m seeing this more and more. Using Internet Explorer on the other hand, it can be downright impossible, and that’s where this program can save you tons of time.

Roboform easily lets you safely and securely manage multiple usernames asd multiple passwords, and can be used with any browser. You can export a file and import to another PC, and even password protect the entire thing, in case you lose your laptop or thumb drive.. This program has been around forever, and I can’t recommend it highly enough. Check it out here, or directly download it here . -  (Time to learn? Minimal. Add new data as you need it.)

Dragon Naturally Speaking
As a writer, blogger, Tweeter, emailer, and SEO consultant, I have to write a lot. My typing skills are pretty fast, but not nearly as fast as the spoken word.

I first saw speech to text software in the late 1990s, and made it part of my daily routine around 2002. Throughout each incarnation, I’ve grown to love and rely on it to make me far more efficient than I would otherwise be.

Nuance has two versions, Standard and Pro, but I just use the Standard, which does everything I care about… Visit their site -  (Time to learn? Under 2o minutes to be functional, including training)

Multi Task Timer with Assignments & Reporting
I’ve long been a fan of setting a timer to focus on certain tasks, by alotting myself a given amount of time to get something done, then doing nothing but that task.

Going back to my retail management days at Ross Dress for Less and Office Depot, I used to make task lists, assign each task an approximate number of minutes, and then assign them to various employees, including myself.

When I started sitting behind a keyboard all day, I quickly found this simple task timer so I could do nothing but ONE TASK until the buzzer went off, but recently I ran across the Action Machine, and it was truly a life changer, and puts that timer on steroids!

In addition to setting up multiple timers for multiple tasks you can then sort them into groups, even export them for another user, AND get completed task lists back from those you’ve assigned them to. In short, it gives you user reports!

If there is another program that does this, I’m not aware of it, and each and every member of our staff has a copy on their PC. Watch their demo video here. -  (Time to learn? Minor. I was functioning in less than 10 minutes, and within the first day I’d tweaked it completely)

Shortkeys
This is a program that allowed me to easily create keyboard combinations (macros), that will then press the keys I desire, including TAB, ENTER, function etc.

There’s a a simple “designator” that you get to choose yourself, which will set off the macro, and I chose double pound signs ##, whcih can then be followed by as little or much text as I desire. It’s a no brainer!

I began using this program because I didn’t have many .html commands memorized and it was faster. For example, every time that I type ##link my text is immediately replaced by this code <a href=”http://www.domain.com/”target=”_blank”>text</a> and then I simply change the URL and replace the anchor text. Crude, but it was more efficient than opening a notepad file of .html or .php snippets.

As I used it more, I began adding longer blocks of text. For example, typing ##wl will get me an entire welcome letter, that I can simply go back and edit the places I need to.

I made up my own sort of mental code, and while I thought I’d find myself having trouble remembering them, I’ve had very little trouble at all, and when I do, I can pop open the program and search for what I want. After all these years, I’ll bet I have over 100 items in my shortkeys file, which I can export and import to other computers, and even carry around on my thumb drive.

I don’t have to be a programmer. All I have to do is remember what I called it. Finding this program was literally a lifesaver, and my command file probably has 90 different things in it after a few years. Try it out here – (Time to learn? Under a minute to figure it out, then gradually use it more as you discover new uses)

Fast Blog Finder
Anyone that has to go out and search unfamiliar territory for blogs to comment on, should own this amazing software.

More often than not, it takes even more time to track down a decent post on a relevant subject in the first place, than it does to leave the intelligent and helpful comment, and this takes that wasted time out of the equation. Since I pay for that time, everyone on our team has a copy of this one too.

It’s a great program, and it saves a TON of time, and even lets you identify dofollow blogs, and then filter by PageRank etc. I wrote a full review on it a while back, as sort a white hat instant link builder. -  (Time to learn? Under a minute to intuitively begin using)

TechSmith – Camtasia & Snaggit
When trying to explain something or get into details, the written word is often inefficient. Improvements in screen capture tools have been astounding, and as they say, a picture speaks 1000 words.

I’ve been doing my end of month client reporting for nearly 3 years now using Camtasia, and I’ve been using their screen capture software Snaggit almost as long.

When my father calls leaving me a voicemail on how to do some simple task in Windows (that he should’ve learned years ago), or a developer needs to navigate around a Web hosting control panel so his programmer can create a Cron job, I can make a 60 second video and pop it off a lot faster than I can walk someone through it over the phone or type out directions into an email.

The industry leaders are from Techsmith, and both h free trials here of their software. (Time to learn? Expect to invest 30 minutes “training” but it’s well worth the effort)

(There are some other options that didn’t exist when I wanted to begin using TechSmith, and f you have any recommendations on free screen capture software that does both audio and video , please feel free to leave them in the comments below.)

Outsourcing with Odesk
There are over 350 MILLION service providers on Odesk, including over 50,000 in the US alone. If you think outsourcing simply means overseas unskilled labor, guess again, because the Odesk Oconomy is changing the world with its remarkable growth rate. To date, over 96 million dollars in business has been done on Odesk, and the growth rate is staggering. -  (Time to learn?You can get an account created and a job posted in under 10 minutes)

MY New SEO Toolbar
If you’re like me, you probably have several great seo toolbars, and add ons that you can’t live without, and I hope this becomes another one.

I’ve included sections in the toolbar for learning SEO, a menu of my unique SEO tools listed below, and a section of recommended services and products.

The entire toolbar will dynamically update as new content gets added or removed, and when not in use, you can easily disable it from view.

It’s completely free to download, and I hope you like it! – Here are a few screenshots -

The menu’s go on and on, and there’s a lot to look at, but I think they’re ALL useful, and if they cease to be so, they come off the toolbar. Slick, huh?

These are some of my included SEO tools on the toolbar:

• Keyword multiplier Tool
  Setting up a Pay Per click account can be tedious, and you have to consider every possible variation of link text for each and every campaign. This tool lets you put in up to four different columns of variables, press a button, and get back the complete keyword list to place in your ad campaign. Mine is not the only tool that does this, but I’ve not seen many with four columns and match type included. Also, I’ve never seen one that can be asked to leave spaces and special characters, so that’s what I think makes it unique.
• Link Variance Tool
  A spinoff from our keyword multiplier tool, it can be quite handy to have a list of dozens or hundreds of URLs, with dozens or hundreds of varied anchor texts, and this tool we developed ourselves is the only one I’ve ever seen before. Simply paste a link if URLs on one side, the list of anchor texts the other, check a box if you’d like them nofollowed or set to open in a new window, and press a button. Instant link code!
• Multi URL Server Response tool
  I’ve personally only used this three times since I had a developed, but each time, it saved several hours of manually hunting down problem URLs on large domains, where it seemed like new 404 errors were showing up daily in Google webmaster tools. Simply paste every URL you want in the box and download the results.
• SEO Review – Instantly!
  Not much to say about this one! It tells you everything you need to know about your organic on-page search optimization with the click of abutton, and now, it’s even available for the Iphone

In conclusion I have to say that if you think this post is a “not so thinly disguised” plug for my own toolbar, then I’m sorry, but I assure you that it didn’t start out that way.  I couldn’t very well leave it out though, since it not only saves me immeasurable time daily,  but it’s my blog too!

Being productive is all about devising a system and sticking with it inside your organization. Whether you’re a one-man show, or large company, the things I’ve added here should let you squeeze more juice out of each minute in your day.

It’s not often that I am 100% blown away by a new product, but in my opinion, this is yet another turning point in the online world, and I can’t believe I didn’t hear about it sooner.

For over two years now, I’ve been saying that whomever “solves my problem” is going to make big bucks, from a lot of people, and somebody finally has.

What Was My Problem?
I’m impatient, and want to learn things at my own pace! I can’t stand being frustrated by the speed of information delivery while I’m learning.

There are so many great things to absorb out there, but frankly, I don’t have the time! I’ve wished for a way to speed up Flash videos, and now my wish has been granted.

Play Videos FASTER
The product is called Myspeed, and it allows you to watch Flash movies at up to 3X the speed that the author intended. Wow. What a HUGE time saver! Try it for free for 7 days using my affiliate link and see how much time you can save!

I’m old enough to remember the day man walked on the moon, the day we first got a camcorder and VCR, and the day we bought a microwave oven. Those were pretty revolutionary.

I remember the day I first saw a coin-op video game (Pong) and then the Christmas where my brother and I got the worlds first home video game , the Magnavox Oddysey

Computers Changed My Life
In 1982 or so I bought my Radio shack TRS 80 and played Zork, and then full years passed before I got a Windows 3.1 PC, another eye opening revolution.

A couple of days later I thought I’d “seen it all” with Wolfenstein 3d, and even was eclipsed only hours later by Doom since I got them as a twin pack at Egghead Software.

The Internet Changed it Again
I remember staying up all night before work the day I finally got online with Prodigy internet, and all sorts of web/computer based milestones have come and gone through the years, but nothing has gotten me this jazzed since finding out about WordPress, despit all the cool things I’ve seen as CES over the past three years.

In the few weeks I’ve used it, MySpeed has saved me SO much time it’s scary – even more than Firefox Session Manager, which has saved me countless hours.

With all the “extra” time, I can even waste some of it, watching more funny Youtube videos that my son wants to show me, with the voice not even reverting to “Chipmunkese”.

Over the years I have watched a lot of educational videos, and for many of them, the sometimes BRILLIANT producers tend to speak more slowly and deliberately, rather than getting right to the point.

Obviously, this is done so is to appeal to the widest range of audience, but in my case, it can drive me crazy. I prefer learning at the pace dispensed by someone with the cadence of an auctioneer, and MySpeed gives it to me.

The full version allows speeds up to 300%, and the free version will allow you to go to 1.4 times the original speed.

It runs in your tray, its always available, and if you’re looking for ways to be more productive, I’ve never seen anything that has paid for itself many times over so quickly.

Try their 7 day demo for no charge and tell me if you don’t agree that it’s one of the best applications to come along since Bill P’s free Windows startup manager, Winpatrol.

Want to hear something really cool? I phoned their corporate office this morning and their system voicemail is sped up for efficiency, sweet

Update:
They’ve provided us with a 20% discount code – SEARCHCOMMANDER20 – to use here.

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