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Has anyone asked themselves what the point of building 100s of links is when Google is trying to remove the importance of Page Rank?

Link building, in the traditional sense, is a way of increasing your domain/page authority isn't it? Authority isn't something a page or a website gets immediately, it appreciates over time.

But how much significance does authority have in a Google search landscape that rewards fresh, new content, which has no authority from a ranking perspective?

My answer, and you can disagree with me, is that authority and page rank has no significance now. I base this conclusion on my experience of working on start up websites that have achieved a page 1 position in the SERPS with little to no link building when compared with competitor sites.

Matt Cutts says that the value of link building shouldn't be buried yet but he would say that. Why would he want every search marketer to know the tricks associated with 1st page ranking? Everyone would be employing these tricks if they new. I think link building is dead when it comes to being a tool to climb the search results.

There is value, however, in using link building to get targeted referral traffic that could convert into fully fledged sales. I definitely wouldn't be producing 100s of links with the promise that I'd climb the search results though. There are easier ways!

Duplication and plagiarism are annoying to many, including me! For anyone that wants to catch plagiarists or even track down duplicate content on the web there are tools available called Copyscape and Copysentry. That should put an end to it! I've actually included it in a blog post I've put together on 20 of the best search engine marketing tools. If anyone is interested it'll be posted on the TopLine Communications blog soon.

Sharing something of value is a must. But what's valuable to one person isn't necessarily valuable to another.

If you want to build a community I think you have to be able to offer something that is shareable. What will make your community want to share what you are offering?

I agree with one of the posts in here. I can't see a use for Pinterest in B2B marketing.

B2C is fine because you usually have a nice product to show off, which you can do with a pretty picture.

If you have a project management company or another company with an intangible service then what do you pin to your board?

I've thought about infographics to represent B2B business clients. But then would want to look at that and more importantly who would share that on Pinterest? What would that be achieving that posting on your own company blog wouldn't?

I've been experimenting with Pinterest for some time now. The B2B marketing and comms company I work for are also experimenting with it as a way to generate leads for our clients.

I personally don't think there is much value in Pinterest as a B2B social media marketing tool. It's a visual based network. Most B2B businesses would find it hard to find an attractive and interesting visual to represent their services, which is why I question how appropriate it is for B2B marketing. The only way I can find a way around this is in producing infographics to post on B2B services and products. But then I have to ask myself the question - who am I doing this for and who is likely to share it?

Would anyone agree that B2C businesses are more likely to enjoy success from social media marketing campaigns? LinkedIn excluded.

Adwords is a great platform to generate instant traffic to your website.

It isn't as easy as ABC though. Google Adwords has a great online training manual for newcomers. Simply search for "Google Adwords Fundamentals" for the manual.

I suggest anyone who is new to Adwords to use that. Running an effective ad campaign is a lot trickier than you'd think. There's lots to consider. If you don't get it right you can end up losing money from day one, which is a bad thing for any start up business. Do your research first!

I wouldn't worry to much about PR anymore. Google wants to build a web of relevance. You can have a brand new website with PR0 that has great content and information to offer. Linking to this site, providing there is a direct relationship with your web content, wouldn't be a bad thing.

Relevance is going to be more important as Google fine tunes it's search engine, which makes PR less of an issue.

You can build links in many different ways. All of the ways mentioned in this post are still valid.

The ones that I find most effective are in producing high quality, interesting blog content for your own blog and as a guest blogger for other respected blogging sites.

Make sure your links are relevant ie from websites that relate to the same topics that yours does. This should be on everyone's agenda as a link doesn't just assist with your ranking but it's also a possible avenue to gain a lead from a prospective client. You would only want visitors from links that you have posted who would be interested in your products/services wouldn't you?

The only positive experiences I have had with SMS campaigns is while conducting one for African clients. Mobile is huge in that continent and the people seemed to be very open to receiving promotions via their mobile handsets.

Personally, I don't like receiving SMS messages. It would be worth seeing if you can find any sentiment reports on SMS camapaigning in the UK.

One thing is for sure, you must ensure you have permission to send someone an SMS. Opt in fields on your contact forms will help you get this. You could find yourself in a sticky situation if you include someone in your SMS campaigns without their consent.