When Building Communities Isn't the Best Way to Build Links

I entered SEO as a link builder. In 2010, my job was easy and my toolset mainly consisted of article marketing software, directory submissions, comment posting and link networks. Fast forward four years >> I now solely create visually engaging content in an effort to scale link building. I didn't make this career shift because "link building is no longer effective;" quite the opposite: I changed focus from manual to scalable link building because I now work in more competitive industries and my clients generally need 100+ links per asset to move the needle—content helps me meet that demand to acquire large amounts of new linking root domains at once.

Over the past two years I've become obsessed with content (and Reddit, unfortunately). I've started to keep the companies that are producing the best and most successful digital content on my radar. Two companies that have recently started to stick out are Movoto and Airbnb. Both are scaling link acquisition via content, but they are going about it in entirely different ways. Airbnb is growing its own grassroots community, while Movoto is actively targeting existing and passionate online communities with its content marketing.

Before we dive in, both companies are growing rapidly in terms of organic search according to SEMrush:

Airbnb

Movoto

Both of these companies are starting to do exceptionally well in the SERPs, primarily due to either growing (Airbnb) or targeting (Movoto) an audience.

Perception, product, and content

Airbnb and Movoto are both trying to rank for extremely competitive terms, however their content marketing strategies couldn't be further from each other, and that fact hinges mainly on two aspects of these businesses' models:

1. The length of the customer purchase journey
2. The probability of repeat purchases

First, let's think about both of these sites' customer purchase journeys and their customer lifetime value (LTV). Airbnb is selling rentals, which someone could need multiple times a year. Movoto is selling homes. The price point and level of commitment required from the customer are wildly different. More importantly, people generally only look for a new home during or after a major life event, like marriage, death, having a baby, or getting a new job. On the other hand, you could decide to take a random weekend ski trip at 4:15 p.m. on a Friday and book an Airbnb almost instantly. If Airbnb customers really enjoy their Airbnb experience, there's a good chance that they will rent another Airbnb and continue to add to the company's bottom line. However, no matter how awesome a time someone has buying a home, there's a very small chance that they will decide to repeat the experience anytime soon.

Movoto and Airbnb's business models differ in the sense that Airbnb is incrementally extracting value out of customers over a long period of time, while Movoto is most likely getting 100% of the customer's LTV at the first purchase.

For Airbnb, creating their own community is a pragmatic marketing strategy for keeping users engaged. I theorize that's why most of Airbnb's content is either about their business, their community of users and hosts, or about their product.

Where Airbnb is winning in content

• Charitable efforts: During Hurricane Sandy, Airbnb community members put up displaced New Yorkers for free, generating 300 linking root domains.

• Really unique homes: Some of the listings on Airbnb are naturally link worthy, like this igloo or this treehouse. As Airbnb grows, and more interesting and unusual listings pop up, these interesting listings will continue to scale Airbnb's link acquisition.

• Dev blog: Airbnb is up to some pretty impressive stuff in terms of technology and development, and they regularly share their innovations with the dev community. Like this post on isometric JavaScript which earned more than 130 linking root domains.

• Neighborhood guides: These gorgeous neighborhood guides have built 130 links to date, however, they also accomplish a lot more. I asked Dennis Goedegebuure, head of SEO for Airbnb, why they created these amazing guides:

• Product/community blog: Airbnb has a bit of a leg up here in terms of link acquisition. Because they are a prominent company disrupting an established industry, pretty much anything they do is newsworthy. However, when you take a look at their blog, it's not so much a place for them to market themselves as it is a forum to address critical issues, consumer concerns, and changes with the product. It's racked up a lot of links over time (1900+ linking root domains), but it's racked up way more hearts and minds—and most likely converted a fair amount of users into first time renters by alleviating their pain points while researching the product.

• One-off content marketing efforts: The Airbnb Annual Report is an amazing piece of content marketing – but it also speaks to how savvy Airbnb is when it comes to marketing itself. By showing the community how quickly Airbnb is growing (and how much money is out there for hosts to make) Airbnb is educating people about the company trajectory, its product and the future of the industry as a whole – all through beautiful, product-centric, interactive content.

The overarching theme of Airbnb's content

All of Airbnb's content keeps the brand, its product and the Airbnb community in the front of the users mind. Airbnb relies on a community in order to function, and because that community is inclusive, empathetic and charitable—it's one of the most marketable aspects of the Airbnb brand. Airbnb also faces certain challenges—like regulation and challenges from the hospitality industry. Because their business model is still being established, they need those hearts and minds on their side to fight for them and champion their product.

Movoto is taking a different path

Because a home purchase is so infrequent, constantly trying to grow a community through ongoing social media and brand-centric content marketing could get tiresome for readers, especially because those interacting with the brand would most likely have little motivation to purchase a home until a major life event occurs. However, Movoto still needs to scale link building, and in order to do that without building a community of their own, they must engage an audience in a way that causes them to share and tweet the content they produce.

Targeting existing audiences

Movoto creates content that appeals to pre-existing audiences. They are also great at picking their subject matter—they choose topics that are popular enough to be covered in mainstream press, but also appeal to the hardcore niche fanboy sites.

Their most successful content takes some type of pop-culture reference or hot topic, applies it to real estate, and then earns press from both big news sites and mid-level authority blogs. The Harry Potter Hogwarts Property Evaluation Infographic may be the best example of this strategy in action:

It's earned links from over 140 domains including mainstream sites like Daily Mail, Fox News, and Daily Finance, and it also earned links from fan sites like Nerdophiles, Toy To The World, and Potter Talk.

Movoto is creating and marketing useful, fun and informative content that directly appeals to a particular niche audience—but it also has a larger mainstream appeal. Because Movoto executes content well in terms of information and visuals—they are racking up links and quickly rising in the rankings. They've also produced a number of successful interactives, like How Many Legos Would it Take to Build your House, or alternatively How Many Tetris Blocks.

Many of Movoto's blog posts have earned over 100 linking root domains, primarily due to their ability to target an audience that will engage and share content online. Because they don't have to structure their communication around a growing community, like Airbnb, they are free to be pretty creative with their subject matter and publish things that are going to get a strong response (like 54,000 shares on Facebook for that post alone).

Community building isn't for everyone. It's best suited for communal products

As digital marketers we're quick to champion new strategies that result in increased traffic, links and social shares—but it's important to consider how our marketing efforts fit with the overall business model. After all, it's not just links and shares we're after, we are all trying to grow businesses in the most cost effective manner possible.

Community building really only makes sense for communal products. So, while it's the perfect growth strategy for a product like Airbnb, it makes no sense for a real estate site like Movoto. If you're stressing over social singles and your lack of community engagement—maybe you don't have a product that the community can get behind and actively support—and there's nothing inherently wrong with that, you just need to go elsewhere for your links because that's what your business model demands.