Using off-line events to generate content and links

Links as we all know are getting harder and harder to come by since Google’s crackdown on paid links has led to a general reluctance of sites to link out for fear of being seen as link sellers.

Much is made of the power of the “linkbait”, the killer tool or piece of content you make available on your website that leads other site owners to link to you organically. Linkbait is great if your niche lends itself to an online tool, or you are the natural provider of content that people can’t get everywhere else, however what if neither are the case?

Well we can leverage a very offline area to work as a linkbait for us, events. Running an event although usually very isolated from the web itself can, if properly promoted, lead to a huge amount of organically gained backlinks in a very short period.

Late last year Toyota held an event for enthusiasts of its FJ Cruiser vehicles in the US. They brought together 426 enthusiasts with 186 FJ Cruisers and provided them with a special off-road course to work their vehicles over. They built a microsite around the event allowing the participants to share their experience with the wider community. Overall the event generated over a million hits to the microsite with over 3.6 million page impressions, 4000 photos were shared online by participants, coverage was gained by 20 press outlets (all with that valuable link back), 550 videos were posted to YouTube and there were more than 14,000 views on Yahoo! video.

By giving the event an effective online presence Toyota drew in a virtual audience far greater than the 426 physical attendees, they have built a large amount of user generated content that will give the event a level of permanence that would otherwise have been impossible, and crucially they have picked up a large number of excellent organic backlinks.

Make sure your next event fully exploits the possibilities an online presence can provide.

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