SEOmoz recently launched a new link popularity checker and backlink analysis tool called Open Site Explorer. While I find the tool to be useful there is nothing really revolutionary about the tool. However, I do like using the tool compared to what I’ve been using before simply because of the clear presentation of results, which makes for a good quick check.

To be honest I haven’t really twiddled much with the Open Site Explorer so there’s likely hidden gems I haven’t found. To remedy my lack of knowledge on the other possible uses I will be attending the FREE Webinar SEOmoz is giving Thursday. There will be actually 2 webinars to be held on Wednesday, January 27th at 2:00PM (PST), and Thursday, January 28th at 10:00AM (PST). To join the Open Site Explorer webinar register here.  I am not sure if there’s still a slot for the Wednesday webinar but just a few minutes ago I registered for the Thursday webinar and got in. I suggest you join to learn the ins and outs without having to even strain a bit figuring out what you can possibly do. In my experience webinars like these where half the time is spent in Q&A can yield gems in terms of tips from the experts.

If you’re booked for both schedules or just didn’t get a slot you can view the webinar later in SEOmoz’s webinars page.

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When it comes to getting incoming links, let alone actual conversions, you should not leave any stone unturned. Take nothing for granted. This is why I’m passing on info from “drummerboy9000” of SEOmoz. In his post, which was good enough to get “promoted” from YOUmoz to SEOmoz’s main blog, he recommended spending some time answering relevant questions on Yahoo! Answers.

Drummerboy9000 (Sorry I don’t know his real name) backed up his recommendation by comparing the conversion rate for his PPC campaign versus Yahoo! Answers, with results that wasn’t too favorable for Yahoo! Answers. His results are showed that his PPC campaign had a total conversion rate of about 11.73% while his Yahoo! Answers links conversion rate was 5.52%. However he then went further by comparing the COST PER CONVERSION (see figure below).

As you can see Yahoo! Answers is actually more cost effective. I don’t suggest that you go ahead and exchange your PPC campaign and concentrate your efforts on Yahoo! Answers because remember you still have to factor in the actual number of traffic driven to you by both methods for the percentages to matter. What I’m driving at isn’t that you shouldn’t miss out on the cost-effective conversion traffic that Yahoo! Answers can give.

So if you have time in your hands get to answering people’s questions. Just remember to give relevant answers and leave a link only when they really will get useful info from your site. Get spammy and you can expect conversion rates to be much lower than the ones drummerboy9000 gave.

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