Backlink Dilemma & Typewriters (Seriously...Typewriters)

[smithcorona]

Hi all.  I have a bit of a unique issue.

My company, Smith Corona **used **to be one of the world's premier typewriter manufacturers.

However, we have completely got out of that business roughly a decade ago.  Instead, we sell blank thermal shipping labels.

As you might imagine, writing content and getting links about paper labels is not easy.  Quite simply, no one cares about labels.  They either stick or they don't.

Typewriters is a whole different story.  We still get tons of calls and emails everyday about them.  There are online communities dedicated to them.

I think if I even tried a little, I could get backlinks from people interested in typewriters.  The problem is... that we don't do ANYTHING with them at all anymore.  I would really just be pimping out our brand name in hopes of getting some cheap links.

The real question is... do I even want these links?  If they are semantically about typewriters and not labels, is it really helping my SEO efforts?

Any advice is welcome.  Thanks all!

[Nigel_Carr]

Hi Smithcorona

I absolutely would. I would have a proper set of pages charting the company's history from the very beginning, showing mages of the early typewriters you used to make bringing the story up to the present day. If that leads to people linking to you and sharing your images with backlinks then I can't see it doing any harm whatsoever.

The extra backlinks will help enhance your overall domain authority so frankly, you have little to lose. There is a relationship between typewriters, ie the transferring of the written word on to paper and thermal labels so at least you are still in the same 'industry'.

I would have no hesitation in promoting this and saying just go ahead. Nothing to lose and lots to gain.

I'd even blog about it - 'Did you know we used to make typewriters...'

I hope that helps - Regards Nigel

[Chris.Menke]

Hi SmithCarona

I'm quite sure there was a smith corona that bounced between family members in my household when I was young and in my mind, the brand name, and typewriters seem inseparable. The problem, as you're recognizing, is that to Google, they're almost inseparable too.

Those "typewriter" links are not going to help you rank for "label" searches. The authority all those links give you is to die for but the fact that they are off topic means that authority isn't doing much to help you rank for your label-oriented terms.

I'd say you have a long project in front of you of seriously cataloging those existing backlinks and wrapping your arms around creative ways the company and website could make use of some of them and even seriously considering disavowing many of them.  Maybe seek out a consultant who developed a lot of experience back in the Penguin algo change days because a lot of what you will need to do will require that skillset and toolset.

[Paddy_Moogan]

Hi there,

As you may have noticed, you have two answered from Nigel and Chris which conflict a little. So I'll do my best to help!

I think the answer lies somewhere in the middle in that in an ideal world, links that aren't quite 100% on topic would still help you, but the reality is that there is probably at least some thought given by Google as to the relevance of the link. In my experience, it comes down to the overall link profile and the quality/relevance of it rather than individual links. Websites are linked to 24/7 from random websites on all sorts of topics, so I don't think it would necessarily hurt you.

For me, it comes down to three things that you should keep in mind:

1. As Nigel said, the topics aren't a million miles away from each other, so it's very unlikely that building links related to this topic are going to hurt you
2. Your main focus should be on the quality of the links, if you're worried about the quality and the relevance, then it may be worth staying away from them
3. I'd recommend a dual approach whereby you use the great history of the company in this topic to get links, but also start looking at ways you can build links for the new era of the company too.

I hope that helps!

Paddy

[Nigel_Carr]

I agree with Paddy here. I'm not suggesting you use typewriter links to link to thermal label content - let me make that clear. You should still go after links specifically to the main thermal labelling business pages.