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Yeh I wouldl have to agree, if its not paid its organice, no matter what news, local, etc...

It's certainly possible that this strategy can help you rank well for your target keywords.  It's also a short-sighted strategy that more than likely will cause headaches down the road.  We're seeing Google continue to move in a direction that favors unique, socially engaging content, and there's nothing to suggest that this trend is going to change anytime soon.  Your best bet would be to take the advice of a certain company known for their linkbuilding expertise: http://www.seomoz.org/article/the-professional-guide-to-link-building-2011 Another, less biased, answer is: it depends.  Perhaps your goals are right for a more short-term approach.  Perhaps you have a very high risk tolerance.  It is the opinion of many that SEO is not really an ethical issue, but more of a business decision, and in that vain, the best course of action is whatever is right for your company - including black hat approaches.

I just watched this video and I was going to ask the same question. Are SEO agencies really employing this as their No1 Tactic. Does this still work in Panda world for backlinks as the Market Samurai Suggests... watch?feature=player_profilepage&v=nsL5_neIHD4

Hi David, I do the same thing as EGOL.  I write my best content in a WordPress page and then kind of summarize the article in a blog post and link to the article using the anchor text I want the page to rank for.  Then I go into my SEO smart links plugin settings and add the keywords I want the page to rank for ( My main keyword and then a few supporting keywords) and the URL. This way I can build out my internal linking structure without really having to think about it. Hope this helps, Bill

Thanks for your prompt reply David. It's unfortunate to read that there wasn't any noticeable impact. I'm getting ready to launch my social commerce site in a month or so and I was leaning more towards FB like as they are the easiest from a user standpoint. But from what I read in SEOmoz FB shares carry a higher weight for SEO. Thus my interest in your test. Congratulations though on getting 2200 FB shares!

Hi David, I'm updating older, unanswered threads. I'm really curious to hear what you decided to do in this situation and what the effect has been. Can you give us an update and any lessons you learned? Thanks!

There is a good post here in seomoz about exactly this issue with DMOZ - in recent times due to the sheer size of DMOZ itself, it really doesn't get crawled that well in the more niche or local sections.

Danny Dover's book looks like a text book but reads more like a blog and focuses more on how to be an SEO practioner and what you need to do and know whereas the Art of SEO is more about the SEO knowledge. I'd definitely recommend reading both.

Another way to get authentic mentions of other areas without being spammy is to have testimonials from clients that include their city names. "I had a wonderful experience using Joe Smith as my real estate lawyer. Blah blah blah Jane Doe, Nearby City, New Jersey" You could also talk about how you are members of the greater Newark Chamber of Commerce or Newark Area Real Estate Lawyers who Lunch or how you support the Nearby Town Little League.

Thanks for the replies.  The site is for a law firm so yes, most clients visit the office. So I will stylise  a  vCard formatted address and placing it high up as suggested. Then will see if the geotarget tool picks it up.. @David - the tool is the seomoz tool : http://www.seomoz.org/geotarget