Why do we need a cheat sheet?

Because when we first hear about something, we immediately compare it to things we already know.

This helps us understand new things we encounter.

But sometimes the new thing we're hearing about is NOT like anything you already know.

And unless you're already familiar with this Topical Authority Community platform, you're not going to find a comparison that works.

It's not a PBN, it's not link-building outreach, it's not high-volume low-quality, it's not guest posting, it's not (yet) a digital PR system as it doesn't yet include journalists (that comes later).

It's a new kind of platform.

Hence, this cheat sheet.

Enter the web pages you plan to promote on the Content page by pasting the URLs of those webpages.

Search for Link Targets on the Sources page (use multiple words to reduce results containing the word in a context other than what you want - for example "link" matches "link building", "sausage links", "chain link fences", etc.).

Optionally, exchange messages with the link target webpage contact ().

Place intended Link Targets on MyList (). This page exists because the platform is fully responsive. Why being responsive requires this is explained further below.

Report/log that you've linked out on the MyList page () by pasting the URL of your webpage containing the link.

Each outbound link earns you Link Credits (described in detail below) which raise the visibility of your webpages within the platform.

At times, some of the icons below are blue rather than red. That means that action has already been done. For messages, red means you're starting a new message thread, while blue means you're resuming an existing message thread.

Blog posts need attribution or citation links (that cite or reference other blog posts). So we're all accustomed to searching the web for blog posts to link to as we write our blog posts.

This is a community of serious writers (and agencies) who first look for such outbound link targets within  the community, and by virtue of linking to high-quality content published by other members gain greater visibility within the community for their quality content.

This creates a rising tide that lifts all boats.

Which means you can access it on your smartphone or table.

The MyList page exists as a result of this, which is explained further down.

Articles, blog posts, etc. NOT home pages and landing pages.

Why? Because Google makes the rules and they say so.

Where do they say so? In their Search Quality Rater Guidelines.

Take E-E-A-T seriously.

Why? Because Google's entire advertising based business model is built around the idea of "quality content", and per them, E-E-A-T is the very definition of high-quality.

The oldest known use of content marketing started in 1895 by John Deere, the tractor company. It started as a quarterly print magazine.

Each subscription level has a limit of how many active web pages can be promoted.

Active is a key concept here.

If you no longer need to promote a specific web page, archive it () and it's no longer active. You can unarchive it later.

Each subscription level allows a maximum number of active team members.

Active is a key concept here too.

If you're at your subscription limit you can inactive one team member in order to add another. You can also reactive inactive team members later.

If you need more team members than your subscription level allows, you can upgrade.

This is the page where you search for link worthy content being promoted by others.

You can click the web page URL to open it in a new browser tab, upvote the web page for quality and/or uniqueness (), and send a message to the web page contact ().

You can also add the web page to "MyList" () when you plan to link to it later.

Why MyList?

Because the platform is fully responsive, but when you're on your phone you can't easily add a link to a web page on your site, but you can easily add it to MyList.

And then link to it later, when you're at a desktop system.

The various message threads you're in show up on this page.

Unread messages are indicated by a red dot ().

Reporting/logging links is done on the MyList page ().

You paste in the URL of the blog post on your site containing the link.

The platform then fetches your web page, looks for the link. and awards the link credits.

Link credits are a core concept of this platform.

When we say that linking to the content of others increases your visibility within the platform, we mean:

So... how are link credits calculated?

Two ways, depending on if you're "linking up" or "linking down".

Linking up means the site you're linking to has a Moz Domain Authority that is higher than (or the same as) the site you're linking from.

In this case, a link is worth one link credit.

Linking down means the site you're linking to has a Moz Domain Authority that is lower than the site you're linking from.

In this case, you deserve extra credit for passing PageRank (or MozDA) to that site.

In this case, a link is worth one link credit PLUS the MozDA difference divided by twenty.

For example, if you link from a MozDA 50 site to a MozDA 40 site, the link is worth 1.5 link credits.

On the Internet, some sites have such a head start that there is no reasonable chance of a new site ever outranking them.

For example, the cost of outranking Wikipedia or Britannica or Starbucks for the word "coffee" is prohibitive.

While in theory it COULD happen, it won't.

We can't have a situation in the platform where a new user has no chance of their content ever being seen for its relevant keywords because another site has such a head start that it will never happen.

For that reason, link credits expire.

Right now, while the platform is new, they expire after 180 days.

That duration will come down in the future as the platform becomes more populated and active, but the duration will be shortened slowly over time.

The OurLinks page allows you to see what links you've given and received, along with the link credits value of the link and its age.

Like everyone else, we have an affiliate program where you become an affiliate and receive commissions for every user who becomes an affiliate user of yours.

Later, when people pay us money for their subscriptions we'll pay affiliate commissions with money.

But during this period of seeding the platform with free forever users (so that we have an active community others will pay to join later) we're paying affiliate commissions in equity in the venture, using the equity sharing model called Slicing Pie, as described in the book Slicing Pie by Mike Moyer.

If you think you might be interested in receiving affiliate commission in equity, contact us via our contact us form or by sending an email to [email protected].