Link building outsource advice
-
I have been limping along doing link building myself for several months now. Creating relationships, asking for links, writing some articles and press. So far, decent results, but I need to take it to another level.
I used SubmitEdge's 400 manual directory submission product, but still not seeing many links coming from it.
So, I would like to hire an onshore SEO to help me with link building. After getting several quotes from reputable companies, I found the process very frustrating.
I know this business is not about guarentees, but they all want $600-$1000 per month for a fairly open ended service. All they tell me is that they will submit to directories, social media sites, shopping sites, and some niche sites. No guarentees of how many (or what quality) of links I'll get, or even how much time they even plan to spend.
Any suggestions on what I should expect? and any suggestion companies?
-
Best thing you can do is check fiverr and maybe digital point and be VERY VERY selective in who you hire. Test them on a site you don't care too much about and be detailed in the tasks you give them. Stay away from mass submission type stuff; directories, articles, etc.
I'd look for someone who can truly do niche linking or competitor offset links for you (in house). Maybe someone on craigslist you can train.
-
Thanks so much for your input Kristi and Mike. I've had the similar experience with offshore link building.
But what about some of the reputable SEO firms and their link building product. I know there are lots within this forumn. I would like to hire someone to help me compliment what I can't do with my team, but I need some transparency in the practice. Looking to partner with someone that can compliment what I am already doing.
Suggestions?
-
I know your pain. Been there. My experience was not good. Tried 2 of them. Even though they promised relevant, gramatically correct English postings, they did not deliver. I believe they were acting as middle-men to low-cost labor offshore who did not write solid English nor know anything about the niche my product was in. Plus, they did some questionable things with links that if done on large scale would probably get my site banned. Fortunately I was able to stop it before it got out of control.
The only way I would use an outsourced service again is to pre-approve every post/article in advance (at least for the first 50 or until I got very comfortable with their work). And that's tedious enough (and time consuming enough) that I'm not sure what value they're adding at that point. I could hire my own low-cost labor and then do the same approval process and then post them (cutting out the middle man).
It's really hard when site owners give testimonials like "my SEO firm is great" because the site owners are often unaware that their outsourced SEO firm is using black/grey hat tactics (eg JC Penny). If you're going to hire someone and pay them hundreds/month then take a long time to interview them. Ask for customer references. Ask for data on improvements they've made for their customers (what were the rankings before they started, and how did they improve over the months?). They should have multiple examples of monthly improvement for multiple clients, and then explain to you which white-hat techniques they used to achieve those results. If they refuse to share client references (where you can get on the phone and speak to some of their clients) or data then move along and look elsewhere; there are a million scamsters out there...
-
I have tried both types of services. The open-ended "directories and social media sites" are not worth it. Honestly, I would hire a college intern looking for SEO experirence and a possible future job and train them the way YOU want it done. Meaning, high quality relationships built, real emails sent with personality, guest posting articles that they can create, etc.
It would be much more value than the bigger open ended companies, unless you get a great recommendation from someone on who to hire.
The truth of it is that those bigger type companies who you would be paying are also hiring the cheap interns who don't care about your business and don't know who you are. If you hire them directly, at least they will care more.
Good luck!
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
Is Back Link Building still Good Practice
Since all the updates from Google I'm unsure as to whether I should be pursuing good quality back links and how many per month?for my website www.polesandblinds.com . We don't have a very large back link profile and its at least half of some of our competitors, we are currently active on blogging and the 4 main social sites. Many Thanks I look forward to your suggestions/advice/criticism.
Link Building | | JonnytheB0 -
Should I build links to wordpress category pages?
Hi guys, I'm working on http://www.top-10-dating-reviews.com and planto build links to the category pages - is that the best strategy for a comparison site like this? This is a wordpress site and I read that category pages should be no indexed is that the case? If so then obviously I'd be wasting my time building links to these pages as google wouldn't index them anyway. Any advice on the best strategy for link building would be much appreciated!
Link Building | | SamCUK0 -
Link building need help
I've been doing link building for the past 2 months for a website. I've put together some blog posts and submitted them to some sites. However, I don't want to repeat the content on other sites or use the same sites again for links. The problem with this company is that nothing is happening. The last press release they issued was in 2010 and in the 4 months I've been working for them nothing has happened. I have found a few good quality websites in our niche which I could approach for links, but I want to have good content to put on them. Does anyone have any ideas as how to create content that would be suitable, bearing in mind this a B2B company.
Link Building | | AAttias0 -
Link building with About.com and ehow.com
Does anyone know if About.com has a policy on providing back links to websites. A client of mine has had a product reviewed on about.com as well as being included in a "how to" article, but no back link was provided. I checked out the page and noticed "paid for advertisement" back links over random words but no back links on any of the pages I randomly searched that were related to the topic being discussed.
Link Building | | jusdavi0 -
Which way of Link Building is best for seo and long term results
Hi - Have started off with a Automotive site - www.mycarhelpline.com based in India 15 months back Have achieved close to daily visitors of 2500+ in numbers Have made do follow links through - Article submission in high pr directories, couple of press releases, high pr forum submission, directory submission with high pr (though yet to get link from yahoo, botw n dmoz) and couple pf backlinks in high other pr sites Need to know - Best way to create backlinks - is article writing the best way to create backlinks - as against paid directories and paid press releases. I Can target 350 articles in high pr article directories for 6 mo - Ezine, Selfgrowth, Articledashboard n others How can i achieve my target of 10,000 daily visitors. What link bulding strategy do i need to adopt - as am finding difficult to explore sites where i can build backlinks except articles There are other Auto sites - heard of getting 40K unique visitors on daily basis Pl suggest . thnx
Link Building | | Modi0 -
How much is a fair amount to pay for link building services?
It would be useful to get some feedback from those paying for SME/SMB website link building services re how much is a fair amount to pay and what you are getting for this.
Link Building | | Luia0 -
Link & Content Building
this is a tough one for me. Some of you know that the average SEO contract is fairly limited in budget.Clients in very competitive industries are fearing spending a lot on SEO. I do not think I should list the reasons for this.what do you do with limited budgets for SEO.The onsite-technical optimization is fairly easy and take much prsonal labor but it is manageable.The off-site optimization, links, content , and just getting you client out there is time and funds consuming over the scope of regular projects I know.My question is what do you do with onsite optimization really. I am sure some advice will include write great content, get it out there, guest blogging however those are not readily available and are not fitting the scope of any project.what do you think?
Link Building | | ciznerguy0 -
I want to know that which is better option for link building through article submission.
which option is better for Link building through Article Submission and why? 1. submitting one article at 100 websites. OR 2. submitting 20 articles at 20 different websites.
Link Building | | pawankatak0