Outsourced Link Building
-
Hello,
I'm pretty sure everyone will just tell me to do the link building myself, but the truth is I don't have time.
I've looked at link building firms in the past (and even used one), and they were all pretty dodgy. What should I look for in a quality link builder? What costs do you think are reasonable for a quality link? Is there anything you wish you'd known before going down a similar path?
Thanks in advance for any help!
-
I agree, some clarity on what you mean by "outsourced link building" would be a good idea because if you mean hiring the cheapest labour you can find and giving them the remit to build links for you then yes you are likely to get burned.
In my opinion 'outsourcing' has negative connotations and working with an experienced external link acquisition company isn't necessarily a bad idea.
Working with an expert whether that be an agency or a freelancer can offer incredible benefits provided you are involved at the strategy and quality control level. 2nd or 3rd opinions on strategies and output are often worthwhile seeking if you are unsure of the 'right' direction.
-
I encourage you to be very clear about what you mean by "link building." Do you mean hiring inexpensive folks to submit your site to directories and do low-quality article marketing for you? Or do you mean hiring a professional content-marketing team to attract valuable links?
-
Yep! There are some things SEO companies can do for you that are important but not quit as risky. Page optimization, keyword research, content development, etc.. but the link building tactics that have been used for the last few years have been to kin to carpet bombing, and Google don't like that.
That said I'm sure there are some great SEO companies out there but you also want to make sure you pick a company that is intimately familiar with your industry for best results.
Here is SEOmoz's recommendations
Hope it helps!
-
Hi Donford,
Appreciate the response. The article you linked to was great.
It is also the exact thing I don't have time to do properly. We all know that SEO is important, so it's best that I step aside in favor of people with the time to focus on doing a good job.
Cheers!
-
There was a good YoMoz post on this subject today.. here:http://www.seomoz.org/ugc/build-relationships-not-links
The truth is if you outsource this aspect you are taking a risk. I understand that you already prefaced your question with time. So, perhaps I may suggest that you hire somebody in house to help with SEO, in this case they would have access to you and your industry knowledge which would help build reliable relationships with communities, forums and blogs.
If the website is your baby or bread and butter, then outsourcing something as important as link relationships is very risky. There have been hundereds of post about people getting smashed by Google's penguin and panda updates which directly crushed the way 90% of the SEO companies used to build links for SEO reasons.
I am not trying to be harsh on you, I just don't' want you to end up in a Panda situation 6 months from now.
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 tiered link building a good thing?
I think that I have watched all the webinairs and online courses available on the web, but I still don't seem to know how and where to get links from. I know what type of links I should be getting and what type I should be avoiding, but that little luck so far. I came across the website of Matthew Woodward about tiered link building where he explains how to do this type of link building in depth. It seems quite interesting but also a lot of work so I don't want to invest my precious time in something that will be penalised by Google in the near future. Is there anyone that can give me some reason why I should or shouldn't do this?
Link Building | | BridalHotspot0 -
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 Building Services Post Penguin
Hi Can anyone suggest a link building service that is of higher quality and still works nowadays? All the private networks were deindexed and it looks like we're left only with blasting software, which i don't really like. I am doing research on link building now and i can't seem to find any service that meets the quality of BMR or other deindexed Homepage Networks. Thanks!
Link Building | | comancsm0 -
Article submissions for link building- what sites do you still use?
Hey Everyone, Long-time SEO'er first time poster here. I've been doing SEO for around 5 years but since starting my company The Search Ninjas last year I've been so bogged down with client work that I feel like I'm starting to fall behind on what's still effective from a link building perspective since all of my clients are local businesses and since we've been focusing so much attention on Google Places. My question is- are there any general article sites that you still use for SEO since the Panda update last year (that you firmly believe still offer "juice"), or do you mainly focus on niche sites and guest-blogging? I'm looking for ideas regarding how to find content submission opportunities for clients for link building purposes. I'm familiar with Ontolo and the Whitespark Link Prospecting Tool in terms of ways to find opportunities (and of course cherrypicking competitors' links using OSE and SEOSpyglass), any other recommendations? Best, George ps clients are in legal niche for the most part if that helps you out, but this is mainly me looking for everyone's general opinion.
Link Building | | georgetsn1 -
Link building for ecommerce site
What are your recommendations for the best link building strategy for a B2C ecommerce site?
Link Building | | DenverKelly0 -
Link Building Template
Hi all, I am looking to find an actionable, easy to use, link building template to be used by myself as well as across office/clients. Key subject areas for link building have been defined but I am keen to apply a template to past and future link building opportunities as I build on the link building tactics I have a number of link building targets e.g. form competitor analysis, existing links from websites and looking to reach out to amend their anchor text, prospect websites Does anyone have a good insight into categorising the different link building targets by sector? Many thanks Simon
Link Building | | simonsw0 -
Primary link building for new clients, where do you go first?
When starting out with a new client, where do you look first to build links for that client? I have a lot of close friends who have small businesses with not a very huge budget for SEO and I'm trying to wrap my head around how to do a significant amount of quality link building without breaking the bank. Any suggestions? My list so far is: Friends / Family of the client.
Link Building | | adriandg
Free (good quality) directories - Yellow pages, etc.
Content creation / Article publishing
Paid directories (BBB, etc) What i am wondering though is if anyone out there has some suggestions as to how to do some quality link building for a small client with a limited budget (lets say, $500).0 -
Link building
Folks would you recommend i build a link on this site for $30... http://www.web-directory-australia.info please let me know detailed reasons as to your recommendation as I'm a new SEO and learning as much as I can 🙂
Link Building | | PHDAustralia680