Is using a link building service wise to do?

[Murboyz]

This post is deleted!

[Boodreaux]

I have asked this question before and was told to BEWARE.

If you can find someone to create links in RELEVANT and good ranking directories and forums etc then it might be good.  I was told to avoid those who just submitted to lots of directories. I am in the same boat as you right now.  Been staying up late doing my own stuff.  For me it is going to probably be a slow road because of reputation management in regards to links. I am a novice so hopefully some other guys will answer this question better.

UtahTiger

[evolvingSEO]

Hey Chad!

Happy to chime in on this one a bit. This is my opinion, and it gets a little philosophical, because I feel it really depends how you want to run your business and your website.

If it were me, I would highly recommend NOT hiring a company that is only doing link building (especially in these "package" type formats). Your internet marketing strategy and SEO strategy should be a more holistic process. That is, if you are focused on long term success, not just a potential short term boost in ranking/traffic.

It is my philosophy (and the way I structure my consulting work) that link building happens last down the chain ofprioritization. And by that I mean;

• 1st have a business or website with a unique selling proposition
• know why this business or website exists
• create a website which is attractive, functional, indexable and clearly communicates your business purpose and unique selling proposition - optimize it for keywords based upon keyword research
• fill it with compelling, unique, helpful content - and have a plan for adding new content as often as possible
• have your intentionally chosen social profiles claimed, and at least setup, even if you don't post on them all of the time
• network online with others in your industry in social media, Q&A sites, forums, commenting on blogs (not for links but for networking)
• THEN you've got a solid foundation, and you can start pro-actively coming up with link building strategies - but this is after all of this other stuff is at least somewhat in place. Then the POWER of your link building in only enhanced by all this other great stuff you have going on. And its much less risky because you've built a solid foundation.

If you have all that other stuff going for you, and you want to get an outside company to do build some links for you to enhance what you're already doing, I'd suggest checking out the SEOmoz recommended companies for link building list.  And if and when you do hire a company to help build some links for you, make sure its a company or person that understands SEO as a whole. Do they understand site architecture, and keyword research and analytics? Maybe not to the degree of specializing in every single one, but enough so that they understand how their link building services fit into your bigger picture.

I think where some of the confusion comes from out there, is that these link building services can at times bring positive results, but they are usually higher risk and short term. If I was a business owner, I would invest in things that will always bring an ROI, like the other items listed above.

Really hope that helps!!

-Dan