I need help finding a link building professional

[stuart_h_1978]

I understand that some may respond to this question advising that we should concentrate on building good quality content, and eventually the links will come. And I do agree.

The problem is that while we are implementing a content strategy and we're absolutely focused on creating unique, quality content for our audience, we're also a brand new business with a current grand total of (wait for it...) - 4 back-links!

So while we're devoting our efforts to create the most engaging content we can, we need to find someone that can help us build our back-link profile and help to promote our brand and content in the most legitimate way possible.

Obviously typing "SEO" into Google is not necessarily the most effective way to find the right person for the job and I'm a bit apprehensive about posting ads on eLance, oDesk, etc

Does anyone have any idea how we can find someone smart and highly experienced that understands the importance of doing this right? We are Australian based but they don't have to be local.

Thanks in advance.

• Stu

[danatanseo]

Hi Stu,

I'm going to say this at the risk of being struck down with slings and arrows by my highly-esteemed friends in the SEOMoz Q & A forum. Research and pursue high-quality directory links. Create a budget, research the directory's history, PageRank, check them in OSE, and vet them completely. You will be amazed at what's left. There are a lot of good directories out there and they still matter (ouch! I think an arrow just hit me).

I had a brand new niche site last January. In one year we've moved from PageRank 1 to PageRank 3 and we are little bitty teensy weensy. We are on track to quadruple organic traffic and sales in 2013. We have some good "earned" links, but nearly ALL of our first links were from high-quality directories.

Just be smart, research them, and never pay for more than one year. Next year, that directory could be gone. If you aren't in Yahoo.dir, pay the money and get listed (if you can). Also get into Business.com and JoeAnt.com...there are many many more good ones.

I'd love to raise my hand and charge you a consulting fee to do it for you, but I think you can do this yourself and save a lot of money and get decent results.

Good luck! [and I'm putting on my armor now to deal with the comments that come after this one, lol]

Dana

[MoosaHemani]

I am not really in a mood to present myself at the front of you and raise my hand but i can give you an idea of how you can find the right kind of SEO for your business. There are tons of snake oil sellers who can eat your money and give you nothing but will waste your time and put your website at risk.

Here are few of the things that should keep in mind when searching for the right kind of SEO for your business.

• He will discuss what he will do!

This means that he will be able to give you the overview of what he can do for your business and what you should expect on month to month basis.

• He will be Open to community

The right kind of SEOs are usually open to community and help others with their knowledge and talent. If you want to search for the right kind of SEO on SEOmoz platform i would recommend checking the list of top 50 active members and approach them as they are the most active people in the SEOmoz community.

• Usually there share their tactics

Not all but mostly good SEOs tend to write on different platforms (SEO blogs) about the expertise that they have in order to give the right image of SEO in the community. You can always find this by typing in their name or may be the company name they are working for.

• Twitter Addict

This is not must but true to almost 85% of good SEOs. They tend to share their perspective about SEO to other likeminded people in order to build relationship. Most SEOs discuss things, happenings and ideas on open platforms like twitter, so if you want a good SEO see how active they are on twitter and what is their fellow circle.

• SEOmoz list of Recommended Companies

If budget is not at all a problem for you, then you should consider checking out the list of SEO companies that SEOmoz recommend as they are all the high class people in the SEO community.

[IainReloadMedia]

Hi Stu,

Why not approach one of these companies/individuals SEOMOZ recommends...

http://www.seomoz.org/article/recommended#link-building

Thanks

Iain - Reload Media

[donford]

I really have to endorse moosahemani's response here. I will also add the biggest risk of hiring somebody to do your link building is they will do it un-ethically which will hurt not help your business. In the end you will have paid somebody to screw you over.

[MotoringSEO]

Hi Stu

The tips for finding a link builder here on SEOmoz from Moosa are good and if you have a budget of several thousand $ a month you will be able to get some good people to help with your SEO and content focus, so if the budget is available that is a good way to go.

If however the budget is not available you can do a lot yourself, you are already doing the hardest bit, creating interesting and useful content for your market, now all you need to do is let the audience know it is on your site.

You can do this by finding other websites that look after the same market but do not compete with you, such as a car insurance company if you sell cars, then offer to write some content for their audience (guest posting).

You should also use Twitter to follow people who are influential in your market and find a way to get on their radar (help them in some way or talk about things they care about etc.) then when you have a relationship with these people you can ask them to comment on your content, they share it with the people who follow them and then you have the beginnings of a group of people who think your content is worth talking about.

By asking industry influences to help with or talk about your content it will get shared and these shares are all potential links to your site.

I hope this helps

Sean