Hiring A Linkbuilding Service

[94501]

What would be your take on how to hire a link building service. Specifically, but not limited to:

• Finding one whose methods/links achieved won't later destroy the domain?

• Define the cost for the service?

• What is a typical cost for such a service?

• Reasonable expectations?

• Any other tips for dealing with same.

Thanks!

[EGOL]

The first step is to create content that is so good that people who see it will link to it spontaneously.  If you have that it will accumulate links on its own.  if you have that a linkbuilder has the proper target for links and he/she can then be successful.

If you don't have the proper content, then nobody will want to link to your content.  If you don't have the proper content then  you need a magician instead of a linkbuilder.  Crap content is one of the most common reasons that linkbuilders fail.

Another common reason why linkbuilders fail is that they accept the job of a magician instead of having the cojones to tell client that his content sucks.

- Finding one whose methods/links achieved won't later destroy the domain?

If you are hiring a "magician" or a "linkbuilder with no cojones", then you just hired one who will be using methods that will destroy your domain.

So, to answer your basic question...  You avoid hiring bad linkbuilders by creating content that people will link to spontaneously.  This can be done, but most website owners don't have the skill to produce it or they don't have the cojones to be honest with themselves that their content isn't very good.  A few website owners can pull it off and a few are smart enough to get professional content help (from a quality author, of course).

[94501]

Hi Egol,

Thanks for the thoughts.

What if your content is a forum for a professional community discussing all manner of niche topics, but who generally are not super web savvy and out there linking to content much? The average age of these folks is about 50 and they're not real, "hey, check out this cool discussion about this totally niche area of government regulation!"

So, by "good content," it can be super in-depth, opinionated, fact-filled and authored by folks who know what they're talking about. Does that qualify as good enough material for a reputable link builder to work with?

If it is, what about the rest of my question?

It's almost like you're saying that no one should ever need to outsource link building, because with good content it always just takes care of itself.

Thanks!

[LoganRay]

Hi,

Here are a few steps you should take to ensure you hire a legitimate, white-hat link building agency:

1. Look for reviews, ratings, testimonials, and anything else you can find about the reputation of the company on 3rd party websites - check BBB, Yelp, Google Reviews, etc...
2. Look at their backlink profile - if they're getting sketchy links for themselves, they're not doing anything better for their clients
3. Ask them what methods they use for link building - a good agency will outline their methodology for you
4. If they'll provide a list of current clients, you can check those backlink profiles
5. If the service seems too cheap, run.

Good luck in your search!

[EGOL]

You are right.  My answer was based mainly on "article content".

Forums would be very different.  They might promote well on social media sites.  This would be paying for advertising rather than paying a linkbuilder.

You might also see what you can do that will inspire members to invite their friends.

For search, you might edit some of the thread titles so that they better align with relevant search query volume.  Also, category pages with title tags that target a keyword and a few word to provoke, entice, elicit, inspire, seduce, etc the click.

[94501]

Hi Egol,

Thanks for the clarification. I need links into these discussions, vs social, to get them to rank better in organic. The conversations we're targeting are aligned with organic search opportunities and generally perform, but not as well as they could if they had a few links.

Do you think a link builder could use non-toxic methods to make that happen?

What do you think it would cost and how how are the resulting links attached to cost?

For instance, is it like "here's some money and whatever happens happens?" Or, is it more like a clearer contract?

Thanks!

[EGOL]

I'll be honest.  I do not build links.  Have not done it in many years.

All of my retail sites have lots of content that engages people and gets spread without the need for linkbuilding, hiring SEOs or any kind of marketers.

If I owned a forum, I would make sure that it is optimized properly, occasionally trim thin posts that bring in no traffic from search, contribute vigorously to threads that are about evergreen content topics.

"hey, check out this cool discussion about this totally niche area of government regulation!"  So, by "good content," it can be super in-depth, opinionated, fact-filled and authored by folks who know what they're talking about. Does that qualify as good enough material for a reputable link builder to work with?

In my opinion, your content might be good enough that it does not need a linkbuilder.

Don't underestimate old geezers.  Many of them are more websavvy than you think.  Your visitors sound like influencers to me.  And they are not that old.  If they are about 50 years old then I was in college when they were born!