Are you tired of spending countless hours on link building for your website only to see minimal results? In this article, you’ll find some risk-free tips on outsourcing link building effectively, so you can sit back, relax and watch your website rise to the top of search engine rankings.
The role of link building in SEO
Are you ready to rock your SEO game? Well, you better be because Hubspot reports that a whopping 64% of modern enterprises are investing in SEO to stay ahead of the competition.
And what’s the secret sauce to SEO success? It’s link building! A study by Ahrefs found that the number of referring domains to a webpage strongly correlates with its search engine ranking position. In other words, the more quality backlinks you have, the better your chance of ranking higher.
However, over 41% of digital marketers think link building is like rocket science. It’s confusing, time-consuming, and sometimes downright frustrating.
So, there are numerous advantages that SEO experts can reap by outsourcing their link-building efforts.
Saves time and resources
According to Seotribunal, 65% of marketers affirm link building is the most challenging SEO tactic. Partnering with a reliable provider can relieve the pressure of executing complex link-building campaigns while freeing valuable time and resources.
Provides access to specialized expertise
Link building is no child’s play. Seasoned professionals know their onions and have the required skills and expertise to execute effective linking campaigns. What’s more, their extensive network of contacts enables them to procure links with greater speed and efficacy.
Link acquisition based on experience. Source: Authority Hackers
Cost savings
When securing top-notch links, you have two ways: hire an in-house team of seasoned link builders or outsource the job to experts in the field.
Building an in-house team may only be financially viable if you have a substantial number of projects to undertake. Otherwise, attempting to build such a team could drain your resources dry in no time.
Undoubtedly, the most significant expense of running an in-house link-building team is typically the salaries. Here are figures gleaned from the Glassdoor website:
The average link builder salary. Source: Glassdoor
Imagine hiring a full-time link-building specialist. With all the time and effort they’ll be putting into research and outreach, you can expect 13-15 backlinks per month. The cost of each of these precious links can skyrocket to an eye-watering $500-$700 per placement.
Moreover, expect additional expenses such as benefits, recruitment and hiring, tools and technology, training and overhead costs. So, with an in-house specialist, one link can cost you $800+.
When outsourcing to a third-party agency, companies only pay for the services rendered and are free from worrying about employee salaries, benefits, incentives and overhead costs.
Ready to give outsourcing a shot? Here are tips on how to achieve optimal results from outsourcing your link-building endeavors.
How to outsource link building without risk
Now, let’s delve into the essential steps to take on your journey toward prosperous link-building outsourcing.
Prepare your website
Your main task is to prepare a favorable ground for link building. To prepare your website, follow these steps:
- Organize your site structure with a clear hierarchy and easy navigation;
- Create engaging content with multimedia, which can increase indexed pages by 434%;
- Optimize content for SEO with relevant keywords, fast loading time and mobile-friendly design;
- Build a strong internal linking structure to improve visibility and ranking;
- Fix technical issues, including broken links, for easy crawling by search engines.
Some link-building agencies offer to help their clients with site audits or content creation.
Choose an experienced contractor
A quick jaunt over to Clutch and a search for “link-building agency” reveals an avalanche of almost 12,000 potential collaboration options on that site alone.
Search results for “Link Building” on Clutch. Source: Top link-building companies and services
Now, let’s take a closer look at the critical factors you should keep in mind when selecting an agency to partner with.
Pricing
While you might be able to find a bargain-basement deal on some shady corner of the internet, you’re probably better off investing in a reputable agency that can deliver real results.
Take a look at this screenshot from Fiverr, where a search for “Link Building” shows these surprising prices:
Search results for “Link Building” on Fiverr
If an outsourcing agency promises to get you 10 backlinks for only $100, they might be talking about low-quality links from forums or comment sections (Google ignores them in its ranking algorithm). Here’s what John Mueller, a senior search analyst at Google, says about it:
“You could go off and create millions of links across millions of websites if you wanted to, and we could just ignore them all.”
For example, at Editorial Link, a top-rated link-building agency on Clutch, one quality link starts at $350. Sticking only to white-hat techniques, the Editorial Link team builds high-authority editorial links to create strong portfolios and bring natural traffic to linked websites.
Through outreach efforts, the Editorial Link team gets top-quality backlinks from highly authoritative sources with a significant online presence: g2.com, Hubspot.com, Cloudways.com, Clickup.com, monday.com, Wordstream.com, Similarweb.com and many more.
They do not charge a prepayment and invoice the clients only after link placement approval. The team strives for maximum transparency and is not willing to sell dozens of low-quality links (which will not make any impact on the results of their clients) for the same amount.
Transparency
It’s crucial to evaluate an agency’s level of transparency before engaging in any business with them.
Some important questions to ask:
- What methods and strategies will they use while working on your project?
- Do they charge upfront or only when results are delivered?
- Are they willing to share the results of their successful campaigns?
- Does the agency disclose domains before publication?
The last point is especially critical. In this way, you get a chance to personally check whether the site is suitable for you to get a backlink. It’s not rare for domains with high DR (70+) to sell the opportunity to place a guest post or a link. It is advisable to steer clear of websites that engage in the sale of guest posts and are monitored by Google.
Generating spammy backlinks has the potential to harm search engine rankings, painting such a bleak picture:
Traffic drop on a site that was sanctioned by Google in February 2020
Working with a transparent agency can help minimize your risk and ensure you don’t end up worse off than when you started.
Monitor the process
While trusting a provider, it’s important to keep an eye on the work process and make sure the agency follows the agreed guidelines and techniques.
- Regular communication. Regular communication allows you to receive updates on the progress of your campaign and discuss any concerns or feedback you may have.
- Performance metrics. To track the success of your link-building efforts, ask the agency to provide regular reports detailing the metrics you care about most. This could include information on the number of links acquired, traffic generated, and rankings improved.
- Quality control. While your agency may be responsible for acquiring links for your site, it’s important to review the quality of the links they’re obtaining. Use tools like Ahrefs, Moz or Majestic for that.
Red flags
Once you know how to act to mitigate the risks of cooperating with a link-building team, it’s time to tell you what you shouldn’t overlook as you prepare to accept the provider’s offer:
- Need for speed. Building high-quality links is not a sprint, it’s a marathon. Beware of services that claim to get you links in just a few days. They’re likely using shady tactics like link farms.
- False promises. If a service is 100% guaranteeing you a spot on the first page of Google, they might as well be claiming they can turn lead into gold.
- The curious case. Transparency is key in this industry, and anyone unwilling to present you with the results of their previous campaigns is likely hiding something. Insist on openness and honesty from the get-go.
Conclusion
Link-building outsourcing is a cost-effective and efficient way to hit marketing goals and improve SEO results. The key to this is trust-based reliable relationships with the right link-building service provider.
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