The right link building service can do a lot for your SEO, rankings and business. The wrong one can sink your site faster than the Titanic.
Yup, you could go from “King of the World” to near frozen solid, hanging onto a floating dresser while some gal tells you she’ll “never let you go” while simultaneously letting you go so she can survive.
And while the above might seem like the bitter rant of someone whose high school girlfriend made him watch that movie 10 times, it’s actually much more.
Jack and Rose’s roller coaster love affair is the perfect analogy for SEO link building: Great things can happen (you find the love of your life, yay!) or things can go south pretty quickly (you watch hundreds of people die before you become a polar bear popsicle, boo!)
Layers like an onion people! But let’s get back to subject at hand...
There are many benefits to using a quality SEO link builder to do the heavy lifting for you when it comes to this necessary, but often dreaded, task of site promotion. But with those benefits come risks that you must be aware of before you decide to hire a link builder.
Before you even consider a link building service, here’s the five things you must know.
If you’re reading this there is a good chance you’ve seriously considered using a SEO link-building service.
Now, there’s nothing wrong with that, in theory. Link builders have many advantages, like:
Yes, link builders can bring a lot to the table, but they can also be the iceberg that ruins your transatlantic trip.
For example:
If you did hire a link builder that created toxic links, your site and business could pay a huge price.
At the very least, the links you had built will be disregarded by the search engine ranking algorithms and all of those resources you put into them will be wasted. Chances are you’ll then have to either get rid of the links manually or just walk away from your site. The first option will cost you more money, time and work, while the second just stinks.
However, in the worst case scenario your site could be completely deindexed (it won’t show up for any search at all), and basically cast into oblivion, never to return.
Now, if you’ve created a site more as a hobby than a business and don’t really need the income it generates to survive, then maybe you just don’t care. But, if your website is the digital-facing property that brings customers into a business that is your primary source of income, you should care a lot what happens to it.
If you decide hiring out your link building is the way you want to go, then you need to look carefully at the sources that you are considering.
There are sophisticated link builders who are part of big organizations with a quality product that delivers results. But they aren’t going to be cheap. You can easily spend $1,000 a month on some campaigns.
But, you will also come across link mills that churn out automated links in the tens of thousands per day. If you have $5 and a Fiverr account you can find these guys with little or no problem.
And while it’s easy to identify these types of providers, it’s the ones in the middle that will confound you. You might be paying top dollar and think you’re working with an experienced link builder and all he is doing is outsourcing your work to some low-quality freelancer.
This is your business and your site, so put in the work and check up on anyone you let work on your site.
Hopefully, you wouldn’t let someone just waltz in off Craigslist and start working on your house, fixing your car or watching your kids. You’d at least speak to them about their experience, get references, inquire about their methods and so on.
Likewise, you need to get a hold of any potential link building service and ask them questions like:
Talk to (or email) former clients, verify claims they have made, search internet marketing forums and anything else you need to get a good feeling about your potential provider.
The business you save might be your own.