Link building is one of the most important parts of SEO. Relevant & high authority backlinks are important but getting them can be one of the more difficult parts of SEO campaigns. This is true whether you’re a small business, solo freelancer or a marketing agency providing that service for your clients. Because having a solid link building strategy in place can be really time consuming. In this guide, you’ll learn 6 Tips to Outsource Link Building & how to save time trying it yourself, increase your chances of success (by leaning on our experience and expertise) and get some actionable tips for outsourcing your own link building campaigns.
Should you outsource link building?
Obviously, I’m a little biased here. But I believe at some point in an SEO strategy you need to build links. And sometimes, it’s just more effective to outsource link building. Like I’ve said, the link building process takes up a lot of time. To climb up the SERPs you need to:
- get the right balance of link quality vs quantity of links (that will have a real impact on organic traffic)
- keep the relevancy of links aligned with your sites niche
- avoiding any spammy links
- get contextual links on authoritative sites
- make sure your domain authority is moving in the right direction (post, use this free DA checker tool)
- ideally get some nice referral traffic coming your way too.
Benefits of outsourcing link building (& when you should)
The main benefit of outsourcing link building is freeing up time. So, few businesses or even agencies have the time to dedicate to building the types of links to be successful. Especially if you need to hire a a link building specialist or team to have them handle it in-house. It’s common for any business to outsource certain tasks that are necessary but outside of their main scope. Here are some of the main benefits of hiring a link building company:
- Saves time – you can focus on doing what you’re good at and expand your business.
- Saves money – the cost to outsource likely comes out cheaper than spending the money in salaries, software and link building tools to manage it yourself.
- Save worry – you do not have to stress about the success or details of a link building campaign.
6 Tips to outsource link building
If (after reading about the benefits) you’ve decided to seriously look into hiring an outside company, here are some tips to get started.
1. Do some research
When hiring an agency, you want to make sure you get the best company for your requirements and the kind of link metrics you want. You also want to know you’re getting your money’s worth. Specifically, you want a partner who understands all about SEO, link building, and how the two impact each other. The hiring process can be made easier using an applicant tracking system. The end-goal of you hiring a link building agency is two-fold:
- to take tasks off your plate and free up your time
- to improve your backlink profile, keyword rankings, and organic traffic.
You want to choose the best option for your business and the results you want. Consider looking at the following:
- Case studies – get data on how their services helped past clients (especially in your industry if possible).
- Testimonials – look for reviews and testimonials of past clients and what they say about the agency, good and bad.
- Cost & plans – see how much their services cost and how flexible their plans are.
2. Understand the costs
When it comes to outsourcing your link building: you get what you pay for. You may want to save money by hiring a cheaper agency or service package or look for a freelancer or independent contractor online. But link building is difficult and complicated. Enough so that you should absolutely not risk wasting your money. If you find the right agency who knows their stuff and is highly efficient with their service, you could save both time and money. After all, going the cheap route that gets you a mediocre single link and some low-quality blog comments is a waste of money. You might as well not have bothered.
3. Avoid Black Hat SEO
The last thing you want is to pick an agency who promises the moon and delivers by using shady tactics. When they build links for your business, they act in your name in the eyes of Google. So, if they get caught using Black Hat SEO tactics, your business is the one that will be penalized. It’s just not worth it. If you are unsure what methods you should be avoiding, do some research for black hat tactics and red flags to look for when researching an agency. They will try and hide it under reputable sounding terms, if they mention it at all. Ask for examples of their work and always check their reviews and testimonials from previous clients.
4. Beware of over-promising
In the world of SEO (and specially building links), it is almost impossible to reliably make and meet any large-scale guarantees. If an agency tells you that their link building service is guaranteed to get your website ranked, take that as a red flag. A big red flag. While link building is still a major factor in any search engine’s ranking algorithm, there are several others as well. Links by themselves will have a noticeable impact, but there is a lot more that will go into your website ranking at #1. A good agency will give you an honest and specific set of promises, timelines, and ultimate results of their work.
5. Understand he process
It’s also good to know the general logistics around how link building campaigns work, such as the difference between organic and local link building. That understanding will pay dividends when it comes to picking a reliable and quality agency. When you ask questions or look into their services, they should be talking about each necessary step in the process. At the same time, it will also help you better understand what will be involved even when you pick a good agency. You will know the time and resources involved, and what the potential impact will be of their work.
6. Set clear expectations (on both sides)
Expectations are a two-way street when it comes to the relationship between an agency and their client. There are certain things that should be clear between each side as far as how everything will work. Whatever is important to you as far as their work for you is concerned, you should have a clear understanding from them. Make sure you ask questions that have clear answers before you sign any contract. That includes:
- What your goals are and what you expect them to accomplish
- How you will communicate with each other and how often
- How they will report on their progress and successes
- How often they will send you updates and reports
- What their timelines will be