Looking for a link-builder... what should I be looking for?

[BrightIdeas]

I am looking for a freelancer or agency to assist with link-building. I have a budget of around £400 per month and the website is performing pretty well on the SERPS (Page 1 for most target terms). I've not been particularly impressed with anyone I've looked at so far, as a lot of the work seems to be outsourced.

Can anyone advise what type of links I should be expecting for my budget?

 

[fisicx]

Where on page one are you? What's the size of the competition? Are visitor numbers good? Are you converting 10% or higher? Is a link builder better value than PPC?

What I'm suggesting is that there might be better was to spend that money.

 

[Annoying Donkey]

I am looking for a freelancer or agency to assist with link-building. I have a budget of around £400 per month and the website is performing pretty well on the SERPS (Page 1 for most target terms). I've not been particularly impressed with anyone I've looked at so far, as a lot of the work seems to be outsourced.

Can anyone advise what type of links I should be expecting for my budget?

£400 would buy a lot of fiver gigs

What industry are you in? What sort of links do you want? Your specification is way too broad and no way are you going to get a sensible answer from what you've posted...

And there's nothing whatsoever wrong with outsourcing. A good employee is good regardless of where he/she lives...

 

[BrightIdeas]

Where on page one are you? What's the size of the competition? Are visitor numbers good? Are you converting 10% or higher? Is a link builder better value than PPC?

What I'm suggesting is that there might be better was to spend that money.

Valid questions.

• A few target terms are in positions 1-3. Others lie towards bottom of page 1 downwards.
• Visitor numbers are respectable - 500-1000 per day (depending on season)
• Conversion rate is not 10% or higher. Will never be in my niche.
• Already do PPC, and there is a little scope for expansion but not much.

 

[BrightIdeas]

£400 would buy a lot of fiver gigs

What industry are you in? What sort of links do you want? Your specification is way too broad and no way are you going to get a sensible answer from what you've posted...

And there's nothing whatsoever wrong with outsourcing. A good employee is good regardless of where he/she lives...

• Wedding industry
• The best quality links for the price paid. Obviously not interested in rubbish (blog commenting etc.) but I'm realistic about what could be achieved within budget. i.e. I'm not expecting an editorial link from timesonline fashion section but at the same time, I would expect much more than the aforementioned blog commenting, nil value articles, directories, etc.
• I'm not averse to some outsourcing, really. But, I don't want to have the link-building done cheaply with only 'project management' done in the UK with automated reports thrown in.

Hope this helps narrow things down a bit.

 

[fisicx]

Conversion rate is not 10% or higher. Will never be in my niche.

OK, so maybe not 10% but could you get it higher?

The pages you rank lower down for, are they good converters or just pages you would like to get higher?

Consider the pages on your site that convert best of all and focus on those. Maybe a bit of tweaking to the content, would help ranking or a adjusting the styles could help conversions.

Work with the things that make you money. Perhaps spend that £5000/year on getting more conversions not more ranking. Maybe all you need to do is get one more client per month - you can do that without spending money on link building.

If you are videographer in Tyneside then there is a huge amount you could do to the site to improve conversion without spending any money at all.

 

[ferdi2000]

Just speak to the person doing the SEO. Quiz them and ensure they do not stumble when you mention that you do not want to have spammy blog posting etc.

 

[jchweb]

I agree with the comment above - quiz the freelancer about their techniques. If they mention anything about reciprocal links for example run a mile! Also ask for examples of other sites they've worked for and check online reviews (if they have any).

Another site to check is people per hour - for the budget your looking at there would be plenty of freelancers on there who would be happy to take on the work, rather than passing it to an SEO agency who might outsource the work anywhere to anyone!!

 

[redalien]

The type of links will vary but they should'nt come from the link farms or all from low ranking sites. You will also obviously benefit from links on industry related pages.
As SEO consultants we recommend starting with reviewing who is linking to your online competitors for your keywords to see where high pr and industry related links can be targeted.

Links should also be from a variety or sources and not just exact match keyword. I would advise an updated keyword review and site audit before starting a new SEO campaign. This will help you will receive maximum value for your SEO spend in case the search landscape has changed since your original targeting.

 

[12ish]

I agree with fisicx. Get an internet marketing magician not a link building technician.

 

[BrightIdeas]

OK, so maybe not 10% but could you get it higher?

The pages you rank lower down for, are they good converters or just pages you would like to get higher?

Consider the pages on your site that convert best of all and focus on those. Maybe a bit of tweaking to the content, would help ranking or a adjusting the styles could help conversions.

Work with the things that make you money. Perhaps spend that £5000/year on getting more conversions not more ranking. Maybe all you need to do is get one more client per month - you can do that without spending money on link building.

If you are videographer in Tyneside then there is a huge amount you could do to the site to improve conversion without spending any money at all.

I do have plans in the pipeline to increase conversion rates, so it's really higher levels of relevant traffic that I'm looking for. Actually, if I can find someone to assist with both for a reasonable fee, I would be pretty happy!

It's an ecommerce site, we're not service-providers.

 

[BrightIdeas]

I agree with the comment above - quiz the freelancer about their techniques. If they mention anything about reciprocal links for example run a mile! Also ask for examples of other sites they've worked for and check online reviews (if they have any).

Another site to check is people per hour - for the budget your looking at there would be plenty of freelancers on there who would be happy to take on the work, rather than passing it to an SEO agency who might outsource the work anywhere to anyone!!

Thanks, will check out PPH. Had used this site before for another service, but hadn't thought about this for link-building.

 

[BrightIdeas]

The type of links will vary but they should'nt come from the link farms or all from low ranking sites. You will also obviously benefit from links on industry related pages.
As SEO consultants we recommend starting with reviewing who is linking to your online competitors for your keywords to see where high pr and industry related links can be targeted.

Links should also be from a variety or sources and not just exact match keyword. I would advise an updated keyword review and site audit before starting a new SEO campaign. This will help you will receive maximum value for your SEO spend in case the search landscape has changed since your original targeting.

Yes, probably due an updated keyword review before further investment in link-building. I can happily do this part of work myself. But, just don't have the time (or inclination) to do the link-building part.

 

[fisicx]

I do have plans in the pipeline to increase conversion rates, so it's really higher levels of relevant traffic that I'm looking for. Actually, if I can find someone to assist with both for a reasonable fee, I would be pretty happy!

The problem is that although they work hand in hand it's two completely different skill sets.

Can you PM me the URL?

 

[BrightIdeas]

I know... would just be very convenient though!

Will PM the URL to you.

 

[webgeek]

I think what you're looking for is a 6' ginger yank in Glasgow. There can't be many, so one should be easy to find