Paid a guy to link build

[TomUK]

Paid a guy £800 to build like 800 link, 400 article submissions, 100 directory submissions, total of 1400 links, he finished 3 months ago.

To date only 23 new links from his so called link building, is this normal? Ive tried to speak to him, and he said he can only submit the link to sites, and if they get rejected nothing he can do, but 23/1400 and £800 seems like ridiculous?

He also said it will take time for google to cache all the links, and that its hard to tell how many are coming to your site, any advice?

Cliff notes:

Paid £800 for guy to build 1400 links
3 months after end of link building
23 known links cached

 

[cmcp]

Did you have any terms set up in advance?

A few things come to mind. If I were link building I'd want a spreadsheet of every link achieved, with basic info on each link. It's important how long you'll have the link for too, was this agreed?

 

[TomUK]

I have excel spreedsheet of every link supposedly, not sure how to check them

 

[cmcp]

Does the spreadsheet say the location of the link? You can type it in the browser and see it.

I think you might see the quality of the links, there might be hundreds on the page, or it might be on a page of jibberish. This is where you learn for next time about being very specific about where the links come from next time.

 

[TomUK]

I only have a list of domains i.e.

www.xxx.com
www.yyy.com

no specific link to the page where my link is.

 

[cmcp]

You can see the ones Google has cached at link:yourdomain.com

I'd have asked for specific locations of where the links are on the net. Do you have anything in writing / any project scope agreed beforehand?

 

[david64]

Tom, it sounds like you have been burned to me. Not on the grounds that this guy has not done the work, but the fact that you've been grossly overcharged.

The 23/1400 ratio sounds bad. I would maybe expect 100 links from what he has done. However, the quality of your site and submission info could be a factor.

For £800 you should be getting about 3,000 directory submissions and 3,000 article submissions. So, what you've paid for is not really worth £100.


Also, are you using Yahoo or Google to check the links?

 

[aidan1980]

whats your addy mate?

 

[TomUK]

Im not using anything to check the links, the guy who submitted the sites has said 23 have linked.

How long will it be until all links are verified and accepted, is 2 months enough?

Tom

 

[eventdomain]

Never, ever pay someone to do link building, as they don't know anymore than the person paying them.

£800 for 23 links, never laughed so much before, honestly! There are 3 things I avoid:

1. SEO services
2. PPC services
3. Link building services

all add upto just one thing:

Big disappointment and an empty pocket

 

[QVA - Emma]

Have you checked the links in to your site using Yahoo?

Go here http://siteexplorer.search.yahoo.com/ input your domain name and click Explore URL

You can then click on linksin and view the sites that link in to yours - you can then check them off against the list you have been given.

BTW I really think you got a raw deal from this guy - but I guess only time will tell - let me know if you need any help or if their is anything I can do - always here to help

Emma

 

[QVA - Emma]

Never, ever pay someone to do link building, as they don't know anymore than the person paying them.

£800 for 23 links, never laughed so much before, honestly! There are 3 things I avoid:

1. SEO services
2. PPC services
3. Link building services

all add upto just one thing:

Big disappointment and an empty pocket

That's slightly harsh - not everyone has bad experiences I am just sorry that you have been burned in the past. There are some of us with work ethics and morals

Emma

 

[TomUK]

Glad some people are having a laugh?

Can anyone answer my original questions:

1) By 2 months should all links be cached and picked up
2) If not how long should one expect to wait for their site to be verified by the directory, cached and showing in yahoo?

Tom

 

[fisicx]

Paid a guy £800 to build like 800 link, 400 article submissions, 100 directory submissions, total of 1400 links, he finished 3 months ago.

Looks like you have be taken for a ride. Even if the 800 links were rejected there should still be the 400 articles and the directory submissions.

The google link:site tool is notoriously inaccurate. Try using linkdiagnosis.com for a more accurate picture.

 

[eventdomain]

Emma,

I am just sorry that you have been burned in the past

hmmmm, bit difficult that one, since I don't pay the buggers in the first place hehe.

Never, ever assume bcos someone gives obvious advice - that they got burned. There is no short way to large link results, it takes time, patience, money and most likely one heck of a business idea for link surge to happen. Why do so many nutters believe in this crazy 'instant cash' nonsense

 

[QVA - Emma]

Glad some people are having a laugh?

Can anyone answer my original questions:

1) By 2 months should all links be cached and picked up
2) If not how long should one expect to wait for their site to be verified by the directory, cached and showing in yahoo?

Tom

1) No - too many factors involved each site is spidered at different times/depths etc
2) You could wait for an eternity - it depends if those sites are still updated and if they still exist. Generally and based on personal experience anything up to 4 months


Emma

 

[david64]

Glad some people are having a laugh?

Can anyone answer my original questions:

1) By 2 months should all links be cached and picked up

No. With submissions it could take up to 6 months for all to be approved and indexed (if they ever get indexed at all).

2) If not how long should one expect to wait for their site to be verified by the directory, cached and showing in yahoo?

If you've waited 3 months, don't expect much more.

Take Emma's advice. Check the backlinks yourself. Whoever "did your links" may be a noob and not know how to find links.

 

[TomUK]

Its actually been 2 months/8 weeks, and Im still in contact with the guy

Not sure how to check links lol, anyone teach me or if I send them 50 links could they check one or two at random and see whats happenning?

Tom

 

[QVA - Emma]

DM the website to me and I will download the results into a .csv file and send them to you so you can check against your list.

Hope that helps?

Emma

 

[eventdomain]

Not sure how to check links lol, anyone teach me

Yep, go to Yahoo and type: links:whateverdomain.com

and it will list where your links are....

BTW, wasn't laughing at you, I was laughing at the conmen that offer such crazy promises.

 

[david64]

PM me your domain and I will show you.

Its actually been 2 months/8 weeks, and Im still in contact with the guy

Not sure how to check links lol, anyone teach me or if I send them 50 links could they check one or two at random and see whats happenning?

Tom

 

[megri]

£800 is big amount for these services. in market, you can buy easily 5000 dir submission in 500usd, 300 articles submission in 99usd

So as per me you have not good experience with this service. Infact in £800 you could have also Social Bookmarking, Press Release, Forum Posting and Blog Posting also.

In submissions, i will say you can expect 40% success and in some cases 50% to 60% are accepted. PM me your domain name and i will make report and send you!

 

[SEO Positive]

The best way to check for your links is through site explorer.

Or you can use this tool, I find it quite good.

linkpopularity.com

hope this helps.

 

[FireFleur]

It is better to pay on time of the work done, and on delivery or completion of milestone.

That way you can control any overspend, it can work out more expensive but often it doesn't. Fixed pricing in the digital arena, doesn't really work that well outside of boxed software, and even that model is looking more like it only works for entertainment.

If you think link building is about what 20 - 30 pounds an hour, possibly cheaper for basic stuff, 40 - 27 hours of work so about a week's worth of work, but if you could have stepped early on day 2 or 3 and tweaked how it was going, or seen the results then. Once you ask for an overview that does add to the time, but it is useful to stop if things are not progressing how you would like them to.

 

[LiamZing]

Hi Tom

By now you've probably realised you've been stung. I'm sorry to hear you've been ripped off by this guy, he's clearly a con artist.

I would recommend setting up a Google Webmaster Tools account and keeping an eye on the inbound links through that.


Liam

 

[Ali-v-8]

Ok you want to know how to see links. He's a neat little technique i use.

Go to alltheweb dot com

search link:urwebsite.com (no www's)

compare the list to the same thing on google

now you can see whats good link and what a s41t link is

 

[Ali-v-8]

Ok you want to know how to see links. He's a neat little technique i use.

Go to alltheweb dot com

search link:urwebsite.com (no www's)

compare the list to the same thing on google

now you can see whats good link and what a *bad link is

I have been given a strike due to the wording used above.
Please except my apology (replace it with bad) :redface:

 

[QVA - Emma]

Ok you want to know how to see links. He's a neat little technique i use.

Go to alltheweb dot com

search link:urwebsite.com (no www's)

compare the list to the same thing on google

now you can see whats good link and what a bad link is

Did you mean links:yourdomain.com ?

 

[Ali-v-8]

Did you mean links:yourdomain.com ?

You cheeky monkey

And yes i did :redface:

clever clogs

 

[NMHancock]

2) If not how long should one expect to wait for their site to be verified by the directory, cached and showing in yahoo?

Hi Tom,

What email address did your 'guy' use when he submitted the directory submission/article submissions. Most directories send you an email when they have accepted or rejected your listing, some give a reason for the rejection and your can submit them again, others just reject your link.

If you log into the email address your can;

1) check that your guy didn't con you and he actually submitted your site to these directories
2) see how many accepts and rejects you got so you know exactly the max links you expect.

Some of these directories place your link on a page so deep and difficult to get to that it could take the search engines a year to find it, however, in theory, at least, they should see and consider your link eventually, however this doesn't mean that it will show up in Yahoo!s Site Explorer if the link is of that poor quality.

Another key point of having access to the email address is that approximately 10% of directories actually require you to respond to an email first to prove you are a human being before accepting your listing. Your guy should be doing this for you, but that is never guaranteed.

I Hope this helps,

Neil M Hancock

 

[Scott-Copywriter]

Paid a guy £800 to build like 800 link, 400 article submissions, 100 directory submissions, total of 1400 links, he finished 3 months ago.

To date only 23 new links from his so called link building, is this normal? Ive tried to speak to him, and he said he can only submit the link to sites, and if they get rejected nothing he can do, but 23/1400 and £800 seems like ridiculous?

He also said it will take time for google to cache all the links, and that its hard to tell how many are coming to your site, any advice?

Cliff notes:

Paid £800 for guy to build 1400 links
3 months after end of link building
23 known links cached

Who is the guy? Is he part of a respectable business? Did you seek testimonials and proof of his past work? Did you draw up a contract and specific terms before starting the work?

If you're doing term specific work like this you really need to be careful, especially when dealing with that amount of money, I guess it's lesson learned. The fact he said 'there's nothing I can do if they get rejected' is rediculous.

 

[fisicx]

The fact he said 'there's nothing I can do if they get rejected' is rediculous.

Agree. If you pay for 800 links then thats what you should get. The fact that some get rejected is his problem not yours, he just has to keep submitting until you get 800.

You do of course realize that 790 of the 800 are likely to be a complete waste of time and may even harm your ranking...

 

[NMHancock]

You do of course realize that 790 of the 800 are likely to be a complete waste of time and may even harm your ranking...

I dont completely agree with the end of that sentance, i don't think that they are going to harm his rankings necessarily, because this is too easier a tactic to use on your competitors if that was the case, (and this guy would have found his niche!) but a agree that 790 of the 800 will probably have no affect whatsoever on the rankings

 

[Christiane]

Is this any good to check links?
http://tools.marketleap.com/publinkpop/

 

[Deleted member 27344]

... or you could even use the Google Position Checker.

 

[andymayhem]

You do of course realize that 790 of the 800 are likely to be a complete waste of time and may even harm your ranking...

False info, the worse that could happen is SEs ignore your new links and you see no improvement. If this was true why dont we all just xrumer our competition, give them 100,000s of links everyday and enjoy watching their rankings decrease.

 

[fisicx]

False info, the worse that could happen is SEs ignore your new links and you see no improvement. If this was true why dont we all just xrumer our competition, give them 100,000s of links everyday and enjoy watching their rankings decrease.

Ok, ok I stand corrected. My point was that some link building firms add all sorts of rubbish to your page footer that Google really doesn't like.

 

[andymayhem]

I agree with your point :-D. Becareful who you link to.

 

[OldWelshGuy]

False info, the worse that could happen is SEs ignore your new links and you see no improvement. If this was true why dont we all just xrumer our competition, give them 100,000s of links everyday and enjoy watching their rankings decrease.

This is a black hat method of damaging the opposition, it is called Google Bowling

There is more to it than just getting lots of links tihough, but obviously I ain't going to go into this on an open forum.

 

[andymayhem]

Does this still work? I can't find any recent articles about it, the latest was from 2007 although I didn't spend much time researching... Interesting, from everything I have ever read and tried on test sites the most that has happened is the links were ignored.