Do all these linkbuilding services work?

14 years ago

It depends. If they offer manual link building and they do it properly, it works.
What I personally don't like are automatic services. I don't think they are, in most of the cases, reliable.

Thanks
2 replies

Signature

www.AlwaysGoingNorth.com

{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[2159457].message }}

Intrepreneur 14 years ago

It all depends what you're building links for.

In other yes links work but they're short lived if you link the wrong content.

Also you should be able to get a detailed SEO resume from a reputable link builder prior to purchasing so you'll know whether or not to waste your time and cash.
- Thanks
Signature
SEO, copywriting and backlinks service UK
{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[2159485].message }}

areaK

14 years ago

Originally Posted by Wechito

It depends. If they offer manual link building and they do it properly, it works.
What I personally don't like are automatic services. I don't think they are, in most of the cases, reliable.

I second this. Of course it works. Why do you think there is a business in it? It has to be done, either by yourself or by someone else; and not everyone wants to do it themselves, or has time to do it themselves.

The downside? There's not one for you, only for your competitors.

Thanks
1 reply

{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[2161222].message }}

PhilipSEO 14 years ago

Originally Posted by areaK

I second this. Of course it works. Why do you think there is a business in it?

Bad logic. Why do you think there is a business for shark cartilage? It's a completely useless dietary supplement that does absolutely nothing, yet it's a not insignificant market.

The downside? There's not one for you, only for your competitors.

I disagree, your logic sounds more like a sales pitch. Low-level link building (blog commenting, forum posting, article submission, most especially of "spun" articles) is highly likely to be a complete waste of money, if the keywords involved are at all competitive.
- Thanks
Signature
Search Benefit Content Marketing & SEO Agency
{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[2161768].message }}

actionplanbiz

14 years ago

look for manually generated Backlinks to relevant content.

Thanks

Signature

My $3,000 a Month
Fast List Building Action Plan

"1 Simple Method to Make $100 a Day"

{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[2159759].message }}

RedEvo

14 years ago

Good links, links that stand the test of time, links that help you rank and stay ranked, links that make your site an authority rarely happen unless you have link worthy content.

Sure link schemes, spams and scams can work, but inevitably they fail and you then need to look for another scheme. It's a never ending battle that makes creating something link worthy pale into insignificance.

It might not be a popular point of view but it's certainly mine.

d

[ 1 ] Thanks
1 reply

{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[2159815].message }}

PhilipSEO

14 years ago

Link building comes in many flavors, including trashy and great. In a certain sense, the quality of an SEO is defined by the quality and quantity of the links that he has access to. The value of a link varies widely; you can read about this in detail here:
SEO Link Building - SEO Chat
(I wrote it, and it's the best info on link building you will find anywhere, if I say so myself!)

Scams apart, cheap link building comprises links that can be had for free or very cheaply. That includes blog comments, forum posts, free directory submission etc. The reason these techniques are not highly effective is because they are widely abused by spammers, and Google consequently assign little value to them. They are better than no links at all, but that's as much as can be said for them. They can rank you for certain extremely non-competitive terms. For a more competitive term they can move you from position 387 to position 33, which may seem like a lot but is not, and does next to nothing for your traffic and conversions. Then your progress stops, as if you have reached a glass ceiling.

There is much more powerful link building. A power SEO can develop high quality, high PR, highly relevant links for you from powerful domains that enjoy much trust in the search engines. Such links will magically boost your rankings, drive high volume relevant visitor traffic to your site, exponentially increase your sales. There's an art and a science to doing this, and it's a process that has very little in common with cheap link building. Consequently, it is much more expensive.

The paradox is that cheap link building is a very easy and attractive way to waste a lot of money, while high quality link developments enables you to recover your expenses and multiply your gains. It's like electricity for your business: it costs, but it works.

Just watch out for the various scams out there. My heart truly goes out to non-SEOs when it comes to links, because it takes a professional to identify bull**** and to recognize true value.

[ 6 ] Thanks
2 replies

Signature

Search Benefit Content Marketing & SEO Agency

{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[2159922].message }}

RedEvo

14 years ago

Originally Posted by PhilipSEO

Scams apart, cheap link building comprises links that can be had for free or very cheaply. That includes blog comments, forum posts, free directory submission etc. The reason these techniques are not highly effective is because they are widely abused by spammers, and Google consequently assign little value to them.

Isn't the lack of value more to do with the fact that these links are not merit based and are just self promotion?

Originally Posted by PhilipSEO

There is much more powerful link building. A power SEO can develop high quality, high PR, highly relevant links for you from powerful domains that enjoy much trust in the search engines.

Surely great links require something great to link to. If that's missing these links are just high class spam and may well also stop working once found?

Great article by the way, very comprehensive!!

d

Thanks
1 reply

{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[2159999].message }}

PhilipSEO 14 years ago

Originally Posted by RedEvo

Isn't the lack of value more to do with the fact that these links are not merit based and are just self promotion?

That's a distinction without a difference. More technically speaking, in the days of the classical PR algorithm Google computed link value much more simplistically. All links of the same PR level were essentially equal. Since then, the role of PR as a ranking factor has declined significantly and the role of trust has risen. And if anybody can get a link, it's not trusted. Links gain much more trust if editorial selection is involved. For that reason a link within a blog post is worth much more than one in a comment on the same page.

Surely great links require something great to link to. If that's missing these links are just high class spam and may well also stop working once found.

A link will not stop working if it points to something of low value. More importantly, though, the ranking boost that links can deliver to a low quality website will be wasted. When my prospects ask me what I can deliver to them in terms of sales and ROI (those fashionable things that so many SEOs "guarantee"), I reply that I guarantee a very significant boost in rankings and relevant traffic, which will translate into proportionally higher sales IF the underlying business model is sound. I cannot assume responsibility for the business model (unless specifically paid to look into it). Having a trashy website does not make for a sound business model, so an investment in high-end SEO before creating definite value on the site is likely to be a waste of money.
- [ 1 ] Thanks
Signature
Search Benefit Content Marketing & SEO Agency
{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[2160036].message }}

examineseo

14 years ago

Originally Posted by PhilipSEO

Link building comes in many flavors, including trashy and great. In a certain sense, the quality of an SEO is defined by the quality and quantity of the links that he has access to. The value of a link varies widely; you can read about this in detail here:
SEO Link Building - SEO Chat
(I wrote it, and it's the best info on link building you will find anywhere, if I say so myself!)

Thanks so much for the link! I read it and will print it and read it over again! Great stuff!

Thanks

{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[2213175].message }}

4morereferrals

14 years ago

No .... backlinks no longer work and are evil. The best way to make $$$ is to write article spam. Thats what REALLY works.

Seriously - are we still discussing whether or not backlinks increase serps?

Why would we tell you what we rank well for? So we could spend even more money time and effort to seo our stuff?

Do you seriously have any kind of clue just how many niches and things to rank for there are? 5 years ago there was no iPhone or iPhone apps to rank for ... Yup ... the internet and google's index is full folks. Time to pack up yer laptop and go back to your cubicles. Backlinks killed the internet marketing business.

*sigh*

Originally Posted by marky12345

I see lots of people on here offering linkbuilding services that cover about 200 different portperties, 'x' amount of links, all going here there and everywhere and it look like a pretty good deal, not one im going to go for as but a good deal none the less.

My question is with all these services offering results for cheap prices and with so many marketers on here which I would of thought have a number of sites to linkbuild to surely there should be quite a few of you with very good rankings??

My thinking is if these services work so well and there are so many people buying into them then very soon it will be very difficult to get rankings for ANYTHING???

So my quesiton is do these things really work? I thought the internent and SEO was about building worthwhile content to the web and not pumping it full of spun articles on every possbile platform taking all the worthwhile urls and filling them with junk??

Surely theres a downside to all this?

Thanks

Signature

Rank Ascend Network - High PR Links / Guaranteed Rankings Increase

{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[2160130].message }}

pianochris

14 years ago

DIY. Many of the backlink services give links on directories which recognise computer generated links and ultimately the backlink you have paid for will not be relevant.

My recommendation always would be to write good content and create your own backlink. You can decide when, where, and how.

Thanks
1 reply

{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[2160211].message }}

PhilipSEO 14 years ago

Originally Posted by pianochris

DIY.

DIY, absolutely, if you are an SEO professional or equivalent; otherwise, chances are you will have no clue what you are doing, and it's an excellent way to waste time for nothing.

You can "decide" to get fantastic links instead of crappy ones, but merely deciding, my friend, is not enough.
- Thanks
- 1 reply
Signature
Search Benefit Content Marketing & SEO Agency
{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[2160229].message }}
- PhilipSEO 14 years ago
  
  Hah, I thought you guys would get a kick out of this great Matt Cutts instructional video on link building:
  
  YouTube - Backlinks pagerank serps - google Matt...
  
  Enjoy!
  
  Thanks
  
  Signature
  Search Benefit Content Marketing & SEO Agency
  
  {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[2160251].message }}

marky12345

14 years ago

I think its going a bit off topic or people have got what im saying wrong.

There are 100's '300 DO FOLLOW LINK>>>GOOGLE PAGE 1 IN LESS THAN TWO WEEKS' adds all over this site and many others. If these 'techniques' work so well, even if they work for a few and another service works for a few and so on there would be so many people sitting back, making lots of money and doing very little.

I have my techniques sorted, the only time i might consider paying for link building is if it was towards a site which wasnt mine but had an article or mine with a link, thats all.

I am more and more coming to the conclusion or quality content, relevent links where you are not just linking but also adding something of worth to another site is the way forward, for me anyway.

I am basically getting at most of these services are people out to make money (of course) and also trying to throw the not so wise off the sent so they can prosper?

See what im saying now>?

Thanks

{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[2171043].message }}

marky12345

14 years ago

And Phil, great article, havent got time to read it fully but this is def going to add to my knowledge and I think it will fill in a few of the gaps where im not 100% on the best way for something.