Thoughts on outsourcing link building

[santiago]

I've got a proposal on elance to build links for one of my websites. I've gotten a number of offers for link buidng services..but am skeptical. Any of you use a service/company to do this? If so, would you mind posting or PMing me their info?

I just don't have the time to do all of the link building and using a service to get 50-100 links for a reasonable fee sounds like a good way to augment what I'm doing..

Thoughts?

 

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[MJ DeMarco]

Just an FYI -- every single "link builder" here is immediately banned. So, you would be contributing to the nuisance of this forum, and many other forums.

 

[santiago]

hmm..sorry about that. Needless to say, I'm not a "link builder", just looking to outsource the task ethically. I do agree it seems to be a biz that is full of scams/ripoffs..

 

[AllOutOrNothing]

I wouldnt spend to much time or money link building.

Post on like 10 forums, 10 blogs, add a few links here and there...

In the end build something that gets linked too..... simple as that.

 

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[MJ DeMarco]

Be active on the internet; take an active role in your industry (blogs, forums) and you build links naturally -- do you think GaryV is outsourcing "link building" or is he "out there" doing things naturally?

 

[CMCarlin]

With all due respect MJ, I don't think looking to outsource backlinking is a bad thing. Of course, it does all come down to execution. Your use of the word 'natural' comes to mind. You want to do it right, but I see outsourcing as a fantastic way to leverage your time and money.

For example. Social bookmarking submission. There are hundreds of social sites. Rather than spend my entire day registering for these sites and then submitting bookmarks to them, I'd rather use a piece of software that intelligently submits them at 'random' times over the course of the next few days / weeks. I would hire a VA to register for the sites and submit all the user/pass information to me via a spreadsheet and then import that file into my program.

Of course, the how's, why's, when's and what sites fall into play here.

And of course, with any Gary V analogy, there is an equal and opposite Tim Ferriss analogy. Hey, I'm going to coin that phrase.

Anyway, just my 2 cents. I understand that you don't want to attract the wrong posters to this thread and perhaps the OP, would he have been aware of the situation, might have phrased his question differently.

I firmly believe in hustle. You need that no matter what.

 

[santiago]

Thanks CMCarlin..yes, I'm a Tim Ferriss fan..so that's the approach I'm taking. For this task, I'd much rather hire someone, especially for posting on forums, blogs and other social sites.

For what it's worth, I do have a site that has built links naturally and has a PR7 and a top 5 rank for many keywords that generate revenue. The problem is the site is 10 years old and has grown these links and authority gradually over that period of time. I'm thinking there has to be a better, more aggressive and active way.

 

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[Lusches]

I've created many backlinks for my latest websites (autoblog). They rank very well for their keyword although the site only is online since ~1-2 month.
Check your PNs.

 

[Gymjunkie]

With all due respect MJ, I don't think looking to outsource backlinking is a bad thing. Of course, it does all come down to execution. Your use of the word 'natural' comes to mind. You want to do it right, but I see outsourcing as a fantastic way to leverage your time and money.

For example. Social bookmarking submission. There are hundreds of social sites. Rather than spend my entire day registering for these sites and then submitting bookmarks to them, I'd rather use a piece of software that intelligently submits them at 'random' times over the course of the next few days / weeks. I would hire a VA to register for the sites and submit all the user/pass information to me via a spreadsheet and then import that file into my program.

Of course, the how's, why's, when's and what sites fall into play here.

And of course, with any Gary V analogy, there is an equal and opposite Tim Ferriss analogy. Hey, I'm going to coin that phrase.

Anyway, just my 2 cents. I understand that you don't want to attract the wrong posters to this thread and perhaps the OP, would he have been aware of the situation, might have phrased his question differently.

I firmly believe in hustle. You need that no matter what.

I think Tim Ferris achieved his success by developing relationships with bloggers and then since they were friends now, they helped by linking up and promoting. I guess that took some time to complete. I suggest to go to Mixergy.com and watch interview with him. I will do it now actually.

For all the 'work smarter' thing, Tim Ferris works his a$$ off and is not working 4 hours a week.

 

[MJ DeMarco]

With all due respect MJ, I don't think looking to outsource backlinking is a bad thing. Of course, it does all come down to execution. Your use of the word 'natural' comes to mind. You want to do it right, but I see outsourcing as a fantastic way to leverage your time and money.

For example. Social bookmarking submission. There are hundreds of social sites. Rather than spend my entire day registering for these sites and then submitting bookmarks to them, I'd rather use a piece of software that intelligently submits them at 'random' times over the course of the next few days / weeks. I would hire a VA to register for the sites and submit all the user/pass information to me via a spreadsheet and then import that file into my program.

Of course, the how's, why's, when's and what sites fall into play here.

And of course, with any Gary V analogy, there is an equal and opposite Tim Ferriss analogy. Hey, I'm going to coin that phrase.

Anyway, just my 2 cents. I understand that you don't want to attract the wrong posters to this thread and perhaps the OP, would he have been aware of the situation, might have phrased his question differently.

I firmly believe in hustle. You need that no matter what.

No disrespect taken. I think we are defining "link building" differently. When I think link building, I think of these spammers from China that come on here and litter the forum with "great post" and have their signature posted with some link. On my WP site, I get these "link builders" all the time... they post "Nice article" with a link to their site. Pure garbage.

I am in favor of "efficient" link building efforts which seems like what you describe. If a piece of software can help me be more efficient while still being natural, I'm all for it!

For me, an efficient link builder would be someone that I hire (or outsource) that KNOWS MY PRODUCT and BELIEVES IN MY PRODUCT and can effectively integrate himself in the internet conversation naturally === CONTRIBUTING -- forums, blogs, articles, whatever ... IMO, when you outsource it to some stranger in Malaysia, you aren't contributing to the public discourse, but contributing to clutter.

 

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[CMCarlin]

Thanks for the reply MJ.

After thinking about this a bit, I think that if you are building only a handful of sites (a couple dozen or so), linkbuilding really should be done "in house". The reason being is because I don't believe 'aggressive' link building is necessary. One of my sites is ranking number one for some competitive keywords (but not overly competitive, like weight loss) and it only has a handful of links (3 articles, 5 blog comments, not much else....)

Of course, to rank, it's also about on-page SEO and content, but I digress. Outsourcing is great and it is something that I will be building into my business as a way to leverage my earnings and time, but again, if you only have a handful of sites, grow your links naturally, which could very well mean 5 here, 5 there. Wait a week or a month. Build a few more. Rinse and repeat.


Oh and MJ, I know exactly what you mean about these spammers. Probably 99% of the comments I get are spam-like comments just as you describe and go straight to my spam folder......

 

[santiago]

Thought I'd add this link - I asked this question over on webmasterworld and it got a pretty good discussion going by some people who definitely seem to know what they are doing. Summary: Linkbuilding is very important and several indicated that it is too important to outsource. Everyone agreed not to use the cheap resources that can be found on sites like elance, etc. There were some suggestions for training and carefully using local help (college students, etc) that you can guide them through exactly what to do.

Hope it isn't against the rules to link to another site (forum).

Thoughts on outsourcing link building