The rules are always changing — this is what you have to remember when it comes to marketing your business online. With constant algorithm updates and multiple species of animals that you need to recall (from Panda to Penguin to Hummingbird), it will be difficult to create effective Web marketing campaigns, particularly when you’re using link building as one of the strategies.
But to make sure you’re hiring the right kind of specialist, you need to ask them several key questions. These questions will determine their level of skill and training and their knowledge and grasp of the process. Here are some questions to start with; you can use these to build further questions relevant to your business and your goals.
- “How are algorithm changes going to affect link building strategies?”
Even though you already know, it pays to ask your link building specialist if they know more than you do. Otherwise, if you have more information, why outsource the process?
Asking about algorithm changes will also reveal whether the link builder is up to date on new rules or policies that could impact tactics applied for your campaign.
- “What sort of links work with search results?”
This question will also tell you the level of knowledge and link development techniques your link builder will have. This will also give you an idea of what the specialist can do to make your link building campaign a success. This is a good question to know if the link builder that you will be hiring will resort to blackhat, whitehat, or a bit of both.
- “Would you know what strategies or practices work best against my competitors?”
Your link builder should have done their homework before meeting with you. An awareness and understanding of your competitors and best practices will indicate knowledge that should give your business an edge.
- “What kind of report will I be getting once I do hire you?”
Reports tell you of the link building service’s progress. But while essential, they can also be exhausting to go through so you may find yourself leaving them unread. The worst reports may also confuse you, prompting you to make persistent queries with the link builder.
You may email or call to ask, “What does this graph mean?”, “I see an increase in links this month, but why am I not getting results with my traffic?”, and “Could you explain this spreadsheet of URLs?”
- “Will you be able to provide me with a monthly report on referral traffic from the links you’ve built and the links classified accordingly (from organic to paid)?”
The increase in links isn’t going to be much help if you have no idea where these links are coming from and what sort of value they hold for your goals and your business. So instead, ask your link builder to send reports you can use.
Anyone who has ever done link building knows exactly how tedious and tough it can be to accomplish. Between running your business and working on increasing clients, it only makes sense for you to hire a link building service instead of doing it on your own or having someone on your staff do it for the company. With a link building firm, you get expertise and commitment from the link builders.
