Seeking opinions on using an outsourced link campaign

outsourced link campaign

[JimHo]

Our site has unique content, is easy to navigate, is attractive to users, and has been around since 2002. We focus on one niche market and in Google we rank just below the fold on our main keyword.

The sites in positions directly above ours in Google appear to be holding their spot solely on the basis of the sheer number of back-links (15,000 and 5,000 versus our 500 back links). I used the “linkdomain:” search string in Yahoo to check the number of back-links.

It seems, therefore, that in order to move up we need to gather new incoming links targeted to our main keyword. I am considering using a service to hire someone to start doing that for me, and would like some counsel before I jump in too deep…

Specifically, is this a viable way to get quality, one way links into the site? What kind of links would I likely get? And how should I write the specifications to get the best results?

Thanks -Jim

[edited by: sugarrae at 3:07 pm (utc) on May 25, 2006]
[edit reason] removed specifics per TOS. thanks [/edit]

[justdave]

Depends on what kind of service you are hiring. If they are cheap, it will likely be hundreds of free directory links, and that's it. If you want quality, you have to be willing to pay for the quality links.

Have you looked at your competitors' inbound links? Are they all one-way, or are they reciprocal? Do they come from directories, or from actual sites with related content? Are they buying random, unrelated links?

You really need to evaluate their links more before planning your linking campaign. It could be that you don't need to have 5000 links to get ahead of those in front of you.

[JimHo]

Is there any way to automate this process so that when you analyze a competitors links you can find out if there is a reciprocal and some idea of what the linking site is about (like odp category)?

[martinibuster]

>>>could be that you don't need to have 5000

That's true.

I think most of the questions you're asking are the right ones, but only your link hunter can answer them. One thing you should do is specify the kinds of links you want, as well as the kinds of links you do not want.

It may be in your best interest to do a quality review of all link request templates that will be used, or better yet, create your own.

I manage everything my link hunter does, from the sites they solicit, to the email template, to their email identity. Everything they do, they do it as I would do it. It's like being in two places at once. :)

[texasville]

I wouldn't waste the money on a link hunter. If you have money to spend, I would suggest buying just a few quality high pr links. I sincerely don't believe that it's sheer quantity that does it.
I have found that sponsorship of long standing events can earn you a tag from their front page that is invaluable.
You also might use yahoo to look at your competitors backliks, find which have a high pr and go after those for some links.