Link building on a budget

Is it possible to do anything useful with $100s a month?

[graeme_p]

I badly need help with link building. The problem is that the options seem to be:

1) SEOs I know by reputation. Problems: I cannot afford thousands of dollars a month, especially given results are uncertain.
2) Cheap people from freelancing websites. Problem: nofollowed links in the comments of completely irrelevant blogs are no good to me.
3) Do it myself. Problems: not enough time given other commitments, and I am not good at finding sites to approach.

Are there services somewhere between the thousands a month, and tens of dollars for low quality? What other options do I have? Is there a useful way to spend my limited budget?

[adder]

@Bubzeebub, sounds like an easy road to getting a site deindexed from Google (or at least getting a penalty). Even if the unnatural method works short term, it is a useless long-term strategy.

With Pligg and PHPdug - do you mean installing it as a CMS or using lists of Pligg sites for "linkspam"? :) I'd say "don't do it" to both opportunities.

Link building is way more challenging than it used to be, however, the basics have never changed. The best link building method is adding value.

You might start by looking at some older threads. The old pages of the Link Dev section is a goldmine. Particularly look out for posts by Wheel, Planet13, CainIV.
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[Whitey]

@Bubzeebub - think of link building as being about building reputation to your site.

Systems and big link buying schemes are not part of this. This is more along the lines of manipulative tricks to gain short term ranks and potential damage yours or your clients site.

[BaseballGuy]

Building on Martini's comment....

After you got your game plan, look to see if anything can be automated (by a human being....in which they don't really have to use their brain).

Then hire yourself a Filipino or Indian VA for $100/mo. Make sure you get the to sign a contract (not that it's legally enforceable, just to make them think you mean business) and then lay out a set of tasks for them to accomplish every week.

The don't accomplish the task, they don't get paid.

Make sure you spell EVERYTHING out with these people....as my experience is that they will look to cut corners and rip you off whenever possible. Maybe someone else has a better way of dealing with them.....as opposed to my heavy-handed draconian approach. Twice bitten, thrice shy.

[Whitey]

Make sure you spell EVERYTHING out with these people

Initially work out if your system works. Then consider outsourcing.

But it's not a path I'd recommend in today's algo environment. Better to know your market, and lift the phone yourself to those that have a common and quality input via a link. Done well - it's just good marketing.

Perhaps the question should be, is it possible to market on $100 per month.