Gone are the days when link building was a choice. It is a necessity now as 65% of SEO experts cite that high-quality links have a huge impact on a website’s search rankings.
This statistic implies that for any business striving to dominate the SERPs, backlinks are a must. However, identifying the most effective white hat link building techniques and relevant target websites for your backlinks can be challenging.
A useful alternative is outsourcing building backlinks to the experts and capitalizing on their experience and knowledge. Whether you want to scale your link building efforts or gain links from 80+ DA websites, outsourcing to reputable link building agencies helps.
In this article, we walk you through the process of outsourcing your link building campaigns to the right agency or partner. Let’s dive in.
Common pain points when most companies plan to outsource their link building efforts
When should you look for link building agencies or professionals to outsource your campaigns? Most companies outsource link building when:
- They struggle with low reply rates from their link building outreach campaigns. They receive no or few responses from high DA/DR website editors or publishers.
- They don’t want to participate in link exchanges as it leads to link dilution (reducing the strength and authority of their site’s outbound links).
- They want to solidify their website’s backlink profile.
- They lack an in-house team with results-driven link building expertise.
6 steps to outsource link building efficiently
Outsourcing link building may be the tipping point for your SEO and business growth. So, you must adhere to a structured strategy to ensure efficiency and drive the best results.
1. Check that your website is ready for building backlinks
Before outsourcing your link building activity, ensure your website is ready to benefit from high-quality link building. If the foundation isn’t solid, no amount of links can bring good SEO results.
Let’s look at the signs that indicate your website is ready for building backlinks.
Your content already ranks on the SERPs.
When some of your content ranks in the SERPs but struggles to reach the top positions, you may boost your ranking positions with link building. For example, say one of your blog posts ranks on page two for a highly competitive keyword. Building tactical backlinks to the page can propel it to page one search results.
There is a big DA gap.
If your competitor’s posts continually rank above yours even with competitive content quality and value, it could be because their DA is stronger than yours. In this case, you can hire an agency to build strategic backlinks to bridge the authority gap and elevate your website’s competitiveness.
Your site has a solid SEO foundation.
If you’ve already optimized your website for on-page SEO factors, such as site speed, content quality, keyword inclusion, and server speed, your site has a good foundation for SEO.
Chances are that the lack of strong off-page signals is leading to lower rankings in the SERPs. Then, it is time to build relevant backlinks from high-authority websites to your top content pages.
By signaling Google you have votes of confidence from multiple domains in your niche, you can boost your page rankings and easily outshine your competitors.
Your page has fewer backlinks than the competing posts.
Every page’s backlink profile affects its rankings. Say your higher-ranking competitor’s page has 30 backlinks while yours has only 5. This is a sign you need to add more backlinks to your page to bridge the gap and outrank them.
For example, the top pages ranking for “SaaS link building” have stronger DR and UR (both metrics measure the strength of a site’s backlink profile), and they have a greater number of backlinks than ours.
To outrank them, we need to build more backlinks from multiple high-authority domains to our page and also target related keywords to expand our reach and visibility on the SERPs.
2. Learn about the qualifying factors for new links
Let’s break down what most SEO professionals think about link building. They focus on “high-quality” link building, which includes building links:
- From high DR and high DA websites
- From high-traffic websites
- From relevant niche or industry websites
- Do-follow backlinks
But here are the key factors they often tend to overlook:
- Links from topically-relevant posts
- Natural link placement in high-quality articles
- Targeting indexed articles that are already generating traffic
- Using diverse link placement methods (including guest posting, niche edits, and brand mentions)
- Anchor text variations
- Legitimate websites with proper social proof and regular updates
- Links placed in articles by multiple authors
- Building links for multiple pages at once
Considering both the looked and overlooked qualifying factors when building new links ensures that your acquired links offer long-term SEO benefits and boost your site’s rankings.
3. Consider your budget
Outsourcing link building isn’t cheap, especially when you want to build high-quality links. However, the cost is more reasonable than hiring a team of experts, including professionals specializing in relevant website research, outreach, negotiation, content creation, and end-to-end process management.
Most link building agencies already have a network of publishers and industry websites that are willing to include links to valuable resources that their audiences will benefit from.
However, you should compare the cost of different link building service packages available in the market and their inclusions. Find a service that meets your expectations and also falls within your budget.
For example, if you don’t have hundreds of dollars to spend on building links every month, you can consider outsourcing one-off links to your most important pages. Although this may not be the most efficient way to build links, it can help you get quality backlinks for your money pages and help boost your site authority over time.
We at Marveta use a DR-based pricing structure, and you’ll only pay for the links that go live. We build links through guest posting, link insertions, niche edits, listicle links, and brand mentions, and specialize in the B2B SaaS niches.
4. Choose the right type of link building service
Link building agencies offer various types of services depending on your goals and budget. The two prominent service types are managed plans and per-link plans.
Managed link building services
In a managed plan, you pay the agency a monthly fee and allow it to plan and run your entire link building campaign. This is mostly a long-term plan and is more effective in acquiring authoritative links to boost your site authority and search rankings for competitive keywords.
Besides building links, the agency also helps you with content creation, anchor text optimization, contextual linking, and identifying keyword opportunities.
The only downside is that fully managed services don’t come cheap. But compared to having an in-house team, it is fairer.
Per-link services
The per-link plan is a cheaper way to outsource link building. You only choose and pay for the links you want. But you should keep in mind that a link from a higher authority site is more costly than a link from a low authority site.
Although the agency may guide you on anchor text and link placement for the per-link service, you won’t get a comprehensive link building strategy like a managed plan.
5. Outsource link building to an agency or a freelancer
When outsourcing link building, you have two options: Agency and Freelancers
Outsourcing to an agency |
Outsourcing to a freelancer |
| Agencies ensure timely delivery as they work strategically with a team of SEO specialists, content creators, editors, relationship managers, and outreach experts. | Freelancers work solo and may take on projects from multiple clients, which can jeopardize their timely project delivery and effectiveness. |
| They have specialized content marketing teams to develop content clusters and conduct a gap analysis that helps them identify the number and type of links your site/pages need to outrank competitors. | Freelancers often lack this understanding and may deliver irrelevant links that don’t contribute to your overall SEO and content ranking goals. |
| They also have a team of SEO experts who analyze your site’s technical SEO aspects and advice on strengthening your backlink profile and site scores. | They may not offer comprehensive advice on improving your SEO performance due to lack of technical SEO knowledge. |
| Agencies usually work with clients in multiple industries and have a network of high-authority linking websites across niches. They bring you a more diversified link profile, which is less likely to be penalized. | Freelancers typically work in specific industries and often depend on recycled link building opportunities from a few, repetitive target sites. |
| They use a mix of link building approaches, including link insertions, guest posting, listicles, and brand mentions to help solidify your link profile. | They rely heavily on link insertions and may lack the expertise to place links contextually. |
Although agencies can be 2x-3x costlier but they have individuals with expertise in SEO, content, and link relevance, which helps them deliver links with real SEO value. They focus on results, not just the number of links or the DR of linking sites.
This makes agencies like Marveta a better option for outsourcing your link building campaigns. We source quality links and provide free technical SEO and content optimization consultation, offering a 100% results guarantee.
6. Choose the right link building partner
Whether looking to outsource link building to a freelancer or an agency, avoid doing it blindly. Do your due diligence by examining these aspects:
Check for case studies
Case studies are a testament to their link building success. Ensure it lists the strategies used and the results gained.
Most link building agencies and freelancers will showcase the entire website traffic stats as proof. But, you should note that the overall website traffic growth is influenced by multiple factors, not just link building.
So, ask for detailed link building case studies and the links they built for specific pages. Re-check the results using tools like Ahrefs or Semrush.
For example, in this case study, we have showcased how we helped Statusbrew rank #3 for their desired keyword, “social media analytics tools,” within three months. We helped them move from position 28 to 3 with our strategic link building approach and content optimization support.
Here are some of the links we build to their pages to provide off-page support:
We can help you build similar links to boost the authority of your top pages and help you move up the SERP positions. Notice the varied anchor text and referring domains.
Check their client reviews
Look for previous clients’ reviews and testimonials to gauge the quality of service the potential link building partner offers. It’s a plus if the reviews are verifiable.
Here are some reviews of Marveta from verified individuals:
Ask for links they have built for their own website
Your link building partner should practice what they preach. Links built for the agency’s site reflect its link building expertise and credibility. You also get insights into the type and quality of links your site would get.
For example, we have built links for Marveta on websites with high DR (70+) through guest posting, interview and roundup participation, and link insertions. Along with our linked brand mentions, we have also acquired links on high-intent, keyword-rich anchor text such as “link building agency.”
See if they do a link building strategy discussion
The best link building agencies will discuss your goals, target audience, and SEO link building needs. If they have a strategy discussion step in their new client onboarding process, it is a good sign.
It shows their commitment to developing unique and customized strategies that are 100% relevant to your business or website. They are more likely to help you achieve successful outcomes.
Check which industries they’ve worked for
A link building service with industry experience, particularly in your niche, is a better fit than a generic white hat link building service.
Those with expertise in your niche will be more equipped to deliver links that align with your needs. They understand the technicalities of your industry and the best places to source quality links to give your website the push it needs to rank higher.
For example, we specialize in B2B and SaaS link building and have built the best SaaS links from websites like:
Ensure they get website approval from you
A good link building agency or freelancer will always seek your approval on referring domains and link placement suggestions before pitching it to the editors or webmasters of the target sites.
Asking for your approval ensures that you have the final say.
Don’t fall for link building service red flags
Many freelancers and even agencies will make big promises to land clients. However, some of these are nearly impossible to meet. You should watch out for these red flags and run away from services that promise:
- White hat link building is work. It takes time to find relevant sites, do outreach, figure out the best link placements, and secure quality links. Any service promising instant results may be using unethical practices like link farming. Such links may backfire on you sooner or later.
- Quality comes with a price. A low-cost service means that the agency or freelancer may be relying on pre-existing link networks or low-value sites.
- Transparency is a non-negotiable factor. If the service is unwilling to furnish you with a portfolio of successful link building examples, that’s a red flag. A reputable service should be upfront about its methodology and results.
- No one can guarantee accurate results in link building. Specific guarantees or promises are a sign that the agency might place your links on link farms or PBN sites.
The benefits of outsourcing your link building efforts
65% of marketers find it challenging to do link building right, which is why they often outsource it to specialized agencies. Outsourcing your campaigns offers numerous benefits, including:
- Gives you access to expertise: Link building isn’t trivial as it requires deep knowledge of algorithm changes, current trends, and productive strategies. Outsourcing allows you to capitalize on the expertise of professional link builders who live and breathe SEO.
- Saves cost: Hiring an in-house team of link builders can be costly, especially if you are managing a single project. The alternative is outsourcing, which has no overhead costs and lets you access a dedicated team equipped with the latest tools and methodologies.
- Is easy to scale: Outsourcing offers the flexibility to scale your link building efforts as your business grows. You may introduce new content clusters or build links to support new landing pages. An agency has the resources to scale your campaigns efficiently.
- Delivers quality results: Outsourcing raises your chances of achieving consistent and quantifiable growth in your site’s DR, DA, and search rankings.
- Saves time: When you outsource link building, you free up time and internal resources and can redirect them to your core business activities.
Conclusion
Outsourcing your link building can be a game changer for your business’ SEO success without weighing down your team. However, you need to partner with the right service to secure high-quality links, save time, and achieve quality and sustainable outcomes.
Let the experts do the heavy lifting and elevate your website’s link profile to support your content ranking goals. You can hire Marveta for building links with real value at the cost of an employee to manage your link building campaigns, end to end.
