subject: 5 Questions to Ask When Buying Link Building Services [print this page] 5 Questions to Ask When Buying Link Building Services
Quality link building services can help websites get found in search engines. Links act as votes that raise a website's placement for popular search terms. However, not all services offer the same quality. Some services may be able to quickly build thousands of links in a short period of time, but they tend to disappear just as quickly as they came. In order to get a good quality service with linking that lasts, these five questions should be asked.
What Methods Are Used?
There are two basic answers to this question. The way a link building service answers this question gives an indication to the underlying techniques. All link building services know exactly how they built their links. If there is any hesitation to answer the question, it may be a sign that black hat methods are being used. Black hat is a term that describes methods whereby links are not welcome where they are posted.
Can References Be Provided?
One-way linking raises search engine placement. The goal is to obtain more customers and qualified traffic. Successful link building companies will have many satisfied customers because they help achieve that goal.
Good quality references will be able to show a website and the search terms they ranked for. Verify it by checking their placement for the search term in major search engines.
How Long Does It Take?
Quality link building is not an overnight process. Black hat methods blast unwelcome links in much the same way spam is blasted through email; both get deleted. Reputable companies will note it takes at least a few weeks to begin seeing results. It should take several months to a year before the full effect is achieved. Companies that promise results in a mere matter of days tend to employ questionable tactics with short-lasting effects.
Are Any Other SEO Services Offered?
Companies that have a more comprehensive view of how link building fits in with the overall objectives of search engine optimization (SEO) tend to offer upgrades and other services in addition to link building. Ask about those services to get an idea of how well-rounded they are.
Can Broken Links Be Replaced or Updated?
Inbound linking may get deleted, lost, de-indexed and more. Quality link building services may offer to replace the number of links within a certain time frame if their lifespan does not last for the term of the contract. They may also guarantee a minimum number of links for a certain time.
Conclusion
When hiring the services of any link building company, it's important that the work done sticks. Quality inbound linking will create a consistent source of traffic to a website. These five questions can help qualify companies offering their link building services.
