How to Choose Link Building Services Without Falling for Unrealistic SEO Promises

It’s not uncommon, as a business owner, to receive an email in your inbox touting an offer such as this:

We will get you 100 high DA backlinks in 30 days for only ₹9999. No deposit, no money back, no hidden fees. The backlinks will be placed on authoritative sites, guaranteeing you first-page Google results!

This is tempting – backlinks are often essential to SEO success. Acquiring them is resource intensive, time consuming, and requires a nuanced understanding of both your industry and the mechanics of link building. That is why it makes sense to outsource to specialists. The question is – how do you know who the specialists are? Which link building services are trustworthy and which are con artists? This article is the ultimate guide on identifying reputable and dishonest link building agencies.

Why Link Building Is An Easy Sell?

Before we begin, a word about why link building services tend to be shady propositions.

The nature of the work allows for it. With link building, the results are not immediately visible – it can be easy to do a poor job and move on to the next client. Subsequently, companies that employ questionable methods often advertise themselves as elite link building agencies. Even otherwise honest and competent firms are forced to resort to embellishments and hyperbole to separate themselves from the competition – and that’s understandable. Anyone who understands link building can tell you that its a difficult area of SEO, one requiring years of experience and deep knowledge of the industry. No one expects a company to succeed at building links overnight, and no self respecting agency would guarantee results that take years to appear. The con men and women understand this, and exploit these insecurities.

How Legitimate Link Building Agencies Operate?

So, how do we tell the snake oil salesmen from the link building experts? Let’s begin by defining what legitimate link building agencies actually do. In broad strokes, they employ a range of tactics to acquire backlinks for their clients. These range from digital PR, outreach, content marketing, guest posting, resource page and broken link inserts, unlinked mention and brand awareness pieces, strategic partnerships and other forms of link placement that fall under the umbrella of link marketing. As consultants, they are ethically bound to be transparent about their process, honest about the limitations of link building, and focused on delivering quantifiable and sustainable results.

What To Look For In A Link Building Agency?

With this foundational knowledge, let’s examine some of the red flags that indicate a link building agency is not to be trusted.

1. Makes guarantees about Google rankings

This should be a deal-breaker right here. No one can predict or control the outcome of a complex algorithm such as Google. It is unethical for an agency to promise first page rankings. In fact, Google itself warns businesses about such disreputable operators. A proper link building agency should discourage businesses from demanding guarantees, given the unpredictability of the search engine landscape.

2. Guarantees a certain number of backlinks

As mentioned earlier, quality is far more important than quantity when it comes to backlinks. The value of a link depends on its origin, relevance and authority. A link from a high-quality web page will always have more value than one from a low quality page. This is why honest agencies do not promise a certain number of links. Moreover, quantity oriented link building, such as buying links from directories is usually frowned upon by search engines.

3. Has unrealistically low pricing

If it seems too good, it probably is. This tactic is frequently used by link selling companies to attract unwary clients looking for first page rankings. Inexperienced agencies also tend to engage in aggressive pricing. Why? Because a lot of link building is automated and the product is low quality. Low cost, low quality – this is a self perpetuating loop. If you are promised hundreds of links for a pittance, chances are you are going to end up wasting your money and reputation.

4. Has secretive practices

Anyone who has a deep understanding of the industry will be able to explain it to you. Legitimate agencies will have established processes and protocols in place, and will be ready to discuss them. If the rep from your chosen agency cannot or will not discuss the how and the why of everything they do, that is a major red flag.

5. Uses PBNs or PBN networks

Private blog networks are designed to spam search engines with links. PBNs are a grey hat tactic, and can get you penalized by Google if not used carefully. Unless the company is blatantly lying to you, most agencies will avoid using PBNs as it is a risky proposition that can burn everyone involved.

6. Talks about domain authority or other SEO rating systems

The number doesn’t matter. In fact, domain authority is a fabricated metric, created by a company that monitors and tracks SEO. What really matters are traffic, relevance, quality content and an established audience. Always bear in mind that the ranking of a page is affected by numerous factors besides the value of the incoming link. Anyone promising you a high domain rating score, therefore, is engaging in unethical marketing practices.

7. Does not disclose where the links will be placed

Unless the company provides proof of links built for you, you do not know where your backlinks will be placed, what sort of websites they are, or who their owners are. This could be a sign of an agency that employs low quality, bought links, or that outright lies about the source of the links.

8. Promises a certain number of links regardless of relevance

Context is critically important in link building. Links have different values depending on the location and relevance. A law firm in Mumbai needing backlinks, for instance, will benefit exponentially more from links from an ethical and high quality Mumbai-based directory than a random blog post on healthcare from a UK based blog

What’s more, relevance is important. A healthcare company will benefit from healthcare links, a law firm from legal links – this is common sense.

9. Will place large numbers of exact match anchor text

While some exact match anchors are good, an excess of them will look spammy and may raise red flags with Google. If you see a pattern emerging, this is a warning sign.

10.Guarantees a certain number of links for 12 or more months and refuses to provide refunds or prorated refunds

While there are exceptions, most genuine link building agencies will not engage in long term retention lock in contracts. A company that has nothing to show for its efforts for 12 long months or more will be looking to cut its losses as quickly as possible. Refunds, partial or in full, are the norm. Now that we have covered some of the red flags, let’s take a look at what qualities to look for in a trustworthy link building agency. The following criteria will help you identify and shortlist reputable agencies that are likely to deliver on their promises. They should have a process and methodology that makes sense to you and fits in with your website or business In other words, look for a well rounded strategy, one that utilizes diverse and appropriate methods. A good link building agency will devise a strategy that is right for your business. This means providing you with relevant information and insights about the business, your competitors, and your link profile. Avoid agencies that use a one size fits all approach, and only offer a set monthly retainer, no matter what your industry or needs are.

They should care about quality over quantity.

As discussed earlier, relevance and quality are far more important than numbers. Look for agencies that focus on websites in your industry that actually care about building relationships and long term partnerships. In other words, avoid link farms in favor of link exchanges or partnerships.

They should provide you with detailed reports and other information

At all times, a trustworthy link building agency should be transparent about its operations. This means being open and forthcoming with information regarding:

• The exact pages and websites where links are placed

• The anchor text used and the landing page

• Dofollow or nofollow, sponsored or otherwise

• Quality reports including impressions and other metrics

• Website statistics about the linking domains

• Increases in impressions, clicks, enquiries etc as a result of the links

The candidate agencies should have experience in your industry

To understand the needs of the business and the opportunities in the marketplace, the link building experts need to have a fundamental grasp of the industry in which it operates. If they can offer case studies and testimonials from similar businesses, it shows they have met the requirements of a business in this space and can deliver results. You should be wary of testimonials which focus exclusively on numbers, however, as they could be fabricated. Look for quality, not quantity.

They should utilize strong content resources

High quality, informative content is usually the basis for acquiring backlinks and increasing visibility. Strong content marketing and link building capabilities make for a winning combination. As such, the right agency should have resources at its disposal that can supply diverse, high quality content for your industry or niche. They should also be able to offer insights into creating shareable, marketable material that can drive traffic and improve search engine rankings.

They should communicate honestly and provide realistic information

Honest link building agencies will be upfront about the difficulties and pitfalls of the endeavor as well as the rewards. They should be realistic about how long it will take and what results they are expecting.. A good agency knows that while link building is important, it is only one aspect of a holistic off page and on page SEO strategy. It is usually advised to combine link building with content marketing and a sound technical SEO foundation.

They should have fundamental SEO knowledge and expertise, beyond link building

A link building agency should recognize the importance of on page optimization and technical SEO to maximizing the value of the acquired backlinks. Good quality links, in other words, are useless if the target web pages are not optimized for conversions and do not perform well.

Now let’s take a look at questions to ask before settling on a particular link building agency.

1.How will you be acquiring links for my website?

2.Can you show me samples of the links you have built recently for other clients?

3.What are your criteria for choosing websites for placement?

4.Do you use PBNs, paid links or link exchanges?

5.How do you select and implement anchor text?

6.What kinds of content will the links be pointing to?

7.How and how often will you report to me?

8.What happens if a link is not placed?

9.How long do you estimate it will take to see results?

10.Will you conduct an audit of my website prior to beginning the project?

11.Who will my contact be at the agency?

12.What are your terms and conditions? Do you allow cancellations if I am not satisfied?

Next, let’s discuss some of the common types of payments that agencies charge their clients. As mentioned briefly before, packages vary depending on a number of factors, including the link building methodology, volume of links, quality of the links, and the time and resources spent on creating content and analyzing competitors. Monthly retainers are usually best for businesses looking to maximize the potential of their link building program – these can either be an overarching monthly fee, or they can specify a package of specific number of links per month. Hourly rates can work well depending on the requirements, and project based costs are a good option when engaging an agency for a particular campaign, such as a round of digital PR. Generally speaking, inexpensive packages entail more risks than expensive ones. They can provide inferior results, and may even do more harm than good in extreme cases. Expensive packages, on the other hand, are worth every penny, because they utilize quality link building methods that will yield rich dividends. When selecting the appropriate package, it is also important to bear in mind what these packages include – for instance, some may include content marketing, while others may not.

Lastly, here is what to expect from a link building agency, in practical terms. This will help you manage not only your expectations, but also keep in mind what constitutes good value.

In broad terms, the first two months of any link building campaign are generally spent reviewing existing data, discussing options and building a strategy. While some improvements might be seen during this time, the results are rarely dramatic. Between months three and four onwards, more links are generally placed, and gradual improvements can be noticed. Between the fifth and sixth and beyond, improvements continue to accelerate, depending on the quality and quantity of links and other factors, such as the general competitiveness of your industry or the domain authority of your websit

Common mistakes that can occur when employing link building agencies:

• Selecting an agency based solely on price
• Going with the cheapest option without understanding what you are getting and its limitations
• Expecting or demanding Google ranking guarantees
• Thinking that quantity outweighs quality
• Neglecting your website, despite the need for proper indexing, site speed, strong content etc
• Failing to obtain guarantees or evidence of quality
• Engaging in a long term commitment before seeing results
• Believing that fast results are normal or desirable
• Focusing exclusively on one element of SEO

As mentioned earlier, link building plays only a small part in an overall SEO strategy. For this reason, agencies that can deliver comprehensive SEO audits, content marketing, digital PR, technical SEO and other services are the best option, as they can develop a cohesive strategy. The best guidance we can give you is to be wary of anyone who guarantees results, and instead concentrate on finding someone who is transparent, and works ethically. Always perform due diligence before making a commitment, and keep in mind that quick fixes almost never last. For all your backlink building-related needs, turn to Bloom Agency.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. What is link building services?

Link building services are those that acquire backlinks for a business, through any means necessary. There is a variety of methods and techniques to get backlinks from other websites

2.Are link building agencies able to guarantee results?

No one is able to guarantee results through link building – a responsible agency will advertise quality and transparency, and not results they cannot control.

3. How much do link building agencies charge?

This depends on the type of service provided – inexpensive packages are usually the lowest quality and offer the least results. More expensive packages can get you better links, but always ask questions to get the whole story.

4. How long does it take for link building to work?

Usually between 3 and 6 months, depending on a set of specified circumstances.

5.Are paid backlinks a good thing?

Purchased backlinks are against Google guidelines. However, paid articles or sponsorships that are relevant and not overtly marketed usually perform well in search engine rankings, as they target customers who are interested in your product or service.

6.What is the difference between quality and quantity when it comes to link building?

Quality is much more important than quantity when it comes to backlinks. This means that one high quality backlink will always be more valuable than one low quality one.

7.How can I spot a legitimate and an illegitimate link building agency?

A link building agency is legitimate when it provides realistic data, uses high quality methods, asks the right questions, and has no issue with providing examples and evidence of their work.

8. Do I need link building if my content is good enough?

In an ideal scenario, good content and good link building go hand-in-hand. However, link building is still an important factor in raising your profile and improving your search engine ranking.

Final Words

For such a small part of SEO, link building often consumes most of the time and of a business owner. It can be confusing and difficult, and the best thing to do it to keep your expectations in check and look for a professional who can deliver results honestly and ethically. We hope this ultimate guide was helpful in helping you choose a link building agency. For all your link building, technical SEO and content marketing needs, turn to Bloom Agency.