How to explain to a client that link building doesn't get fast results?
-
I started doing link building for a client 1 month and a half ago. This includes submitting to free directories, social bookmarking sites and also writing and submitting articles to free article websites. Since I only use free and non-paid websites, it doesn't get approved instantly and many links I submitted are still pending review. Now the client is getting all nervous because he doesn't see a ROI regarding my work! I tried to explain to him that link building is just a piece of the cake and especially using non-instant approval free directories, it can take up to several months for each link to be listed (if listed), so it doesn't have instant results! I'm also trying to convince him that he needs to create more engaging content on his website, and also invest more on social media in order to get non-solicited links.
I'm really annoyed with this. Can you SEO guys help me explaining to him why he doesn't see a great ROI with just 1 month and a half of link building and why his website's Moz Rank and Moz Trust decreased and that's normal to happen!? Thanks!
-
And that brings us back full circle.
"Creating links in well-ranked directories using his specific category is still a SEO strategy even after all those penguins and pandas."
-
Why not? Creating links in well-ranked directories using his specific category is still a SEO strategy even after all those penguins and pandas. I advised him to create compelling content on his website and invest on social media and also update his blog frequently with good content. I've told him that link building is only a piece of the cake. If he continues like this maybe I'll have to stop working for him and he might find a black hat SEO professional that gets him the fast results he wants...
-
Point is, he's not going to see any results from you doing "link building" from those directories. The experienced SEO shows disapproval of such a plan by not taking on such a project.
-
Thanks for your reply. Actually, this client came to me wanting for me to especifically do link building trough using directories. I tried to advise him in to doing other things but he only wanted this work. I also advised him that he would need a long time before seeing results and he was fine with that. Now why he has this expectations after only 45 days? Well, basically because he's the type of person that wants results fast. I've told him that SEO is a patience game, unless he does black hat SEO which I don't advise.
-
Sorry about that.
While setting rock-solid client expectations may be difficult for the experienced SEO and the rookie alike, a client coming to you at just 45 days into a project looks like the expectations were more far more on the loosey-goosey side than anything close to solid. That tends to be a rookie mistake.
Also, someone holding out promise that the client is going to get any ROI whatsoever from "submitting to free directories, social bookmarking sites and also writing and submitting articles to free article websites. Since I only use free and non-paid websites" and then asking his peers to back him up on that could be seen as a rookie mistake--either that or the mistake of someone who has been away from the practice of SEO for a good many years.
-
I'm not new to SEO, can you please tell why do you think that?
-
Chris - Nicely said.
-
Sometimes, it's hard to know who may be more at fault: the client who's looking to get their SEO work done so inexpensively that they'll put faith in someone obviously new to the field to do their link building for them or the person who's new to the field that tells the client that they can accomplish the client's goals without knowing much at all about what should be getting done.
I'm with you on the getting annoyed part, blablabla, but you really have to bone up on your SEO skills before you can start dissin' the client for what they don't know. You should take a few moments to fill out your profile, as well.
-
I'd specifically look at the Link Building section of the Beginner's Guide to SEO at http://www.seomoz.org/beginners-guide-to-seo/growing-popularity-and-links. Submitting to directories and article websites may not be the highest quality links that your client could good, and may not do too much to help them.
-
i would cull some info from here:
http://www.seomoz.org/beginners-guide-to-seo
additionally, i would explain the very basic idea of spidering, countered with the size of the job, to explain that ROI isn't going to be an overnight/1 month think.
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
link building problems
Hello everyone
Link Building | | mkeshavarzmozprodt
I am not sure about the way Moz rank websites but sometimes I think it's a bit confusing. As an example, it kept changing in 3 days by going up and down. In addition, It is not compatible with my Ahrefs ranking. Would you please tell me which one is more correct and accurate in terms of my website authority?
It would be my pleasure if you take look at it first. Thank you in advance.
https://www.englishdon.ir/0 -
We are moving to HTTPS and wanted to know if our link building efforts were in vain or will the link juice pass to HTTPS?
We are switching to HTTPS and want to make sure the links we've gotten in the past will still transfer since they are pointing to HTTP? I'd hate to go back through and ask people to please add an s to the link.
Link Building | | bryant25560 -
Internal Link Building and Link Juice Quality
Hi There! I manage the website for a law office that covers many geographical locations. For very specific niche content, we would prefer to create one piece of content and link to the various geographic locations where we would handle that topic instead of posting multiple variations of the same content for each specific geographical area. If we put a button on these pages that has links to each location, will that have the same "link juice" effect to the pages we're linking that linking directly in the text would? (example: the Where can we help you? button on this page : http://www.zdfirm.com/volkswagen-recall/) Thank you!
Link Building | | ZDAdmin0 -
Is tiered link building a good thing?
I think that I have watched all the webinairs and online courses available on the web, but I still don't seem to know how and where to get links from. I know what type of links I should be getting and what type I should be avoiding, but that little luck so far. I came across the website of Matthew Woodward about tiered link building where he explains how to do this type of link building in depth. It seems quite interesting but also a lot of work so I don't want to invest my precious time in something that will be penalised by Google in the near future. Is there anyone that can give me some reason why I should or shouldn't do this?
Link Building | | BridalHotspot0 -
Out-of-season link building
Hi all, We have a couple of seasonal websites (Artificial Christmas trees). Now, its fairly easy to develop good content that people are interested in when the season is approaching, and even easier mid season. However, this somewhat stalls when everyone has had their fill of Christmas, between Jan and Sept. So, my question is, how would you suggest an approach to link building for a seasonal ecommerce site such as this? Obviously my aim is to develop links now, so when September comes, the site is up there. Thank you 🙂
Link Building | | Webrevolve0 -
Reputable Link Building Company
We are looking for a company who can build high quality links, from high quality domains to specific pages of our website. We are not looking for companies who create content or add to directories or post on blog rolls. Has anyone had any experience and can anyone recommend a link building company who can build high quality links to specific pages of a website? Thanks!
Link Building | | torontojon0 -
Link building by inviting bloggers
Hi everyone, I'm relatively new to SEO, and I have a question on a link building strategy for a holiday resort I am working on. The resort has a paintball arena and zorbing facilities at their premises. I want to use this in the link building strategy and the owners have agreed to have an open day for bloggers. Basically the resort will invite 20 local bloggers for a day to their resort. They get to play paintball, zorbing and get to see the resort in exchange for an honest write up about their day at the resort. I am looking at asking the bloggers to write about the event twice (Once before, and once after they visit the resort) with a minimum of 4 links to the website. I want to know how I can identify the top bloggers? What factors should I consider while making a list of 20 bloggers, and how do I measure these factors? Also, is this a good strategy for link building? And please feel free to add anything else you think I am missing out on, or will help in the link building. Cheers! Arjun
Link Building | | ArjunRajkumar0 -
Link Building Training Courses (UK)
Hi, Does anybody know of any good UK Link Building training courses or trainers? I have read loads of information on here and other sites which tells you that you need to get good high quality links but have not found much information on exactly how you go about doing this (apart from looking at competitors links - which is easy). So I would love to get some training for me and another team member here on Link Building specifically.We have all the other areas of SEO pretty much covered and get pretty good rankings for long tail and some broad phrases. We just need a bit of extra Link Building help to boost some rankings up even further. Thanks in advance Andy
Link Building | | BoxLimited0