Not every company contains a fully staffed in-house marketing team/department. All businesses are at various stages of development and it may not be sensible or practical to invest in something so ambitious. This is especially true for small businesses, who may only employ one single marketing professional. Or the owner may take care of the marketing duties themselves.
For those businesses marketing may be seasonal or time sensitive, meaning 24-hour, or even 9-5 support isn’t required. But when it is needed, it has to be on point, effective and provide a significant return on investment (ROI). This is why small businesses employ the use of a specialist digital marketing agency. This is especially true when it comes to SEO and link building.
Every Business Has a Website – Why Link Building Is Important
A company’s website needs to do more than just exist, especially if it’s an important generator of revenue. It needs to be discoverable and attract a healthy amount of traffic. This traffic also needs to be made up of the right people, i.e. represent leads that can be converted into tangible sales. From a digital marketing point of view, this means a website needs to be fully search engine optimised (SEO), and link building is a crucial tool in this endeavour.
Link building is the practice of making sure other websites link back to a company’s own website. This establishes trust in their brand, helps them appear as market leaders and generates the right kind of web traffic and in higher volumes. When these links appear across the internet they get picked up by ‘search engine spiders.’
These digital crawlers monitor the internet for the most relevant content, then seek it out when a web search is done to bring the user the best possible results. An effective link building strategy can elevate a website’s lead generation and ultimately result in increased profit, market share for the company employing the strategy – This is why getting it right is so crucial.
The Honest Truth About Link Building
The honest truth about link building and SEO in general is it’s not easy. Qualified marketing experts who specialise in link building ordinarily have years of experience under their belts. It’s an industry and subject matter which is constantly evolving and keeping up with the changes can represent a full-time job in itself.
Most business owners simply don’t have the time or inclination to commit to something this all-consuming or don’t possess the budget to employ someone to do so on a full-time basis. But they do still recognise the importance of link building. Therefore, they reach for the most sensible solution – they hire a specialist link building agency.
Three Things to Look for In an Agency
There is a plethora of SEO and link building agencies to choose from, but the question is how do you select the right one? Here are three things to consider when shopping for the right digital partner:
Examine Their Client Turnover and Reviews
Has the link building agency built up a steady collection of satisfied clients who’ve worked with them for a long time? Or do they sign new clients regularly and fail to retain them for a long period of time? If it’s the latter, then move on. Even from seasonal clients, quality link building agencies aim to develop longlasting relationships with clients.
How Do They Communicate?
How a link building agency communicates from the outset is crucially important in determining if they are right for a business. Agencies that simply say yes to everything and promise the moon on a stick should arouse suspicion. Preferably, it’s the ones who ask questions and try to learn as much as they can about their clients who should be considered valuable. The agency should be keen to create a roadmap/strategy and should expect to be held accountable to it. They should also be expected to contact their client if something isn’t working. An agency that does this is doing their job well. They have recognised a problem and are taking steps to resolve it.
They Want to Work with (Not for) You
Collaboration is a two-way street; a link building agency and their clients should work closely together to nail down their strategy. They should work together towards established goals and be partners. Indeed, the agency is hired to do a job, but nobody understands the client’s subject matter better than the client. The very best link building agencies are the ones stress this and insist on this approach. The ones who are content to collect their retainer every month and simply send a email report should be avoided.