Link Building Consultants – How Do They Work? What Do They Do?

Are your pages not getting the impressions, clicks, and conversions you want? It's time to rethink your SEO strategy. 

Admittedly, many factors could be affecting your performance on search engines. However, we're willing to bet that if your site is underperforming, your link-building campaigns (or lack thereof) are playing a significant role. 

Link building is a crucial component of any SEO strategy. If you put minimal effort into these campaigns or neglect them altogether, you're missing a huge opportunity to improve your rankings. That's where link building services can help with your search engine optimization.

The good news is that you don't have to manage your campaigns yourself — that's where link-building consulting comes in to help! As an experienced link-building consultant, Thunder Road Digital takes this critical SEO component off your plate. 

What Is Link Building Consulting?

If you're at all familiar with SEO, you've probably heard of link-building consulting. But few websites actually grasp the concept.

So, what is link-building consulting?

Link building is the practice of getting websites to link to your website. The ultimate goal? Get more traffic and improve your rankings on search engines like Google. 

And that's it in a nutshell! It sounds simple enough, but it involves many more complexities. It's even harder to put into practice yourself. You need to be proficient at multiple strategies including content marketing, outreach, and even technical SEO. It actually takes quite a bit of effort to build links to your website.

Even if you write a quality blog post for guest blogging, that doesn't mean it will automatically get you quality backlinks. Not all sites result in a good backlink. A guest post from a low quality site results in a low quality backlink, which can damage your link profile.

Fortunately, a link-building consultant like Thunder Road can manage the entire process. Our professionals will come up with the perfect strategy for your site and answer any questions you have. See how we can help by scheduling a link-building consulting call today!

The Importance of Link Building Consulting

Just knowing what link-building consulting may not be enough to get you on board. So, let's go over why it's so important.

It Improves Your Rankings

One of the most compelling reasons to hire a link-building consultant? It improves your rankings.

To understand why let's take a look at how Google works.

Google is a search engine, which means it's in the market of helping people find what they're seeking. It must comb through millions of pages to determine what content is relevant to different inquiries. 

As it combs through pages, Google uses many factors to determine which content will be the most valuable to the reader. One such factor is outbound links.

Think about it. If reputable websites are providing sources back to your pages, it means that your content is pretty good. Google recognizes this authority and rewards it with higher rankings. 

In short, link-building consulting helps everyone win. It helps Google answer inquiries, and it provides value to readers. Perhaps most importantly, it pushes you higher in search results. 

It Brings More Traffic to Your Website

When your campaign starts to improve your rankings, you're bound to see more traffic to your site. A better position in search results almost always translates to more clicks. 

However, some of your additional traffic may also come from clicks on your outbound links. Let's illustrate this concept by using an example. 

Say your company sells pet products like leashes and food bowls. With the help of a link-building consultant, you reach out to reputable blogs that specialize in family life, pet wellness, and other related niches. 

Your link-building consultant starts the content creation process by developing original, well-written guest posts. The articles are relevant to the target blog audiences and provide valuable information. Most importantly, they contain links back to your site. 

These links not only show Google that authoritative websites recognize the value of your pages; they also create clicking opportunities. Readers who are interested in what you have to say are likely to click to learn more. 

So, as long as your link-building consultant targets relevant blogs and submits valuable content, your traffic should increase significantly. 

It Builds Brand Recognition

In a perfect world, every reader would click on all of your outbound links. It would direct tons of traffic to your site and scream to Google, “Hey, I make valuable content! Rank me higher!”

Unfortunately, people don't always click through. It's common for users to bounce as soon as they find the answer they came seeking. Not everyone wants to give your content a thorough read and interact with it. 

And that's OK! It's just the nature of link-building consulting. Fortunately, your outbound links and content will generate much-needed brand recognition. 

Let's say you become a regular contributor to a popular blog. The blog's readers will start to recognize you as an authority figure and come to depend on your content. They'll appreciate that you can give them the quick, easy-to-understand answers they want. 

As users become more familiar with your brand, they'll continue to turn to you when they need something. “Something” could be anything from more helpful content to products or services. Whatever the case may be, building this brand recognition is crucial to establishing your online presence. 

And those are three primary reasons why link-building consulting is essential. Keep in mind that this list is by no means exhaustive and that different benefits can have a snowball effect on each other. For instance, when you improve your rankings through link-building consulting, more people will come to your site and come to recognize your brand. 

To learn more about about how link building can help your website, check out our more detailed article on the benefits of building links.

How Does Link Building Work?

On the surface, link building seems simple. You just need to get other websites to link to your pages. 

However, as a link-building consultant, Thunder Road Digital can confirm that the practice is much more intricate. It involves analyzing your website to determine which strategies will bring the most traffic. 

While link-building consulting will develop a unique strategy for every client, most campaigns feature similar components.

Below, we cover what link-building consulting generally involves. By knowing what you can expect from a link-building consultant, you'll be one step closer to establishing your online presence. 

Content Creation

If you want your campaign to succeed, you need high-quality content. Trust us when we that there's no getting around this fact. 

Of course, content creation is vital during outreach. A blog won't accept your guest posts if you send them poorly written content that offers no value to the readers. 

We'll revisit the importance of content creation during outreach later. For now, let's focus on how content creation can help your website more passively. 

Creating Valuable Content for Your Website

It might seem hard to believe, but reputable websites are always looking for new content for their outbound links. 

What would make a website pick your content over others? For one, they may be avoiding providing sources back to their competitors. They may also find something in your content that they can't find anywhere else (whether it be a statistic, specific advice, an unpopular opinion, etc.).

In any case, this demand for valuable content is all the incentive you need. Your link-building consultant should recognize this low-hanging fruit and create content accordingly. 

Types of Linkable Content

Through our link building consulting, Thunder Road Digital creates linkable content such as: 

• Research. Whatever industry you're in, statistics can be very compelling. A link-building consultant can help you compile the research you've conducted and present it in a digestible format. Websites will want to draw on your valuable research to support their articles. Of course, they can't get away with citing your data without providing a source back to your site.
• Infographics. Infographics are attractive yet hard to make. When your link-building consultant does all the heavy lifting, websites will be eager to embed your infographic on their sites and link back to your page.
• Comprehensive guides. Instead of short blog posts, your link-building consultant should churn out comprehensive guides. These guides should be relevant to your audience and provide all the info they need on a specific topic. That way, other websites will be willing to share this helpful content with their readers.
• Ego bait. As a link-building consultant, Thunder Road Digital understands that there's a time and place for sucking up — enter ego bait. Ego bait involves creating content that mentions popular websites or blog owners. The goal? To get the popular websites or blog owners to share your glowing article.

Guest Posting

Many blogs participate in guest posting — that is, they solicit other websites to write content for them. 

These blogs win because they get valuable content without having to do the hard work of writing it. But what's in it for you? 

Blog contributors submit guest posts on other domains, with outbound links leading back to their sites. Therefore, when their articles go up on reputable blogs, they become more credible in Google's eyes and increase their traffic potential. 

That's a pretty good deal, right? The only catch is that you have to have an effective guest posting campaign. 

If you don't hire link-building consulting, your efforts can fall short or even hurt your site's reputation. 

A link-building consultant understands the importance of finding reputable, relevant websites for your guest posts. They will build relationships with these blogs so that you can become a trusted contributor. 

Just as important, your link-building consultant will curate content that will be a good fit for the blog. It will provide the reader with value, optimize keywords for your ranking, and get users to click through to your website. 

Social Commenting

Commenting on niche forums, social media platforms, and Q&A sites can go a long way in spreading your pages across the website.

With this practice, the key is to provide value. “Spammy” comments can affect your website's reputation among not only users but also Google.

With the help of link-building consulting, you can create the perfect social commenting campaign. Users across various platforms will recognize your site's authority in no time. 

Capitalizing on Broken Pages

Have you ever clicked on a page's blue text only to see the dreaded “Page Not Found” message? You, my friend, have come across a broken link. 

The web is full of these erroneous pages. While they may be annoying for users, they are great news for a link-building consultant.

The idea is to scour the internet for broken pages. When you discover a 404 error, you can contact the website owner and offer to replace the link. The replacement could be for a page you already have or one you create specifically for this purpose. 

In any case, this strategy can be very effective. The website owner will be happy that users aren't getting 404 errors anymore, and you'll be boosting your SEO juice. 

Of course, finding and replacing broken pages can be quite the scavenger hunt. It's in your best interest to hire link-building consulting from a pro like Thunder Road Digital. 

Reclamation

We all hope that websites give credit where credit is due. However, in some cases, they may fail to provide a source back to your page. 

Thus, a big part of link-building consulting is reclamation. A link-building consultant like Thunder Road Digital can hunt for mentions of your website across the web. Then, they petition the website owner to add your link. 

Most website owners will be willing to comply. The tricky part, however, is finding mentions of your site and doing the outreach. 

That's why you need link-building consulting to do the hard work for you. Get started by scheduling a call with Thunder Road Digital today! 

What Is the Best Link Building Strategy?

We've covered lots of components of link-building consulting. So what's the best strategy for your site? 

The truth is that there is no one-size-fits-all solution. A link-building consultant will need to analyze your site and understand your goals. From there, they will determine which route is the best to go down. 

Thunder Road Digital knows the importance of a personalized approach. If you're ready to improve your rankings and boost your traffic, schedule your call today. 

How Much Does Link Building Cost?

Now, for the question that's on everyone's mind. How much does link building consulting cost?

In short, it depends. We know that you probably don't like this answer, so let's look at some factors that will affect the cost. Link building pricing can be complicated.

Usually, a link-building consultant charges per link. If you are in a competitive industry like gambling or financing, you will have to pay more per link. Less competitive industries see cheaper rates as they don't have to fight for exclusive spots. 

Another factor that can affect the cost is the strategy you're using. For instance, let's consider the “natural” approach.

As we discussed earlier, the “natural” approach involves creating valuable content in hopes that authoritative sites will link to it. While having a link-building consultant create valuable content can be expensive, this approach prevents you from doing outreach. The time and money you don't spend doing outreach yourself could translate into significant savings. 

Now, let's think about if you were to do outreach like guest posting. You not only have to create valuable content but also pay your link-building consultant to contact blogs. It takes a lot of time and effort to build these relationships, meaning more money will come out of your pocket. 

Curious about the exact numbers? Some websites pay as little as $100 for one link, whereas others will pay as much as $1,000 for one. Again, it all depends on several factors. 

If you want to get an idea of how much you'll pay, contact Thunder Road Digital today! We will help you determine what link-building consulting services you need, all while keeping your budget in mind. 

Check out our related article about link building pricing.

Is Link Building Dead?

Before you allocate part of your SEO budget to link-building consulting, you'll want to know if the practice is still relevant.

It's natural to have this concern as some marketers claim that link building is dead. However, as an established link-building consultant, we can assure you that it is very much alive. 

Google still puts a lot of weight on whether other sites link to your content. If you can't show the search engine that you have valuable content, it won't favor you in its rankings. 

You should also prioritize link-building consulting because it'll help you keep up with competitors. Too many websites let themselves fall behind when they don't participate in content creation or outreach. If you let your campaigns slip, your competitors will breeze by and leave you in the dust.  

How Long Does Link Building Take to Yield Results?

You might expect instant results from your link-building consultant. And we don't blame you — all websites want their pages to get more clicks ASAP. 

However, you must realize that effective link building takes time. Your link-building consultant needs to establish strong relationships with reputable blogs. They also need to come up with original, valuable content that will build authority. 

Most significantly, it can take some time for Google to reward the efforts of link-building consulting. 

So, you should be wary of a link-building consultant who promises instant results. It's the same principle with SEO in general — no effective campaign will boost your rankings overnight. 

If you want to get a more tangible timeline estimate, schedule a call with Thunder Bird Digital today! We will go over your budget, goals, and more to develop the perfect customized solution.  

Contact an Experienced Link Building Consultant Today

We've harped on the importance of link building. However, if you don't hire the right agency, all of your efforts will be for nothing. 

A qualified link-building consultant will take over this excruciating part of SEO. By using their experience with content creation, guest posts, and outreach, they will help you establish your online presence.

Ready to set your website back on the path to success? Thunder Road Digital is eager to get to work. For years, we've helped clients like you increase their traffic and Google rankings. 

You can depend on us not only for our vast experience but also for our expertise. Link building consulting is what we do best, so that's where we put our focus. Clients depend on us for persistent, personalized services that they can't get anywhere else. 

See the difference that Thunder Road Digital makes—schedule a call today!