As a business owner, you want to be savvy with your marketing decisions, as you want to ensure you’re getting the most out of your efforts. When it comes to link building, deciding whether this is something you handle in-house or you outsource, is a decision that shouldn’t be taken lightly.
There are many reasons a business might want to outsource link building, with the main reasons being lack of time, resources, knowledge, and experience. If this is something you have contemplated within your business, keep reading as we highlight some key factors to consider when deciding when outsourcing link building makes sense and when it might be better to keep it in-house. Let’s dive right in.
When you should outsource link building
You should outsource link building if…
Hiring an experienced SEO link builder is out of your budget
According to Glassdoor, the average experienced SEO link builder salary is between £26k – £40k per year. With this figure, not only would you have to cover an additional salary if you kept link building in-house, but you’d also need to have a separate budget for content development, as this comes hand-in-hand with link building. You’d also need to factor in additional costs such as the tools an SEO link builder requires to properly do their job.
Outsourcing link building can be a cost-effective solution for businesses who don’t have the budget to hire an in-house professional. By entrusting this task to a link building agency, like Fifteen, you can save time and resources while still reaping the benefits of quality backlinks.
You need immediate links
On average, it can take in-house teams around 3-4 months to start getting at least 10-20 links every month. This is primarily because they don’t have an established strategy, they lack meaningful relationships, or they’re still learning to pitch their ideas correctly.
By outsourcing to an established link building agency, they will already have a tried-and-tested link building strategy, meaning they can acquire links at a far quicker rate than an in-house team. As well as this, many agencies have already developed relationships across industries and niches which makes gaining links far easier. All of this can help you achieve your SEO goals faster.
It’s a learning experience for your team
Outsourcing link building can be a valuable learning experience for your team. By bringing in external experts to handle this aspect of your SEO strategy, your team can observe and learn best practices from professionals in the field. This hands-on exposure can help them gain insights into effective link building techniques, understand industry trends, and enhance their own skills for future projects.
Additionally, outsourcing can provide a fresh perspective and new ideas that can benefit your team’s overall growth and development in the realm of digital marketing. It’s not just about getting the job done; it’s about investing in your team’s knowledge and expertise for long-term success. Even if you already have skills in link building, you’ll still benefit from seeing other strategies and following other tried and tested processes.
You need guidance on your current link building efforts
If you find you need guidance on your current link building efforts, outsourcing to a link building agency is a smart move. You’ll benefit from their knowledge and expertise and they can help you in your efforts to create high-quality backlinks. You may already have a link building strategy and you’re not confident in implementing it yourself. An agency can implement your strategy for you and provide you with additional guidance to ensure you’re getting the most out of your efforts.
When you should not outsource link building
You should not outsource link building if…
You’re looking for digital PR
If you’re looking to enhance your digital PR efforts, or you’re looking to share an article about your business on an industry leading website, then this is a task for your PR team and not link building. Digital PR focuses on creating compelling stories and content that attract natural backlinks, which can be more effective in improving your site’s authority and visibility in search engines.
From an SEO standpoint, the links acquired from such sources are usually quite weak. Successful link building is all about quality over quantity, so outsourcing link building in this case wouldn’t be the right approach.
You don’t have a solid SEO strategy
If your SEO strategy is not well-defined or lacking in key elements, outsourcing linking building isn’t a wise move. SEO and linking building are interconnected, meaning you can’t have link building without a strong SEO strategy. You have to ensure your website is optimised for search engines and has valuable content to attract organic backlinks.
Therefore, before diving into outsourcing, take the time to strengthen your SEO strategy to maximise the benefits of any link building efforts. To successfully link build, you need to understand how many links you need to close the link gap with your competitors in Search Engine Result Pages (SERPs), which will result in a higher ranking.
You have very strict requirements
When it comes to link building, it’s important to be realistic with your expectations and clearly understand the capabilities of the link building agency you work with. When your standards are exceptionally high and specific, it can be challenging to find an agency that can meet all your criteria. Some strict requirements agencies have encountered in the past with some businesses include:
- Only wanting links from a list of sites
- Only want links in an allocated content
- Only want links from pages that have already built a solid number of links
This is where it might be more beneficial to handle link building in-house where you can have full control over the process and ensure every link meets your stringent guidelines.
You expect to receive referral traffic
Link building is a great strategy to help improve your SEO efforts such as your online visibility, domain and brand authority, as well as helping to improve your credibility in your industry. If you’re expecting to receive a high amount of referral traffic, opting to outsource link building is not the right approach. There is a slim-to-none chance you’ll receive a high amount of referral traffic from link building strategies as that is not the primary focus of this task. Before making any decisions, take the time to analyse your SEO objectives to choose the right strategies that will help you reach your goals.
You don’t have sufficient budget
Whilst outsourcing link building is a cost-effective solution to hiring internally, it still requires a decent budget to really reap the benefits. Building high-quality backlinks can be a time-consuming and costly process, so it’s essential to ensure you have the necessary funds available to invest in this aspect of your SEO strategy.
If budget constraints are a concern, it may be more beneficial to focus on other areas of SEO that you can manage in-house until you have the resources to allocate towards outsourcing link building. Remember, investing wisely in your SEO efforts is key to achieving long-term success online.
Looking for a link building agency?
Overall, outsourcing link building is definitely beneficial if you lack the knowledge and time to do it yourself. It’s definitely a great way to quickly get those valuable links that you’d struggle to achieve without the agency’s relationships.
If you’re looking to partner with a reputable link building agency, contact us today. With our link building services, we can help your website earn valuable inbound links from high-authority domains that are relevant to your brand and industry.