Over the years, I have worked with more than 150 clients and close to 200 unique link campaigns.
Not one of them has been the same as any of the others.
Sure, they all have similarities.
Everyone wants relevant links that will improve their rankings, send traffic, and give them conversions.
What’s different?
No one is starting from the exact same point.
1. Traffic vs. Rankings vs. Conversions
All clients want to increase traffic, improve rankings, and up their conversions by 1,000000%.
Not all of them really consider all three when it comes to wanting links though.
That’s why it’s critical to define your objectives before you build links.
Some clients are fine with getting a link on a site that has a high DA or DR (or whatever metric they are using) even if that site only gets 10 visitors a month because they think that will improve their rankings.
I’ve had a few clients who think that any site they get a link on should have roughly the same amount of traffic as their site because they think that increases their chances to get their links clicked on and hopefully convert.
2. Competitors
Some clients want to be found where their competitors are. Some don’t. Some like to track everything their competitors do and replicate it.
We’ve had clients who specifically want to have their links placed in articles that mention their competitors, as long as they have a link that’s higher up on the page.
I’ve had many clients who have sent me sites where they’d like a link because they saw their competition on those sites even though the sites were not ones I’d ever reach out to because they were so spammy.
Thinking about competitors can blind people at times.
3. Industry Competitiveness
If you have five brand new sites that have zero links and they’re in five different industries, each one will require a different amount and quality of links (among other things) in order to start ranking well.
One might not get into the top 100 with a year of link building while one might slide into the top 10 in a month.
If you’re going to try to break into an industry like finance, it’s going to be a lot harder than if you’re trying to rank well in the Rockingham County pet sitting space. – Read more
