New guy looking for some advice on (grey-black) links

[Brian Hope]

Hi all,

I'm new here so excuse me if I make an idiot of myself by asking dumb questions! (It's pretty much a given).

I am have been working on the rankings for my companies site for some time. I have a good knowledge (or so I think) of SEO from a white hat perspective. I have exhausted real world relationships, trade press, some articles on relevant sites (all very white) and have seen some decent movement.

Im just off front page, it's a competitive(ish) term. I have been looking at what the opposition is up to and I'm confident they are not just doing white hat stuff. I'm keen to compete but have no idea where to start.

So first question would be where do I start?? I am aware post penguin that caution is advised but I have been reading a lot here about using sites as a kind of buffer between your target site and paid links.

Also what are peoples thoughts on the gentle use of anchor text driven links these days? Avoid or ok if a small enough part of the overall Anchor-text Distribution.

Looking forward to hearing some wisdom!

 

[MisterF]

Nice article here by Noman

https://domainshighway.net/mastering-the-art-of-choosing-your-anchor-text/

 

[Brian Hope]

Nice article here by Noman

Thank you for that I will have a read!

 

[Panther28]

What are your current anchor text's like? (after you read that article)

 

[Brian Hope]

What are your current anchor text's like? (after you read that article)

The current anchotext distribution is heavily weighted towards brand and URL, there's a bit of keyword specific stuff but it's mostly from legacy links. Some are decent enough but I've stayed away from building even partial match so far.......mostly out of fear I suppose. As you no doubt gather I'm looking to change tactics and get a bit more aggressive, I think I have a solid base to work from.

It's more a question of if I'm going to start giving it a bit of a "shove" where to start. There's clearly a lot of people offering outsourced link building etc. but I would guess that theres good and bad ones out there......and I don't want to do trial and error as I get paid to make sure the site dosnt go backwards haha.

I've cut away some of the bad wood done years ago that was still live through disavow. I'm wanting to increase the link profile with minimum risk.....hence me coming here. I've heard of the community before and I'm keen to learn what works these day, what dosn't and who I can outsource to.......but thought I best get up to speed first.

Anything but White Hat is all new to me, and as ever in SEO there's a good amount of conflicting info about!

 

[kontentdruid]

the best shortcut i can give you is if youre going to buy a link from a 'normal-looking' website, check it in semrush to make sure it has organic traffic and solid rankings. that generally means the site is safe (though not necessarily in the future, hence the risk here) and you're getting value for your link purchase.

 

[Brian Hope]

the best shortcut i can give you is if youre going to buy a link from a 'normal-looking' website, check it in semrush to make sure it has organic traffic and solid rankings. that generally means the site is safe (though not necessarily in the future, hence the risk here) and you're getting value for your link purchase.

Thanks....again possible another daft question. There's a lot of service on offer in the market place...and I mean A LOT. How on earth can I judge what a good idea versus bad ideas?

 

[kontentdruid]

Thanks....again possible another daft question. There's a lot of service on offer in the market place...and I mean A LOT. How on earth can I judge what a good idea versus bad ideas?

i generally ask seller to send me link samples, then i check them out to make sure they are decent

 

[Brian Hope]

i generally ask seller to send me link samples, then i check them out to make sure they are decent

Guess I should of thought of that. Once I know who's who I will be asking for a referral to someone decent.......I don't know if that breaches any forum rules though haha.

 

[Initial Effort]

OP, one tip I can give you before you avail packages and services offered, remember to diligently check the reviews, ask for recommendations as well as requesting for samples.

 

[ThopHayt]

If you're concerned about quality then you should start by looking at authority sites and building your own PBN and managing it actively. The last thing you want to do is to suddenly dump 1,000 all-in-one service links onto a site that has been 100% natural. Start slow, with quality in mind.

-ThopHayt