Posted by Eric Ward

Many people have asked me why, after working with my own private perl scripts for 15 years, I decided to create link building software called Link Insight, with the help of the highly regarded search intelligence firm AdGooroo.  Link Insight is based on what I’ve learned as I enter my 16th year of link building this November.

My motives were both business and personal. When I hear people talking abut link building software, they almost always focus on the time such software saves. What they don’t talk about as much is the impact (or lack of) it has on either click traffic or search rank.  Over the years I have probably tested and used over 100 different programs that in one way or another assisted with some aspect of the link building process. Many are long gone. Some are wonderful and incredibly powerful, others should be taken off the market. 

The reason so many link building tools and programs exist is because of the gold rush mentality many link builders have. Anyone can create some type of linking related software, slap it on the web, and sell it.  My hunch is that 95% of all linking related software programs, whether client based or in the cloud, are useless.  In fact, it was becasue they were all so useless that I ended up creating my own.

“My hunch is 95% of all linking related software programs, whether client based or in the cloud, are useless”

Link Building Software – What to Avoid
First, if the software gives you an option to send email automatically to a supposed link target site, run for your life.  This part of the link building process can never be automated and implemented correctly.  This is not to say all automation during the link building process is bad, but rather that there are certain aspects of the process that should never be automated, and email is at the top of that list.

Second, any software that uses Google’s Pagerank as a key part of their process is doomed.  I could write 500 pages about why, so you’ll have to trust me here.  Letting Pagerank dictate your linking strategy is foolish, and any software that gives you any other impression is trying to scare you.  Pagerank is a very useful metric, in certain ways and in certain situations, but I would never pursue a link target because of it’s Pagerank, and I’ve sought links from hundreds of sites that had none.

Third, if the software queries a search engine that no linger exists, you might be suspicious.  I’m not kidding. At least two programs that help identify link targets include search engines that no longer exist.

Fourth, just because some link building software provides a module for creating and managing a links directory does not mean you should implement one, or use that software to manage it.  If you want to hear a few horror stories about why, contact me privately. 

Link Building Software – What to Seek
This one is so obvious most people overlook it.  What company created the software? Do they have a good reputation? Do they have a successful history you can research.  Do they provide names of people who work at the company? Are they trying to be a one trick pony and claim expertise in link building when they have never actually done any link building themselves?  And just because a tool ranks well for the term link building software does not mean that software will be effective.  I remember several link building software programs that stamped a sitewide link on every page of the auto-generated directory pages they created.  Once upon a time sitewides were thought by some to be clever.  Now, siteswides are largely devalued.

I’ll close with a more philosophical question.  Most people agree that publicity, links, and awareness within the right vertical are the key to success for any web site.  Links play a role in nearly every type of online marketing activity, from a plain vanilla links page to a Twitter tweet.  At the same time, at the end of these billions of links is a mouse poised to click, and a person is holding it. A Person.  The web is about people and passion and interests and curiosity and having a voice if you want one.  People.

Do you really want to put the most important part of your online strategy in the hands of something created by someone you don’t know, and who doesn’t know your business?

Link Building Software – Who Does It Right
If I you are in charge of link building, research and pick from these tools. Consider using more than one.

Link Insight (disclaimer – I am co-creator)
Buzzstream
Ontolo
Open Site Explorer/Linkscape
Majestic
SEO Book
Raven

Link well!

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 31st, 2010 at 8:30 am and is filed under Linking, Products, SEO, Tools. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

About the Author: Eric Ward founded the Web's first service for announcing, linking, and building buzz for Web sites, back in 1994. His client list is a who's who of online brands. Ward is best known as the person behind the linking campaigns for Amazon.com Books, Weather.com, The Link Exchange, Rodney Dangerfield (Rodney.com), the AMA, and PBS.org. His services won the 1995 Award For Internet Marketing Excellence, and he was selected as one of the Web's 100 most influential people by Websight magazine in 1997. Eric is a 4-star speaker at Jupiter's Search Engine Strategies conferences, and publishes The Ward Report: Link Building and Content Publicity Tactics.