Selling the value of link building to management

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There is a never-ending issue all SEOs must face: fighting for budget.

I’ve found this to be especially true when it comes to link building. SEO, although technical in nature, can be explained in real-world measures to upper management. There’s data, traffic levels, technical configurations and on-site elements directly in your control to measure and report.

With link building, upper management often approaches metrics in a single, dogged mindset: price per link. The easiest way to quantify the value of a link is through cost — particularly to the budgetary gatekeeper.

Measuring link-building campaigns by cost is fair, but it creates the wrong mindset. It’s the difference between price and value.

Today, I want to explain how SEOs can and should sell the value of link building upstream, instead of the price.

Three critical stages to communicate value

As an in-house SEO, you’ve reached the point where you need links to achieve your goals. So how do you request additional budget?

It starts with communicating value.

There are three key stages at which you will need to sell the value of link building upstream to obtain buy-in from upper management:

  1. Securing budget. Emphasize the role of links in SEO.
  2. Start of the project. Strategy and execution.
  3. Six-month review. Showing results and forecasting growth.

Keep in mind that you’ll need to consistently communicate value throughout the entire project — these are just the most crucial junctures.

[Read the full article on Search Engine Land.]


Some opinions expressed in this article may be those of a guest author and not necessarily Marketing Land. Staff authors are listed here.


About The Author

Andrew Dennis is a Content Marketing Specialist at Page One Power and a Staff Writer for Linkarati. As a Staff Writer at Linkarati Andrew gets to explore the ever-changing and exciting world of SEO on a daily basis. When he’s not writing about link building and SEO, you’ll find him attending and/or watching live sporting events. Andrew remains confident that he will see a Detroit Lions Super Bowl victory before he dies.


 

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