People also ask
In practice
The evaluation questions, in the order they disqualify. Qualification: “what qualifies a site before a placement — and who checks the traffic against the site itself?” A real answer names a floor (DR filter, verified visits, relevance reads, pattern screens) and a person who applies it; a hand-wave is a disqualification. Traceability: “show me a sample report” — every figure should map to a live URL the buyer can check today; a report of numbers without URLs is marketing.
Guarantees: “what happens when a link drops in month seven?” — the answer is either a monitoring-and-replacement system (with the window and the cost built into the rate) or a shrug; rankings guarantees are a disqualification in the other direction, since no honest vendor controls them. Fit: “how many placements did you place in this category last quarter, and is the publisher list yours or a marketplace’s?” — the specialist’s graph is the reason specialists outperform generalists in a niche.
The red flags complete the picture: volume promises (“50 links/month” at prices below the cost of qualification), pressure to skip the strategy step, disclosure that stops at “editorial placements” without the fee question answered, and reviews that describe nothing specific. The final check costs one reference call: ask a current client what month three’s report looked like and whether they’d buy again — the answer replaces a hundred claims.
See also: Vendor comparison: freelancer vs agency vs bulk vendor, Contract terms: guarantees, replacements, refunds, Link building proposal and sales process.
Related service: Link building strategy.
