Manual link building, or coming up with link building strategies, is hard work and I tip my hat to those in the SEO industry that not only do it, but do it well.
I consider myself to be a very successful link builder which is why I know that even before you attempt the link, there’s heavy research to conduct and careful analysis to consider.
Don’t believe me? How else will you get the info you need about your top competitors? For example, what types of links are they getting? Where did they get their strongest links? What anchor text are they targeting? Are there any opportunities for my site??
This is why a huge part of link building often involves gathering and sifting through mountains and mountains of data.
Maybe not a problem if you’re doing it for just one site (i.e. your own) but what if, like me, you’re often doing several different campaigns at once? Never before have I gathered and managed so much data, on so many different sites, as when I started to do link building professionally for clients.
I love it though. Which is why I happily do my own research (using Google and Yahoo), chart everything in Excel and then draw conclusions and select prospects based on my own criteria. This method takes time though and, being a busy little link builder, time is something I’m in short supply of lately.
Therefore, in an effort to streamline my services, I’ll be actively looking for and trying out various paid link building tools that make my life easier.
Maintaining the same level of quality that my clients are used to is extremely important to me though, so you can be sure that the tool(s) I finally settle on (if any!) will be, what I consider, the best.
Since I’ve had a few curious followers express their interest on twitter, I’ll also be writing about my findings here. If you’ve ever wondered which link building tools truly give you the most bang for your buck (I certainly have!), then you won’t want to miss this 
And, if you’ve had any experience (good or bad) with paid link building tools or if there’s a tool you think I should try, be sure to leave a comment below!
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
Certainly look forward to what you are able to uncover Melanie. We’re constantly on the lookout for new tools & strategies that work (keyword there)…. We see garbage all the time, but don’t use anything on clients that hasn’t been internally tested & proven to be effective.
If you are going to blog about your findings in the link building world then I must follow your blog!
SEOmoz Competitive Link Finder is the bizzomb.
I tried “the link juicer” but am really unsure of the results. They give one month free trial if you want to see if it fits.
Not sure which tools you have in the line up, but why don’t you try the shoemoney tools link tools to see how it stacks up, SEO Book, SEO MOZ.