I’m trying out a new “set it and forget it” type link building system called LinkAloha. I’m cautiously optimistic because I’ve seen a lot of great reviews for it.
I’ll be updating this post with my results as I start to see them. I may set up some tests of the service like I have done in the past for some of the article marketing services I have used, but I haven’t got to the point just yet (I just joined today.)
First Test (code name: prs-mem)
I’m testing it out on a couple of pages that I’m not building links to otherwise. These are subpages on a 2007 domain with a PR 3 which itself ranks on the first page of Google for its primary keyword (I’m also using LinkAloha on the homepage but I’m using other services too so it doesn’t represent as a pure of a test.)
The target keywords for these test pages are not particularly competitive keywords (according to Google Keyword Tool there are only 110 and 260 searches a month respectively) but they do make me a decent little profit (and they are related to something happening this year so the searches & profits should be up — ie: something that happens every four years.)
The first page currently ranks #9 for its primary target (17K exact matches) on Google and the second page ranks #5 for its primary target (444K exact matches.) I’ll be updating here with how the service works on these pages.
I will also be adding at least one more test, probably two or three more. I want to try it out on more difficult keywords as well as on a newer domain that is not already established.
+ As of 2/1/12 there has been very little movement. They are ranking #8 (+1) & #5 (no movement) now.
+ 2/7/12 update: Up to #7 (+2) & #4 (+1) … not much, but still any movement in the right direction is nice (and I should note that I’m not using that much of its power on this particular test… I’m spreading it around.)
+ 2/14 update: #8 (-1) and #3 (+1) … the movement from #5 to #3 for the second keyword phrase is nice, but I won’t be happy with anything less than #1.
+ 2/20 update: #8 (-) and #4 (-1) … Disappointing results on this one so far.
+ 2/27 update: #8 (-) and #4 (-) … Weak! Perhaps I’m not directing enough links at this.
Second Test (code name: livhot)
This is a test on a much more competitive keyword (1.1 million exact matches) on a rather new domain (September 2011.) There are 27,000 phrase searches a month for this keyword according to Google’s Keyword Tool. As of now the site does not rank in the top 100 on Google. Success in this test would be quite impressive (and would make me a significant amount of money.) This is in contrast to the first test which really should be quite easy.
+ As of 2/1/12 the site ranks at #193 for its target keyword. I’m not sure if this represents an improvement because I actually didn’t check past the first 100 when I started the test. But I want to get this ranking down with a date so we can see improvements in the future more clearly. I am not building links for this domain in any other way besides LinkAloha.
+ 2/7/12 update: Up to #110 (+83) … this is encouraging.
+2/14 update: Drop down to #141 (-31) … not so encouraging (but nothing to freak out about either…)
+ 2/20 update: Up to #136 (+5) … better than the last update!
+ 2/27 update: Up to #64 (+62) … this is very good movement… a page one ranking for this would probably be worth all of the money I’m spending on LinkAloha.
Third Test (code name: waldhot)
The third test is for a subpage on an aged domain. The domain has a PR 3 and was registered in 2006. The main target keyword has 1.4 million exact matches with 12,000 phrase searches a month. As with the first two tests I am only using LinkAloha for link building to this page.
+ As of 2/1/12 this page ranks #112 for its main target keyword. I think this already represents an improvement but I can’t say for sure because I didn’t check this low when first adding the page to the system.
+ 2/7/12 update: Up to #109 (+3) … not much, but at least it’s movement in the right direction!
+ 2/14/12 update: Up to #108 (+1) …. OK…
+ 2/20 update: Up to #101 (+7) … +11 for the month. At this rate I’ll be on the first page by the end of the year. Slow & steady wins the race?
+ 2/27 update: Down to #115 (-14) … well there goes all my gains.
Fourth Test (code name: fash)
I’m starting this test on 2/14/12. As of 2/14 there are no rankings for any of the four major targets I’m going for which have 590, 720, 1300, 18100, & 49500 “phrase searches”/month each according to Google. Obviously the 590, 720, 1300 phrase search keywords should be relatively easy but ranking higher for the keyword with 49K phrase searches per month will likely be quite a bit more difficult.
Unlike the first three tests, this one will not be “pure.” I will be using other methods as well as LinkAloha. This is a new domain, it was registered this month.
+ 2/20/12 update: The first keyword (with 590 phrase searches) is at #56, I don’t see any of the others in the top 200 (which is as far as I checked.)
+ 2/27 update: First keyword (590 phrase searches) up from #56 to #36. Second Keyword (720 phrase searches) at #27. Third keyword (1300 phrase searches) at #119. Fifth keyword (49,500 searches) #142. The fourth keyword isn’t in the top 250 (I stopped looking at that point.) Overall this is pretty decent (and I’m not doing much else for this except for a SocialAdr campaign.
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As of 2/27 I’m considering moving forward with just the second and fourth tests as I’m seeing more results with these two and these are also bigger potential money makers. I’m also spreading my LinkAloha power around to some other sites that I’m not including in this test. I may be spreading it too thin.