Link Assistant

Review

Since Google Penguin update almost all the professional SEO univocally deny that they build links. Instead they invented a whole bunch of fancy euphemisms for the traditional link-building, such as 'link-prospecting' or 'exploring link opportunities'.

Whatever name makes you happy, but I will call LinkAssistant a 'link-building' tool. LinkAssitant has two main features:

• Search for websites where one can place a link;
• Manage communication between link-builder and website owners.

Link research functionality is actually a SERP parser that lets one choose among a number of ready made presets. The presets are a combination of queries tailored to find specific types of websites and filters. For example, you can you the 'Forums' preset in order to find forums where people discuss your keywords.

The system is not exceptionally smart and unfortunately it is not possible to edit search patterns. After using one of the link research tools built in the software, LinkAssistant returns about 1000 - 1500 domains (of course the actual numbers depend to a large extent on the keywords that you are using). Do not be repelled by the quality (or absence of it) in the initial list. First, update the information about each URL. Among other things LinkAssistant can parse for you page title, evaluate link quality, attempt to get contact information. After additional filtering you are likely end up with 50-100 URLs. Once you get a list of the websites you would like to get a backlink from, the other module of LinkAssistant comes into play.

LinkAssitant includes a simple system that lets you communicate with your link partners and manage the status of your backlinks. The best way to describe it is to think of it as a specialized CRM for link building. A typical pipeline unfolds like this:

• Pick out a website you want to contact;
• Send en email to the website owner using a predefined template;
• URL gets a new status tag, for example, 'contacted';
• You can update the status of the case while you are negotiating link placement with the owner;
• Finally, the link goes life and LinkAssistant can periodically check its status.

Who is it for?

If you have no experience in parsing, managing tabular data, and if regular expressions scare you off. Give LinkAssistant a try. It does not work like a magic wound but it still helps to reduce the amount of manual work done both for 'organic' (white-hat, ethical, you-give-a-fancy name SEOs) as well for those who will barely spam the net with their affiliate links.

Similarly to other SEO PowerSuite products LinkAssistant lacks functionality for team work on the project. As the result, it may be not a perfect solution for situations where many managers are building links for one project.