“Men have become the tools of their tools“ ~ Henry David Thoreau
1. What is the Link Building Tool Directory? It is a collection of link building, content, and marketing tools used in the process of building links. Link building can be done in many different ways, I list tools to help you attract, manage, qualify, research, develop and execute tactics that attract links. Basically, any tool connected with link building.
2. Is there a fee to be included in the Directory? Nope. No charge to be listed or reviewed since I don’t take submissions.
Why not? We want to control the size and scope of the directory, if you have a good tool and make some noise about it, I’ll find it. I set alerts and comb hundreds of RSS feeds daily, I am actively looking all the time!
3. What does “make some noise” mean? Creatively tweet at me (Debra) and contribute to the discussion on my Facebook page. I notice when people reach out, I can’t always get to your tool right away, but I’ll make a note and double back eventually. Also, if you see me at a conference or know someone who knows me, get an introduction. I am big on doing things for people I know.
4. Why can’t I pay to be reviewed or listed? – Because I don’t accept money, gifts or chocolate for a review or listing on the Link Building Tool Directory on Alliance-Link. It’s my job to find, list and review tools, if you have a good one, I’ll find it. (Hint: read #3 again)
5. Do you review all the tools before you list them? – Mostly. Sometimes. Not always. While I don’t review every single tool listed, I do go through the tool’s website thoroughly and familiarize myself with the major attributes the tool offers. The goal is to review most of what I list but since there are more tools than time, it takes awhile.
6. If this isn’t a “pay to be listed” directory, how do you make money? We take advantage of the affiliate programs some of the tools offer. If you click a link hosting an affiliate code and make a purchase, this site may receive a small commission from your actions. You incur no additional cost. I use commissions paid to fund various charity programs and offset operational costs of running the site. No one here is getting rich off affiliate links, trust me. We also sell advertising space.
7. What makes you a tool review expert? I never said I was an expert, but I am definitely a lover of tools and have used many over the years. I have been actively building links and practicing SEO since 2001, prior to that I had 20-years of marketing experience working for two major brands. I’ve used a tool or three and feel I know a little about digital marketing. And if I don’t, I reach out to people who do.
8. What do you offer in the way of advertising? – There are spots in our primary sidebar and on each category listing page for ads, we can talk about what you may have in mind. All of our advertising spots are highlighted as “Sponsors” and text links will use nofollow attributes. If you’d like a rate sheet, email debra [at] Alliance-Link[dot] com.
9. Do you accept guest contributors? Maybe. Send a short note to the email listed on the Contact page with at least three links to material you’ve written plus a link to your company About page or LinkedIn profile. Also, provide a one or two sentence outline of the article you want to contribute here. Keep in mind any content we host has to talk about link building, content marketing or, marketing tools used to build links.
10. Can I offer my opinion on a tool you’ve reviewed? I turned comments off on the blog and directory pages since I get a tremendous amount of comment spam. However, if you dis/agree with something we’ve written, we encourage you to read #9 above and send us a note. (Hint: we qualify contributors in part on how well they follow instructions!)
11. You’ve listed my tool and I’d like it removed, what should I do? Sorry about that, after verifying the request we’ll take it down pronto. Use the email address on our Contact page to tell us the name of the tool and where it sits on our site.
12. How long does a listing remain on your Directory? Indefinitely unless you go out of business, tick off someone here or I find you listed on a wanted poster.
13. What type of tools do you list in the Link Building Tool Directory on Alliance-Link? Any tool listed needs to stand alone as a tool and not be part of a service. The tool needs to be the business, not something a business offers as part of their service. For example, if you own an SEO firm and offer a free backlink checking tool, we probably won’t list it because the primary focus of the business is selling SEO, not offering free tools. Service offerings such as SEO and PPC are not tools. Down the line, I may make an exception and list training programs because training is important but I’m still mulling that one over. If your tool doesn’t fit in a listed category, there’s a very good chance it won’t be listed.
14. Are you benefiting from affiliate programs associated with the tools you list? Sometimes, but more likely not. Most of the tools listed don’t offer affiliate programs but if they do, I am probably tapped in. See #6 for more info.
15. How do you pick the charities you donate to? All of the charities and donation pages I donate to and list on our site are associated with people I know in the SEO industry.
Have a question not covered here? Go to the Contact page and email. Thanks.