I'm sure that a few of you have opinions on the benefits of or problems associated with using paid links to improve position. What are your thoughts?
They help short term. If you want to maintain your position you need to keep using it and paying for it for a long time so that Google doesn't flag your site as a spam. It has to look natural, and to look natural it has to be consist.
I would not waste my time paying these companies to do this for me and I would not waste too much time doing this myself. One of the best ways to get links back to your site is by writing articles and having other webmasters take your article and post in on their website.
*Pros: - time leverage - money leverage *Cons - risk of being sandboxed if not done properly - requires time and effort to find a really reliable professional company to do the service properly *Buying backlinks can be very dangerous if your choose the wrong service Just some thoughts
Yes, I agree with Justine. Talfighel, your actions depend on your goals. Buying links is like normal outsourcing when done properly. Imagine creating a cathedral and building everything by yourself...one brick at a time. But if you want to build a small house, go ahead and do it all yourself. It is just like link building. Ask an SEO Expert, like for example Brad Fallon. What he says is: "what it takes to get good ranking? it is all about good quality incoming links" If you want to target the competitive keywords, your site needs good quality one-way backlinks. a lot of them. Obviously, there are other techniques too. thanks
For me, it's an easy answer.....I wouldn't want to do anything which could negatively affect the long term viability of my business. Getting banned by Google for buying links could certainly do that. Plus, links are really so, so easy to create that I'd hate to look for a shortcut when it wasn't even necessary.
I have been using paid links for years, and based on my experience, here is what you need to be aware of: First off, DO NOT buy links from sites that are obviously selling links. If you go their home page and see a list of random links to sites that aren't related to their content at all this is a huge giveaway. Google know of these sites and will eventually punish them with a Google slap. Only buy links on a case by case basis from sites most relevant to yours that aren't actively - or obviously - selling links. Also, make sure your link is as close as possible to the top of the page. If your link is obscurely placed at the bottom of the page it has less effect. Also, make sure there are less than 25 outbound links on each page you are buying a link from. Otherwise the SEO weight of your link will be heavily reduced. Only buy PR3+ links. PR1-PR2 do have some effect but it's a waste of time IMHO. Especially if you're paying for them. Finally, it pays to have some relevant content around your link. If you're trying to rank for "make money online" write some text like this around your link: "I found this really easy, simple, proven method for making some fast cash online here: [link]" In short, buying links is absolutely the fastest way to the top of the SERPs - when done right. I used to focus on building hundreds of low PR links from a variety of sources. (This is what most people do with SEO.) Now I mostly focus on building 10-15 quality, high PR links from relevant sites with some varying anchor text. It works. Also, you don't always have to "buy" these links. An example. I found an .edu site I wanted a link from but they weren't interested in selling links. I asked if there was any kind of service I could offer instead in exchange. They were interested in SEO'ing their site for a non competing keyword, so I agreed to do the SEO work for them. All I did was outsource the link building to a freelancer for $30. These links helped them rank for the keyword and I got my link in exchange. (It was on a PR5 page. A PR5 .EDU domain carries A LOT of SEO weight.) -Logan
Pro: It is far easier. Con: It isn’t necessarily ethical. Pro: It works. Con: It can get you blacklisted.
Pros: It can be faster than asking for a link. Paying for a link can be easier than asking for a link. There’s less dealing with rejection, which is something many link builders struggle with. You don’t need to invest in quality content. Cons: Your link building is limited by your budget. There are a number of ways you can mess it up, and increase your chances of getting caught. You might ‘Over-optimize’ anchor text and risk getting filtered or penalized. Only use one technique and again end up looking unnatural. Google may penalize your site or those you’re buying from by reducing traffic or Toolbar PageRank. You’re not building a sustainable competitive advantage when you pay for links.
