Paid Backlinks / Directories
- Thread starter Earplugsprotection
- Start date
NO NEVER PAY FOR BACK LINKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It's essentially the same as typing Google in Google, which can break the Internet!!!!! ( IT Crowd) First off Google last year announced they have ran many tests without links reflecting and this year they announced that Facts are going to be more important than links. Here is some quick reading you need to do.
http://www.webpronews.com/google-says-you-should-avoid-link-building-2015-02
http://www.webpronews.com/facts-may-start-outranking-links-as-a-google-signal-2015-03
http://www.webpronews.com/google-talks-determining-quality-when-there-arent-links-2014-06
http://www.webpronews.com/google-says-you-should-avoid-link-building-2015-02
http://www.webpronews.com/facts-may-start-outranking-links-as-a-google-signal-2015-03
http://www.webpronews.com/google-talks-determining-quality-when-there-arent-links-2014-06
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Ashley Wright
Cwt2k1 you can't believe everything you read my friend, websites will always naturally get backlinks - FACT
So as long as it's not a spammy blatant backlink there is no way to know if it's natural or not.
If bought from the right place/vendor you can always remove the link anyway if worst happens
So as long as it's not a spammy blatant backlink there is no way to know if it's natural or not.
If bought from the right place/vendor you can always remove the link anyway if worst happens
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Why not? Google survives because of paid backlinks, or as they are more commonly known: adwords. If a link I have paid for brings in a load of converting visitors then the investment was well worth the money.
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Paid backlinks is as simple as taking a risk because it can lead to grow your business or not (it will cause a lot of expenses with no conversions)
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For pity's sake! [flounces] Paid backlinks tend to look unnatural, even to a robot. Links from sites you think you might get sales leads from, don't.
Paid backlinks tend to be 10,000 from a bunch of cr*p sites or 4 x 5PR in a blog sidebar or summat. They don't bring sales and, pointed at a me-too plumbing site, cause a red Star-Trek alert beacon to go off at Google Central. A team of nerds there then shake the communal Dungeons and Dragon's 16-sided dice to decide who's turn it is to nuke site no. 34278 from the rankings today. Probably.
Paid backlinks tend to be 10,000 from a bunch of cr*p sites or 4 x 5PR in a blog sidebar or summat. They don't bring sales and, pointed at a me-too plumbing site, cause a red Star-Trek alert beacon to go off at Google Central. A team of nerds there then shake the communal Dungeons and Dragon's 16-sided dice to decide who's turn it is to nuke site no. 34278 from the rankings today. Probably.
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Err, no.
If paid for links didn't work you wouldn't have them all over UKBF. They are called adverts and they can be very lucrative. A paid for top spot in a popular directory can bring in a shed load of customers. A banner in the header of a site can make you money.
Paying for links to boost your ranking is dodgy. But paid for links aren't always there for SEO. All you have to do is make sure your brought links are no-follow and you are safe as houses.
If paid for links didn't work you wouldn't have them all over UKBF. They are called adverts and they can be very lucrative. A paid for top spot in a popular directory can bring in a shed load of customers. A banner in the header of a site can make you money.
Paying for links to boost your ranking is dodgy. But paid for links aren't always there for SEO. All you have to do is make sure your brought links are no-follow and you are safe as houses.
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My emphasis above. Adverts which have a link in them and which are no-follow, no one can object to.
The OP's post suggested he or she was going down the paid-backlinks-to-improve-Google-rankings route. That usually leads to buying link pyramids on Fiverr or the like. These links are 3rd-tier directory listings, fake profiles or other junk.
A better route is to examine one's competitors' backlink profiles and see where you can get links easily which could lead to sales. Start with the free ones then go for paid ads on classified ads sites, then Google adwords, etc.
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Karl B
Ok, so by paid links I'm assuming you're meaning paid anchor text/branded links within a directory or blog and not adverts or adwords which some people here are getting the pants in a twist about! Don't bother with directories, unless you are a SME and in which case Yell is very good for driving traffic and leads (go with the pro account). On the whole though, directories offer very little in terms of traffic and therefore are not worth your time.
Google might not know for definite whether a link is paid for or not but it doesn't matter. If it looks spammy then they will mark as spammy.
Google might not know for definite whether a link is paid for or not but it doesn't matter. If it looks spammy then they will mark as spammy.
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I believe I've read a lot of hate about Yell online. Could you elaborate on what methods bring more traffic from them?
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Karl B
We've seen some good leads (30-40 a month) come from Yell when a listing is upgraded to a Prominence account. I'd say it's quite good for local businesses because Yell tends to have a lot of good rankings when it comes to local keywords so you have a good presence, then it's all about reviews. Of course, it doesn't work for everyone but then again, what does!
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- Original Poster
- #20
Hi - Thanks for all the replies, much appreciated and lots to think about. Quick couple of questions....How do I examine a competitors' backlink profiles accurately and am I right in saying if it says 'no follow' that means Google doesn't follow it and its ave no SEO benefit in terms of rankings? Is there a free tool I could use / what do other people use that they rate ? Thanks
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You don't. Duplicating a competitor's backlink profile is dangerous. You don't know which ones Google take note of and which ones are ignored. It's also possible they have some very dodgy links in the collection you should avoid.
And you can't be 100% certain which keywords are boosted so you could end up chasing the wrong thing.
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Look at competitors backlinks and cherry-pick the ones that might bring you some business or are on a prestigious site, like a government one. Don't bother with foreign directories, sitewide footer links or other junk; if Google hasn't smacked them for these, it may in the next iteration of its algorithm.
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Surely if you're going to pay for links, you'd want them to be follow links to gain SEO benefit?
Or are you saying that in order to not get smacked by Google and also get decent traffic, that it's worth paying for nofollow links from a decent site?
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No one really knows what the Google algorithm does or doesn't do. Backlinks are important in as much as showing Google that your site is relevant to the topic/niche. Having a website that serves your customers/audience and growing your backlinks naturally will always be the "preferred" method of gaining backlinks i.e people love your content so much they just can't help linking to it. The "problem" with taking this approach is the fact that your competition may be using underhand tactics and outranking you. If you do not worry about the next algorithm update then you can go out and buy backlinks from less than "white hat sources" and just hope your site survives then next update
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ukbf0001
Paid links - I'd tread carefully.
There are 2 things I would do
1. Use Social Media Monitoring and respond directly to any potential customers naturally without having to bother getting links - something like buzzbundle
2. Chase the same links your competitors have using seo spyglass - it uses the webmeup database to get the links - as Google (obviously) wont give you all the juicy high PR sites etc
As far as I am aware there is no other tool that does what spy glass does
There are 2 things I would do
1. Use Social Media Monitoring and respond directly to any potential customers naturally without having to bother getting links - something like buzzbundle
2. Chase the same links your competitors have using seo spyglass - it uses the webmeup database to get the links - as Google (obviously) wont give you all the juicy high PR sites etc
As far as I am aware there is no other tool that does what spy glass does
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businesswebsites.eu
Truely - no
All the marketplaces selling dreams, sooner or later google hit them because they are public and can be compromised very fast.
If you really care about your website
1. if you can spend some money on it - build your own PBN
2. if you are on the budget build kind of PBN on public blogs platforms like wordpress.com, blog.com etc, there are a lot of them out there
Feed your PBN with top quality unique ,valuable content ,it always pays of.
Don`t leave fotprints.
All the marketplaces selling dreams, sooner or later google hit them because they are public and can be compromised very fast.
If you really care about your website
1. if you can spend some money on it - build your own PBN
2. if you are on the budget build kind of PBN on public blogs platforms like wordpress.com, blog.com etc, there are a lot of them out there
Feed your PBN with top quality unique ,valuable content ,it always pays of.
Don`t leave fotprints.
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Professionally speaking I'd suggest not following the advice mentioned directly above. Private blog networks are as dangerous as the mass article spinning/submission, was in the past. I won't go into the details, but just don't do it.
As for 'buying backlinks', where would signing up for business.com, for example, or other niche directories come into this?
I would actually suggest that paying for subscriptions does have its place, though it must be carefully researched and not widely applied. If by signing up to a niche directory you may be able to gain traffic, citations and a solid backlink, this can and is beneficial. Though, I'll say it again, don't go overboard and stick to respected and/or niche sites.
As for 'buying backlinks', where would signing up for business.com, for example, or other niche directories come into this?
I would actually suggest that paying for subscriptions does have its place, though it must be carefully researched and not widely applied. If by signing up to a niche directory you may be able to gain traffic, citations and a solid backlink, this can and is beneficial. Though, I'll say it again, don't go overboard and stick to respected and/or niche sites.
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