1800 170 681

How Will Search Engines Discover that You Buy Links?

Buying links is not always obvious, but patterns give crawlers plenty of clues. Learn how those patterns show up and why going too far is risky. Read what to watch.

Some of our clients

If you choose to collaborate with us, you can rest assured you will be in good company - check out some of the brands that we work with.

  • GWM SEO Partner: Lavazza
  • GWM SEO Partner: Bicycles Online
  • GWM SEO Partner: DW Advisory
  • Partner 1
  • Partner 7
  • GWM SEO Partner: CW
  • Partner 12
  • GWM SEO Partner: AS
  • GWM SEO Partner: PersonalDigital
  • GWM SEO Partner: Maxi Cosi
  • GWM SEO Partner: Labdirect
  • GWM SEO Partner: Bluepod
  • GWM SEO Partner: Chatime
  • Hoselink logo1
  • Partner 2
  • Partner 8
  • GWM SEO Partner: Caredent
  • Logo oc4llplfbs5xcrg6gxaolnnm62fjhexhau2ybv3inc
  • Partner 16
  • GWM SEO Partner: Portcullis
  • GWM SEO Partner: Omnyfy
  • true

Blog

How Will Search Engines Discover that You Buy Links?

By adminPublished 21 November 2016

Link buying is not bad at all if you buy them from directories that most search engines trust. This is why you should not be surprised if some Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) companies offer you to buy links. But if you have gone too far with the idea of link buying by dealing with websites that have been stagnant for several months or years or with link agencies that do not practice fairness, then you are in real danger of being slapped with a penalty. Google and other major search engines can detect this. How? Consider these:

Use this write-up as shared language between marketing and whoever edits the site. Nothing above replaces SEO Sydney work that is willing to spot paid links before they put the domain at risk.

They can take note of this. Why will you build links to websites, which target market is different from yours? It is so obvious that you are only after building links so you can improve your search engine ranking.

2. Your competitors report about this

What do you think your competitors will do if they recognize or discover that you are buying links? Of course, they will report you. You are not being fair so why will they close their eyes on you?

You create internal links for your site. But it is not normal that other people’s websites will place your backlinks in all their web pages. Surely, search engines will smell something fishy here because they are making your links popular and not theirs. They will definitely take the necessary action.

OMG, you should have told the websites where you bought the links not to tag them as ads! This makes your buying activity so obvious.

5. A former employee of yours makes a report

You shouted at him and did not give him the chance to explain his side. Worse, you fired him! What do you think he will do if he knows that you purchase links? He will get back at you and report you. You should have been more respectful to your employees.

For reasons unknown to you, an employee of the link agency where you bought the links resigned. To get back at the company, he reported all the organizations that purchased links from them, and the list included you.

Search engine spiders sense something unusual in a website: The links contained in an ‘article’ are too many and they are not related to each other. Because this is not possible, they are sure that those links belong to link buyers. Next thing you knew, you are being penalized because one of them belongs to you.

Some SEO companies do link buying. Some do not. This is because they know that search engines have the tools and the trusted spiders to tell them. This will only place the businesses they work for to high risk. This threat refers to possible removal to search engine indexes. If your company is one of those that will receive a penalty, it is a shame. Because you will be known for doing unethical SEO practices only to make sure that you advance to your competitors.

latest news

Switching to GWM

Move to GWM. Save more. Pay later.

  1. 30 to 40%

    Switch and save 30 to 40%

    Clients typically save 30 to 40% moving their SEO or Google Ads to GWM, and gain a broader team and more services.

  2. Done for you

    We handle the move

    Account access, tracking and campaign handover. We take care of the switch.

  3. Jan 2027

    Try us before you pay

    Start now. Happy to continue? Your first GWM payment starts in January 2027.

Contact Us

So, have we got your attention? Do you feel as though we could be exactly what you’re looking for? If so, get in touch with us. Send your inquiry to us, and a friendly member of the team will get back to you as soon as possible. Or, if you would rather not wait for an email and would like to call us directly, we encourage you to do so.

Our offices are in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and Europe, so we encourage you to get in touch with the office that you think will work best for you based on your location. If you’re a little phone shy, don’t worry, our team is super friendly and will make you feel at ease within seconds, we don’t bite!

1800 170 681

Work with us

Please selectSEOPPC/Google AdwordsWeb Design & DevelopmentSocial Media Marketing

Your Budget 1k to 2k, 2k to 3k, 3k to 4k, 4k to 5k, or 5k plus

FAQ

  • Paid links are links you pay another site to place, usually to boost rankings. Google requires them to be marked sponsored or nofollow. Unmarked paid links that pass ranking value break its spam policies and can lead to penalties. If you advertise on another site, ask for the sponsored tag so the placement stays within the rules.

1,000+

Trusted by 1,000+ businessesSmall and medium businesses have trusted GWM since 2016.

  • Outrank the biggest names
  • Switch and save 30 to 40%
  • Try us before you pay
  • A new website, included
  • Your own graphic designer
  • Redesigns built for enquiries
  • Talk straight to the engineers
  • One team. No revolving door.
  • SEO + Google Ads, one team
  • Ready for AI search
  • Your own AI agent, free
  • We handle the move
  • More done. One campaign.