1min readYou may be new to Search Engine Optimisation (SEO), but you sure heard about link buying. You may be interested in this because this will boost your link building strategy, but keep out of this as much as possible. It is very risky, especially on your part because you are just starting to learn the ropes in SEO. Furthermore, it’s the exact opposite of organic link building. That doesn’t mean it’s automatically bad in every single instance, but it does mean you need to be a bit more careful when handling such things. Here are the reasons why:
Fine, you insist on buying links. Make sure that you do not buy these from low-quality or static websites. If you do, it is obvious that you are only after influencing your PageRank. This is because no reputable organization will partner with websites that have been stagnant for several months or years, particularly those that carry content with low quality. Search engine spiders can easily detect this (especially with the Google Panda Update). If Google finds out about this, you will be penalized and your business will suffer.
Now, where can you buy ‘excellent’ links? One of those that earn a good reputation is the Yahoo! Directory. What makes this so, you will surely ask. The cost is not cheap and even with the payment, it still cannot guarantee to list. If ever you get it, you cannot request a better placement for your listing. You cannot even dictate them which description to write. Yahoo editors are so strict that Google trusts them with this.
Link buying, if allowed, will create a huge impact on the services of search engines. However, this may lead to the disappointment of Internet users because they still need to open several sites before they can even reach to the one that carries the information they need. This is because when other sites are able to build links from outside their ‘territories’, they will likely place in the highest possible search engine ranking and users will bump into them first.
But what if users are not searching for the information contained in their sites but still landed to them all because they are link buying? This is the scenario that Google, as well as other search engines, does not want to happen; hence, it does everything to catch link buyers and penalize them. Now, do you wish to be one of them?
In your business, you must make sure that you have the capacity to fight against your competitors. But please, you must do this decently. Give others their fair share of the competition. Do not try to gobble on everything by link buying. Do what is ethical.
Not everyone has the same starting capital or has the same options and opportunities another person does. Even if you gained the financial capabilities to buy enough links to make a difference fair and square, you are still not really levelling the playing field. IN fact, you’re kind of disrupting it through greater funds.
Do you think your prospective customers will love to be directed to a web page that does not contain the information they need? Of course, you do not want this to happen to them. So think of it this way: if you do not wish your clients to be in this situation, do not buy links because surely, you will do what you do not want others to do with them.
This will not just annoy your customers, it will show them directly that you are not to be trusted. Why would anyone invest money into buying any of your products, or hiring your services, if they see that they can’t trust you? Sure, this may not be your fault, you may have been swindled yourself, but that still does not make people confident they can put their trust in you.
We mentioned customers, but the same goes for any potential business partners, organization, and companies that like to get in contact with you and work together. Black-hat tactics like these may always seem useful in the short-term, but long-term you will end up losing potential customers, and potential revenue.
You will not have any control over the keywords and anchor text these people may use. As we’ve mentioned, Google penalizes keyword and link stuffing. Having too many links in an article, or anchor text that doesn’t tie in with the link and its contents, all of this can lead to you being penalized and in trouble.
There is also the possibility of being cloaked. Showing completely different content when accessing the link, compared to what has been offered. Things like hidden websites, hidden pages, and all pulling people away from what they really want.
However, the greatest and most complicated issue with link buying is actually being able to trust the other person. What if the links are tied and connected with a website that you do not want to have anything to do with. Gambling, pornography, and anything else you may or may not find morally problematic still shouldn’t be connected to a website that is garnering a family-friendly image. Then, you have to be completely aware and convinced that the links you are buying will be viable after a week, or a month, or a year.
Now, the above issue leads to extra monitoring. You do need to monitor your links, in case of any end up being dead or useless, or in case you get an amazing opportunity that you don’t want to miss out on (like one leading from a powerful website). However, if you buy too many links from too many people, you will need to monitor how things are going in that direction as well.
Link buying affects search engine ranking, search engines themselves, users and those that practice ethical SEO. It causes negative effects and shows greediness. While we understand that you want to get as successful as much as you can, in the shortest timeframe possible, you still shouldn’t fall to the dark side and buy every single link you see. Try to avoid this as much as you can.
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