Buying Links

We all “know” that links pointing to you “can’t” hurt you, or at least that’s what the major search engines want us all to “know”.. Just like they want everyone to know that buying links it bad.. Evil even..

I’m not terribly convinced that it is “evil”.. In some industries it’s almost a requirement for ranking.. I mean seriously, how many people freely drop a link to website selling things without getting something for it?? Maybe a discount, or a review product, or maybe a few bucks for their trouble.. And with everyone and his brother slapping nofollow attributes on links it’s even worse.. It’s made all those “natural” links worth even more money..

I know, I know, we all already know this..

But let’s take a look at the link buying process.. Not that I’m recommending it.. Or even suggesting that you do it for your site, but let’s look at several ways you could go about buying links..

1. You could go to one of these link selling websites like Text Link Ads.. You remember them, they are the guys that don’t even come up in the search results for their own name any more because Google has declared what they do “wrong”.. There service is kind of expensive since they have to share what you pay them with the people that actually own the sites.. But they do all, or most, of the work for you..

Whether Google has their netowrk sorted out or not is an issue that is up for debate..

2. You could outsource the link building to some individual that will go out and find the links for you.. Most likely this will be an Indian, or Pakastani, or more recently even a Chinese, link builder.. But you can bet that they won’t have your best interests at heart, just getting you the 30 or 50 links they said they would and moving on as fast as they can to the next guy.

Then you are stuck with a crapload of junk links pointing at your site, you know, the ones that the SEs say can’t hurt you..

3. You could hang out one of the forums that allows this type of thing to be done in public. But again, you have to watch out for the guys that don’t have your best interest at heart.. I’ve seen people’s websites used as examples of the work they do only to see the site in question get pushed down the SERPs as soon as Google sees the post..

4. You could find quality websites that you like, that are in your niche, and simply email them and ask them if they are willing to sell you a link.. Most will ignore you or tell you to go away.. But a few will be thrilled to have a few dollars sent their way for doing what they would have done anyway..

So, while I’m not suggesting that you go out and actually pay someone for links, because that would be wrong, if you decide that buying links is something that will help your website, be careful how you go about it.. You might find out that links pointing at you really can hurt your site..

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