Do You Buy Back Links? (A Long-Winded…Question)
Mar 27th, 2007 by msdanielle
I think most of us agree that if you’re planning on monetizing your blog someday, you have to optimize it first and get a lot of back links. Part of optimization is getting your site indexed and choosing the right keywords. And one of the other major components to increasing your Google Page Rank is getting a lot of high quality links pointing back to your blog.
I’m just kind of curious as to how many of you buy back links? I buy back links, but not for my blog. At least, not yet. I buy them for one of my projects at work. Pretty often I check this really geeky site called Digital Point Forums. If you know about it, then you’re just as geeky as me. 
They have a couple of sub-forums dedicated only to link development strategies, and link sales. It’s a really good source if you know how to weed through all the crap. You can find extremely valuable tips from industry know-it-alls who like to hear themselves talk I’m just joking, they’re actually really helpful and informative. I’ve been checking these boards regularly for awhile now and I’ve definitely been seeing a trend this year in increased blog post sales, among a range of other types of links. I’ve tried checking WebmasterWorld, but for some reason I can’t stand their navigation, so I just stick with DP. Anyway, here’s a random snap shot of the Link Sales page 1. I’m going to take you with me on a journey through my mind when I’m researching links:
The first listing is a signature sale (buy a link in their forum signature). Signatures will usually give you a back link but they won’t carry any weight in transferring PR strength back to your blog. This guy has 600+ posts, and he’s auctioning the signature link starting at $1. I guess for $1 it might be worth 600 junk links, but is it really? It’s up to you.
The second post seems like a great deal, and when you click on the entry, it’s actually not that bad. $2.40 for 30 permanent links in various new directories, or $6.00 for 30 Featured links. Hmmm…not bad…. In this case, I’d opt to get the Featured links because for not that much more, your listing will stay permenantly at the top of the page.
Continuing on with the listings above… The third listing is for a link on a .edu page. Basically, like blogs, Google likes .edu pages and that’s why this guy is selling links on his. I don’t know what the page is, but he says it’s a PR4. This would be one of those instances where contacting the seller with questions would help me decide. What’s the link? The predicted PR? Content? Title? etc…
The fourth listing is a $20 link on a PR5 site for one year, or $1.67/month. Looks like a pretty good deal, as long as the site will be up and running as a PR5 for the next year.
The last listing is a link on a PR6 myspace code generator page - $15/month for 3 months. I guess if you have a myspace-related site it’s a pretty good deal. But I wouldn’t buy the link for my blog because I don’t write about myspace.
Some things I usually consider in general when purchasing links are:
- Are the links static? If you view the page source, are they in the standard <a> </a> html format? Are they just masked redirects…or java script? And do they exclude the nofollow tag?
- Is it much more to buy a Featured link? If you’re purchasing in a directory, sometimes it’s worth it to just upgrade and get the Featured link that appears higher on the page. Sometimes your non-featured listing can get bumped onto the next page, which could have a PR0.
- Is the title of the page I’m buying on relevant to my site? And is the content of the page relevant?
- Does the site have any PR? And is the page I’m purchasing on have any PR? If the site is brand new (like these directories are), it might take quite awhile to see any results from lower quality sites. The risk is smaller if you purchase super cheap, or just swap links (if you have other junk sites to point a link from) for free on newer sites.
- Is there any possible way that Google can discount this as a paid link or advertisement? (Link farms, sponsored links, etc.) If I feel a “Yes” coming on, I usually avoid buying it. But getting it for free is OK
In a nutshell, when I buy links, I try to only buy high quality — content relevant, title relevant, top of the page, and with good anchor text. And if I can find them cheap, even better (most of these publishers will also accept a bulk discount offer if you ask). I mean, let’s face it, we can only swap so many free links with other bloggers, and comment so many times to be on other people’s Top Commentators lists.
So, I’m just wondering, Do you buy back links to help boost your PR? Or do you just hustle free links guerrilla style? There are no right or wrong answers in this quiz. 
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I’m a straight hustler, lol. Actually I haven’t contacted anyone to try and hustle up link backs but have found that writing quality content has resulted in people adding links to my finance site or them contacting me about a link exchange.
Also, I’ve found that simply adding in links to other sites will often result in a link back from them as well. I’m not sure I would buy links but I have browsed the forums at DP and often thought about it but just never pull the trigger.
I know for a fact that a lot of high ranking sites have bought their way to the top with links from other top ranking sites. It’s the only way to really succeed along with SEO!
I spend some time everyday at Digital Point and yeah .. I occasionally buy a link or two. It’s one of the best places to get affordable links though I do some private link buying as well by contacting webmasters I like
yea, in general, i think everyone can find a few very useful links on DP. for example, kaushal sheth sells posts on his WP sample themes. i think u can get a link on his home page too for like $70. anyway i’m not saying buy it, but someone out there might find it useful. i really encourage everyone to browse through DP. you’ll prob see a lot of familiar names posting on there too
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I’d be a little like Derek in this one. I browse through, consider, but never actually have made a purchase. I think it’s more rewarding to work and earn your way up, or is this a weakness on my part?
ok so here’s the tally so far:
derek: hustler
gary: definite hustler
maki: hustler when he needs to be
me: wannabe hustler
nick (nice4rice): hustler in the making
armen: apprehensive hustler
anyone else out there hustling or buying links?
if it’s a good deal, i say go for it! what’s a couple dollars?