realmaverick - 10:32 pm on May 8, 2011 (gmt 0)

All else being equal, their website and content is of equal quality, they build links naturally and they buy links smartly. Either you buy links too or they'll outrank you.

Being "creative" isn't enough, the more difficult the keyword, the more important buying links is.

I've spent 3 years being creative and despite earning a good living from my site, I'm not the biggest in my niche and it's for one reason and one reason only, my competitors are smart and creative too. Plus they buy links. It gets them ahead.

So either I join them or settle for less than being number 1 in my niche.