Link Buying on News Sites

[dailypress]

hi all,

I have built some links on News sites in the Middle East and now rank #2 on the first page of Google (searched from the Middle East) for a competitive keyword "example" which is also my newly purchased domain example.com

However, I still rank on page 6 for searches based in the US.

I am now planning to purchase more links from the same and similar News sites but am wondering if it will help my ranking from searches originated in the US?

Why I'm not advertising on US websites?
1- I haven't found the connections to do that.
2- It would cost me a fortune.

These news sites are the CNN and BBC sites of the Middle East and have a Page rank of 5, 6 and even 7.

Please advise.

[GreyBeard123]

Am I correct in stating that your links landed in articles about the Middle East?

[dailypress]

yes and no. Yes, my sites are middle eastern related. But my links are through articles i submitted myself. :)

[GreyBeard123]

my sites are middle eastern related

.com sites?
Are the articles also Middle East related or are they published on categories applicable to other parts of the world?

[dailypress]

no, none are .com sites nor in English. They listed my URL as reference (Example.com) Does that really matter?

My site is in English though and hosted in the US.
my site consists of only 4 main pages, and 4 footer pages (about, advertise, contact, terms)

- my current page rank is 2/10 and
- my site is less than a year old.
- The design is great,
- content is ok too.
- (its a directory and listing, linking to many sites)
- Domain is great. initially purchased around 20 years ago.
- SEO is also great. (I had a successful programmer design the site)

I'm having trouble updating content cause the sites purpose is to list other online businesses based on location.

btw I'm spending a couple thousand dollars for the backlinks. A bit nervous cause im low on budget and taking the risk anyway.

update: the page rank for the news sites are 4,5 & 6 ... none are 7. sorry, my bad.

[GreyBeard123]

I actually asked if your site is a .com :)

Ok, if I understand correctly, then your links are on non-English newspaper articles, that cover the Middle East.
From experience, I believe Google see them as 'local' articles, and as such Google allocate 'local' authority to links, that will help with 'local' rankings... in the Middle East

In general your US rankings will receive the best boost if those newspapers have categories for the US, and you get links from articles that are published in those US categories.

I’ll personally invest that couple thousand dollars in ‘local’ US newspaper links rather than more Middle Eastern links.

[dailypress]

Yes. My site is a .com

Thats what Im experiencing. I rank #2 for searches in the Middle East and on page 6 for searches in the US.

However, I was/am hoping with a few more strong backlinks I may enhance my ranking from the US.

What I noticed about these news sites is that once I advertise on one of them, many other sites that use RSS or simply copy/paste the news on their sites and blogs also give me a backlink hence why I am investing a lot.

I am a bit worried about any Google penalties however, with legit news sites linking, I'm assuming I shouldn't have to worry too much.

I am advertising on 5 popular sites with a 2 day interval so all dont link at the same time. Not sure if the 2 days is enough and will help, but better than nothing.

p.s.> I don't have the connections to obtain a backlink from a local US news site. I'm using the Middle Eastern news agencies connections through a friend.

[GreyBeard123]

What I noticed about these news sites is that once I advertise on one of them, many other sites that use RSS or simply copy/paste the news on their sites and blogs also give me a backlink hence why I am investing a lot.

Yes, if you have a good product or story (think outside the box) and the post gets some attention, then it is normally worth it.

Not only do you get the link value, you get exposure.

Good stories get shared more than a few times thus you ends up getting several more awesome links and more exposure for it.

The SEO value is only a bonus; the exposure and traffic is really what you’re paying for.

Exposure = Traffic = Money

[dailypress]

The SEO value is only a bonus; the exposure and traffic is really what you’re paying for.

Although they're very popular sites and official government news agencies, I dont get many clicks because they post the article within the inner pages and its updated by the minute which pushes the article to the archive within hours if not a day.

[wheel]

The SEO value is only a bonus; the exposure and traffic is really what you’re paying for.

My experience has been that it's ONLY the SEO value.

I just added up my mainstream media credits for 2014:
- credit in a book written by a popular talking head in my industry.
- 3 mentions in national daily newspapers
- 2 mentions in national industry magazines
- 1 tv appearance

And as far as I can tell, none of that resulted in any sales. I get this level of media attention most years lately, and I don't think I've ever made a sale.

If no link, then no quote, sorry. Exposure doesn't pay the bills, and mainstream news sites seem to not drive traffic.

(By contrast, I had a peer get on the front page of Yahoo news many years ago, and that drove a tsunami of traffic and business).

[dailypress]

My experience has been that it's ONLY the SEO value. ... If no link, then no quote, sorry.

I agree. However, one question is that a few of the News sites said they will add a NoFollow link. Is that still ok in terms of passing link juice?

(By contrast, I had a peer get on the front page of Yahoo news many years ago, and that drove a tsunami of traffic and business).

Was that a sponsored articles or was it published by luck?

[wheel]

If it's a nofollow link, they can go pound sand. If I'm not editorially good enough for a dofollow link, then don't quote me and/or use me for background research. I do have this conversation with the reporters at some point, that I would like a dofollow link. They know what's up. Besides, why else would I offer my expertise so someone else can earn a living? The newspapers are getting paid just like me.

The Yahoo article was published by luck.

[martinibuster]

A no-follow link means no link juice. The buying links from news sites thing is kind of old school, stuff the white hats used to do in the mid-2000's. Don't want to take your discussion off-topic but if you want to target the USA or Canada then maybe something a little more creative is in order?

[dailypress]

A no-follow link means no link juice.

Disregarding traffic, are you saying it has no positive effect then?

The buying links from news sites thing is kind of old school

Old school, but does it still work? In my country I think very few have done so, cause you need connections to the government news agencies. (I'm talking about legit news sites similar to Al Jazeera) Are you saying that I shouldn't bother?

maybe something a little more creative is in order?

I will come up with better ideas. My next target will be .edu and .gov websites if possible and then US news sites and meanwhile Ill think of better ways too. btw any tips and hints are appreciated ;)

[Planet13]

If you do link begging (some of us do when we have the time), you can write to other sites and when you ask them for a link (dofollow0, you can mention that publication XYZ linked to that same article on your own site as a form of social proof.

don't need to mention that it was a nofollow link.

I can see that for people who don't have time to link beg, it probably doesn't help at all to get a nofollow link.

I did use this strategy of getting a couple of nofollow links / citations from influencers in my niche and that did pave the way for a couple of dofollow links from the second and third tier sites in that niche.

I just don't think some people are nearly as desperate for links as I am... so maybe for a lot of people it is just a waste of time...

[wheel]

maybe something a little more creative is in order?
I will come up with better ideas. My next target will be .edu and .gov websites if possible and then US news sites and meanwhile Ill think of better ways too. btw any tips and hints are appreciated ;)

Pure speculation on my part, but I suspect .gov's and .edu's are so beaten up that you'll never get a link from one these days. Nothing worth getting anyway.

Also pure speculation, the new .edu's are media links. If you can get a link from a mainstream media publication like a daily newspaper, that's pure gold in terms of transferring authority to your site.

[GreyBeard123]

If you can get a link from a mainstream media publication like a daily newspaper, that's pure gold in terms of transferring authority to your site.

And that’s applicable to both no follow & do follow links

[wheel]

And that’s applicable to both no follow & do follow links

What? No it's not.

A nofollow link from a mainstream media is worth exactly nothing. Most people with experience will tell you these things drive little to no business. It's a do-follow link, or nothing.

[GreyBeard123]

@ wheel

So, you get no transfer of domain authority from a no follow link?

And no follow links doesn't drive business...
Why is that.. Do people see it's a no follow link, and as such they don't click?

So, all the orders that I get, from way more than a handful no follow links, are what, if not business?

[martinibuster]

So, you get no transfer of domain authority from a no follow link?

In the context of the algorithms in use by Google or Bing, there is no such thing as Domain Authority. Domain Authority does not exist as a part of any algorithm in use by Google or Bing. Period.

As far as any algorithmic ranking benefit from a no-follow link, there is no benefit, none. That is the express purpose of a no-follow link, to drop the link from the link graph, which means it is as if the link does not exist except that it will diminish the amount of PageRank that is sent to other links on the page on which it exists. As I understand it, diminishing some of the PageRank was done to counter the white hat technique of using no-follow tags to "sculpt" PageRank in order to rank better. White Hat SEOs have a long history of seeking shortcuts to unfairly trick and exploit the search engine ranking algorithms, PageRank Sculpting being one of them.

Outside of SEO there are many benefits to a no-follow link. There are many ways to use no-follow links for more sales, more links and eventually better rankings.

[dailypress]

Also pure speculation, the new .edu's are media links...Nothing worth getting anyway.

I disagree. I used to manage a University Club website and the effect of the backlinks were great.

Outside of SEO there are many benefits to a no-follow link....There are many ways to use no-follow links for more sales, more links and eventually better rankings.

How do more links lead to better ranking with a no-follow link?

[GreyBeard123]

How do more links lead to better ranking with a no-follow link?

This is how I understand it..

There are certain sites that Google likes/love/prefer (for whatever reason)…
As such Google allocate high (domain) authority to these sites…
As a result those sites, in general, rank very well and/or outrank most others…

When you get a link from these sites, Google see it as a quality referral, and some/a bit/a small percentage, of their authority, rubs off/flow to your domain.

When you get more referrals/links from similar domains that authority increases…

End of the day those referrals can/will lead to better rankings.

[GreyBeard123]

Combined with this are visitors…

If you have a crappy article/or your niche doesn’t fit, you ten to one won’t get any visitors, or only a few.

But the correct niche/article at the right time, on the right domain(s), sure as heck can supply more than a few visitors, and more often than not, for periods longer than an hour or two…

And if you offer what your article preaches, you will not only sell, your rankings will also increase…

[GreyBeard123]

I used to manage a University Club website and the effect of the backlinks were great.

Also consider local schools … sponsorships / fundraising events.

In general you’ll get high authority (or if you prefer high strength/high value) links with decent metrics.

As a bonus; small, local newspapers are normally keen to feature such events and if interesting enough nationals will pick it up, and so forth…

[dailypress]

The search term results in only 1,200,000 results however most of the listings are eBay, amazon or similar ecommerce sites with a high page rank.

I will start purchasing backlinks from schools as you suggested either direct or via publishing articles.

btw my domain is old but was never used or live. The site is now less than a year old however, has many strong backlinks.

I am trying to rank for the term (Keyword) while I purchased the domain Keyword.com. I paid a lot of money for the domain thinking the domain itself will help me outrank others. Didnt know it would be this difficult.

One of the WW admins had told me that it shouldnt be that hard cause Google only shows 1,200,000 results for the specific keyword and not many of them have done a great job on SEO. However, most sites are legit or old sites while my site is only a year old.

[dailypress]

Would you recommend adding all these news sites on my "Press" page with a backlink? giving my own site some authority?

[wheel]

So, all the orders that I get, from way more than a handful no follow links, are what, if not business?

I've already stated here that I've had dozens of links from mainstream media in the last few years (i.e. national daily newspapers). They have driven no sales. I've heard of others with similiar experience say the same thing.

If you've got the same level of backlinks from media, and it's driven sales, then feel free to post away. However I strongly suspect you're simply posting misinformation.

Also pure speculation, the new .edu's are media links...Nothing worth getting anyway.
I disagree. I used to manage a University Club website and the effect of the backlinks were great.

I'm sure .edu's are as outstanding as they ever were. The difference is that it's easier to get links from the media. The media knows what's up, they're mostly prepared to trade dofollow links for information and quotes. THe typical .edu these days is surrounded by policies of 'no external links' and professors who've been badgered so much that they ignore any discussion of a link. THere are exceptions I'm sure, but I don't spend my time even looking at .edu's anymore.

[martinibuster]

When you get a link from these sites, Google see it as a quality referral, and some/a bit/a small percentage, of their authority, rubs off/flow to your domain.

That's pure speculation not rooted in any science or research and that is not all what I meant. What I mean to say is that not everything has to circle back to ranking better. It's like when someone gives a presentation at Pubcon or SMX. There are no links involved. But if the presentation is good and demonstrates the speakers knowledge then awareness of that speakers ability increases and sales follow. With ZERO links. Is it crystal clear now?

[edited by: martinibuster at 3:02 pm (utc) on Jan 31, 2015]

[dailypress]

thanks martinibuster for your response.

I just tried 'Semrush' free trial and it ranks the keyword difficulty grade: 78.1 Is that relatively high?

First time I'm using the site. It's now asking me to register. ;)

Under the competitors: It ranked Wikipedia domain strength as 100 and Amazon and a few other sites above 90. How do I compete? As long as I'm on the first page I think I'd be fine.

[buckworks]

I would encourage you to strengthen the site's content rather than spending more money on links.

In the other thread where you talked about this you said the site has fewer than ten pages, and you also said that the core content, the directory, is not readable by search engines.

Fix those problems first.