Are paid backlinks necessary to a new site?

[kamarus]

Hello guys. I am recently taking the SEO role for a new commercial site. The target market is pretty niche and I have to say everything of the website is freshly new......
I have experiences in in-site construction but I am not familiar with backlinks things...
Thus I am confused about the paid backlinks things. It Is since our market is pretty pretty small, is it necessary to get any paid backlinks from platforms like fiverr or other sites like blogs? Or shall I just still focus on the in-site page firstly and wait for others make references from my self-written contents?
Thanks!

[Dimitri]

Assuming this : Google Spam Update (October 2022) [webmasterworld.com...]

Assuming this : Spam policies for Google web search [developers.google.com...]

Link spam:

The following are examples of link spam:

Buying or selling links for ranking purposes. This includes:

• Exchanging money for links, or posts that contain links
  
• Exchanging goods or services for links
  
• Sending someone a product in exchange for them writing about it and including a link

Then, you can make your own assumption.

[robzilla]

Note that asking for a link (and getting it) is not considered link spam (if you do it en masse it may be considered e-mail spam, though -- don't do that).

So if you have good, valuable content that could be helpful to visitors of other sites, i.e. if it makes sense for those sites to link to you, then by all means reach out.

Definitely stay far away from purchasing backlinks from platforms like Fiverr. Focus on acquiring high-quality relevant backlinks. A few of those could make a difference, especially in smaller markets.

[lucy24]

I saw the subject line and read it as “Are paid backlinks harmful to a new site?” (Or, for that matter, an old one.)

[not2easy]

A long time ago, backlinks were considered important enough that a lot of sites got them any way they could. Over the years, Google noticed that hundreds or even thousands of links did not really point to the most useful sites and they started devaluing backlinks as an indicator of quality. Today it would be a waste of time and money to seek paid links, they are more harm than good.

As robzilla mentioned, there is no harm in reaching out to let a site know that you have content they might want to share with their own visitors. I have a few so old that still bring me traffic because the sites are related - but different. Your competitors are unlikely to want to help you out so create good content worth sharing, then reach out to related but non-competing sites.

Backlinks do not have the high importance they once had so budget your time to make it worthwhile. By that, I mean spend more time creating useful content than pushing link ideas. Concentrate on user experience on your own site.

[lucy24]

I think the key word (haha) is “PAID”. Backlinks, yes, but if someone is linking to you only because you paid them to do so...

[tangor]

Some might cut to chase and say: Paid Links are the Kiss of Death.

Never did it myself. Heck, I don't even ASK for links (they find me). The spammy links mean nothing, but every once in a while you get something useful---depending on your CONTENT and presentation.

[phranque]

welcome to WebmasterWorld [webmasterworld.com], kamarus!

whether a new site or old, relevant links are helpful.
paid links are not necessary.

[kamarus]

Thanks to all replies.
I think I will continue to write long professional articles firstly, the hard thing is that the free backlinks that have high DA are hard to be found for this industry...LOL.
Maybe will do SEM in the future.

[Sgt_Kickaxe]

Hard to be found is fine, it means few of your competitors have them, too.

Work on new content when the site is new. 2 articles is better than 1 article and some backlinks at that stage.

Working right now
- join a forum that allows backlinks (nofollow doesn't matter) and write an article that answers a forum question, then link to it.
- Tread lightly, don't do this too often,
- Be helpful and take part in the forum regularly
- Look for opportunities to create a resource, a graph, chart, tool, detailed images, anything that requires some effort. Links to those are most appreciated.
- Use anchor text like "this might help" and treat the forum like an online home, Be yourself, make friends, etc.

If you want to maximize your results keep the links to your site to an absolute minimum, even just 1 or 2, ever. Make sure they are on pages of value that will rank and that they have great titles. "hey guys, i need help with this" will rarely rank. Remember, the content you write on the forum page helps it rank so put some effort into it and ye shall be rewarded, eventually.

I can't stress enough though, do not spam any forum because someone will have a snarky reply to your spam and Google doesn't trust or reward negative vibes.

Some of the best backlinks I ever got myself were natural, I asked for an opinion of my site on the hosting site's forum many years ago and got great positive feedback. That link was a rockstar for me according to webmaster tools and I wasn't even thinking about backlinks at the time. The page was all about my site too. Google looks for discussion about your site for signs of quality imo.

Links that get traffic despite bad anchor text >> links with good anchor text and no traffic

The only anchor text Google trusts these days has no keywords or has one that mirrors what the page linking out is about.

DA is irrelevant.

[Suraj]

No, buying backlinks is considered black hat SEO. Rather, try to earn backlinks from a high-quality website. It will be helpful for your website in the long run.

[SurajKumarGurung]

Say 'NO' to paid or sponsored links. Your website is new, so what's the hurry? If you really want to create backlinks, then analyze your top competitors. Check their strategies for creating backlinks. I am sure you will get enough resources to reach their level in a very short span of time.

And yes, there are other free marketing techniques. Have you used those?

Work on other important factors include your website's content and technical aspects. So that Google find it perfect. I am sure your website will soon reach your competitors' shoulders.

[explorador]

I think I will continue to write long professional articles firstly, the hard thing is that the free backlinks that have high DA are hard to be found for this industry

Many times, hard to find goes along with decent quality, so it's fine. Try investing TIME on discussion boards, forums, networks where real people read that content and ask for answers, it can be difficult but it will be more targeted.

If locality is relevant, then consider real life promotion like ads, fliers or posters, yes I know how that sounds but I'm serious. Depending your content and niche, a poster on a well visited coffee place might attract attention and visitors, there was a bit old discussion about this here about old fashion methods for promotion.

Personally I have never paid for links, not a single one, and the people I got to know who promoted the usefulness of paid links, never really had anything to show or demonstrate results.

[tangor]

Old school advertising still has its place, particularly when targeted to regions and local venues. Best part is Old school tends to deliver more return on buck expended for LONGER periods of time.

Once a "hot spot" of activity is created it isn't long before the search engines notice and things can begin to change fairly rapidly.