Paying for links

is it ok

[ogletree]

I was wondering if it was ok to pay people with high PR to put a link on their site. If it is then is it better to have a banner ad or just a link with a good anchor.

[SEO practioner]

Ogletree hi and welcome to webmaster world!

It is not recommended to buy PR. In fact, it's only a question of time I guess before Google and the others catch up to the practice.

Anybody here will tell you:

1) Build a great site
2) Put in lots of valuable content for your users
3) Update daily with fresh news

After a year, people will happily link to YOU and ask
nothing in return!

Why pay when your good honest work will go a much longer road to success!

It's all in the "content" Good luck

SEO :-)

[ogletree]

I only seem to be linked to by legal search engines. Most of them use a data base and there is no direct links. The only way to get to my links is doing a search. We have a few links but not very many. If your soul purpose for a website is to get new clients why would somebody else link to your site unless you paid them. I can't put links to other people on my site. Our site is there to bring business to our company. We pay a lot of money for TV, print, and Pay Per click services but somehow our competiters have high free ranking. I do notice that some of them have hundreds of websites that just all link to each other. How could Google stop people from selling links. There is no way to know how a link got on a page. Paid or free. I only have one site that has higher than PR1 and it only has it because one site with PR4 has a link to it and it is a spanish site and I have no idea how it got there. There is more though. The site is simple and loads quick. It is only one page. I have noticed that sites with very simple html like Google get high PR. Why is Google trying to stifle creativity. People are afraid to inovate because they are afraid of the wrath of Google.

[paynt]

ogletree, you can buy placement in very good directories. You can also buy text ads on sites. You're right, who will know. I suggest you put the PR thought though to the back of the list for evaluating your needs in linking because it’s just going to get you in trouble.

<aside>Honestly, I wish only real experts who have years of research, study and training should be able to use the PR tool. </aside>

Unfortunately this isn’t the case so for the sake of me taking the time to respond, just set PR aside for a moment.

Buying links 101

Besides the PR what are you hoping to gain with the link? Are you looking for traffic? Qualified traffic? Keywords in anchor text? Do you want to become an authority? These are all good reasons to get links.

Ok, so you’ve balanced this with your risk list and have determined that you need to buy links. I have no problem with that, nothing different than advertising. Now you have to look around and see what is available, what the costs are, what you want in terms of the link placement. Everything is available from enhanced or sponsored links in a themed niche directory, those are yummy, to a text link on the homepage of a related news site.

You notice the terms: related, themed and niche? I don’t suggest those loosely. There are three key elements to consider when buying text ads for linking, if the goal is traffic that converts and those are 1) placement, 2) anchor text, and 3) relevancy. Beyond that I consider the form of link presented (straight static link – no tricks) and cost. I look at the traffic the site receives and how focused. I consider the page itself, how organized and clean it is and how many other links are on the page and in what form. And yes, I do take PR into consideration.

People who jump around buying text links without first considering how those decisions work into the rest of their strategy are shooting themselves in the foot. Can you buy text links, yes. Are their potential risks? Is this a long or short-term strategy? I like a balance. Buying text links to jumpstart a linking strategy is par to buying keywords on Overture. It tides you over while the organic methods take form.

Any others? I know others buy text links. Anyone want to jump in and share reasons or tips beyond PR?

[Craig_F]

Great post Paynt.

two others:

1) Regular spidering & respidering. You can easily ensure you get in and stay in all the engines, and usually quickly, simply by buying a couple good links. A sort of paid inclusion, but with all the other benes you mention. :)

2) Look for deals. I've seen very nice links for sale at fair prices, only to notice that you actually get 2 for the price of one. 1 - the link you paid for 2 - a link from their 'sponsors' or 'advertisers' list. You could easily get quite a few more links for the $$ if you keep your eyes open. Both links usually have all the previously mentioned benes too.

[paynt]

Also, this discussion is on now too, which refers to the question.

[webmasterworld.com...]

[paynt]

Added to Craig_F, point 1 > this helps with Inktomi, getting a link on site regularly spidered by Inktomi.

[Craig_F]

paynt, not sure why you specified inktomi. I've seen this across the board.

[paynt]

True, it's just something that works particularly well to avoid paid inclusion in Inktomi. Random thinking.

<added>Also a chance to mention linking in relation to something besides Google, ah!

[paynt]

Another discussion, just pulling them together.

paying to gain link popularity [webmasterworld.com]