Can You Buy Backlinks While Still Pleasing The Search Engines?
A ton of SEO newbies constantly ask me if paying for backlinks, or buying backlinks, is a bad idea, and can it get their website banned or slapped from the Google SERPs? My answer is a simple “no, it’s not a bad idea, and no, in a nutshell, it can’t get your site banned, provided you go about it the right way”. Allow me to elaborate:
There’s a ton of definitions for “buying” backlinks, not all of them bad. Article outsourcing is a good idea, provided you choose a capable author, who will use one of their directory accounts to post the article and accompanying backlink to your site. Article backlinks should always be of very high quality in order to please the search engines- in other words, they should provide real value to the reader.
Or say you decide to outsource your online public relations (forum commenting, blog commenting, social media management and so on). One way links will be generated to your website in this way. The key here to pleasing Google is that social networking, blog commenting and so on is evidence of participation in the broader online community. So again, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with buying backlinks in this sense, as long as you’re contributing high quality content and genuinely useful information.
Lots of business owners will use outsourcing with professional web/SEO providers to manage their work load. In most cases, businesses HAVE to be listed in online directories in order to survive, which is usually managed by the consultant. Since this activity generates quality one way links, again, this is technically “paying” for them, but absolutely essential to building a website’s presence, and not frowned upon at all by Google.
So as you can see, there are plenty of legitimate ways to outsource your link building, which is also technically “paying” for backlinks, without incurring a Google slap, or any kind of Google penality for that matter. Now that you have an idea of the “do’s”, here are a few of the “dont’s”:
Never, ever buy backlinks that pass Page Rank for that reason only. This is a surefire way to violate the terms of Google’s service, which will incur a slap or ban once they catch up with you. It’s sad to say, but tons of sites will sell you links simply to pass Page Rank- when people participate in this, everyone loses. But rest assured Google will eventually catch all these sites out, and you don’t want to be one of them on the day that happens.
Another kind of paid backlink to avoid is what’s referred to as “link schemes”. In a nutshell, these are intended to artifically manipulate the search engine results with great amounts of reciprocal linking. There are a ton of examples, but basically, if the only reason you’re paying for backlinks is to get higher in the Google SERPs, more than likely – in their opinion – your website is participating in a scheme, and can and will be banned or slapped. This is something to avoid at all costs.
So there you have it. There’s no shame in buying backlinks, so long as they are providing value and not just being used as a ranking scheme. Online communities you choose to participate in, or have your outsourcer work with, is absolutely fine despite the generation of inbound links. Also, getting your website listed and noticed in the major online directories is perfectly acceptable practice, even if you pay for it. Remember to never try and get away with anything with Google or the other search engines. Because if you do, you may get it away with it for now, but sooner or later, you’ll be sorry.
I am a webmaster with over seven years experience with search engine optimization, who teaches both newbies and experienced internet marketers alike exactly how to buy or build quality backlinks that get your website(s) to #1 on Google. I have ranked #1 for some of the most competitive keywords in the world. If you’re looking to buy backlinks, be sure to check out Area 51 Backlinks.
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