Some SEOs are completely against buying links, but I’m not. Take a look at what often makes a good link and it depends entirely on the theme and authority of the site, and the goals of the site, so it’s hard to say that purchased links are the wrong approach. And I think most SEOs agree that purchasing links can be acceptible in the right situation and if taken in a common sense approach. And the benefits of a purchased link can sometimes be exceptional.
Purchasing links is not a method I practice often, and for one reason, it’s hard to find good link purchase opportunities. Since I will not purchase a link from an obvious paid link network and I won’t purchase a link from a site just because it’s willing to sell me a link, I rarely find the right fit for a purchased link, but here is a case where I purchased a link and it worked out better than I ever thought it would.
I recently worked with a manufacturer of outdoor products, and the bottom line was they wanted Internet sales. They obviously wanted search engine rankings but also were also interested in any other online advertising opportunities that would drive those sales. So during this project I discovered an outdoor forum that I felt was the perfect fit for the client’s product. I was immediately sold on the ad sponsorship because the price was right and the visitors were qualified, and when I saw the PR6 I realized the opportunity for the link juice and made the request, and they replied that the advertising package included a link on the “Links” page. But that wasn’t good enough for me because the “Links” page was just that, a page buried deep within the website and with no real value. So I proposed to pay for the ad sponsorship for six months rather than the agreed upon three months if they would include a SE friendly text link with my anchor text directly beneath the image ad on the homepage, and after some price negotiation they agreed, and the result was more that I ever thought it would be. The combination of the image ad and the text link actually resulted in immediate website sales lasting the duration of the advertising agreement. And the clients site did eventually climb to the first position for their moderately competitive keyword, with the help of other links of course.
It’s rare to see such this kind of immediate benefit from the acquisition of a single link. But there is a downfall and that is the maintenance involved in this type of link development. You see, paid links are very similar to other type of advertising such as a banner ads, and it needs to be thought of in the those same terms because they are often temporary links. So if you are going to integrate paid links into your SEO program you need to be very discerning on your approach and be clear to the client that there is future maintenance involved in this type of link development.
Oh, and never purchase temporary links without discussing it with your client first; otherwise your reputation as a good SEO could be as temporary as those links.
Comments on this entry are closed.