Buying and Selling Links - What You Need to Know Considering Google’s Recent Actions
A post Search Engine Journal, a popular blog on search engines (including advertising) where I’m also an author, has a great post regarding Google and selling links. Month month, Google downgraded the PageRank on a number of sites selling links (and some that didn’t). Lots of speculation ensued, but Google never responded, but now they have via Google Webmaster Central by saying:
Some SEOs and webmasters engage in the practice of buying and selling links that pass PageRank, disregarding the quality of the links, the sources, and the long-term impact it will have on their sites. Buying or selling links that pass PageRank is in violation of Google’s webmaster guidelines and can negatively impact a site’s ranking in search results.
Not all paid links violate our guidelines. Buying and selling links is a normal part of the economy of the web when done for advertising purposes, and not for manipulation of search results. Links purchased for advertising should be designated as such. This can be done in several ways, such as:
- Adding a rel=”nofollow” attribute to the tag
- Redirecting the links to an intermediate page that is blocked from search engines with a robots.txt file
Google works hard to ensure that it fully discounts links intended to manipulate search engine results, such excessive link exchanges and purchased links that pass PageRank.
So there you have it. Google is cracking down… and hard.
Should you be concerned? Possibly. If you flaunt selling links and how much you make for them, then yes (heads of John Chow!). If your website isn’t quite established (lower traffic, revenue, and age), then I really isn’t something I would be concerned about. However, here are some tips and things to keep in mind:
- Don’t title paid links with “sponsored” or “paid”. Instead, list the links as “featured” or “related sites”.
- Don’t post or constantly write about selling links or how much you make from them. Instead, leave it fairly open by saying “if you would like a text advertisement on our website, please email advertising(a)website.com”.
- Diversify in other monetization strategies that are not related to PageRank, such as display advertising, adsense, etc. You might find that the ad spot selling links could be better monetized with other techniques.
- Don’t be too concerned about PageRank. It isn’t everything (really doesn’t impact search rankings).
- Don’t panic - losing PageRank isn’t the end of the world.
If you’re a link buyer, here is what you need to know. Yes, Google is cracking down, but it is still a lot of smoke. I’m familiar with companies that rent over $10,000 in links per month and they don’t appear to be affected - yet. If you’re renting links yourself, below are a few tips and things to keep in mind. Or, you could just use Freezing Hot’s link building services, so you don’t have to worry.
- Don’t buy too quickly. Instead, slowly build up the number of paid links, which mimics natural link building.
- Relevancy is the key. Don’t buy a link on a site that’s not relevant (this is huge and often overlooked!).
- Don’t place links on sites that are less than perfect. Link farms, directories, and sites obviously designed to sell links can (and probably will) actually hurt your site in the long run.
- Constantly monitor, everything. Monitor your site, their site, and the SEO industry.
- Consider number of out bound links, content, placement of links, traffic, and other factors besides PageRank - use links for traffic while you’re at it.
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Buying links is always a tricky one. I think the the links need to look natural above all else. Good tips though ! Thanks
Rigs! Nice post! (I finally have time to actually respond to stuff now!)
I think you nailed the pertinent points. Relevancy is *always* the first thing to be missed. Just had this same conversation today with a room full of people, after showing how some approaches work, and some don’t. Get intimate with your metrics and watch the trend lines over time. It’s nice to see that initial boost, but don’t be surprised if it trails off later.