Paying for links is a controversial link-building strategy, yet it’s quite common in the SEO space.
Backlinks play a crucial role in ranking factors. So, black hat (or gray hat?) SEOs started looking for quick and easy ways to boost site authority. Purchasing links is one of them.
Even though paid links can sometimes give you a temporary ranking surge, they come with risks like SERP demotion or de-indexing.
This raises an important question: Are paid links worth the potential headache?
Let’s explore the factors at play in this SEO dilemma.
What are paid links?
Think of paid links like ad placements. When creating ads, you pay PPC platforms to feature your ads.
It’s the same concept with paid links. You pay another site to link to your site. This is all part of a link building strategy that hopefully signals to Google that your website is authoritative and trustworthy.
If you gain high-quality backlinks to your site, this helps boost your SEO. As a result, your web pages might show up higher in organic search engine results for specific queries.
How does paying for links work?
Paying for links involves purchasing backlinks from other sites in order to improve one’s ranking in the search engine results pages (SERPs).
You can reach out to a company that offers this service. Or, you can ask other website owners if they’ll feature a link to your page on their site in exchange for a fee.
There’s a pretty wide spectrum when it comes to the quality of paid links. These links are low-quality, high-quality, or fall somewhere in the middle.
High-quality links tend to come from sites with a higher domain authority (DA), around 50+ (on a scale of 1 to 100).
Screenshot provided by the author
The higher the quality of the link, the higher the impact it might have on your SEO. Examples of reputable sites include:
- Academic and research institutions
- Government websites
- News organizations
- Industry publications and trade journals
- Blogs by subject matter experts
On the other hand, lower quality links might come from link farms or scam sites.
According to Forbes, the top-ranked search results contain 3.8 times more backlinks than results with lower rankings. Also, remember that getting high-quality backlinks from highly authoritative sites comes with a high price tag. In 2022, high-quality backlinks were around $361.44.
Here’s an example of a link farm (three sites using the same template and a cheap top-level domain).
Major players in paid link building
As stated in the previous section, the quality of backlinks exists on a spectrum.
There are many players in the paid link building game who have an impact on the quality of links. These include:
- Basic link farms and low-quality directories: Many low-level sites offer cheap backlinks at a high volume. They tend to promise page 1 rankings on Google.
- Moderate quality blogs and niche sites: These sites fall somewhere in the low-to-middle area on the paid backlinks scale. They often send cold emails or LinkedIn messages to target advertising paid links. Some of their offerings include paid guest post placements with a dofollow link and even link placement within their existing articles.
- Private blog networks (PBNs) and spam blogs: PBNs and spam blogs are groups of interconnected low-to-moderate quality blogs or websites that sell backlinks. This means one entity owns multiple blogs as part of a large network. Many of these sites feature a mix of topics. And some focus on a single niche, which often makes it hard for people to identify it as a spam blog.
- High-authority sites and influential blogs: The high-level players have made a name for themselves in their niche and have gained favorable rankings in the SERPs. They’re selective about the paid links and sponsored content (or affiliate links) they accept.
Then, you have SEO consultants who recommend that their clients pay for links. These consultants stress the importance of paying for links from high-quality sites.
But why would these experts advise this? Certain industries and niches are so competitive that it’s tough for a site to rank in the SERPs for relevant keywords.
Therefore, it may be easier to pay for links.
This leads us to the next section.
The argument for paying for links
So, what’s the #1 reason people are still paying for links in 2024, even after Google’s recent spam link updates?
Link building is mandatory in SEO. Take a look at this graph from Ahrefs. It shows the positive correlation between referring domains (backlinks) and search engine traffic.
Buying links is much easier than building or earning them. Everyone knows that building a backlink profile can take time.
Sure, you can do link outreach and build relationships with experts and authorities in your industry.
But many site owners don’t want to go through these steps when they can just buy links.
Plus, organically attracting links requires you to create excellent content. And this takes lots of effort to get right.
Another reason why people purchase backlinks is that they help rankings, as long as Google doesn’t detect them.
Paid links don’t really look much different from organic backlinks. So, it’s possible to pass a paid link off as one you organically earned.
Thanks to recent updates, Google has done a great job of catching spammy links. It even allows users to report payment links or other spammy link practices.
As a result, link buyers and sellers had to become savvier about manipulating rankings with paid links.
But it’s not a perfect system.
The argument against paying for links
Now, to the big question. Why shouldn’t you pay for links in 2024?
For full context, let’s go back to SEO 101 for a moment.
Google wants to show users the most helpful content. So, when they search for a particular keyword, they should be able to find what they’re looking for with little to no friction.
That’s why Google tends to rank the highest-quality content in the SERPs. Of course, you may get a few bad suggestions here and there.
Other factors also come into play, such as domain authority and the quality of backlinks.
But for the most part, you’ll see pages with the best answers first.
For example, if you search “how to double space in word” on Google, this is the top result you’ll see.
It doesn’t just rank because the team at Microsoft wrote it. The fact that it provides step-by-step instructions and corresponding images plays a part, too.
Screenshot provided by author
So, if content doesn’t aim to educate users or help them solve a problem and exists solely to gain links (especially low-quality ones), Google likely won’t prioritize it.
So, the bottom line is that paid link building is risky and against Google’s guidelines and policies.
So, while paying for links can significantly boost your SEO—if you do it right—it can lead to penalties. Google doesn’t like content that tries to manipulate search engine rankings.
If its algorithm notices you’re buying backlinks, you could see a significant drop in your rankings. Google might also choose to de-index your site altogether.
Paid links: Google’s guidelines
So, what does Google say about using paid links?
Its guidelines speak for themselves:
- Don’t buy or sell links: Google strictly prohibits webmasters from buying or selling links to manipulate PageRank (a metric that assesses a web page’s importance). In fact, Google urges site owners not to engage in any form of link manipulation, including paid links. The search engine is constantly refining its algorithm to detect manipulative and spam links.
- Create high-quality, relevant content: Google strongly supports the creation of high-quality content that naturally attracts backlinks. These are the most rewarding types of backlinks, as they can result in positive search engine rankings. And you gain them through non-manipulative tactics. It’s a win-win.
- Disclose your use of paid links: Google recommends using the rel=”nofollow” attribute for paid links. This signals to the search engine that the link shouldn’t influence ranking.
- Focus on user experience: Low-quality links for payment can negatively affect the user experience. That’s because paid links are commonly associated with link farms, which solely exist to manipulate search rankings. These sites usually don’t provide any value to users whatsoever. So, when creating content, always prioritize UX. This is what helps you earn quality backlinks in the long run.
How the the rel=”nofollow” attribute looks like:
What red flags alarm Google about paid links?
Google’s algorithm is pretty good at catching spammy link tactics. There are quite a few things that might make links seem suspicious, such as a site paying for them.
Advertorials
All paid links aren’t bad. Business owners sometimes pay a reputable site for a featured post to build brand awareness.
However, the links should have a nofollow attribute, which signals to Google that you’re not to manipulate rankings. Not adding that attribute can lead to Google penalizing your site.
Excessive link exchanges
A link exchange occurs when you and another site owner agree to link to each other’s website. If Google sees you’re doing this a lot, it might suspect that you’re paying for links or just being spammy in general. As a result, you might get a manual action or a demotion in rankings.
Screenshot provided by the author
Money anchors
Not using the right anchor text is another dead giveaway for link schemes.
For example, overusing money anchors in backlinks could raise red flags. A money anchor is a commercial or transactional keyword, like “buy used boats.”
If you’re constantly using those types of keywords as anchor texts, Google will notice this unnatural linking pattern. It might also think your site’s sole aim is to make a profit and not help users.
Other patterns
Other patterns Google might look for include:
- Exact-match anchor text: Overuse of exact match keywords in the anchor text, especially if unnatural
- A sudden spike in backlinks: A quick increase in backlinks, especially from low quality sources, can indicate link purchases
- Links from irrelevant websites: Backlinks from sites with unrelated content
- Links on low-quality or spammy websites: Backlinks on poorly maintained sites, content farms, or those with thin content
- Sponsored content not marked as “sponsored”: Failing to mark paid links with a “sponsored” or “nofollow” attribute.
- Link placement in widgets or footers: Links that are present in non-content sections like sidebars, footers, or widgets.
- Sitewide links from other domains: Links appearing sitewide on another domain
- Links from link networks: Backlinks from known link networks, which typically exist solely to sell links
- Links embedded in poor content: Links with poorly written or irrelevant content (auto-generated or spun content)
- High number of links from press releases or guest posts: Excessive use of press releases or guest blogging just for links, especially on unrelated sites
Sitewide links, one of the oldest link building tricks in the book.
The verdict: Should you pay for backlinks?
So, you’ve read the arguments for and against paying for links.
Which is the winner?
The answer: Don’t buy backlinks from spammy websites. This strategy will probably end up hurting you, especially if your ultimate goal is to build a long-term Google-compliant SEO strategy. Say no to $5 links on Fiverr.
Here are the main reasons why you want to avoid purchasing links without the help of a trusted SEO agency:
- Google’s guidelines explicitly prohibit buying or selling links that pass PageRank. If Google catches you, your site could face penalties that lead to lower rankings or complete removal from Google’s index.
- Paid links often exist on spammy, low-quality sites. If you buy links, there’s a chance they won’t be coming from the most reputable sites. It’s a risk many seasoned SEOs aren’t willing to take. So, you probably shouldn’t do it either.
- The short-term gains usually aren’t worth the long-term risk. Quick paid-for one-off links might help you rank in the SERPs. But this may not last long. Google frequently updates its algorithm to detect manipulative link schemes. So, just because you’re ranking now doesn’t mean you’ll continue to rank.
- There are better alternatives to quick link wins. Quality content, effective SEO, and authentic relationship building can help you achieve long-term results, which in turn builds trust with Google.
Final thoughts
It’s no secret that backlinks are a huge factor in SEO. When reputable sites link back to yours, it helps you gain positive link equity (a.k.a. “link juice”).
But what’s not so obvious is whether you should pay for those links. Sure, you’re going to see lots of sites doing this. And in some cases, you’re going to see some that are pretty successful at it (until Google penalizes them).
However, that doesn’t mean you should hop on the bandwagon. In fact, you should do the exact opposite: earn those links with top-notch content.
After all, it’s the white hat thing to do. Still not sure where to start with ethical link building? Book an intro call with uSERP for all your link building needs.
