Is telling Google you buy links a bad idea?
If you are the sort of SEO company that buys links for your clients then really that sort of sensitive information should be kept quite close to your chest.
Google doesn’t like people who buy and sell links and I’m sure they take a dim view of SEO companies boasting about being able to achieve results using link buying.
The screenshot below was taken from the link buying services page on the RingJohn.com website.
What do you think? Is this a risky thing to have on your SEO company website?
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Patrick Altoft is Director of Search at Branded3, a Leeds SEO & Digital Agency specialising in SEO, Web Design, Development & Social Media.
Comments
Read the 10 comments below, or add your own!
Great post.
Well some people really like to get into trouble. I really dont think linkbuing could be stopped, as long as Google value link as they do today.
This is a bad thing to advertise on your website. Especially considering that the deal being offered is a poor deal. Leave it at promotional brokerage services and encourage direct contact.
It is far more effective.
It’s a fine thing to tell Google, provided they can get seen even if Goof dumps them.
As long as they don’t tell Google who their clients are, or where they’re buying the links from, what’s G gonna be able to do about it?! So they don’t like it. Awwww.
Excuse me while I get out the world’s smallest violin for G.
The price seems way too high, though. They don’t even say how many links you get for your 300-3000 euros! And I’d bet it’s more to the 3000 side. They’d better hope their customers don’t find out about PayPerPost. Who needs a phony-looking link sticking off some page where it looks totally unnatural, when you can get ‘em embedded into custom-written pitches?!
Do you buy links for your clients Patrick?
Even if they want/agree to it?
No. And even if I did it wouldn’t be published on my website.
Has this agency pissed you off Patrick? surely the merits of advertising link buying services on your website can be discussed without naming names?
I think we all know we are all buying links for our clients, but I don’t see the benefit of blatantly advertising the fact.
Its also extremely dishonest to say Google can’t punish you for link buying – I bet everyone replying here could each name a different url that’s been burnt for link buying. I could list half a dozen that got torched, purely just from sites I’ve owned!
Ringjohn is one of the big agency in Ireland. They ve been around for quite a while. I m not doing any SEO myself (only PPC) but I thought that buying links was a common practise for you guys.
“There is no way for Google to penalise your existing rankings should you engage in link buying” + “Clients We’ve Helped” roster on home page = idiots.
lol, good point Daniel.
At least publishing service offerings like that makes life easier
for the rest of us, who can’t but help look like a good deal alongside such an offer.
Also, to chime in on Partick’s side, there are many ways to linkbuild, including good old fashioned approached such as syndicating free content (complete with backlinks) and creating compelling tools or content and then promoting them via Digg, Twitter. No doubt there are pages on this site detailing such approaches.
The main reason that I recommend (and use) these “whitehat” approaches is becuase they generally build links with lasting value. Sure, it can require work, but least least the link is likely to stick around for a while and not embarrass my client with crappy, spammy content.
I’ve been tempted by buying links, but find renting ridiculously short-term and woulnd’t know who to trust anyway! Any ideas… (is PPP still safe and of value?)
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April 1, 2009 at 9:54pm