September 25, 2008 by Matt Thomas
A lot of people come to us after being unceremoniously dropped down the Google rankings for the crime of buying links. Often they’re surprised, being either unsure of the risks when they went into the deal, or under the mistaken impression that Google doesn’t punish the link buyer directly.
Let me clear this up: Google can and will penalise you for buying links. Therefore the simple rule to follow is, don’t buy links.
Simple but not always practical, I know. In some lines of online work it’s pretty much impossible to compete unless you’re buying links. I know how it is when you see practically every single competitor buying up links left right and centre to dominate your market sector. It’s like seeing people use the bus lane when you’re stuck in traffic.
Unfortunately, just as a police car could appear the minute you try it, Google could decide you’re the one to get punished – the fact that everyone else is getting away with it does not mean you will. Google are also fairly inconsistent in the way they hand out penalties, which is why you’ll see big names continually and blatantly buying links and getting away scott-free.
It’s not all doom and gloom though. If you really think that link buying is essential to your online business, there are ways to minimise the risk.
Firstly, if at all possible, avoid brokers. Buy your links directly from the sites you wish to link to you, this is much harder for Google to track. If nobody’s playing ball then using brokers very carefully is option number two.
The main rule with brokers is don’t point the links at your site straight away. Instead, direct them to a test site for a month or so. Choose a site you wouldn’t mind getting penalised – one of your older or less well performing sites, maybe even a competitor’s site. If the rankings go down you know you’re likely to be penalised, if they don’t move you know the link was a waste of money. This is a great way to asses the risk and reward of a link.
However, let me be absolutely clear, these strategies only minimise the risk, they are not sure fire ways to avoid a penalty. Google may still decide to penalise you months down the line. There’s simply an inherent risk when buying links.
The question you need to ask yourself is, does the reward outweigh the risk?
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