If you’ve ever dabbled with linkbuilding or SEO, then it’s more than likely you’ve been offered the opportunity to ‘buy backlinks’.
But, as you may have noticed, many of the sites that are offering you this opportunity are spammy or of low value. So, this begs the question, ‘Is it possible to buy quality backlinks?’ Let’s take a look.
How to Buy Quality Backlinks: Our Opinion at a Glance
If you know what you’re doing, then buying links can be a successful way of growing your organic traffic, increasing your presence in search engine results pages and improving your rankings.
However, if you buy the wrong links, then it’s more than likely that you’re just lining the pockets of a website owner and seeing no tangible ROI.
Although buying links is undoubtedly an effective backlink strategy, it isn’t always the best option available. Before you buy any link, you should carry out due diligence and ensure that the link you’re purchasing will help you achieve your SEO goals.
How Do I Buy Quality Backlinks?
So, we know it’s possible to buy high-quality backlinks. But how do you distinguish a good opportunity from a poor one?
Well, firstly you need to prioritise finding relevant websites with a high domain authority. It’s always important to prioritise quality over quantity, as a few very good links will provide more power than a high number of spammy ones.
Added to this, once you’ve found a website, you need to double check that the site owner offers natural-looking links through reputable methods like guest posting or content collaborations.
Once you’ve done this, you should then check the site’s metrics before purchasing backlinks. It’s not uncommon for people to try and fool others with outdated metrics, so make sure you verify that the information provided is correct.
Our Checklist for Buying Quality Backlinks
Before you buy quality backlinks, remember:
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Relevance is Key
In order for a backlink from a site to provide you with return on investment, the link you buy must be relevant to your niche. So, only target websites that are related to your industry or a topic you’d like to talk about.
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Check the Site’s Metrics
As we mentioned above, it’s not uncommon for website owners or third-party link sellers to inflate certain metrics in order to make the site look more attractive than it actually is.
Before you buy a link, make sure that you use a third-party tool like Moz or Ahrefs to assess the authority of the website. This way, you can ensure that you won’t be caught out by any underhand tactics.
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Vet the Provider
The vast majority of website owners and link sellers are fantastic people who offer a great service. However, a small percentage of people in the industry don’t have the same level of integrity.
So, before you purchase your first link from somebody, do some background research and try to ascertain whether they have a proven track record of delivering high-quality backlinks.
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Consider How Natural the Link will Look
Next, consider how natural the link to your website will look. Ideally, even though you’re buying the link, it should appear as though it has been inserted naturally. Remember that the link should provide genuine value to the reader of the piece, so this step should be straightforward.
The easiest way to do this is to write your own article (this is known as guest posting), but you need to write your piece in a way that is non-promotional if you want the link to look natural.
Unsure whether your links look natural or fear that some of your current links may be causing harm because you didn’t follow the above steps? The good news is that you can check your backlink profile using SEO tools to identify any potentially harmful links. If you detect any, you can then disavow them and prevent any negative impact.
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Double Check that you’re Chasing Quality, Not Quantity
Remember, a smaller number of high-quality backlinks is much better than a high number of low-quality ones. Before you make payment, really ask yourself whether this is a quality link, or simply one that you’ve heard is available for a decent price. If it’s the latter rather than the former, then you may be making a bad investment.
READ: How to get Wikipedia Backlinks?
The Risks Associated with Buying Backlinks… and How to Avoid Them
Although a lot of SEOs recommend buying links and actively linkbuilding, it’s important to remember that the process is against Google’s guidelines. So, if you continue to buy low-quality links from spammy and unrelated websites, Google may notice this and penalise your website.
The same can happen if your link profile looks ‘unnatural’. This can happen when you buy lots of links in quick succession, or receive a sudden influx of links from unrelated websites that are publishing low-value content.
The final risk is that you purchase ‘irrelevant’ links from sites that are not related to your website. This can dilute the value of your link profile and raise flags with search engines.
Thankfully, if you do your due diligence and follow the five-step process outlined above, you can ensure that all of the backlinks you’re buying are relevant, valuable and provide tangible benefits to your website. This will minimise the risks mentioned and will ensure that all of the links you buy appear as natural as possible.
