Buying Text Links Options

[adybee]

Hi,
I'm going to reluctantly dive into the world of paid links for one of my clients. Any suggestions as to the best strategy, methods for this and which are the most reputable site for buying links etc.

Thanks,

Ady

[LeftoverJoe]

Is there any way you can avoid this? It seems like 2007, and most of 2006 in fact, showed us that paying for links could actually hurt you, and is at best, not going to benefit your client the way a legitimate, natural link would.

[Randy]

I personally approach buying links the same way as I do purchasing any other advertising. Meaning I look only at the potential real benefit by gaining exposure to real users who click through to my site. It just doesn't make sense to pay for links expecting some sort of boost in the search engines, because this is the exception, not the rule.

Because of this I don't go through any of the link brokers out there. They're simply not targeted enough to get my ads in front of the people I want them in front of.

[projectphp]

If you are going to walk this path no matter what, I am sure most of the major Text link brokers are fairly similar in terms of inventory and cost. Perhaps the best bet is to sign up with three or four, and see which you prefer, and which offers the best specific options for your client. Kinda like filling a job. Throw it out to all job sites, and see what the best hit is.

This post has been edited by projectphp: Feb 1 2007, 06:55 PM

[myl]

approach sites yourself vs going through a text broker. cheaper rates this way and more flexibility to place them where you want.

[Lakshmi Narsimha...]

My suggestion would be to buy links from directories and PRs instead alone that can fetch good search engine results rather that buying from the sites though they are related to niche.

[Randy]

Sorry dziningspot, but I'll have to disagree.

Spending good money to buy links that stand little or no chance of bringing you targeted traffic would about as wise as spending money on PPC ads targeted toward the adult porn market when you run a dog training site. (IMG:http://www.highrankings.com/forum/style_emoticons/default/lol.gif)

In other words, not very wise since you're throwing the money away.

[purposedriven]

I don't know why everyone is so scared of paid links. Granted there are problems but if you find the right vendor you will be ok.

Personally I don't have a problem buying links. After all a business.com and Yahoo Directory listing are both paid links yet most SEMs recommend these if they apply.

If you do go the paid link route I'd suggest finding a vendor who DOESN'T publicly display their inventory. After all, if a potential customer can see the inventory, then so can an engine. And what do you think the engine will do with that information?

Second, not all paid links are denoted as such. IE we're used to seeing "sponsors" down the side of the page, but many crafty liink buyers have other ways of getting links back.

Also - if you decide to "go it alone" try and find sites that don't use a "sponsors" section - you know they are getting noticed by the engines.

Which leads to my final point - you can do your own link buying. And if you do you can be creative. for example, contact sites you know don't have any sponsered links and see if you can pay them. Chances are you can get an inexpensive link that doesn't rely on click counting which means you will pay a flat fee. Then you can do some ROI analysis to determine your true CPC.

[qwerty]

Welcome, purposedriven.

I think it's rather telling that your advice involves finding a broker who hides information:

If you do go the paid link route I'd suggest finding a vendor who DOESN'T publicly display their inventory. After all, if a potential customer can see the inventory, then so can an engine. And what do you think the engine will do with that information?

I just worry that something like that can't be viewed as a long-term strategy. We know the engines are trying to find ways to catch this sort of thing, whether we choose to believe that they've made any progress or not.

True, they may never figure it out, or get a tip from a disgruntled customer of the broker. But I wouldn't count on that. I agree with Randy: if a link has a decent chance of sending you traffic, whether it's paid or not, I'd say it's at least potentially worthwhile, but I wouldn't count on any link to help in rankings. We can hope that they will and will continue to, but it's clear to me that the search engines are being forced by circumstances to give links less and less weight.

[projectphp]

I just worry that something like that can't be viewed as a long-term strategy

It isn't a long term strategy, for either party - sellers are selling something bound to suffer catastrophic drops.

you can do your own link buying

Is that more cost effective? I would think that, depending upon the cost of an hour, buying links yourself could be close to a massive cost. Perhaps if you pay Indians to do it @ $0.03 a link, but at my rate, I doubt many clients would get very much (if any) value at all.

[adybee]

They're simply not targeted enough to get my ads in front of the people I want them in front of.

Thanks for all the input guys - I must admit I'm unsure about the value and agree with the comment above but our client is keen to have some links so we're going ahead.

[LibbyLu]

So how much does it cost to by a link any way? $50? $100? More?

[projectphp]

Try http://www.text-link-ads.com/link_calculator.php, for a domain you know, and see what they come back with.

[Jill]

So how much does it cost to by a link any way? $50? $100? More?

I sell mine for a cool mil.

[piskie]

That explains the smile Jill.