In the last article, we learned about the Link Exchange Technique i.e. “Reciprocal Link“. However, today we will learn a bad link building technique “Paid Link Building” which fall under Black Hat SEO techniques.
What is Paid Link Building Technique?
Paid links are essentially a way to manipulate the crawler bots into giving your website a higher ranking. This is usually a heavy investment project and though it is likely to bring promising results, it also runs some risks.
Paid link exchanges are popular among webmasters who want to increase the visibility of their site in short durations of time. Usually, these are not websites that promote high-quality content or aim to please the user but rather just focus on traffic. Thus, these malpractices of buying and selling backlinks are well-known to search engines and Google has a very strict policy against it.
Google and Paid Link Methods
Google has built its entire image of credibility as a search engine by focusing on the users. It filters the search results heavily, showing only results that prove to be relevant and reliable. Paid link exchanges aim to trick the system into bringing low-quality content to the front. Such a practice will provide users with a dissatisfying experience and affect Google’s reputation.
Even though advertisements and paid links might appear to be serving the same purpose, that is not how Google treats it. Google insists that if you display ads on your website, they must not lead to any landing pages and thus must have a No-Follow tag in the link. In this way, it ensures that there is no misuse of the backlinks.
If Google recognizes your website as a party involved in buying backlinks, you will receive a warning about your “un-natural link”. This will also result in a significant decrease in traffic and a drop in keyword ranking.
Once put under the radar, if you hope to make amends, disavow all paid links and remove them from your website and approach Google with a reconsideration application. The response you get from them depends on how well you follow Google’s guidelines. There have been cases where people have had to start from scratch again.
Thus, webmasters are advised to build their websites authentically and focus on improving SEO strategies organically rather than buying their way out with paid links.
How Google detects paid links?
Since Google uses backlinks as a natural signal to detect and rank web pages, it takes the abuse of paid links seriously which bring Paid Link Building under Black Hat SEO technique.
How Google Detects Paid Links:
Spam reports from competitors:
Google encourages people, especially webmasters to report any instances of paid links that they come across or offered. Its webpage for information about paid links asks individuals to offer the data because it can help them improve their algorithm.
Google’s Algorithm:
Google has an algorithm in place to detect paid links automatically and it has been reportedly running smoothly with virtually no issues in successfully identifying a paid link. I called the most popular of these algorithms “Penguin”.
Manual spam filters and checks:
Google uses a significant workforce to manually surf the web looking for paid links and spam web pages. What escapes the algorithm is spotted by the employees.
User Feedback:
Google also asks and encourages users to report and pass on any information regarding spam and paid links through its feedback tool.
What is the alternative to Paid Link Building and Reciprocal links?
Link exchange practices are a risky stunt. It is more advisable to invest that energy, time and resources towards planning and executing a better SEO strategy. Here are a few alternatives to the Paid Link Building:
Building Relationships
Google detests only paid links and excessive backlinking, but there are still plenty of safe ways to get organic backlinks that can boost your SEO ranking. This can be done by forging good relationships with high-quality websites that hold authority in the field. If you play fair and work earnestly, these webmasters might see you as a potential partner and link your site.
Content Development
Your content is your main asset. This is the prime focus of the user and by extension, the search engines. If you deliver on what your site promises to do, it will increase popularity among users and return more traffic to the site.
Webmasters can work this around to their benefit by constantly evolving the content they produce. Since backlinks are nothing but links that land on your site, marketing content that the users will love to share can bring similar results. Often websites produce a variety of clickbait or even attention-grabbing content at regular intervals to establish and maintain their online presence.
Aim to curate more and more content that engages the readers like contests, hashtags, updates, and relatable media. When users share your content on their social media, it works as an external link, thereby increasing visibility and improving ranking.
Search engines also reward fresh content. Thus, it will also be beneficial if you moderate your posts in a way that the website puts out new content reliably.
Being Proactive
You don’t have to sit around waiting for opportunities to knock at your door. Being in a dynamic industry means that you should always be on the lookout for development and new projects. If you want to be recognized as a lead player in the industry, it is important to take heed from the existing businesses and acknowledge their contribution. When you link to a respectable site in the field, you are laying the foundations of a future relationship with them. If you work consistently, they might think of returning the favor. You can do so by dedicating blog posts about the masters in the industry or curating a field of suggestions for your users.
Stay Updated
The search engines revise their metrics frequently. Thus, it is a good idea for the webmasters and marketers to stay updated with the times and produce content accordingly. For example, today most internet users operate a mobile device and thus it makes sense to optimize your websites for these devices.
Concluding Remarks Paid Link Building:
Well, I will never recommend going with paid link building as this harm your status in search results which may cause your website to get banned permanently.
Furthermore, we have listed 14 best Alternates to Paid Link Building which you must check to frame your link building strategy.