Paying For Links
Talk about your gray areas! Opinions
on paid links run hot and furious in both
directions. Some experts claim that paid links are
fine, as long as they are reasonable. Others say
they are a no-no unless you use a tag to keep the
search engine from counting them in link popularity
ratings.In fact, some
search engines advise that if you pay for links,
that you use a No Follow tag to keep the search
engine from counting it. But in practice, very few
sites ever do that, even those which are produced by
people who quote that rule!
The other side of the coin is that
others say paid links are fine, no problem at all.
Of course, many sources that are saying that are
SELLING links, so their recommendations are suspect!
What is certain is that if you pay
for a ton of links (say 1000), that are placed
overnight, then it is likely to hurt you more than
it helps. Of course, we are then back to the
sometimes argued position that Google won't penalize
you for too many links, but there have been reports
otherwise! For me, if there is a reasonable chance
of harm, I am simply not going to take that kind of
risk!
My personal philosophy is that as
long as the paid links are not massive, and as long
as they are on sites that would not even sell me a
link unless my site was good, I go ahead and do a
few. I don't pay for huge amounts of them.
This philosophy is mine alone
though, and you must judge for yourself whether
there is risk, and if so, how much, because it is
not something that anyone can specifically define.
No one can say, “If you get over 100 per month you
are in trouble” because nobody really knows. In
fact, I doubt Google knows exactly, because it is
often very difficult to distinguish between paid and
natural links.
So on this issue, find your own
way. Chart your own course. Make a choice based on
how much risk you are willing to personally assume,
and then make sure that anyone you hire understands
what your position is.
In fact, some search engines advise that if you pay for links, that you use a No Follow tag to keep the search engine from counting it. But in practice, very few sites ever do that, even those which are produced by people who quote that rule!
The other side of the coin is that others say paid links are fine, no problem at all. Of course, many sources that are saying that are SELLING links, so their recommendations are suspect!
What is certain is that if you pay for a ton of links (say 1000), that are placed overnight, then it is likely to hurt you more than it helps. Of course, we are then back to the sometimes argued position that Google won't penalize you for too many links, but there have been reports otherwise! For me, if there is a reasonable chance of harm, I am simply not going to take that kind of risk!
My personal philosophy is that as long as the paid links are not massive, and as long as they are on sites that would not even sell me a link unless my site was good, I go ahead and do a few. I don't pay for huge amounts of them.
This philosophy is mine alone though, and you must judge for yourself whether there is risk, and if so, how much, because it is not something that anyone can specifically define. No one can say, “If you get over 100 per month you are in trouble” because nobody really knows. In fact, I doubt Google knows exactly, because it is often very difficult to distinguish between paid and natural links.
So on this issue, find your own way. Chart your own course. Make a choice based on how much risk you are willing to personally assume, and then make sure that anyone you hire understands what your position is.
