Backlinks have been an integral part of the search engine optimization (SEO) industry since its birth over twenty years ago. In that time, they’ve gone from being relatively simple to extremely complex and expensive. Back in the early days, webmasters would simply submit their web pages to directories, then spend some time tracking incoming links and manually checking the anchor text on incoming links so that they could earn higher rankings in organic search results. Back then, it didn’t take long to build a relevant link profile; nowadays, earning links with good anchor text takes more effort than most people can put into it.
What are backlinks?
All SEO worth their weight in salt know what backlinks are, but here’s a quick explanation for anyone not in the know.
A connection from one website to another is known as a backlink. In SEO terms, it’s one of the most important factors when considering a site’s authority and ranking potential.
An authoritative link shows Google that your site deserves to rank higher than another page or website. The more backlinks you have (from relevant sources), then generally speaking, the higher you should rank.
However, these days many companies try to buy high-quality links instead of building them naturally (spammy techniques like forum/comment spam were common). So, could buying backlinks be an option for you in 2023?
Read More:- Understanding Link Insertions and Their Importance in SEO
Why do you need backlinks?
Having backlinks is important because it shows that other people have linked to your website. This helps with search engine rankings because it adds more trust to your website.
It also shows that you are producing good content, which is why others want to link back to you. If you want search engines to rank your website well and for users to trust your brand, then you will need good backlink-building techniques.
If you don’t know where or how to start building backlinks, please contact us. We’d be happy to help!
Read More:- How to Do Competitor Backlink Analysis: A Comprehensive Guide[2023]
Are backlinks still important?
With many SEO professionals predicting that Google will eventually abandon links as a ranking factor, it’s reasonable to wonder if link-buying services will even be viable for much longer.
After all, if buying backlinks becomes useless as a way to boost rankings, and if these purchased links also lose value as more sites adopt them, then most of their selling points go out the window. Could you even call them selling points anymore? In fact, some people believe that link buyers themselves could become a target for online criminals or Google’s webspam team.
Read More:- Link Building Statistics: Key Insights and Trends for 2023
The risks of buying backlinks
There are many disadvantages to buying backlinks.
- First, if you do buy low-quality links, your ranking may drop as search engines start penalizing sites that they suspect of paying for links.
- Another problem is buying overpriced links will cost a lot of money. Even for low-quality buy-5-get-1 free sites, you could easily spend $1000+ per month to create an initial link portfolio (let’s not even think about scaling).
- Last but not least, if people catch on that your business is paying for links, they’ll likely start building bad links just to get paid by your competition.
How much would you pay for a site to build 1000 backlinks pointing to your website? It would be between $500-$1000, right? So what happens when some SEO firm comes along and offers them $5000 or more? People are going to take that offer every time. That’s why buying links is dangerous – it opens up a whole new market where people can sell cheap/free backlinks which actually hurt your rankings rather than help them.
It’s hard enough trying to fight off these kinds of spammy tactics from competitors – imagine how much harder it would be if everyone else was doing it too!
Things to consider when buying links today
It seems like buying links is a great way to gain better rankings, but there are some major things to consider before buying links. One thing that’s pretty obvious is whether or not it’s going to be allowed by Google and if it will make your website get penalized for it. If you decide that buying links makes sense for your business, just be careful which sites you buy from and make sure they don’t violate any rules set forth by Google.
How Do You Build Links Today?
Backlinking was once a cornerstone of marketing. It’s an easy way to make sure your brand appears when someone searches for your products or services, and that goes a long way toward solidifying your position as an authority. But many SEO experts advise against it especially buying links.
Instead, they say, focus on creating great content and building relationships with other publishers who might want to link to it organically. The reason is simple: Google’s Penguin algorithm update cracked down on black-hat practices like buying backlinks. Those tactics no longer work well; they may even negatively impact your site’s rankings if Google finds out you’re using them.
Where are backlinks Needed Most Today?
Backlinks are essential for ranking higher on search engines, but where are they needed most today? Most people would say that authority sites with many high-quality backlinks to your site would be good to target. But that was before Google’s penalty update.
The truth is, buying new links from low-quality sites can get you into trouble with Google and cause damage to your site’s health over time.
Buying quality links isn’t necessarily dead yet. If you know how to navigate these murky waters correctly, it could still pay off big time! But let’s face it – even if all those myths were true at one point in time (they weren’t), things change fast online – especially when it comes to search engine algorithms and penalties!
Conclusion
No doubt, buying backlinks can help your SEO efforts, but when it comes to whether or not you should buy backlinks in 2023, many wonder if the risk outweighs the reward. Here’s our take on both sides of the discussion and what we recommend to our clients based on our findings.