Thoughts on Buying and Selling Links

Google, or as it is sometimes unaffectionately known, “Big Brother”, wants the Web 2.0 model to thrive. On face value, it makes sense that it should. After all, Web 2.0 is built to reward topics of interest, and most people performing a search want the results to be in line with what their peers find interesting.

But in the tangled web of e-commerce and SEO, web 2.0 is a failure of epic proportions - and Google is keenly aware of it. Most business isn’t sexy, and if something isn’t sexy, it won’t generate links of its own accord. The well known SEO’s handshake each other for links everyday, but what few are willing to admit is that they can’t get the same results for their clients (assuming they have clients and their business isn’t limited to schmoozing about SEO). Once an SEO is working on behalf of someone else, the playing field is level and all bets are off. You want links? Better be prepared to give something in return.

Google would have us believe there are multiple (we’ve all heard everything from 70 to 100 plus) factors that influence rankings, but let’s not kid ourselves. Links are unquestionably the most important factor and dwarf anything and everything else. Without links, rankings won’t be going up anytime soon.

So with all the difficulty in obtaining links, is SEO still viable? Sure, but it’s getting to be more difficult as the Web 2.0 model sets in. Google doesn’t want businesses to be able to generate links on their own as was once possible and plausible. Organic rankings take away from the bread and butter of the monopoly that is Big Brother, and that bread and butter is paid advertising. That’s fantastic for entrenched businesses who already have organic rankings and can afford to spend a hefty sum on PPC each month, but it hurts new businesses trying to find a niche within their market.

In years past, content publication was easy because venues that have since been devalued were plentiful. Well written, informative content could hang around long enough to get the merit (or lack of merit) it deserved, no matter how esoteric the subject matter (i.e “business” subject matter). Today, the few overpopulated social networking venues are chocked full of link-baiting, hollow, over-hyped crap because that’s exactly what’s necessary to get attention. In this climate, even something as simple as what time of day an excerpt is published can mean the difference between success and failure. Titling alone is a heavy-handed joke that bludgeons us like a sledgehammer as authors are promising the world just to get an audience. It’s Short Attention Span Theatre at its finest.

So…we buy links. We buy knowing full well that the chances of our purchased links losing value are slim. As big as Big Brother is, reformulated AI and a dedicated team of web-spam “lookouts” can’t cover the internet in its entirety. They simply don’t have the manpower or resources to do so. Still, risqué behavior in link buying (or selling) can produce results counterproductive to the desired.

The biggest part of the problem is with sites who sell links, but to a lesser degree, it also lies with SEO’s who don’t understand what a valuable link looks like. Few worry about the number of links on the page, the relevancy of the links to both sites, and most importantly, the on-page placement (location) of the links. Those who do understand these principles on the selling end (HINT, HINT), should be able to command a higher monthly price for their offerings and should never be short of buyers, which will force those who don’t to figure out what they’re doing wrong and fix it if they want to continue to sell. Those who understand these principles on the buying end should insist on following them, even if doing so eats away a little more at profits.

It’s better to make a little less, play it safe and keep a client happy for the long run than to go for the easy fix and risk losing your clients altogether.

Alan

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