Buying/Selling Text Links
There has been a lot of debate in the blogosphere over whether or not bloggers and site owners should sell/buy text-links. These text links, which have SEO (search engine optimization) value since they help sites climb up the rankings in search engines such as Google and Yahoo!, are very valuable and many popular blogs can easily earn $5000 or more a month through the sale of just a few text links alone. So, why is there controversy? Well, according to Google’s Webmaster TOS:
“Some SEOs and webmasters engage in the practice of buying and selling links, disregarding the quality of the links, the sources, and the long-term impact it will have on their sites. Buying links in order to improve a sites ranking is in violation of Google’s webmaster guidelines and can negatively impact a site’s ranking in search results.”
Google even asks users to report sites that are buying/selling text links for SEO manipulation reasons. However, buying/selling text links is OK for advertising purposes only. That same document goes on to say,
“Not all paid links violate our guidelines. Buying and selling links is a normal part of the economy of the web when done for advertising purposes, and not for manipulation of search results. Links purchased for advertising should be designated as such. This can be done in several ways, such as adding a rel=”nofollow” attribute to the <a> tag ” or redirecting the links to an intermediate page that is blocked from search engines with a robots.txt file”
So, you have two choices. You can follow the two guidelines above, or ignore Google altogether. If you follow the guidelines above, you may be leaving some money on the table since text link sales can generate a considerable amount of revenue, but you won’t run the risk of being removed from Google’s search results. However, if you ignore Google’s rule (as many bloggers do), your revenue will increase, but you are at risk of losing a lot of search engine traffic.
At the end of the day it is a judgment call for you; do you think it is ethical or not? Is it worth the money or not? If you think it is, there are a number of ways you can sell links. You can go at it yourself by placing an “Advertise” page on your blog where potential advertisers can get information and contact you about purchasing a link. You can also sell links on your blog in the Marketplace sections on popular webmaster forums such as DigitalPoint (free) and Sitepoint (not free). You can also use services such as Text-Link-Ads, who help you sell links for higher amounts, but take 50% of each text link sale made through their service. Do a Google Search for “sell text links” or “sell links” if you want a cheaper alternative. You will need to experiment with different companies to see which one best fits your needs. If your blog gets a considerable amount of its traffic from search engines, you may not want to risk losing this traffic source for a few extra bucks a month.
We asked a few leading bloggers their stance on paid links and this is what they had to say:
I don’t sell links on my Blog. However, I am neutral with links selling. I don’t see that it’s bad, but it’s not good either. But if people can do it and get away with it, then it is not their fault, since they are just taking advantage of the system. It’s not their fault but the system’s fault. I won’t say that it’s ethical, but blogging at it’s core is still a competitive sport.
So using things that will give you a competitive edge is only natural
I think that webmasters can do whatever they’d like with their sites including buying and selling links. Google also has the right to do whatever they’d like with their algorithm. Thus, if your ranking in Google is important to you, then follow their terms of service as strictly as possible. If you don’t want another company dictating how to run your own business, then ignore Google altogether. I don’t think it’s a matter of ethics, it’s business. People will flock to what works and what is most profitable
It’s another income source. As long as the link is related, I see nothing wrong. Many sites can get links naturally and have to pay for it. For example, ecommerce sites. They don’t produce content so who is going to link to them? They have to buy it.
Darren Rowse
I don’t have them. I have in the past but for me, it’s not about ethics. If you want to be included in Google, you take a risk by selling links, or you can play by the rules. I am more interested of getting traffic from Google so for me it’s just a business decision.
Daniel Scocco
I don’t sell them on the “Daily” network, simply because I think there are better monetization methods. I do sell on some smaller sites though, where I have less time to work on and thus such a passive monetization scheme is beneficial. I think text links, provided that you follow some guidelines, is a method of advertising just like any other.
I personally am a fan of buying buying links. I don’t place them on my own website, but I do buy them. As for ethics I think it is ethical even though you are increasing your rankings due to paid links. Plus it is not like you are putting anyone in danger by buying links.
Paid links, eh? Search engines believe paid links to be a pollution of their search results, and in many cases (though certainly not all), I’d agree. However, I do NOT think paid links are unethical, anymore so than using clever coupons and sales to get discounts on groceries or using a smart tax attorney to help find loopholes to protect earnings. I don’t personally sell links on SEOmoz, and I doubt I would ever do so on any blogs that I’d start or operate, simply because the value of search engine traffic far outweighs the risks associated with being penalized or excluded.
