Buying Text Links

[kimbecker1]

I am tempted to buy some text links from this company:

www.text-link-ads.com

Could it have a negative effect on SEO?

Thank you!

[chowell]

The search engines are getting pretty good at detecting when & where links from these guys are located on their partner websites.

We still buy links from them sometimes, but the SEO value may not be as high as you'd like simply because Google can see them as paid links.

The links can drive additional traffic to your site though ;)

[bhartzer]

I wouldn't necessarily say that there's a negative effect on rankings--but there could be. It really depends on many different factors, including where the links show up on the page and what site your links shows up on. Another factor would be how many links you currently have and how many additional links you're buying from Text Link Ads. So, if you suddenly get a lot of additional links then that could raise a red flag.

If you buy links from Text Link Ads, then I would buy them because you want to advertise on the site where you're buying links--not because of any ranking benefit you might get.

[janeth]

Google has banned sites in the past for buying links.

[kimbecker1]

Thank you, I do want to advertise on the sites that I am thinking about buying the links. A couple of them are blogs that are busy and have the right audience for my products.

BUT, I didn't want to jeopardise my site by buying links. I know in the past there have been discussion about the negative effects of buying links and I was concerned. I try really hard to stick to all the SEO basics and keep my site SEO friendly (NO cheating).

[Angling]

I suggest buying links for the traffic they can send you related to your niche.

In other words you should go with the mind set of buying a text add, not looking to improve your rankings - make sense??

[kimbecker1]

Angling,

Thank you for your feedback. This is exactly what I am doing. Most of the Blogs in my business only offer advertising opportunities in the form of paid text links.

I want to advertise so that I can reach their readers, but I was worried that if I do ... I might inadvertently harm my SEO by doing so.

Does this make sense?

My motives are pure ... but there is no way to let google/yahoo etc know this.

My sense from all the responses it is that the jury is still out on this one? Might, might not, I hate to try it and be penalized!

[meinking22]

Buying text ads is still a legit way to market your website and get targeted traffic. My recommendation, however, is to avoid text ad brokers for the most part. Find some quality sites on your own and try to broker your own deal for text ad space.

It's really pretty simple to do. It's also a lot cheaper. I do a lot of text ad space buying for clients on blogs and social search sites that I find to be strong. Most of these bloggers and webmasters don't even realize the value of their sites, SEM-wise. They will sell link space for cheap, $5-$15 a month in most cases!! They are just happy to get something...

Steve

[incrediblehelp]

Buy links for the traffic and leads they can drive to your website. If you buy them fro SEO reasons you will lose in the end.

Instead of buying links I would rather spend the money on content contributors to my websites.

[janeth]

Originally Posted by incrediblehelp

Buy links for the traffic and leads they can drive to your website. If you buy them fro SEO reasons you will lose in the end.

Instead of buying links I would rather spend the money on content contributors to my websites.

If you do PPC right you can pay per the click convert the customer and reinvest the money.

[kevingibbons]

If your buying for SEO purposes I would suggest going for links in the top directories such as Yahoo! and Business.com instead.

[bathgems]

Hi Kim,

This is off topic but I see Adsense on your site advertising competing products. WHat consideration went into gaining ad revenue from traffic while at the same time allowing competitors to advertise on your site?

Steve

[Webnauts]

I hope this info can help you:
http://www.searchenginejournal.com/?p=4473

[kimbecker1]

Webnauts --> thank you that was useful and informative. More to think about.

Kevingibbons --> I am not buying them for SEO I am buying them because the audience that reads those blogs are they sort of audience I want to attact to my site, but in placing the ads I don't want to harm my current status. But thank you for the advice anyway I am off to business.com to check it out.

bathgems --> hmmm ... it was more of test, I was wondering: is there $ to be made? (apparently not much for me based on the meger cheques I have received). I try to filter out the direct competion and run the ads of like minded businesses (maternity clothing) I don't sell it but we share the same audience. It doesn't always happen. I tend to try new things, go on to the next new thing and forget what isn't working. Thanks for the reminder it might be time to take those down.