Risks of buying text links

Why buying links can be such a waste….

Ok, so here I am.. 11pm and going strong (yawn). Once I get to a certain point of each day, actual productive work, goes out the window. I simply no longer function well enough to make a difference. So I do more mundane stuff and wander the web.

I have been looking/working on Link Profiles a lot lately and as such, as any SEO maniac knows, racked my brain for ways to improve. I figured I hadn’t lurked in any of the Link Brokerages lately… so why not. Why not indeed.

I pop up a couple of the larger players sites and start browsing and eventually search their DB with a project profile in mind. Just to see what one’s money can buy. For the most part I am not thinking some back link warrants a few hundred bucks PER MONTH, but apparently some one does. You see the fun part is that you can’t actually review the site in question PRIOR to purchasing said link

For me a Text Link Ad is more on the Text Ad then the Text Link. So you’re selling me ad space on a site/distribution source, that I cannot verify as far as traffic/reach and editorial context. I am simply paying for this back link in truth then right?

Well one of these site’s was kind enough to put some thumbnails, which I gladly enlarged and searched some exact text from the home page. Sure enough I found the site in no time. Let’s see what I was getting for my money.

After looking at this monstrosity of a page that certainly border-lined on MFA ( Made for AdSense) I headed straight for the link profile. Wow… they have 3.. count them THREE unique back links. The other 598 were reciprocal and ½ of those were from the same Class C IP.  The topics on the back linked pages (inter-linked sites) ranged from FireFox to Lexus and Spy photography. This is a yummy Link Spam Sandwich :0)

At least, the link is probably worthless, at worst? You could easily be identified as part of a spammy network and have your own headaches.

You see, no one is doing quality control on these sites and it is ‘Buyer Beware’ to be certain. You have to trust the Link Broker, but they aren’t on your side, they are on their own site, you know, commissions and fees.

Go carefully my friends.. all is not as it seems