Should You Buy Backlinks: Pros and Cons (+ Best Practices)

Did you know backlinks are among the top 20 ranking factors for good SEO? They help in increasing domain authority and credibility.

While some businesses employ link-building as part of their strategies, some consider buying links a red flag.

This confusion can leave you wondering: Should you buy or not buy backlinks?

In this guide, we’ll clear your doubts by covering different aspects of this strategy, from what it is and good examples to best practices for implementation.

Are you ready to dive into this? Let’s get started!

What is Link Buying?

Buying backlinks happens when one acquires external links from other relevant websites with the goal of improving search engine rankings.

Since link building raises a website’s rankings on a search engine, it’s an essential component of SEO. This enhances your backlink profile, improves domain authority, and drives traffic to the pages you’re trying to promote. However, it can either make or break your business through ethical and unethical practices.

The role of backlinks on a page’s Google search rankings

Buying links used to be associated with low-quality links, but it can now secure high-quality backlinks when done strategically. Thus, employing this strategy the right way can significantly boost a website’s visibility and attract more organic traffic.

How Does Buying Backlinks Work?

The first step before buying backlinks is to identify your goals, including more site visitors, increased sales, and higher search rankings.

Once these are set, business owners collaborate with SEO professionals to explore strategies for improving their online presence on Google’s search results. After this, it is vital to talk to your experienced SEO professional.

Experienced SEO professionals understand the perks of high-quality backlinks and the risks of low-quality backlinks. Hence, they could guide you through the process of buying links from reputable and authoritative websites.

So, where could you buy backlinks?

You can consider 3 main avenues: direct purchases from website owners, link-building services, and backlink marketplaces.

While direct purchases and backlink marketplaces offer certain advantages, they also come with inherent risks. Direct purchases can be time-consuming and require extensive research to ensure link quality. Backlink marketplaces may offer a wide range of options, but they often lack quality control and can lead to penalties.

Link-building agencies, on the other hand, give you the expertise, scalability and established processes you need for high-quality backlinks. Consider the cost of a link-building agency as an investment in your website’s future.

At GrowthOG, we prioritize quality over quantity and long-term benefits, employing sustainable and white-hat link-building methods. We understand that playing short-term black hat practices only leads to falling in the credibility of a website. That’s why we have a portfolio of proven results that have made our clients happy. Imagine you on this list!

Should you buy backlinks?

It isn’t a simple yes or no but rather your approach towards link-buying. It depends on several factors to decide if you should move forward with this option or not, including your goals, budget, and how you do it.

If you buy backlinks from trustworthy providers, and understand the value of the links you pay for, then it should be effective. If you go after low-cost or spammy links, they will pull down your search engine rankings.

Link building could be time-consuming and usually first-timers don’t get it right – they make mistakes and it could cost them years of SEO efforts to go in vain. Hiring a link-building agency helps you avoid all of this and keeps your web page reputation intact.

What Google says about buying backlinks

Google’s guidelines disbar practices that manipulate rankings and promote organic, user-first strategies. Thus, it’s vital to understand the thin line between smart backlink strategies and getting penalties.

Search engines devalue paid links much more frequently than it deindexes a website. However, they mainly devalue low-quality, irrelevant and spammy links.

Google employs several tactics to identify link-buying practices such as advanced algorithms and AI. A sudden rise in backlinks can indicate suspicious activity, prompting Google to investigate.

Additionally, over-optimized anchor text raises red flags as it appears manipulative. Competitors in the industry can vouch for red-flagging link schemes to Google. Through a combination of these methods, Google actively monitors and identifies attempts at backlink manipulation.

Why SEO Professionals Still Buy Backlinks

If penalization hurts so much, why do SEO professionals still buy backlinks? Check out the reasons below.

Increased search engine rankings

High-quality backlinks enhance the impact of other SEO strategies like on-page optimization, technical SEO, and keyword targeting, which creates a synergistic effect for overall growth. They also pose the website as a credible source by increasing the website’s domain authority and driving referral traffic from other sites.

Improved site’s organic traffic

Ahrefs states that there is a correlation between organic search traffic and referring domains, which means that if more high quality websites are sending links to your website, it will likely get more clicks and traffic. That’s why you should consider link quality to keep your backlink profile healthy.

Also, ensure link placements and contextual links for maximum results. This will not only help gain curiosity in the reader but also build trust, making readers explore your content further.

Less effort, yet more conversions

Building links is time-consuming as it requires investing in extensive resources such as personalized outreach, relationship building, and ongoing monitoring to secure valuable backlinks.

The impact of quality backlinks on traffic and conversions

Outsourcing link-building tasks, hence, allows your team to focus on other business activities such as on-page SEO, quality content creation, and promotion. High-quality backlinks along with your well-crafted content then allow more conversions from authoritative sources.

Outsourcing these tasks to GrowthOG boosts your SEO efforts and frees up your team to focus on core business tasks while the agency handles the complexities of building a robust backlink profile.

Backlink Pricing

How much backlinks cost can vary depending on the quality and quantity of links required. While cheap backlinks may be tempting, it’s important to prioritize high-quality links from reputable websites.

Domain authority is a crucial factor in determining the value of a backlink. Most website owners understand the importance of building a strong backlink profile through ethical means.

The cost of backlinks can also vary widely, depending on factors like the quality of the linking websites, the target keywords, and the specific link placements. Understanding this allows SEO professionals to invest strategically in high-authority links.

How much are paid links?

The price of a backlink could range from $100 to $1,500 based on a variety of factors. For example, a link from a high authority website, or one that’s placed in an article with good page traffic is likely to be more pricey than one placed on a low quality site, or page with no traffic.

The turnaround time for a link or link building method also affects a backlink price. The average cost of a link from a guest post ranges from $220 to $609, while a link from digital PR link building could be up to $1,250 – $1,500.

Factors affecting the cost of paid backlinks

The cost you pay for dofollow links depends on several factors:

Niche: High-competition niches like health and finance command higher prices. While low-competition niches have more affordable options. The more competitive the niche is, the higher the price the link might be.
Domain authority (DA): A link’s price is influenced by the linking domain’s authority, as higher-authority sites are generally considered to have a stronger impact on search engine rankings.
Link placement: A link placed in the introduction often gets more clicks than a link placed in the footer. Hence, they are likely to be more expensive.
Link density: A balanced number of high-quality external links and internal links can signal authority, increasing the content’s perceived value. However, excessive links, or link stuffing, can harm readability and SEO.

While the cost of backlinks can vary widely, it’s crucial to remember that quality matters more than quantity. Investing in high-authority backlinks from highly relevant websites can help you increase your site’s organic traffic.

Partnering with link building services like GrowthOG gives you the flexibility and scalability when you need it. Pilot campaigns are also offered in case you aim to evaluate the link quality before investing in a complete campaign with larger budgets.

How to Decide if a Link is Worth Buying

It can be challenging to determine which backlinks are worth the investment due to the options available out there in the market. Here are some practical tips to help you evaluate potential links:

Set clear goals: What’s your aim with earning backlinks? Is it driving traffic, ranking for specific keywords, or increasing domain authority? Once you’re able to define these, you will be able to set targeted goals for your link campaigns.
Assess the quality of referring domains: Next, assess the domain authority and relevance of linking domains as backlinks from high-authority sites in your niche are more likely to deliver SEO benefits.
Analyze the audience: Ensure the site’s audience is relevant to your business. Backlinks from sites that attract the same or similar audience will be more likely to convert.
Play the long SEO game: Prioritize long-term SEO value over instant benefits. Focus only on acquiring credible links rather than low-quality ones that may not have long-term SEO benefits.

By carefully considering these factors, you can make informed decisions and invest in backlinks that contribute meaningfully to your SEO success.

How to Safely Buy High Quality Backlinks

There are several ways to buy quality backlinks, including guest posts, niche edits, and high-quality outreach campaigns tailored to your niche. SEO professionals often use a variety of techniques to acquire organic traffic through quality links.

Building a strong backlink profile requires the perfect mix of strategies, including:

Niche edits

One of the most effective strategies to build a strong backlink profile is through niche edits as these connect more with your audience. This tactic involves adding your relevant articles to already well-performing articles on search engines.

However, the actual success with niche edits lies in choosing the right content and collaborating in well-meaning relationships with site owners. Moreover, when compared to guest posting, it saves time and provides you with immediate results.

Guest posting

Guest posting on authoritative websites is one of the tried and true methods to build high-quality backlinks. It involves crafting high-quality blog posts that relate to your audience.

Featured bio along with guest contributions

A simple way to identify guest blogs is to use search operators for identifying guest post opportunities, and keyword research tools for looking up relevant keywords and topics within your industry.

Then, you can pitch article ideas that complement their existing offerings. Remember, the more thoughtful and strategic your approach is, the more likely your content gets accepted.

Press releases

Yet, another effective link building strategy, especially for businesses with newsworthy achievements, is press releases. They could also be about product launches, awards or partnerships. This strategy works best if you’re creating valuable content that interests your target audience.

Press release by GoDaddy on PR Newswire

If you want to maximize the impact of this strategy, work with related industry platforms that ensure your press release includes optimized anchor text and links to your website. In addition to improving your backlink profile, this will put your brand in front of customers who like what you have to offer.

Outsourcing to link-building experts

If you are looking for results-driven backlink strategies, outsourcing to experts like GrowthOG can be a game-changer. Professional link-building agencies have the tools, experience, and network to execute campaigns that deliver impactful results.

Outsourcing link-building offers numerous benefits, including dedicated teams that streamline the process, from research to outreach, saving time and resources. Experienced professionals leverage their knowledge of search engine algorithms to identify high-quality opportunities and execute effective campaigns.

Agencies can scale their efforts to meet specific needs and adapt to industry changes, mitigating risks associated with black-hat practices.

Whether it’s determining the backlink gap of competition or creating customized pitches to reputable websites, outsourcing streamlines the intricacies of link building, so you can concentrate on growing your company.

How to Choose a Trustworthy Agency to Buy Links?

Choosing an agency isn’t easy like going to the market and picking your preferred item. The whole process requires thoughtful research, comparison and analysis before making the decisions.

Here are a few tasks to assess an agency’s trustworthiness.

Track record of success

Case studies and client testimonials speak volumes about an agency. And if the testimonial is given by a reputable thought leader in the industry, it is even better.

It’s a plus point if they have proved that they’ve been able to secure high-quality backlinks for clients in various industries in the past. Additionally, if they have long-term relationships with specific clients, it showcases their success in running link-building campaigns.

Transparency in link-building

Transparency is essential when you select a link-building partner. When a provider openly shares its methods and provides a clear breakdown of the strategies that they will use to secure your backlinks, they can be trusted.

This includes everything – whether they employ white-hat techniques, and search engine approved practices that deliver sustainable results. If they are reputable, they will also disclose where they will place your links and ensure they align with your niche and SEO objectives.

Remember, transparent communication gives you control over what you’re investing in and jumps in for adjustments when needed.

Link building methods

Choose link-building agencies that prioritise white hat SEO and ethical building practices. Ensure that the agency you are hiring is fully transparent about its link-building methods and their impact on your

GrowthOG’s dedication to using ethical and impactful link-building methods ensures that your website’s backlink profile remains strong and aligned with long-term SEO goals.

Niche relevance

Link building without industry relevance can harm your SEO. Irrelevant and low quality paid links appear spammy, raising red flags to search engines and potentially leading to penalties.

To avoid this, GrowthOG focuses on building a network of high-quality, relevant websites within your industry. By understanding your niche and target audience, they can identify opportunities to secure backlinks from authoritative sources that align with your content. This strategic approach not only improves your search engine rankings but also enhances your website’s credibility and authority.

The Risks of Buying Backlinks

When you know how to minimize risk and accelerate rewards: that is when you know the SEO game. What are some of the risks involved? Let’s find out.

While buying backlinks might seem like a quick fix to boost your search engine ranking, you could be penalized if you do it the wrong way. Google’s search engine algorithms are designed to red-flag websites that engage in manipulative link-building tactics.

Purchasing backlinks from low-quality websites or a private blog network can harm your website’s ranking and online visibility.

Google guidelines

Google’s Webmaster Guidelines emphasize the importance of natural link-building.

Google’s Webmaster Guidelines emphasize the importance of natural link acquisition. Deviating from these guidelines can lead to severe consequences, including ranking drops, manual penalties, and even removal from Google’s index.

To mitigate these risks and achieve sustainable growth, it’s crucial to partner with a reputable link-building agency like GrowthOG, which prioritizes white-hat SEO practices and focuses on high-quality, relevant deliverables that align with business marketing goals.

Spammy services

Site owners should be cautious about participating in link schemes that violate Google’s guidelines. Spammy services that generate low-quality links may often seem appealing due to the low cost, but they can harm your website’s reputation.

These services typically create unnatural link profiles using irrelevant or low-quality sites, overuse exact-match anchor text, and employ automated tools to generate bulk links. However, they only provide short-term benefits and can lead to serious consequences such as a drop in rankings and diminished audience trust.

Beware of unnatural link-building (Private Blog Networks)

A private blog network (PBN) is a form of black-hat SEO that involves creating multiple websites to manipulate Google rankings through artificially inflated metrics and backlinks. These networks are often used to sell links to other websites, further manipulating search engine algorithms.

Google has become better at detecting PBNs and they can lead to penalties. They also damage your reputation because of their irrelevancy, which could potentially harm the user’s trust.

Over to You

Buying backlinks is indeed a game-changer for search engine optimization if done correctly. The backlink strategy should focus on building natural and relevant links to improve search results. If not, you will have to bear red flags from Google.

Thus, it is wise to invest in a reputable agency to get the desired results. When partnering with GrowthOG, you get it all: the expertise, the successful campaigns, and the undivided support and attention to your needs.