Have you bought any paid links in the past year?

[MichaelCorfman]

Earlier today Juan Roman made a post asking for opinions about his decision not to buy any paid links. You can see the thread here: Decision not to buy links

So, for this week's poll I thought I would ask folks if they have bought any paid links in the past year. Besides voting in the poll, be sure to share your opinion on the topic, and how it has changed over time.

I know personally I have not bought any paid links in a very long time. In fact, the only instance I remember of ever "paying" for a link was more than two decades ago, back when Yahoo! was an important and popular directory. At the time I paid a one-time fee for their staff to review CasinoCity.com and decide whether they thought it was appropriate to list. My recollection is that the fee I paid was around $100, and I definitely remember the site was accepted and a listing was published. Using the wayback engine, I can see that the site was included back on the 5th of December 1998 as shown on the following snapshot of the directory page where it was listed: web.archive.org/web/19981205113021/http://dir.yahoo.com:80/Business_and_Economy/Companies/Gambling/Casinos/Directories/. It was probably listed before then, but that is the earliest date that page is saved in the wayback machine.

Michael

[tufty]

No, but I am tempted. Not bought any links for several years and been trying hard not to. Stupidly I am trying to do the right thing according to the all-powerful google. My main earning website is doing well, but since the latest big update that hit a few people here in May, was it, has slipped a couple of places for certain vital converting keywords. The sites around me in the index for these keywords have much, much better backlink profiles because they are buying links and so they have much better domain ratings. It is a wonder my site is doing so well against them, but maybe some high-quality backlinks will push me back where I was? My site publishes good quality posts every day. I am not sure that's enough anymore. It looks like backlinks still count for plenty, even if not as much as five years ago.

[PokCas]

If someone is asking for money for a backlink, that's an instant red flag. Since most popular sites don't sell links or sell for a premium price.
Most of the time it is not worth paying, unless you do some sort of a deal, like an exchange plus you add a little bit of money.

Buying links will not get you good content for your site nor you will be able to have a massive amount of backlinks this way. It's best to offer your visitors something interesting and get featured on other websites by cooperating with them.

[universal4]

I wonder if the no results might change slightly with the addition of:
"No but I plan to do so in the future" were included

Rick
Universal4

[hiddenchamp]

Wait a minute. How do you guys rank without paid links in the gambling niche?

[Juan Roman]

What worked for us is the following:

- Identifying keywords with high earning potential, yet low competition.
- Creating better (more in-depth) static content than the main competitors, preferably with custom imagery, rather than stock photos. The one that corresponds to user intent and is not just click-bait.
- Fresh weekly content in the form of news and promotions. We earned quite a few natural backlinks by covering some stories before most other websites.
- Making sure all casino tables and CTA's are sensibly placed on the page, rather than placing banners and casino containers everywhere.
- Producing very detailed casino reviews with short facts and important info that may be difficult to find.

Basically, you need to have good ideas, right content strategy and not think about earning money all the time. Make a quality website for your visitors, keep improving whatever you can, and the money will arrive as a result of your hard work. Even without paid links.

Wait a minute. How do you guys rank without paid links in the gambling niche?

[Casino Gamerz]

Good content and plenty of it! I have one site that has zero links and started ranking on the second month for tons of keys

[popopdc]

Buying high quality backlinks is good SEO.

[bingoreviews]

says the person selling links lol

[popopdc]

says the person selling links lol

Irrelevant. The poll results speak for itself. There is nothing to be ashamed of when purchasing high quality backlinks as part of your overall SEO strategy.

[AussieDave]

There is nothing to be ashamed of when purchasing high quality backlinks as part of your overall SEO strategy.

That's true. However, G specifically states, that purchasing "paid" backlinks is a No No. If busted your site may get penalised. While not everyone who purchases links gets busted, for the 20 years I've been an affiliate, I've known of others who have been slapped by G, for this exact thing.

FYI... I'm not talking about those buying links willie nillie with no regard for quality etc., etc.

Maybe a tad paranoid, but I've seen way too much funky sh#t happen over the years, which preludes the following:

Private members have their URL's listed on their profile page, and a lot of members (public or private) use sig links, anyone in this type of discussion is red-flagging themselves if, they are actively buying links... just sayin


Edit:
Back in the day when PR was the buzzword, and GOLD was the higher your site's PR#, I had sites with 6 and 7 values; very uncommon to have an affiliate site with an 8 or higher. Anyway, the SEO websites (you know the ones) were all banging on about PR this, PR that...

Exactly the same yadda, yadda, yadda as they still bang on about page authority, trust value and all the other current SEO buzzwords.

I stopped believing that sh#t years ago.

And, for the record, I've never, ever purchased a link. 20 years and no links purchases, and I'm still making a decent 5 figure income each month.

[tufty]

Back in the day when PR was the buzzword, and GOLD was the higher your site's PR#, I had sites with 6 and 7 values; very uncommon to have an affiliate site with an 8 or higher. Anyway, the SEO websites (you know the ones) were all banging on about PR this, PR that...

Exactly the same yadda, yadda, yadda as they still bang on about page authority, trust value and all the other current SEO buzzwords.

I stopped believing that sh#t years ago.

And, for the record, I've never, ever purchased a link. 20 years and no links purchases, and I'm still making a decent 5 figure income each month.

Totally agree with this though I think there is something to be ashamed of buying links: very dirty feeling and once you start it is so hard to stop.
It aint paranoia if it's true - there is a lot of manual activity done by google, just read their manuals.
Low grade link sellers = snake oil salesmen.

[TheGooner]

Never bought a link - never sold a link.
Have given links (or exchanged links) to good sites that I see even if they were competitors.

[celena]

No, I have never bought from links.

[trickywinger94]

The big players in the gambling industry all invest heavily in paid link building just to keep up with competitors. Most don't have the capability to run creative campaigns that acquire links naturally. Paddy Power are one of the rare few betting sites that can do it well.

[Pokerface]

Yes, we buy/sell links as needed. Some people are great to work with ... some need a lot of coaching with people skills.

[Sherlock]

I am rather surprised that someone - with a website in profile - is reporting himself here. https://support.google.com/webmaster...er/93713?hl=en This thread itself is an evidence.

The biggest players really all buy and exchange links, which is the same for G. I got offer just recently from them.

Btw. it is possible to rank without buying links, if you provide something useful. I think it is much harder if the competition are carbon copy affiliate sites with "reviews".

[ocreditor]

Buying extreamly less and less paid advertisment links each year during the last 3 years already, it's a risky activity.. I would advise anyone to avoid. during the past year only few which are old and renewed but almost 0 new

[Gambleratheart]

I understand your decision of not buying links.. Usually that's not a good idea.. however, done correctly you can absolutely follow the way of E-A-T and pay for links at the same time to boost your rankings. It's just more of a hassle and time consuming.
Hit me up if you need any help with this as I do this for my own sites as well as one of the biggest sports betting / casino affiliate site out there.

Cheers,

[Gambleratheart]

If someone is asking for money for a backlink, that's an instant red flag. Since most popular sites don't sell links or sell for a premium price.
Most of the time it is not worth paying, unless you do some sort of a deal, like an exchange plus you add a little bit of money.

Buying links will not get you good content for your site nor you will be able to have a massive amount of backlinks this way. It's best to offer your visitors something interesting and get featured on other websites by cooperating with them.

Interesting take but as I see it, most popular sites do sell links but for a premium price. I believe Forbes has a $3K price for a Guest post which is nutty