A well-maintained and well thought-out link profile forms the foundation for all further SEO measures. This determines whether you will be at the forefront of Google searches or remain undiscovered by potential customers. Google likes it when backlinks are created naturally. However, organic backlink building is particularly challenging for small websites or niche offers – because a good link profile doesn’t just happen. This is where buying backlinks can help.
Purchased backlinks can give websites the decisive (start-up) help they need. However, you should research carefully before buying backlinks and only work with trustworthy providers to minimise the risk. In the following article, we will show you how to proceed and what you should bear in mind.
Table of Contents
What is a backlink?
First of all, trivial information for beginners:
We encounter backlinks on almost every website: As soon as you click on an (external) link or anchor text, you reach another domain.
Example: The user reads a general blog article about online marketing. In one chapter, the article briefly discusses social media marketing and links to another article on an external website that deals with this topic in more detail.
The operator of the website with the social media marketing article benefits from this link. The purpose of every backlink is to attract target group-relevant visitors to the website and thus increase your own traffic. But that’s not all: Google interprets the link as a recommendation. This means that by linking to the social media marketing article, the operator of the website with the general online marketing article is signalling to its readers that this article (and also this website) is relevant. As a result, Google rates the target website better and ranks it higher in its search results. Backlinks therefore form an important basis for off-page optimisation.
What is a good backlink?
A qualitative backlink is characterised by several factors – it is essential that the link makes sense in context. In other words, it has a thematic connection to the website on which it is placed and acts as a meaningful addition.
Google takes the authority of the website to which the link was placed into account in its evaluation. In other words, whether this website has a reputation in its subject area. Every website has so-called linkjuice (i.e. a value), which is transferred to the linked page. In short, a good backlink is characterised by these criteria:
- The link is set on a trustworthy website.
- The website with the link and the target website are thematically related.
- Accordingly, they also have similar keywords.
- The anchor texts are meaningful and relevant.
- The links on the website are varied and are all of a higher quality.
What is the effect of a good backlink?
Per se, the link profile is one of the most important criteria that Google uses to evaluate a website. You benefit from good backlinks:
- Higher traffic, as more visitors come to the website.
- Greater visibility within the subject area.
- Expert status and establishment as a trustworthy source within the subject area.
- This is accompanied by higher domain authority and page authority.
- Better ranking in user searches, perhaps the most important factor.
- Faster indexing on Google, as it crawls content from regularly linked websites faster.
- competitive advantages on the market.
At this point, we would like to point out that these effects only occur with good backlinks. With bad backlinks, this – like all other methods of BlackHat SEO – has negative consequences for the link profile. However, it is not that easy, as otherwise the door is opened to manipulation by external competitors. The majority of these backlinks are then simply ineffective. To be on the safe side, such backlinks can be excluded from Google’s analysis in the Google Search Console (Disavov). Link profiles can also be quickly cleaned up in the event of possible measures by Google.
Buying backlinks as part of the digital marketing strategy
We have defined what makes a good backlink. Google specifies that this type of linking should occur “naturally”. This means that you should actively maintain your website until other webmasters of related websites come across it and link to it. This requires a lot of work and patience – although it is not clear whether this will pay off.
As a webmaster, you only have an indirect influence on visibility. Especially at the start, it makes outreach immensely more difficult, especially as you need content that Google considers to be of high quality – and good bloggers or content creators do not work for free. Many people therefore decide to buy backlinks for the following reasons:
Buying good backlinks has an effect
First of all: If you invest money in backlinks, you have to do it right. In this context, “right” means that an established, reputable website in a suitable subject area is selected in order to place the backlink there (more on this under “Instructions for high-quality backlinks”).
If you proceed wisely and carefully, purchased backlinks are proven to work.
The following should be noted:
- Backlinks need time to take effect – at least six to ten weeks. The longer they remain active, the more effective they are.
- They are scalable. This allows you to plan and specifically control the link profile.
- Search engine rankings improve.
From agencies to insurance companies: all companies buy backlinks
Backlinks are an important piece of the puzzle for the entire online marketing strategy – and a strategy requires planning. In fact, buying backlinks from agencies and companies is part of the strategy.
Please note: Buying is controlled and in moderation. Experienced agencies and companies know how to proceed. They do not buy risky links that could result in a penalty.
Buying backlinks is legally permitted
Buying backlinks is not illegal in and of itself. However, Google has strict guidelines and wants to ensure that webmasters avoid any manipulation of the link profile (this also includes link exchange). If a website does not adhere to these guidelines, it can be admonished or even de-indexed by Google.
For this reason, it is essential for website operators not to buy links from so-called link farms or buy links en masse – Google would quickly recognise such behaviour and take action. So if you decide to buy links, you should generally contact suitable websites and reach an agreement.
In some sectors, there is hardly any other choice:
Particularly in niche areas, it is very difficult for companies to build up organic backlinks and therefore reach. Often, niches with few competitors are highly competitive and OnPage-Optimierung and good content alone are only of limited help in attracting attention. Recommendations from established websites are therefore needed to reach a small but usually loyal target group.
What to look out for when buying backlinks
As described, Google’s algorithms are very precise and are constantly updated with regard to new technological developments. However, link purchases are initially not clearly traceable for Google. If two people agree to set links, Google cannot know the background to this at first.
However, there are clear procedures that should be avoided at all costs so that Google does not become aware of a link purchase.
Be careful with link brokers
So-called link brokers are a seemingly quick solution for buying backlinks. They don’t necessarily have to call themselves that, often they simply call themselves SEO experts and offer to buy backlinks by direct mail or via messages on social media or in forums. You should remain critical of these offers and take a close look at the procedure.
No dubious websites
Under no circumstances should a website be associated with dubious or offensive websites. The so-called bad neighbourhood damages your ranking in the long term. In the end, a link from a dubious site is more harmful than a good backlink is useful. No links should be bought on any sites.
You should also be careful not to buy links from blog networks. In so-called private blog networks (PBN), webmasters buy expired links from websites, which they then use to link to other target sites. The crux of the matter is that anyone who buys links from a PBN has no certainty as to where the links to the website will be published. Google can also quickly recognise blog networks: It can be quickly traced through the imprint, CMS, hosting, etc. that the websites are connected to each other.
Links in blogs can be highly effective, but direct independent blogs should be chosen here.
Tip: To make sure you don’t end up in a PBN, you should always carry out an extensive background check.
Instructions for high-quality backlinks
If you have come to the decision to buy backlinks, you should consider the following things for the link profile:
Step #1 - Research target page
It is important to research reputable and relevant websites on which a backlink should be placed. The following criteria should be checked.
- EEAT – The most important factors that Google uses to evaluate a website and ranking are Expertise, Experience, Authority and Trustworthiness.
- Domain Rating/Domain Authority – The goal of your backlink should also be a high domain rating. This is a measured value that is created when a backlink is placed on another website. A well-known website is much more effective than an unknown one.
- High traffic – Not only the placement in the search results is relevant, but also the number of visitors.
- Relevance to the topic – The target groups should match or at least have a thematic proximity. On the one hand, Google pays attention to the context. On the other hand, the link should arouse interest among users. Users should click on the link, stay longer on your website, browse around and buy products. All of this in turn has a positive effect on Google’s evaluation.
- • Good feeling when linking – A not insignificant factor is that a website is selected on which you would also like to see a link to your own website – regardless of all key figures and metrics.
Step #2 - Find the best place for the backlink
Once a suitable website has been found on which a backlink should be placed, the following should be taken into account:
- The backlink should be placed in a thematically relevant text or blog article.
- In addition, the link should be located further up in the article, i.e. in the quickly visible area.
- If you are unsure, ask yourself the following question: Where would you click on the link as a user?
- The anchor text should of course be integrated into a sentence and not consist solely of the matching keyword. So-called soft anchor texts are rated better by Google.
Step #3 - Making contact
Contact should be made carefully and sensitively. You should not open the door and immediately talk about buying a link. It’s much more about working together.
Step #4 - Clarify important points in advance
Clear and binding agreements should be made with the webmaster before any money flows. The following points are important:
- Type of link: The link should of course not be set to nofollow. In this case, the Google algorithm does not take the link into account for its ranking – the backlink would therefore have no effect.
- Context: Agreement on the context in which the link is published. It should not appear in an advertising or commercial context. This reduces the likelihood that users will click on the link. Instead, the link should be a content-related recommendation for users.
- Position: Agreement on a placement for the link and corresponding anchor text.
- Duration of placement: It must be clarified how long the link will remain active on the website. An agreement of at least one year is recommended here – after all, backlinks develop their effect over time. Many publishers ultimately guarantee a permanent link; they also have no interest in removing the links from a published article at some point.
Conclusion – only buy backlinks if the SEO strategy is right
A well-placed backlink pushes the website and helps to achieve better positioning and more visibility. Especially if the business is in a niche or you are just starting out with a website, purchased backlinks help to achieve significantly better results. When purchasing, it is important to ensure that providers appear trustworthy and that the backlinks are of high quality and thematically relevant – and that the link profile has a balanced mix of natural and purchased links. It should also be borne in mind that there is a certain risk of being penalised when buying backlinks – therefore the purchase should not be made lightly and with caution.
Buying backlinks should also always be considered as part of the overall SEO strategy, both on-page and off-page. Is the backlink an indispensable part of the SEO strategy and therefore worth the money? The question should be asked whether paid adverts can be placed as an alternative to bring visitors to the website. As an experienced agency, we are here to help you with SEO management. We are happy to help you make the right decisions to improve your website’s SERP – without taking any risks.
