Text Link Advertising
The Paid Link Controversy
Paid links or "text
link advertising" is a hot trend in search engine marketing right
now. Numerous text link advertising brokers have
launched Web sites that allow the purchase of text hyperlinks on topically relevant
Web sites. These links can boost rankings significantly.
Links are typically
sold for $50 to $2500 a month so it can be very expensive. It's far better to
use search engine optimization services but the
reality is that you may have to keep pace with industry trends -- buying text
link advertising.
The Text Link
Ad Juggernaut
Although it may be
considered a form of search engine spam, paid text
link advertising is a difficult trend for any SEO to ignore. It may be impossible
for you as a client to avoid, if Google can't improve its algorithm to filter
text link ads out. Links
have been monetized today, and there may be no going back to earlier, simpler
times when a link was a free vote for another Web site, untainted by the effect
of money.
Text link advertising
is having a strong effect on who will appear in search results and who will rank
highly. It may be wise to allocate part of your budget to paid link advertising.
Any direct referrals from the site where you have placed text link ads is a bonus,
but the link's key value is its effect on rankings.
Textlinkbrokers.com,
Linkauctions.com, buy-links-now.com, PaidTextLinks.com, and Linkadage.com
are just some of the more popular brokers of text
link ads the ultimate tool for for those who wish to circumnavigate Google's
PageRank and Hilltop
ranking system which is applied to Web sites engaged in normal activity.
Link Adage
Link adage.com is perhaps the original text link advertising
Web site. Part of their sales pitch is that SEO is all about off-site optimization.
That is misleading and inaccurate. Google ensures that on-site content is relevant
and on site development can produce a far greater array of keyword rankings than
incoming links. Producing the same result from links on other sites is very time
consuming and expensive.
One point Link adage
won't make is that once you stop paying the monthly fees to the advertising site
owner, you lose your link and your rankings. You become very dependent on them
for your rankings and they could raise prices knowing that you're vulnerable.
Think about these issues when you buy your text link advertising spots. |
Google (and other search
engines for that matter) ranks sites based on the nature of the links leading
to them. PageRank assumes that linking is done naturally and with thought, but
text link advertising
is determined by cold, hard cash. Now webmasters can buy links to provide
them with whatever PR and link reputation they require. If Google drops the major
directories in favor of a decentralized "authority
sites" system, these new anchors of the search index can also sell links
on their sites. The problem then is wired right into Google's own solutions.
Can Google tell if
a link was purchased? Since a purchase transaction takes place behind the scenes,
there is no way they can determine if a newly added link was free or paid for.
Only by delaying the effect of that link on rankings though, can they can raise
the frustration level of those selling the PR their site possesses.
There's no doubt Google
is into link pattern and content analysis to try to identify rogue Web sites that
seek to undermine their search engine's quality. Ironically, it is primarily Google
who contributed to the monetization of links in the first place. Currently, at
least to a modest examination of Google's paid text link advertising filter, it
is catching some of the paid links, however most of the top rankings sites are
doing extensive paid link placements and they seem to be very effective.
Should You
Buy Text Links?
Marketers buy text
links on Web sites everyday. In the past, text links were temporary and dynamically-generated,
and therefore easily filtered out of search engine databases. With software available
today, dynamic urls can easily be converted
to a common static urls. Google has shown an increasing appetite for dynamic urls,
yet this is being too big a challenge to filter out paid advertising links.
As the SearchKing lawsuit
revealed, Google will delete any site caught selling PageRank. If your advertiser
overtly calls the purchase a sale of PR, then you're definitely at risk.
No Guarantee
from Google That your Links will be Recognized
Despite your expense,
Google may not recognize your links for 3 to 6 months, and sometimes never.
It's your financial risk and no SEO can tell you for sure whether a paid link
will be accepted. That's why many big SEO
companies for instance will pay huge amounts for hundreds of these links.
The law of averages says that overall, it will work. Google is assessing all new
text links discovered via link pattern filters, so even if a newly added link
on your site is not purchased, it will be treated with suspicion.
If your site has a
good positioning and rankings already, you may find the overpriced text link ads
expensive. At present, paid text link advertising is almost indispensable
to a high ranking site. It's no replacement for a good link-building
based on content development and exchange of value.
Stayed tuned for more
on the text link advertising controversy. |
