Link Building. To buy or not to buy?

With the pending “ Facebook News Feed algorithm” changes and the impact it will most certainly have on marketing, the “buy links from me” emails will probably be on the increase.

In fact, I received one this afternoon. Changed the domain name to not accidentally give them any promotion.

Hi there,

I came across your website and there is so much potential into it but you need to level up your game.
Your competitors are ranking page one with SAPE links. I know this for a fact as many of them buy the links from me.

If you want to rank like them, get SAPE links from my website:

https://authoritylinkbuildingx.com/sape-links/english-sape/ - 25% bonus links
https://authoritylinkbuildingx.com/sape-links/home-page-sape/

If you have any questions, please let me know.

Best regards,
Kal

I have never heard about “SAPE links” so went on a search to see what I can find out.

Basically, it is a Russian company, alarm bells already, that owns/has access to 1000’s of websites from across the world that will link to your site. It looks like you can specify what links you want to buy. Remember Google says incoming links need to be relevant and add value to your website. If being able to choose where the links come from, then it can only be a good idea because as every website owner knows, getting high-value incoming links is one hell of a job and you need to constantly work on it to keep it working.

Buying links, what Google say.

Having a lot of incoming links is all good and well and should get your website noticed as publishing something important, hence the high number of incoming links, right? Well, lets take a look at what Google has to say about buying links.

Any links intended to manipulate PageRank or a site's ranking in Google search results may be considered part of a link scheme and a violation of Google’s Webmaster Guidelines.

The following are examples of link schemes which can negatively impact a site's ranking in search results:

• Buying or selling links that pass PageRank. This includes exchanging money for links, or posts that contain links; exchanging goods or services for links; or sending someone a “free” product in exchange for them writing about it and including a link
• Excessive link exchanges ("Link to me and I'll link to you") or partner pages exclusively for the sake of cross-linking
• Large-scale article marketing or guest posting campaigns with keyword-rich anchor text links
• Using automated programs or services to create links to your site

Lastly a warning and heads-up from Google.

If you see a site that is participating in link schemes intended to manipulate PageRank, let us know. We'll use your information to improve our algorithmic detection of such links.

In short… Do not do it!

Google summarises best practices as follows.

The best way to get other sites to create high-quality, relevant links to yours is to create unique, relevant content that can naturally gain popularity in the Internet community. Creating good content pays off: Links are usually editorial votes given by choice, and the more useful content you have, the greater the chances someone else will find that content valuable to their readers and link to it.

You can read the full text on the Google Support site about Link schemes.