Bubbleblog

What's vital to remember about your standard off-the-shelf link-buying programme is that it's probably nowhere near as well-researched as it claims to be, meaning that the 'quality' and 'relevance' of the links may be limited (to say the least).

Even if you're paying top dollar and getting genuine client-specific research in return, what cannot be changed is that you will be buying links from webmasters who respond positively to the email equivalent of a cold call and then agree to placing a link in exchange for money (or another link). The chances of them doing this for only one company are minimal; this and the tendency of most bloggers to compartmentalise navigation pretty much guarantees that your link will be rubbing shoulders with brands/markets you would normally go out of your way to avoid.

Here we also come back to the minor matter of research, and a recent conversation with the newly inducted marketing manager of a cosmetics website. Their problem went a little beyond proximity to ads for Viagra and Cialis; the previous marketing manager had paid for 'carefully researched' links on hundreds of websites, including those of two prostitutes and an S&M enthusiast.

Even if you manage to avoid this all-too-common 'poor company' pitfall, the fact of the matter is that it's Google's stated mission to detect and discount paid-for links, so any success you do enjoy is bound to be short-lived.

So what are the alternatives?

Well, believe it or not, it is economically viable for you to research relevant websites so you can negotiate (or otherwise encourage) inbound links yourself, and the most likely path to success involves a simple question for your customers the next time you conduct a survey:

   Do you have your own website or weblog? (please specify)

Obviously, a lot depends on your key demographic, but what you're probably going to find is a handful of bloggers if you have hundreds of customers, and a few dozen or perhaps even a hundred of so bloggers if you have thousands of customers. This may seem like slim pickings, but it is the quality of links that matter, not the quantity (and, no, I am not suggesting here that you crudely arrange them in order of descending PageRank).

Consider the advantages this pool of potential links offers; these people are not strangers to you, in fact They. Are. Already. Customers.

The communicators and publishers from this group are the people who are most likely to enthuse about your products/services and expand on their qualities (and yours, if you're doing your job right).

If they're regular customers, you may even find that you're able to negotiate links with a discount rather than an offer of cash. Not only is this a potential boon to your budget, it will most likely lead to more enthusiastic/genuine endorsments; not everybody is keen to feign enthusiasm in exchange for money.

(But, hey, if that's the kind of link you're after I know someone who can put you in touch with a prostitute or two.)

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