Can I include "commissioned" posts in my link building strategy?

[GaryVictory]

Ok "Commissioned Posts" meaning industry influencers/bloggers etc writing about your brand, products or services and possibly "linking" to your website (in exchange for money, or not)

a) I'm contacted by a blogger who wants to write a piece about our product and naturally links back.

b) A blogger says, yes, we can write a fantastic article about your brand and link to you for $$$..$ - is this ok if not at scale?

What is deemed as ethical?

I want to make sure our link building campaign is done within Google's guidelines. Here is currently what we are doing, or intending to do;

1. We're producing unique content on our site and sharing this with key influencers organically on Twitter, Facebook and G+ communities. This so far is working well for a new start up.

2. Writing guest posts on authoritative sites (with only our author bio at the bottom, branded link to our site, social links) sharing knowledge or interesting content which readers will want to read. Sites like HuffPost, The Guardian would be great although we're starting on authoritative well maintained blogger sites within the industry to begin.

3. Reaching out to industry influencers who may like to review our products. Many of them have got back to me stating that they "can" run commissioned posts (normally requires a large fee) which carries a followed link, branded or unbranded. Although we may have initially contacted them, and money could be exchanged, in the eyes of Google wouldn't this appear as a natural post?

Please let me know your thoughts on this? It would be great to gain more of an understanding exactly what I can or cannot do when it comes to developing high quality links for our business!

Your feedback (sharing any examples if possible) would be truly appreciated.

Thanks

Gary

[PatrickDelehanty]

Hi there

I would be extremely careful here with what you're doing - sponsored posts aren't necessarily a bad thing, but there are guidelines you should follow and know Google's stance on it.

If you decide to go through with it, I would request the link is nofollow - that seems to be the consensus on multiple resources - here's one and another. From Backlinko Ranking Factors, these can potentially decrease value (but, as this is a study, it's opinion) of the link, but they also help diversify your backlink profile, making it more natural.

Nofollow links are still beneficial though, especially if the links passes traffic where the user is looking for your products or interested in your content.

That being said, I would be excruciatingly careful with this practice. I would also check the potential linking site's metrics in Open Site Explorer, SEMRush (to line up organic traffic/keywords with algorithm changes), as well as Majestic.
I would also ask myself the following about the site that will be linking to me:

• Does this link help my website?
• Is this link relevant to my website?
• Would I trust this site (that's linking to me) if I landed on it?
• Is the website or content in which I am being linked from topically relevant to my website?
• If you check metrics - does anything about the metrics (domain authority, page authority,Majestic, SEMRush traffic/ranking data, etc) make me feel uneasy?

Remember - these are grounds you have to tread lightly in. Vet the site and also do not make this a big ongoing practice - this could potentially set off flags to Google if they catch on and you will get a manual action.

Hope this helps - good luck!

[GaryVictory]

Patrick

Thanks so much for your feedback. Yes, your backlink profile should certainly be balanced. I'm certainly more reluctant to stay away from commissioned articles now, regardless of Google's perception.

What is Google's stance on a guest posts containing the linked author bio? Is this looked upon as sponsored? Is it required by the webmaster to set author bio links as no follow?

Apart from creating great content, linking to influencers and posting on certain social media platforms, how else to you attain links. What would a standard SEO practice implement into such a strategy?

Maybe links in the future will be devalued as semantic search takes over?

Thanks again Patrick

[LesleyPaone]

I think everyone is going to disagree with me, but I see nothing wrong with paid links. Sure Google does not like them, that has been established, but it is one of the best ways to go really and cannot be avoided if you want to grow. You want a link on a popular blog, Huffington Post, CNN, Elle Magazine, Glamour? How do you get it? You pay for it. We as SEO people and Google also needs to get over the idea that Adwords is the only way people monetize web sites. Links are bought and sold for every site that has traffic and paid writers. The SEO value of the link could be negligible, but if the link performs and you profit from it, why not do it. Now I am not saying go to a link farm and buy as many links as you can afford, but I am say the places that you want links, as a general rule they can be purchased. I had a client that sold things to women and she always wanted to be in Vogue. After she paid them for an article in their magazine there was a website write up included too. It worked out, she made money off of it.

[GaryVictory]

Hi Lesley

This was certainly my perception. General rule -  a balanced link profile is certainly required, and such a strategy should not be performed at scale.

[GaryVictory]

I've just spoken to an editor at the Daily Mail (National UK Newspaper) who expressed that they work closely with PR agencies to "endorse" certain companies and there products, however all links are not followed.

Example here; http://www.dailymail.co.uk/property/article-2952597/Exploit-inch-home-clever-multi-functional-furniture.html

[LesleyPaone]

I don't generally recommend buying press releases as a strategy unless you are trying to hide things in search. It really works well for that. But I would be willing to bet by PR agencies they are not talking about the places that you can go buy a $399 package and have a blast done. They are talking about a different kind of advertising agency that might call Paul in the tech office and say "Hey man, I want this to run, how much?"