Do Backlink Advertising Networks Really Work?
By Ben Stewart, Sat Dec 10th
When I first heard of backlink advertising networks, I have toadmit I was more than a bit skeptical. Of course backlinks areprobably the most important tool in the search engineoptimization kit, but buying or acquiring backlinks in anunnatural way has always been something Google and other majorsearch engines do not condone. I took a look at a few networkshoping to find some answers. The first network I looked at was DigitalPoint's CoopAdvertising Network (http://www.digitalpoint.com).DigitalPoint's network allows you to create either banner ortext ads that will then be displayed on various websites in thenetwork with an active backlink. Websites receive a "weight"which determines how often they appear on other sites, althoughit wasn't exactly clear on how a site gains weight. Furtherreading explained that certain factors such as Alexa Rank andnumber of pages showing ads may contribute to weight. It waseven possible to target your ads by category. I was veryimpressed with the setup. So, I installed the ad network on afew websites and, sure enough, the system started to churn outbacklinks. After testing out the network, I decided to read what otherswere saying in their forums. Sure enough, my worst fears wererealized. As I suspected, churning out links can have a negativeimpact on search engine rankings. Various sites complained ofbeing completely dropped from Google or Yahoo's index. Theproblem, it seems, was that links were not permanent.DigitalPoint's network rotates links as you reload a page so youhave no permanent backlinks. I immediately removed the linksfrom my sites, and moved on to analyze the next network.
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next backlink advertising network I found was AdCaliber(http://www.adcaliber.com). I quickly read over their FAQ andwas pleased to find that they promised permanent backlinks thatonly get removed when I choose. Other than that, the systemseemed similar to DigitalPoint although it was a bit moreflexible in ad targeting. After creating an account, I received100 credits which I could use to bid for backlinks. Apparently,AdCaliber works on a bidding system. You bid a monthly amount ofcredits to obtain links on certain sites. For example, I bid 50credits to obtain links on sites with a Google Pagerank of atleast 5 and Alexa Rank of at least 500,000. Then, when an openad slot appeared on a site matching those qualifications, thehighest bidder would get the link. In my case, I would bedebited 50 credits per month. I was very impressed with thesystem. I liked having the ability to target my ads precisely. Iwas also impressed with the ease of installation. WithAdCaliber, you don't have to upload any files to your server.You just simply paste a short PHP code on your website. It wasvery simple. The only negative thing I have to say aboutAdCaliber is that it is much newer than DigitalPoint and itsnetwork is not as large, therefore not as many backlinks areavailable yet. To sum it all up, DigitalPoint is a very effective backlinkadvertising network when you are looking to acquire backlinksquickly. I would not use DigitalPoint for long term SEO, though.AdCaliber seems to be your best bet for long term SEO and seemsto give you better control over your backlinks. About the author:Ben Stewart is an expert in search engine optimization. |
