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Who would buy no-follow links (and why)?

Discussion in 'Google' started by libervisco, Dec 22, 2007.

  1. #1
    Alright,

    This whole "Google vs. Text Link Ads" war is going on my nerves, but then again shift happens and we have to learn to adapt, right? Even though I do not believe Google is all good and fairy in the way they are approaching this I think I am reasonable enough to at least consider alternative ways of funding my sites (because, unfortunately, TLA is pretty much IT, and if I stopped selling today I would be left with no funding whatsoever - to a point of actually being forced to close down some of my online projects).

    But, is there a way out, the light at the end of a tunnel? Perhaps... for Google wont mind paid links which use the no-follow tag. The question is, who would buy such links?

    It is basically also a question of motives that link buyers have for buying text link ads. Are they all just about Page Rank and/or SERPS?

    I would say that not everyone who buys links buys them for just that purpose. Here are the other possible motives one may have for buying text links:

    * PayPerClick traffic - An obvious one. We can sell through adsense, some other PPC network or even by ourselves using self hosted software like OpenAds. The big problem here can be a low PPC.

    * Branding - Indeed, some web publishers might find it to be a good branding strategy to buy text links with their slogan or just a name of their company or services. Why not banners? There are many reasons, some of which include the fact that many people actually block or simply learn to ignore banners, the fact that links are less intrusive and hence may actually encourage good will of the visitor to consider what is being linked. Also if positioning is good, a simple text link may be more valuable than any banner.

    * Combination of branding and traffic - This might not be a strong one, but I can imagine people buying on sites they probably wont be getting too much traffic, but will be getting enough to be a nice add on to the branding value.

    * Special endorsements and support - Some might pay for a link because they want an affiliation with a given site. This is not so much about traffic nor branding, but more about reputation building through positive affiliations. Makes any sense?

    Well please do add more reasons if you can think of any? And especially valuable would be feedback from people who actually DO buy text links for reasons other than PageRank and SERPS.

    And with this I hope to answer that final tickling question: Would enough people buy text links with a no-follow tag for it to be a viable, if not AS lucrative at least sufficiently sustainable transitional way of funding a site?

    Thank you

    Danijel
     
    libervisco, Dec 22, 2007 IP
  2. wragge11

    wragge11 Guest

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    #2
    Simply to get traffic!
     
    wragge11, Dec 22, 2007 IP
  3. allout

    allout Prominent Member

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    #3
    No Follow are great for traffic purposes. The main thing they do not do is give you PR juice. It is well worth it on a quality related niche site because traffic is the true name of the game.
     
    allout, Dec 22, 2007 IP
  4. eXe

    eXe Notable Member

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    #4
    IMO this depends entirely on the placement of the link. If there's no seo benefit from the link, it must at least send traffic. If it's placed on a prominent eye-catching part of a high traffic site.
     
    eXe, Dec 22, 2007 IP
  5. Lorelei

    Lorelei Notable Member

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    #5
    if you buy links on website that has 10k uniques a day u really dont care if your link has no-follow or not.
     
    Lorelei, Dec 22, 2007 IP
  6. cool_78

    cool_78 Guest

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    #6
    I would, but only if the site gets tons of traffic daily.
     
    cool_78, Dec 22, 2007 IP
  7. pulikuttann

    pulikuttann Banned

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    #7
    If the site is getting good amount of traffic I will buy it!
     
    pulikuttann, Dec 22, 2007 IP
  8. dnk

    dnk Well-Known Member

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    #8
    If the traffic you are getting converts well, a no-follow link does not matter. Finally advertisers are looking for genuine leads.
     
    dnk, Dec 22, 2007 IP
  9. clogmoney

    clogmoney Peon

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    #9
    I think many people also forget to realise that even if this paid link is no-follow people who then goto your site and read your content could link to you as well with a nice do-follow link. Paid text link advertising is here to stay and is still a viable market for those wishing to advertise even with googles strict stipulations!
     
    clogmoney, Dec 23, 2007 IP
  10. marek

    marek Peon

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    #10
    I agree. Sometimes its just the traffic which counts the most.

    PR is turning out the be hog wosh, but those who are interested in higher PR are still continuing. :confused:
     
    marek, Dec 23, 2007 IP
  11. hotpop

    hotpop Peon

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    #11
    IMO, buy no-follow link only for traffic.
     
    hotpop, Dec 23, 2007 IP
  12. Wealdie

    Wealdie Guest

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    #12
    I agree too - I want links that send relevant traffic - so in that case I don't mind if it is nofollow
     
    Wealdie, Dec 23, 2007 IP
  13. libervisco

    libervisco Well-Known Member

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    #13
    Looks like the main motivation is crystal clear then. It's the traffic. Interestingly then this pretty much makes no distinction between text links and graphical ads in terms of motivation for buying.

    Now, did you know that this is actually bad news for those who can't get 10 000 unique visitors a day? And there are plenty of them. Looks like not being able to sell text links for SERPS IS going to hurt smaller sites and hence help bigger sites get even bigger. So much for balanced search results and a fair Google.
     
    libervisco, Dec 23, 2007 IP
  14. Wealdie

    Wealdie Guest

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    #14
    But only if the site only exists to sell links. If have never sold a link in my life - but my sites generate million of $$ per annum - it is called ecommerce :)
     
    Wealdie, Dec 23, 2007 IP
  15. senaia

    senaia Well-Known Member

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    #15
    As everyone said, traffic is the main reason.

    I know some gaming sites charging hundreds on "nofollow" link ads and I would love to buy a link but its always no more spots available. Thats because these sites get millions of targeted visitors a year, so no one really care about google pagerank when talking about such sites.
     
    senaia, Dec 23, 2007 IP
  16. libervisco

    libervisco Well-Known Member

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    #16
    Well of course it doesn't nor shouldn't. If a site exists only to sell links I guess that's what we call link farms, right? The site offers genuine content and links are a way to monetize it. Many blogs do this, but not just blogs. Many of them can't have that much traffic, but links were a way to monetize them despite of that and help them keep afloat long enough to accomplish something, including higher traffic levels.

    If that opportunity is gone now, it is obvious how that negatively affects these smaller sites.

    Ecommerce is all cool, but not everyone has the initial investment required for it, nor the goods to sell. If everyone did ecommerce I doubt it'd be as lucrative as you describe it.

    But well, I don't want to sound negative. As said, I am looking to adapt. This can't happen overnight though, but I will definitely try. And this topic is part of a process of getting ideas on alternative ways.

    So.. no-follow links are mostly for traffic. If I have it great, if not then this clearly wont be enough of a transitional revenue. Something else must be found.

    Thank you
     
    libervisco, Dec 23, 2007 IP
  17. The Stealthy One

    The Stealthy One Well-Known Member Affiliate Manager

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    #17
    See, too often folks lose site of the whole purpose of SEO - it is merely a method of building traffic. So, nofollow links are great things to pay for if they are delivering lots of traffic - even if there is no SEO benefit to them.
     
    The Stealthy One, Dec 23, 2007 IP
  18. libervisco

    libervisco Well-Known Member

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    #18
    Yes, of course. The difference, though, is that links which are followed by search engines provide traffic in an indirect way whereas links with no-follow tag applied can provide traffic only directly.

    This key distinction is the reason why even sites with not much traffic, but fairly good link popularity and ranks could be profitable and financially sustainable. If all link buyer was after was raw traffic through their link it doesn't seem like things would be that great. And Google is apparently pushing us in that direction.

    So.. at this point I feel it's worth asking specifically what ELSE besides direct traffic is a no-follow link worth buying for? I mentioned some reasons in my original post, but I'd like to see if anyone could confirm either of them or add some others.

    On a related note, do no-follow links in some way still add to the overall countable link popularity, despite not counting for page rank? If nothing at least in search engines other than Google?

    I mean, I know that no-follow tag instructs bots not to follow the link to a given site and therefore not index that site through that route, but it still sees that link and might therefore still count it for something, right?

    Thank you
     
    libervisco, Dec 23, 2007 IP
  19. Alis

    Alis Peon

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    #19
    then why do we promote our sites on wiki ? I get tones of traffic from wikipedia daily ;)
     
    Alis, Dec 23, 2007 IP
  20. timallard

    timallard Well-Known Member

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    #20
    Brand awareness purposes and traffic!
     
    timallard, Dec 23, 2007 IP