I just got done dealing with a guy who removed one of the links I purchased from him on his blog. I purchased a blog post on another blog of his and after I was done purchasing it he totally changed the theme of this blog from home improvement to health. Luckily this person gave me a refund so I've elected not to give him negative itrader for now. This is warning though especially to newbies like me on this site. Also keep a record of who you bought links from, for how much, the date of the purchase, and where the link is supposed to appear. A back link checker is great, but a spread sheet works just fine. Hope this fits in this forum, didn't know where else to put it.
Well I'm employing this strategy on one particular niche, but its not my general strategy for SEO. Generally I prefer a more natural strategy. Buying links does make one feel like a bit of a used car salesmen. Another tip is to make sure the niche you a buying links for matches the domain name in some way. I believe some people on here buy vague domain names so they can easily change the niche of the blog. Very evil.
Unfortunately, you're right and there're some dodgy sellers here. I used to buy links here on DP but I got burnt twice as sellers removed the links after sale. I disputed PayPal payment and was lucky to get the money back. I do record bought links and link exchanges on a spreadsheet to keep a record and verify them on a regular basis. If I see someone removed my link I just contact them or remove their link (if it's link exchange). In order to make sure they don't change the niche of the blog you have to make sure you don't buy from domains like dsjakdlsajdf.com but niche keyword should be in the domain name. I'm also done with link sellers with iTrader below 20 as people with goog iTraders will care more about the quality they offer.
I find that most of the links on here are not worth buying, as they sellers claim PR whatever and when you check their site, they have 1 page with PR and all other pages are n/a, pointing out it is a dropped domain. Only buy links if you can afford to loose the money that is my thoughts on it.
BST section is not what it used to be. i used to buy a lot of links but cut down a lot recently as it is hard to buy a few good links anymore. lot of drop domain link sellers that are trying to capitalize of the PR of expired domains. i had my links removed, site where i bought link got sold, many bad experiences. if you really need to buy link form BST section, then buy from someone reputable and check itrader of the seller. it is risky business to buy from someone new (crook sellers dont last long).
Thats may be true but all sellers are not like that him. I am a also selling ad space and link on my blog. One of my client bought ad space from my blog for one month, he told me that he has not get more visitors from my blog, so I even continue placing his ad on my blog after completion of one month. So I also care for advertiser.
I have been checking out the domains and content also. Seems there are more and more link sellers that just pick up a PR domain for a few dollars, load it with links and posts, then sell or move it to a new niche. Not saying all, but I like to be careful and check.
For me, this forum is not anymore for buying links, as it's really hard to find good one. So right now, I'm in big problem finding the good ones like I'm selling. It's also hard to sell link, as those who are aware of this problem, also won't even try to find a good one (like me), and those who doesn't know about situation will buy from those which prices are smaller.
I can still remember when this guy offer me bulk blog posts and I knew from the start it's kinda crappy but I took his bait it's only $10 bucks though but after a couple of weeks his domains started to shut down. When I make a thread about him I received penalties here in DP. Weird.