Most bad link purchases share one trait: the buyer paid before checking anything. A few hours of review costs far less than a batch of links that do nothing or cause trouble. This checklist is for agencies and owners who buy local backlinks and want a clear way to compare sellers, including us.
Ask for samples you can open
A seller should be able to show example sites or pages that match your trade and area. Open each one. Read the page, browse a few others on the site and look at how many outbound links the page carries. Check that the site loads, looks maintained and appears when you search for its name.
Be careful with a sample list that is only a table of numbers. Metrics are easy to quote and hard to judge without seeing the page. Treat a seller who will not show real URLs before payment as a risk. Ask whether the sample is a promise or only an example. Some sellers show a few strong sites and then place links on weaker ones, so the scope should say what standard the placed sites will meet.
Ask how sites are sourced
Some vendors run networks of sites built mainly to sell links. Those are often called private blog networks, or PBNs. Google's spam policies cover link schemes, and sites that exist only to pass links are the kind of pattern those policies describe. A vendor should be willing to explain, in general terms, where its sites come from and how they are checked. Ask also whether those sites carry links for other businesses in your niche and city. Several competing companies linked from the same pages can look odd to readers and may not help any of them.
Good answers describe practices, such as checking a site for a clean history, a real topic and indexing before use. Weak answers are slogans. Be wary of anything that claims to remove all risk, because no sourcing method can. Our own approach is on the about page.
Read the terms before you pay
Ask for these in writing:
- The number and type of links, and where they will point.
- The anchor text approach and who chooses it.
- The report you will receive, and whether it lists live URLs.
- What happens if a link is removed or a site changes.
- The delivery time, stated as an expectation and not as a promise of results.
Check how payment works. A clear seller states the amount in the written scope and does not ask you to pay before you approve it. Be careful with any seller that offers no way to review what you are paying for, and keep a record of every message.
If a vendor will not put replacement or removal terms in writing, assume there are none. The packages and pricing page shows how we write scope before an order starts.
Red flags worth walking away from
- Promises of rankings, traffic, calls or a set position.
- Prices with no scope behind them.
- Pressure to pay before you see samples.
- No way to reach a person who can answer questions.
- Claims that sound like a slogan, such as a perfect record or no footprint at all.
Test the first reply
How a vendor answers a plain question tells you a lot. Ask which sites would suit a roofer in a mid-size city and why. A useful reply names the type of site, the region and the risks. A vague reply, or one that avoids the question, is an answer too. Notice the speed as well, but do not read it as quality. A prompt reply from a person who asks about your city and your site is a better sign than an instant automated one. You can send us the same question through the contact page and compare what you get with anyone else you are considering.
Keep in mind that vetting reduces risk and never removes it. Buying or exchanging links to influence rankings can go against Google's spam policies, and the decision to take that risk belongs to the buyer.
A note on limits: search guidelines and tactics change, and results are never promised. Review any vendor again when your needs or the rules move.