Online press coverage: publications asking for fee to add backlink. Should I pay?
-
For the last few years I've been gaining steady backlinks for my clients by producing online press releases for them (e.g. publishing results of a survey they commissioned, or their expert opinion on recent news, etc). The online coverage included a backlink naturally or by me just asking the publication nicely. But recently I'm finding that publications are asking for a fee to publish the article (with a link) or they will publish the article for free, but will add a link for a fee. Note: these publications aren't link-building-sites, they're good DA sites such as https://www.femalefirst.co.uk/ and https://www.moneymagpie.com/ (MOZ DAs of 80 and 56 respectively). The fees are around $200 each.
The clients can afford to pay for this type of coverage, but is there a risk in these cases with Google?
-
Yep. Sounds about right to me. I'd also check the relationship of their content to your client's industry. The more relevant the better. If you're paying for it, I'd also request they use specific SEO-friendly anchor text.
_Ex: rather than hyperlinking the root domain (prisonconsultants.co.uk) would be better to hyperlink 'UK prison consultants' or something similar. _
-
It's for a followed link. If I don't pay, then they don't add any link at all (or simply don't publish the article at all).
-
Thanks Ryan. Yes, the impression I get is that they either add a do-follow link for a fee, or it's no link at all.
So I guess a sensible approach might be to simply look at each publication's domain score and the content they publish and make a judgement about whether they look/feel legitimate rather than them looking like they are just in it for selling links?
-
I don't see any 'nofollow' in their external links, which is a good thing.
_Ex: https://www.moneymagpie.com/make-money/how-to-make-money-as-a-prison-consultant - search for the prisonconsultants domain and use inspector to see the source code. _
Spam scores for this site is also low (1%) so I don't think you would be penalized.
From a tracking perspective, you will not see traffic attributed to the referrer because of the rel="noopener noreferrer" tag in the anchor ref, so source will show as 'direct'. I think it would be a good experiment. Let me know how it goes if you do end up doing this, may use for some of my clients as well.
- Ryan
-
Do you wanted to ping google? I mean .... I can read you ask if it is ok to spent 200$ for a followed link? Or is it nofollow, no problemo in this case.
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
Backlinks and SPAM
I was doing some back link review of competitors and I have noticed that many of our competition have 300+ do follow back links from Justia.com and an additional 300+ do follow links from law.cornell.edu (they share the same database). The links on Justia are from different pages and they are all going to the root of our competitors site. So the questions are as follows; 1: For the purpose of SEO is this considered SPAM 2: If not SPAM, then does it have a positive effect on the competitions website and should I attempt to emulate for my client. Thanks in advance. -Jeff
Link Building | | FriedmanSimon10000 -
How to identify spammy website before making backlinks on them
Hi, I search in google but didnt find a proper answer for this! maybe search an incorrect keyword! The question is, How can I find out a website that I'm going to make a backlink on is a spammy website? For example I did this guest bloging on this good website: Best Sure-Shot Organic Pest Control Approaches Every Gardener Should Know | Balcony Garden Web But it seems to be spammy because I use SEO POWERSUIT software that shows this backlink is 20% risk of google penalty! Is it right!? So how can we rest assured for making a quality backlink? I can not think any other way 😞
Link Building | | Shervin0 -
Is there a difference between .com backlinks and .co.uk?
(We are a UK based business) I am currently looking for sites for guest posting opportunities and I am not sure whether I should prioritize .co.uk sites or go for .com sites. Does it matter? Is more weight given to .co.uk sites if you are based in the UK?
Link Building | | JamesG0750 -
Backlinks from Open Site Explorer not updated
Hi folks! I was checking the backlink profile for my website - wishpicker.com - we got linked to by a large number of prominent websites in the last couple of months. For some reason, this does not seem to show up when I do a backlink search on OSE. Is there something that I need to do here/ fix? Thanks in advance!
Link Building | | AB_Newbie0 -
Dropped domains are really helpful for backlinks?
Hi, I'm new link builder and I'm making backlink for my different clients. Just want to increase my knowledge is dropped domains are really helpful or just I'm waiting my time. Other thing is any negative effect on my client website if I create backlinks from dropped domains?. Mean I've submit guest post for my client website on http://wikipathia.com PR 4 and DA 20+ so can I continue my guest post work or leave it? Also I'm sharing some website for guest post. Where I'm interested to submit guest post. http://lookinsidethetower.org
Link Building | | KLLC
http://rouselegal.net/
http://wikipathia.com
http://amy-henderson.com
http://biztbuy.com
http://faaforum.com
http://builderspress.com
http://genista.net/
http://hohumhouse.com/
http://refreshthepage.net
http://redswindow.com
http://valmez.net
http://hangallery.net
http://gridwear.net
http://max4rent.com
http://dodress.net
http://apparel-japan.com/
http://blackroots.net
http://gecoders.com
http://labho.com
http://lokmanhekim.org
http://holddress.com
http://willdress.net/
http://obayoo.com
http://exclamationpoints000casino.com/
http://webdesignlists.com
http://becsta.net
http://dordogneholidayrental.com
http://metalaqua.com/
http://nightsjob.com
http://now2business.co.uk Thanks and waiting for your feedback.0 -
Do press releases add any link juice?
I've been told by PR Web that anchor text in their press releases will add SEO value and increase our page rank. They even charge more for releases that include the ability to link specific keywords to specific pages (anchor text keywords). So - do such press releases really add any page rank to our site? Here's our press release: http://www.prweb.com/releases/2011/5/prweb8289567.htm Thanks, Alex
Link Building | | tennisround1 -
My client's first press release...what to do?
My client is in the clothing, apparel tshirt industry geared toward a specific music icon. They have a few competitors, my spider senses tell me I will be able to get them great SERP standing, and place them in a very competitive position. Their company has been around for a while but has never written a press release. I had them craft a PR on the subject of cotton prices and how it has affected their business. A local paper will pick this up no prob. Where is the best place to go? It is not like it is breaking news, I dont want duplicate content, and I need an experts advice. I will provide more details if needed. Thank Mozzers!
Link Building | | Giggy1