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Rand Fishkin disusses the need for paid links, even for people that are trying to stay on the straight and narrow. See some web sites that rank well with paid links and get some tips on how to buy some good links while dodging Matt Cutts.
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from Aviva 1777 Days ago #
Votes: -1

Good article, although Rand incorrectly lumps in quality directories with paid links.

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from AndrewGirdwood 1777 Days ago #
Votes: 0

It can be hard to tell whether the site is ranking well because of the paid links or despite of the paid links. The irony, of course, is that Rand’s good article demonstrates how to get good white hat links!

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from ogletree 1777 Days ago #
Votes: 1

I site can do quite well without paid links of any kind. A site can do quite well without directory submissions. To do this you have to have a really good site that is helpful. and you have to put a lot of work into it.

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from crimsongirl 1777 Days ago #
Votes: 0

SEOMoz has a lot of good articles, but that one and the comments that followed it disturbed me. What is disturbing is an apparently growing consensus that it is OK to use paid links, and that nobody should even be concerned that they influence SERPS.

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from justin 1776 Days ago #
Votes: 0

Its still possible to do well without paid links but if you aren’t willing or simply do not have the time to put forth the needed effort then paid links can have positive effects. When linking its important to not require the same anchor text for all sites. Also submitting to niche categories based around your site makes your Links much more valuable.

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from DanThies 1741 Days ago #
Votes: 0

Typical Rand linkbait title... gotta love him, but of course it’s possible to do well without renting links.

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from MikeHawkins 1270 Days ago #
Votes: 0

I think either way you go about it (paid links or no "paid2 links) requires a lot of effort to produce really stellar results. And that is of course as it should be.But sometimes I think it still comes down to the infamous question of what came first -  the chicken or the egg; Does your site soar beacause people started linking to it like crazy or was it paid links and other strategies that helpled them find your site in the first place?In any case, I don’t think there can be any harm in following the advice in Rand’s article.

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from iBrian 1270 Days ago #
Votes: 0

I there’s a key semantic difference between the terms "paid link tactics" and "buying links" - the former means investing in intelligent strategies, usually with human users very much in mind; - the latter is when people just email site owners to buy a link on it, and is what companies do when they lack all imagination and intelligence. 2c.

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from Jill 1270 Days ago #
Votes: -1

OMG...Rand is outing more sites? (Including another competitor.) Unbelievable.

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from randfish 1270 Days ago #
Votes: 0

Jill - I promised I would "out" more sites when I think it’s valuable and there are lessons we can learn from it (so it shouldn’t be a surprise), but check out the date - this is from 507 days ago. :-)

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from Jill 1270 Days ago #
Votes: 0

LOL...ok. Thanks for clarifying that, Rand! I saw recent comments and got fooled.

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from Jill 1046 Days ago #
Votes: 0

Rand outing more competitors and others isn’t sphinn worthy, imo.

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