How to combat competitor buying who is buying links and winning.

[bozzie311]

I have a competitor who is buying links in the Featured Advertiser Links section of Washington Post online.

His backlink profile is a very low # of referring domains. (38ish) with a good bit being repeats of Wahington Post.

My question, is their strategy within Google guidelines, and what can I do to combat it?

Thanks.

[EGOL]

Thank you for helping me find them.

<a <span="" class="webkit-html-tag">target</a><a <span="" class="webkit-html-tag">='_blank' href="http://www.weitzlux.com/mesothelioma_438.html" rel="nofollow">Mesothelioma</a>, <a <span="" class="webkit-html-tag">target</a><a <span="" class="webkit-html-tag">='_blank' href="http://www.weitzlux.com/asbestos/attorney_433.html" rel="nofollow">Asbestos Attorney</a>, <a <span="" class="webkit-html-tag">target</a><a <span="" class="webkit-html-tag">='_blank' href="http://www.weitzlux.com/orthoevra/patch_7852.html" rel="nofollow">Ortho Evra</a>

When I view the source they have "nofollow", which should remove their value for ranking a website and make these links OK with Google.

Would not bother me if my competitors were doing this.   In fact, it would reveal to me that they think they are makin' munny.

[bozzie311]

Craig,  thanks.  Not really a fan of reporting either, just a little frustrated.

Egol, yes the links are in source code.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/mmedia/postpoliticstv.html

[EGOL]

When I go to the  WP and find a page with a box of links labeled "Featured Advertiser Links" and I then view the source code of  the page I do not see those links in the code.

Is that what you see when you do this?

[Craigseo]

Well many newspaper and magazines online have to sell advertising to make money because a lot of them hold a fair bit of power it is a link that could be worthwhile.

Personally if i was you id worry less about what links others are getting, and concentrate more on getting your own links, and if they are up to any unethical link building then it will only be a matter of time before that catches up on them.

I know its frustrating when someone is buying their way above you in the rankings, but that's life and in most niches people will do what it takes to get there.

There are various techniques which can be called link building, i would say the one you are suggesting falls into the " grey area " where it is considered to be bad practise however works a treat.

I wouldnt consider the washington post to be a link farm, not for now anyhow. And i know locally online newspapers in my area who offer articles on their websites for a fee/donation or whatever you want to call it.

Im not a fan of reporting things like that, whats for them wont go past them.

[bozzie311]

Thanks for response Craig,  It is just links under the category Featured Advertiser Links.  So it is a bit different than a traditional advertisement with a link.  There are a number of links to different pages/products on their website.

Could/should they be reported?

[Craigseo]

Buying links is not something that you should do, however if he paid for an advert in the Washington Post to advertise his business, which so happens to also link to his website then so be it.

Buying links on link farms and similar sites will eventually harm a website. Ive saw this done and can work for a while, however i dont use this approach and would advise against it.

To combat it, you make sure you keep putting good content on your website, and work even harder at getting good quality relevant links to this content in order to rank well.

Quality over quantity always wins.