7 Tips on Buying Blog Reviews

Buying blog links and reviews is becoming a major part of online marketing strategies. From an SEO point of view the advantages are links, link text and the relevence of the page which hosts the link, but don't forget other benefits such as increases in traffic and building brand awareness in a particular niche. However, the best links/reviews don't come cheap so invest your money wisely.

1. If it is at all possible, deal directly with the blogger. It will always benefit both parties if customers and search engines are unaware that any money has changed hands.
2. Researching the blog and the blogger is essential. Analyse the type of visitors the blogger is receiving and whether they represent your target audience. If you are using Google Analytics, don't buy a review which sends your bounce rates soaring. Make sure that when Google sees the surge in traffic, it also sees that visitors remain on your site and visit other related areas of the site.
3. Ensure that the blog or blogger is not openly touting for 'blogger review' business with links back to sites such as PayPerPost as the blog could easily incur a 'selling links' penalty making your link worthless and (although less likely) possibly harmful.
4. Once you have a review, don't forget to spread the word and gain links to the review yourself. Digg, Mixx, Reddit, Facebook and StumbleUpon will all help to get your review found by others.
5. 4. PageRank is not the only reason for buying a blog link, think more about relevence and the potential traffic that the link may bring and be ready to convert the visitors when they arrive on your site. Combine the new link and traffic with a special offer or customise the landing page specifically for those visitors.
6. Building up a relationship with a blogger can give you long-term benefits. If the blogger recognises you as an authority in a particular area, you're more likely to pick up links when he is blogging about news or information relating to your niche.
7. Finally and possibly the best method of all if you are a retailer, send some high-profile bloggers your product for free. Provide them with as much information as possible, make it fun, offer to supply the prize for a competition.