Do fiverr backlinks work? Analysis of a good and a bad backlink.

Backlinking is the lynchpin of any SEO strategy. It is a quintessential factor in boosting your Google rank.

But it is an arduous process that gobbles up resources. Plus, it takes countless hours to generate quality backlinks, especially for a new website.

This begets the question – Why not outsource backlinking to an agency? Are Fiverr backlinks worth it?

I ruminated over it and realized that there are 3 reasons as to why I am drawn towards Fiverr: Cheap links, high Domain Authority, and less load on in-house resources. Sure, the purchase is inviting, but the devil is in the detail.

Let’s cross (pun intended) paths with it.

In this post, we will analyze backlinks offered by 2 Fiverr gigs. In the process, we will:

1. Learn which Gigs to avoid.
2. Identify low-quality backlinks with high domain authority using free tools
3. Analyze the relevance of a specific backlink for your website.

The Bad Backlink Fiverr Gig:

I looked up the term backlinks on Fiverr and picked the first gig I saw.

It belongs to a Level 2 seller – The highest level you can reach on Fiverr.

Overview

This seller had 488 Reviews, an average 5-star rating, and thousands of dollars in sales. Expecting some quality domains, I got in touch with him. He shared a few domains, but it was the short chat that waved the first red flag. See the screenshot below.

His English skills stuck out. He claimed Fluency in English, but the phrase Here are sample proved otherwise.

I would have ignored it for any other service; I mess up my grammar even worse at times. But this person is supposed to write a guest post for me. Any website of repute will not publish a grammatically deprived article.

But maybe it is a genuine mistake. Let’s read his content just to be sure.

The first backlink: University of British Columbia

This domain looks like a staff/ student profile. As evident in the screenshot below, the profile belongs to one Philip Roger. He is not the seller. 

Next, the language is full of grammatical errors. Forget Grammarly; the content has not been subjected even to MS Word editor. Read the underlined text; you will understand what I am talking about. 

Also, the two paragraphs are the same! One of them is spun to offset plagiarism detection tools.

Philip is also the owner of the Google Spreadsheet that the seller shared – Philip Roger is the assumed name of the seller. Big red flag.

Would you want to get a backlink from this writer? I won’t. But it looks like many did.

It is worth considering that content on this domain is probably consumed by other students and staff members of UBC. Are they your target audience? Probably not.

Often, organizations do not make these pages searchable – this page will not be served on Google!

This seller lists another portfolio domain from Yavapai College. It has the same fluff and quality as UBC’s profile. Let’s analyze another domain before jumping to the next gig.

The Second Backlink: Evernote

Evernote is a note-taking app. You can first create an account and then a note with a backlink to your website. That note will never be on Google search pages as Google knows that it’s a personal note that won’t serve its users.

This backlink is as bad as the backlink from blog comments. It counts as a black-hat technique today.

Anyway, the quality of writing is downright poor. The content is spun, repeated, and doesn’t make any sense. See for yourself in the image below.

Summary of red flags

🚩	The seller claims to be fluent in English but has poor writing skills. The content is copied and spun, no effort or time invested in writing or editing the content.
🚩	The seller is different from the writer. Looks scammy.
🚩	Backlinks on offer will never be on any Google search page. They won’t provide any SEO benefit.
🚩	Domains offered are generic. Every business – be it a travel agency or a freelancer – gets a backlink from this domain; all those backlinks irrelevant.

What kind of backlinks does Google trust?

Before moving to the next gig, I will highlight some factors that Google considers while evaluating your backlink profile.

We will create a checklist and refer back to it while analyzing the 2nd gig. 

The complete details on how to gauge a backlink are covered in this blog post. For now, I have highlighted the checklist sourced from the blog post.

✅ Domain authority of target website

✅ Type of backlinks – Dofollow or Nofollow

✅ Monthly traffic of the website

✅ Number of backlinks per blog-post

✅ Frequency of posting

As we move to the next gig, we will map it across the Red Flags and the checklist.

The Good Backlink Fiverr Gig

It was easy to find a poor-quality gig, but finding a good one was like finding a needle in a haystack.

This seller has a stellar average 5-star rating and 215 reviews, but that doesn’t mean jack, as we saw in our previous example.

Overview

The seller seems to have decent writing skills. There are no obvious grammatical errors in the chat.

Let us see some of his domains.

I checked a few of them – all legit websites with high Domain Authority (DA). However, not all of them have high traffic, but it is decent enough for a backlink.

Also, most websites post frequently and offer only 1 do-follow backlink per post. This means you don’t have to share the link juice with anyone.

Most backlinks tick all the checkboxes.

Writing style varies from domain to domain indicating that he doesn’t write all the blogs. But, he has a solid network that makes guest-posting easy for him.

And that is what you need. If you were to approach the webmasters of listed domains, you would have a lower success rate than he does as you are new to them.

The seller of this gig gets paid for his network. The seller of the previous gig gets paid for the ignorance of the buyer.

Let us analyze one backlink from this seller. The intent is to help you understand how to analyze a backlink. We will keep it short here as I have covered the topic in-depth over here.

The first backlink: Marketing Business News (MBN)

On the first look, the website doesn’t look impressive. It looks like a bunch of links stamped on the page with nothing going on.

But, let’s follow our check-list and see how this domain fares.

✅ Domain authority of target website

Mozbar reveals that it is a high DA website. It has a low spam score of 2%.

Every website passes on a piece of its Domain Authority and Spam Score. So you want a backlink from high DA with low SS. We can tick this checkbox.

✅ Type of backlinks – Dofollow or Nofollow

Let’s jump into any random blog and find out if the backlink is Dofollow or not.

In the below image, the hyperlink is to a website of an SEO consultant.

If you are on Chrome, hit CTRL+U. And search for ‘SEO Consultant’

There is no mention of ‘no follow.’ By default, it is a do-follow link, plus it is contextual. So we can tick that check box too.

✅ Monthly traffic of the website

Other than building your Domain Authority, backlinking helps drive referral traffic to your website. The host website needs to have good traffic. A share of it finds a way to your website.

You can check the traffic stats on ubersuggest.

For MBN, this metric is good. Another box ticked.

✅ Number of backlinks per blog-post

Most of the posts have only one backlink. This means you get the full link juice.

Ticked.

✅ Frequency of posting

This blog posts multiple times a day. Plus, it splits the blogs into tags as seen in the screenshot below, for example, 3D Printing, Aerospace, etc.

Anyone looking for a particular tag will easily find your guest post, increasing the referral traffic.

Ticked.

Final Words and More Fiverr Tips

Fiverr has sellers from different walks of life. Many of them are good people who intend to provide good service.

However, some are there to make a quick buck by selling you your ignorance. How else are hundreds of people buying a backlink from Evernote? Heck, I can get it for free in 2 minutes!

The only way to discern good sellers from scammers is to know what you are paying for. And that applies to any gig, not just backlinks.

Always. ALWAYS read into the seller. Understand if he can provide quality content, don’t get blindsided by the number of 5-star reviews.

Explore their profile, read the negative reviews, peruse the gig description.

In short, be vigilant.

Fiverr is a good marketplace for getting backlinks; if you can identify bad backlinks.