10 Questions to Ask Your Backlink Provider Before You Pay

Before paying for backlinks, ask the provider ten questions: how it obtains the links, what criteria the sites meet, where the link sits on the page, how it will be marked, who chooses the anchor, how long it stays up, what report you get and what it does not promise. Evasive answers say more than the price. For general context, see what backlinks are.

Quick summary

• You are responsible for what the provider does in your name. Google's own guidance for hiring an SEO says so in plain words.
• The ten questions cover method, criteria, link position, the rel attribute, anchors, permanence, reporting and promises.
• A good answer is specific, verifiable and admits limits. A bad answer is vague, secret or promises a position.
• Compare at least two proposals with the same table and place a small test order before expanding.
• Even with every answer good, buying links to influence ranking remains in tension with Google's policy.

How to read this guide

If you are a beginner, read the questions in order and use the "good answer" and "warning answer" blocks as a script. If you already work in SEO, go to the "For SEO professionals" callouts and the example table, which show how to compare proposals and what clauses to ask for.

Why ask before paying?

Because the responsibility is yours. Google's guidance on hiring an SEO reminds you that, in the end, you answer for the actions of the companies you hire, recommends caution with anyone secretive about what they plan to do and says no one can guarantee first place. The same text warns that techniques that violate the spam policies can reduce your site's presence on Google or even remove it from the index.

There is also a practical reason: a transparent provider answers the ten questions in a few minutes and in writing. Someone who dodges them is warning you of something. If you would rather have a checklist about your own preparation, use the 20-point checklist for buying backlinks first.

In plain English: asking the provider questions is like asking a contractor for references before hiring them to build. A good professional shows how they work, what they use and how long it takes, without getting annoyed. The one who gets annoyed or says "trust me" has already answered.

What are the 10 questions?

There are ten questions, each with the reason, what to expect from a good answer and what should raise the alarm. Send all of them in writing and keep the answers.

1. How do you get these links?

Ask about the process, not the result. A good answer describes real steps: prospecting editors, a publication agreement, a text written for the site. A warning answer talks about an "own network," an "exclusive method," "automation" or refuses to explain. Networks of sites built to sell links are the core of PBN: how it works, risks and alternatives.

2. What criteria must the sites meet?

Good answers bring measurable criteria and how they are checked: minimum authority, real organic traffic, related topic, language and country. Warning: "only high-authority sites," with nothing more. Authority (DR or DA) is a third-party tool metric and the easiest to inflate, so ask for organic traffic too.

For SEO professionals: ask for organic traffic by country and the trend over the last 12 months, not just the current number. A site with steady traffic coming from the target country is very different from one with a recent spike or traffic from another language. Also check the share of sponsored posts compared with editorial ones.

3. Can I verify the sites' traffic and history?

A good answer allows verification of each link delivered. Some providers protect their list of partner sites so the domains are not flagged as link sellers, which is a legitimate reason; in that case, the point is that you receive the source URL of each link and can check everything afterward. Warning: a "confidential" list and no URL delivered.

4. Where does the link appear on the page?

Good answer: in the body of a relevant text, written for that site. Warning: footer, sidebar, partners page, comments or repeated links on every page of the site (sitewide). Google's spam policy lists as link spam, among other cases, links distributed in footers and templates across multiple sites.

5. What kind of content mostly appears on the site, and how many sponsored posts does it run?

This is the neighborhood question. Good answer: the site has its own editorial content, readers and few paid posts, all from the same topical universe. Warning: it accepts any subject, is full of "sponsored" labels and links to casinos or unrelated products.

In plain English: the neighborhood is the "street" where your link will live. If the street only has signs for betting and miracle cures, the address does not help your reputation.

6. How will the link be marked: sponsored, nofollow or no attribute?

Google asks for rel="sponsored" or rel="nofollow" on paid links, as explained on the page about qualifying outbound links. Good answer: the provider answers directly and knows this policy. Warning: says "dofollow is guaranteed" and pretends the policy does not exist. You decide the trade-off, but you need to know what you are buying; see dofollow, nofollow, sponsored and UGC.

7. Who chooses the anchor and the target page?

Good answer: you define the target page and suggest the anchor, and the provider advises on variation. Warning: it imposes the same commercial anchor on every link. A varied profile (brand, URL, partial terms) looks more natural; the guide to anchor text details types and ratios.

8. How long does the link stay up, and what happens if it is removed?

Good answer: permanence and replacement periods in writing, with the procedure for reporting a problem. Warning: "permanent" or "lifetime" with no text behind it, or replacement only for a new payment.

For SEO professionals: ask that the clause define what counts as removal. The link can stay live and still lose value if the page becomes noindex, returns a 404, has the link changed to nofollow later or the anchor changed. Also define how fast replacement happens and what the periodic check is.

9. What report will I receive, and when?

Good answer: a list with source URL, target URL, anchor, publication date and rel attribute for each link, with a stated delivery date. Warning: only screenshots, metrics from an in-house tool or "we delivered 100 links in 24 hours." Asking for the publication date lets you record the baseline and track the effect, as shown in how long it takes for a backlink to work.

10. What do you guarantee and what do you not?

Good answer: guarantees delivery and permanence as agreed and admits that position on Google depends on other factors. Warning: promises a position, a deadline or an immediate effect. Google says that if someone guarantees first place in results, you should look for someone else.

How do you run the conversation in four steps?

Run it in writing and in a comparable format, so the answers can be placed side by side.

1. Send the 10 questions by email to at least two providers, worded identically.
2. Fill in a comparison table with the answers and flag what was evasive or left unanswered.
3. Ask for a sample report (with no other clients' data) to see the level of detail you will get.
4. Place a test order with the smallest package, check each URL and only then expand. Before that, calculate how many links you actually need in how many backlinks do I need.

Hypothetical example: comparing three proposals

Hypothetical example, with fictional providers and prices. A store asks three companies the ten questions and builds the table below (showing only the most decisive answers).

Question	Provider A	Provider B	Provider C
1. How it gets links	Manual outreach to editors	"Own network of sites"	Marketplace, you pick the site
2. Criteria	Authority, organic traffic and topic	"DR 50+," no other criteria	Marketplace filters
4. Position	Article body	Footer or sidebar	Article body
8. Replacement	6 months, in writing	"Lifetime," no text	30 days
10. Promise	No ranking guarantee	"Top 3 in 60 days"	No ranking guarantee
Price per link	$45	$8	$60 plus fee

Provider B drops out even with the lowest price: answers 1, 4 and 10 are already red flags, and the low price is consistent with that method. Between A and C, the decision is about model: C lets you pick the site but demands more filtering work and has short replacement; A has predictable pricing and longer replacement, but you do not choose the domain. To compare real price ranges, see how much a backlink costs in Brazil.

How does Contentor answer these questions?

To serve as a yardstick, here are the official answers from Contentor, which do not replace your own verification. The links are permanent and contextual, on Brazilian, Portuguese-language sites, through a partnership with more than 4,000 sites and outreach done by the team. Sites follow the criterion of DR 20 or higher, real organic traffic and a topic related to the client's. The client provides the target page and the anchor, receives the source URLs, and delivery takes 7 to 14 business days.

There is free replacement for 6 months for removed links, and there is no guarantee of position on Google. The client does not choose the site, because the partner list is protected; that is a point to weigh, as in the Provider A example. And like any purchase of links for ranking, it is subject to Google's spam policy, which applies to every provider. The price is $49 per link in the standard niche and triple that in the black niche.

Frequently asked questions

How many providers should I compare before buying?

Compare at least two and, preferably, three, always with the same ten questions in writing. With only one, you have no basis to know whether the price, timeline and replacement policy are reasonable. With more than four, the effort of comparing usually outweighs the benefit.

Can the provider refuse to list the sites?

It can, and there is a legitimate reason: protecting the list so the domains are not flagged as link sellers. What is not acceptable is failing to deliver the source URL of each link and blocking any check. If you cannot verify anything after delivery, treat it as a red flag.

What price per link is suspicious?

There is no single number, because price varies with authority, traffic and niche. The warning sign is a price far below the market, especially in packages of hundreds of links, with the provider unable to explain the method. Compare with market ranges before deciding.

Should I ask for client references?

You can, and Google suggests asking for examples of previous work when hiring an SEO. In link building, though, testimonials and case studies can be hard to verify. Prefer the small test: an order of a few links, checked URL by URL, tells you more than any reference.

What if the provider does not answer one of the questions?

Ask again in writing and note it. An unanswered question, especially the ones on method (1), link position (4) or promises (10), counts as a bad answer. If the rest is very good, place only the test order and do not expand before the doubt is cleared.

Next step

With the answers in hand, review the policy risks in is buying backlinks safe? and understand why networks of sites for selling links are the worst case in PBN: risks and alternatives. To evaluate each site individually, use how to identify quality backlinks. If you want to compare with Contentor's offer, the packages are at buy backlinks.

Read also:

• Checklist before buying backlinks: 20 points
• How much a backlink costs in Brazil
• SEO, AEO and GEO glossary