I Spent $10,000 on Backlinks…

SUMMARY

Jackie Chow, founder of Indexsy and SEO expert, details a $10,000 case study testing backlinks from 10 vendors on 10 aged domains targeting low-difficulty keywords, revealing surprising ranking outcomes after six months.

STATEMENTS

• Jackie Chow conducted a $10,000 experiment buying backlinks from 10 different link-building vendors to evaluate their impact on SEO rankings for new sites.
• The study used 10 domains, each aged exactly 12 months with no prior use, to minimize variables and ensure a fair comparison.
• All sites targeted the same 800 informational keywords, such as "can dogs eat lettuce," with over 100 monthly searches and keyword difficulty under 20 on Ahrefs.
• Content for the sites was generated automatically using an AI tool called Auto Blogging, costing less than a dollar per article and published directly to WordPress.
• The budget was distributed across vendor types, including niche edits, guest posts, and PBNs, with amounts ranging from $1,000 to $1,100 per vendor, plus a control domain with zero links.
• Rankings were tracked over six months, showing initial traffic spikes across sites that often declined, highlighting the volatile nature of new site SEO.
• The control domain, with no backlinks but heavy content, ranked fourth, generating nearly 500 monthly visits from 1,000 indexed keywords.
• PBN providers like Hatred.io topped the rankings with 1,200 monthly traffic despite low visibility on metrics, outperforming many "legit" services.
• Rhino Rank's niche edit package delivered second-place results with 22 links and 670 monthly visits, emphasizing relevance over domain ratings.
• Indexsy's own service placed third with over 100 links from 20 referring domains, though the founder acknowledged potential bias in the self-testing.

IDEAS

• Spending $10,000 on backlinks revealed that a domain with zero links can outperform several paid services for low-competition keywords.
• PBN links from a Vietnamese provider like Up Topz initially boosted rankings but led to a complete tank, suggesting potential quality inconsistencies over time.
• Grindstone SEO's links, warned against for new sites, delivered weak domain ratings (DR 8-13) and failed to sustain rankings, validating the vendor's caution.
• Loganix's niche edit service excelled in customer support and ordering but prioritized high-traffic domains over relevance, resulting in middling eighth-place performance.
• Fat Joe's guest posts showed early promise but stalled, with weaker domain ratings indicating they're solid for agencies but not transformative for fresh sites.
• ImPowerhouse's homepage PBN links achieved a DR 45 and 200 monthly visits in sixth place, proving sketchy Black Hat World finds can yield strong, sustained results for content farms.
• GrowResolve provided three high-traffic links (30k-100k visits) for $1,000, ranking fifth despite some spam-like domains, ideal for white-labeling with budgets.
• The control site's success with Auto Blogging content implies content volume alone can drive traffic without links in low-difficulty niches.
• Indexsy's affordable package of 100+ links secured third place, but self-bias raises questions about impartiality in vendor comparisons.
• Hatred.io's limited PBN sale (only 20 links for $200) dominated first place with 1,200 monthly visits, showing selective selling enhances link quality and impact.
• Rhino Rank's 22 low-DR niche edits ranked second with steady gains, highlighting that link count and relevance trump high domain authority for informational queries.

INSIGHTS

• In low-competition SEO landscapes, prolific content creation without backlinks can rival or exceed the value of purchased links, challenging the necessity of link-building for early site growth.
• PBN networks, often dismissed as risky, can deliver superior ranking boosts when vendors limit supply to maintain network integrity, prioritizing quality over volume.
• Vendor warnings about link suitability for new sites underscore the importance of foundational strategies before aggressive building, as mismatched links lead to ranking volatility.
• Customer service and proactive management, as seen in Loganix, build trust but don't guarantee results if link selection favors traffic metrics over topical relevance.
• Self-testing introduces bias, yet transparent disclosure allows audiences to weigh findings, emphasizing ethical experimentation in competitive SEO case studies.
• Metrics like domain rating are misleading proxies for effectiveness; actual traffic and sustained rankings better measure link value, especially for budget-conscious builders.

QUOTES

• "I pretty much lit ten thousand dollars on fire for online cloud and now I may never financially recover from this."
• "No links is better than all the other services before this."
• "If you want someone affordable you know go with us but feel free to exclude it but yeah just go buy my links."
• "He went with the Rolex selling model where he's like no I'm not gonna sell you anything you can have this one you have this much."
• "Yes I'm sure you can poke holes in my case study but here's a challenge for you losers do a better one."

HABITS

• Regularly testing multiple vendors and budgets to identify effective SEO strategies, as demonstrated by allocating $1,000-$1,100 across diverse link types.
• Using aged domains (exactly 12 months) for experiments to simulate realistic new site conditions and minimize variables.
• Targeting consistent keyword sets (e.g., 800 informational queries under KD 20) across tests to ensure comparable outcomes.
• Automating content production with AI tools like Auto Blogging for rapid site population at low cost.
• Incorporating control groups with zero interventions to benchmark natural performance against paid efforts.

FACTS

• The study tracked rankings over six months, with most sites experiencing initial traffic spikes followed by declines.
• All domains were registered and left idle for 12 months before use, ensuring they were fresh yet aged.
• Keywords targeted had over 100 monthly searches on Ahrefs with difficulty scores below 20.
• Auto Blogging produced articles for less than a dollar each, integrating directly into WordPress.
• Hatred.io refunded $800 and limited sales to 20 links, resulting in 1,200 monthly visits for the top domain.

REFERENCES

• Auto Blogging AI tool (https://indexsy.com/ai/) for generating cheap, automated content.
• Ahrefs for keyword research, search volume, and domain rating metrics.
• Vendors tested: Fat Joe, Rank Authority, Hatred.io (PBN), Loganix, Rhino Rank, GrowResolve, Grindstone SEO, Up Topz, ImPowerhouse, Indexsy.

HOW TO APPLY

• Select 10 expired or aged domains (exactly 12 months old) with clean histories to build test sites, ensuring no prior backlinks or content.
• Identify 800 low-competition informational keywords (e.g., "can dogs eat [food]") using Ahrefs, targeting those with 100+ monthly searches and KD under 20.
• Generate content automatically via an AI service like Auto Blogging, producing 1,000+ articles per site at under $1 each for direct WordPress publishing.
• Allocate a balanced budget ($1,000-$1,100 per vendor) across diverse types—niche edits, guest posts, PBNs—and include a control domain with zero links for comparison.
• Monitor rankings and traffic monthly over six months using tools like Ahrefs, noting initial spikes, declines, and sustained performance to evaluate vendor efficacy.

ONE-SENTENCE TAKEAWAY

Surprising case study shows no backlinks often outperform pricey ones for low-competition keywords, urging content focus over aggressive link buying.

RECOMMENDATIONS

• Prioritize content volume on new sites before investing in links, as the control domain proved viable for low-difficulty niches.
• Test PBNs selectively from vendors who limit sales to preserve network quality, like Hatred.io, for potential high-impact results.
• Choose niche edit services emphasizing relevance over high-traffic domains to avoid ranking stalls, following Rhino Rank's model.
• Incorporate strong customer support vendors like Loganix for smoother processes, even if results vary, to build long-term partnerships.
• Challenge biases in self-tests by including controls and transparent reporting, inspiring others to conduct superior studies.

MEMO

In a bold experiment that scorched $10,000 in digital kindling, SEO veteran Jackie Chow, founder of link-building agency Indexsy, dissected the murky world of backlinks. Over six months, he pitted 10 freshly aged domains against one another, each chasing the same quarry: 800 low-hanging informational keywords like "can dogs eat apples?" No prior baggage weighed these domains down—they'd slumbered unregistered for a year. Chow's arsenal? A mix of guest posts, niche edits, and shadowy PBNs from vendors spanning the spectrum of legitimacy, all fueled by AI-generated content that cost pennies per piece.

The verdict upended expectations. A control domain, starved of any links and simply bloated with automated articles via the tool Auto Blogging, clawed its way to fourth place, drawing nearly 500 monthly visits from 1,000 indexed pages. This no-frills contender outranked several paid efforts, whispering a radical notion: in the gentle terrain of easy keywords, content alone might suffice. Meanwhile, the pack shuffled unpredictably. Up Topz, a Vietnamese PBN outfit once hailed by Amazon affiliates, surged early only to plummet to dead last. Grindstone SEO, an industry old guard, fared little better in ninth, its links dismissed as unfit for novices despite a forewarning from the vendor himself.

Yet surprises lurked in the shadows. Sixth place went to ImPowerhouse, a Black Hat World discovery peddling homepage PBN links that ballooned one site's domain rating to 45 and sustained 200 monthly visits—ideal fodder for content farms, Chow noted. Fat Joe's guest posts, a staple for agencies, promised much in seventh but fizzled, their weaker metrics underscoring reliability without fireworks. Loganix impressed with seamless service in eighth, allowing pre-approvals, though its high-traffic focus over relevance tempered gains.

The podium held more twists. GrowResolve's trio of potent links from traffic-heavy sites (30,000 to 100,000 visits) secured fifth, volunteered by its founder amid Twitter buzz. Indexsy's own package—100-plus links for modest coin—nabbed third, bias acknowledged with a wink. Rhino Rank's 22 niche edits claimed silver, steady at 670 visits, proving low domain ratings no barrier to success. But the crown? Hatred.io, a PBN provider who rebuffed Chow's bulk order, refunding $800 and capping at 20 links for just $200. It delivered 1,200 visits, metrics obscured, a testament to scarcity's edge.

Chow's saga, filmed awkwardly for YouTube, issues a gauntlet to skeptics: replicate or refine it. In an SEO arena rife with armchair critics, his burn rate illuminates a truth—links aren't alchemy. For fledgling sites in uncompetitive waters, the smartest bet might be stacking words, not wires, and saving the wallet for what truly moves the needle.