I have lately come across many self-proclaimed “SEO-friendly” link building companies which are openly selling thousands of links to their customers. And the bad part is, I can see people actually buying into their schemes in order to get that coveted “1st page rankings” which they almost never get.
The problem is simple: Selling everyone links from the same pages makes it very easy for Google (and other search engines) to spot foul-play. Think about it, if you were presented with a “Resources” page linking out to 1000 different websites with their keywords in there, you would definitely know that the links are automated.
Sure, companies which provide users with automated links will benefit the user to a small extent in the beginning, but their Page Rank (and the ability to transfer link juice) will soon be burned to the ground by Google.
So if you want “10,000 links to your website for only $29.99”, make sure you use an older website as an experiment. Newer websites with less content and less inbound links are more likely to get penalized by such automated links.
And if you are wondering whether inbound links can hurt you, the answer is yes. Newer websites are more prone to getting penalized. Authority websites can play risky and still get away with it.
The lesson to learn here is: If you are doing un-natural link building, make sure you leave no traces. Also, if you are automating link building, try using an already established website for that purpose.
You should try going for SEO companies which do not give you a quick fix to your search engine rankings. It is those companies who know SEO best.