You can't pay for links without someone blowing a whistle and getting your website banned. There is always the potential to be reported by a stranger if you are asking to pay them for a quality link from their website to yours. Google provides an online form now for such reporting. Offenders will have their websites banned from the search engines.
You might also think that posting comments on other blogs, like Instore Magazine or JCKOnline.com, might be a good link building strategy. Unfortunately both of these sites, like all quality blog sites, will include the rel="nofollow" attribute in any links to your website. The rel="nofollow" feature nullifies any potential search traffic.
The best way to create links to your site is through blogging. However, we don't simply mean you should hire a blogging company to put a link in the footer or the side navigation of every page of a blog. We actually mean you should have a blog entry about your store posted on someone else's website.
If this sounds difficult, it's because it is. Legitimate methods include searching for websites that allow guest bloggers to post their own entries or getting interviewed for your expert opinion on fine jewelry and having a blog entry written about you.
Every time you involve yourself with your community or with an event, you have the chance of a blogger writing a story about you, or what you did. Hopefully it's a non-controversial story.
You could also issue press releases to your local newspaper when you are holding events. The newspaper might do an article about you and your store, including real, quality links form their website to yours.
The restrictions on link building, exchanging links, and paying for links have slowed down the speed at which a website will gain popularity and PageRank. These restrictions also help to remove a lot of internet spam and stop the methods people were using to manipulate the SERPs for their benefit.
