Buffer Sites for SEO – What Are They and How to Use Them?

Buffer site SEO – what is it?

Buffer site SEO can be understood in two ways:

For some people, these are links generated through different channels that redirect users to a website. In this case, the list includes blogs, forums, profiles, social media, and catalogs.

However, the second approach identifies buffer sites as specific pages with articles. Usually, the articles are related to the industry and make it easier to obtain quality backlinks to a website.

In today’s entry, we’ll take a closer look at the latter type of buffer sites, meaning specific websites with entries and links to your page.

Either way, buffer sites help to obtain external links that support the SEO process and ultimately aim at improving website position in the search results, increasing domain authority and value.

Algorithm updates force the change of buffer sites

Until very recently, it was popular to create numerous buffer sites that were only about the number of links. However, Google introduced algorithm updates that necessitated the change in the approach to SEO. The modification concerned the Panda algorithm which aims at controlling website content (and making it as user-friendly as possible) and the Penguin algorithm verifying backlinks (which is supposed to fight spam and remove websites with poor quality backlinks).

Currently, all the emphasis is put on making sure that search results are maximally valuable for the users – that’s why high link quality is of utmost importance right now. The ability to obtain such backlinks has a positive impact on domain authority and emotions it evokes – users visit such a page more frequently and eagerly which surely improves its position in the search results.

Google wants to provide website content so interesting that users would want to share it on other portals. However, it’s a tough nut to crack, especially for new websites that are in distant positions in the rankings. That’s why some people decide to create buffer sites with “natural links”.

Google updates that took place over the last few years have also affected the way SEO specialists perceive buffer sites. Nowadays, the creation of buffer sites requires an equally serious approach as the creation of your own company website. Therefore, now we build valuable buffer sites thematically related to the page we do SEO for. This makes them a precious source of information, backlinks, or articles that might be useful for future readers (we’ll discuss it in more detail later on).

Creation of SEO buffer sites – it’s all about content

As we’ve already mentioned, to make sure that buffer sites for SEO are valuable and bring measurable effects to the company, they need to provide quality content. It has a significant impact on achieving more satisfying SEO results.

Sharing appealing articles, properly tailored to the target group, will help you build an active community regularly visiting your website. It’s also a great way of affecting brand awareness.

Features of quality buffer sites

Apart from the content itself, you need to make sure that the published materials are interesting, unique, and properly structured (division into paragraphs, bolded keywords, and sentences). It’s also a good idea to enrich them with graphics that will make them easier and more enjoyable to read. Consistency is the key to success.

Website design is also important. The layout should be unique and it should match the current trends. Provide proper protection of your buffer sites – this will help you prevent any unwanted cyber-attacks that aim at stealing your data and content.

It’s very important to ensure that your buffer sites are thematically related to your website so that they reach specific recipients and help you position yourself as an expert in the field. If your buffer sites are user-friendly and shared content meets people’s expectations, you encourage recipients to interact which has a positive impact on website quality. If backlinks look natural, your website position and traffic increase.

Advantages of creating your own buffer sites for SEO

It’s said that there are as many opinions as there are people. The same applies to buffer sites for SEO. Obviously, every solution has its advantages and disadvantages – so, what’s the situation in the case of created buffer sites?

Let’s start with the advantages. The main plus of creating your own buffer sites is the fact that this way you can constantly support the SEO process of your website. It’s important to mention that you’re the person deciding about the design and published content, therefore, you’ve full control over the buffer sites. You can tailor them to your individual expectations and needs, there’s no risk that someone would remove the content and links. However, this solution requires comprehensive knowledge and a lot of commitment which may be discouraging for some people. Nevertheless, it’s worth keeping in mind that the creation of powerful buffer sites is a long-term investment that initially requires a lot of work but then, it can really pay off.

If the created buffer sites are of high quality, it’s possible to regularly update them and they can bring you numerous benefits. First of all, they can constitute an extra source of income (sponsored articles, affiliate programs, or ads).

Properly developed buffer sites can also support your marketing and PR activities or sales. How? Well, you improve brand credibility and get an extra source where your target group, meaning potential customers, can learn about your company.

Disadvantages of creating your own SEO buffer sites

Like with every solution, buffer sites for SEO also have some disadvantages. The main one is the risk – you can never be sure whether the created website will be frequently visited or appreciated by users or whether they would follow the published links.

Additionally, it needs to be taken into account that the creation of powerful buffer sites is a continuous process that requires a lot of work and can take up to a few months or even years.

Considerably high costs of creating buffer sites are another disadvantage. Of course, everything depends on your expectations, still, there are some standard elements you need to pay for: domain, hosting, website development and optimization, content creation, or constant website monitoring.

In a situation where you don’t create your own buffer sites but use the already existing ones, you need to take into account the risk that your content or links may be deleted or modified and that the possibilities regarding the publication of your entries on some other websites may be limited (e.g. you may be able to publish only one entry a day) or you may need to pay for it. Moreover, if you decide to benefit from somebody else’s buffer sites, you should make sure that the links aren’t deleted when the cooperation is over as this would significantly decrease your website traffic.

Is it always a good idea to create buffer sites for SEO on your own?

Keep in mind that creating your own buffer sites doesn’t always pay off. It’s not a must-have until your website is highly competitive. Why? Because doing SEO for less popular phrases is cheaper than creating a dedicated buffer site.

Very frequently companies decide to buy domains with some buffer history. It’s a good idea as the authority of such domains is higher than the authority of new websites, therefore, it can bring you numerous benefits. However, before making the purchase, it’s necessary to check the domain history because if it was used for some less noble activities such as spam, the decision can do more harm than good.

The creation and use of buffer sites have numerous benefits. Appropriate activities can help you obtain valuable backlinks which, in turn, have a positive impact on your Google positions. However, it should be borne in mind that buffer sites aren’t the only recipe for achieving satisfactory results. The whole SEO process is quite complex (check out the top elements of the SEO process) and requires a lot of work.