Guide to Buying Proxies

A proxy is a server that is sort of a middleman between the computer of the person who is accessing the internet and the website they are going to. Proxy servers can be extremely useful for both personal use and business purposes, such as online marketing.

Best cheap proxies to buy for online marketers

I have tried most of the proxy suppliers and 80% of them are crap.  The sites below offer decent, fast private proxies at good prices with reasonable customer service. I recommend using private proxies over shared as these are often abused by other users. Never use free proxies, they are a complete waste of time.

Recommended Private Proxy Suppliers

Why do online marketers buy proxies?

Anonymity with proxies

The primary reason people and businesses use proxy servers is for anonymity. Proxies allow people to research the competition without the fear of being traced via cookies or other methods. When all requests are routed through a proxy server, the identity of the user is completely hidden. This means that online marketers are able to visit the websites of competitors without ever being identified. Whether it is someone trying to access a certain website that is blocked in their country because of political reasons or an internet marketer trying to avoid having their IP blocked when extracting data from websites, anonymity on the internet is a valuable thing.

Web Scraping with proxies

Internet marketers who engage in web scraping, which is the practice of extracting data from certain websites, there is always the chance that the remote web server can block their computer’s IP address, essentially preventing them from accessing the website. With a proxy server, however, the internet marketer’s identify is concealed and there is absolutely no chance of them getting blocked from accessing the website they are extracting data from.

Web scraping is a fairly common practice among internet marketers, and proxy servers help to prevent them from being identified during the data mining process. Proxies maintain the user’s anonymity while scraping data so that all risk of being blocked is completely removed.

Running mass searches on Google/rank tracking tools with dedicated proxies

Rank tracking tools play a very important role in online marketing and SEO, as they can help internet marketers to check their keyword rankings across both national and international search engines. These tools are extremely important when it comes to selecting the best, most effective keywords to help drive more traffic to your website.

The problem with sending mass queries to Google and other search engines is that all of that activity stemming from the same IP address could appear as a potential Denial of Service attack to the search engines, which is why a proxy server is so important. Internet marketers that want to avoid having their IP blocked use a proxy server to mask their true identities to bypass this problem altogether. Many people who try doing this have their IP blocked permanently, preventing them from performing more searches. By sending queries to search engines through different proxy servers, there is no longer a risk of getting your IP address blocked. A proxy server can be a great tool to speed up keyword ranking reports so there is no delay.

Automating mass social media accounts with proxies

If you are an internet marketer who is in charge of manages dozens, hundreds, or even thousands of social media accounts on websites like Facebook and Twitter, you will end up making many requests for a number of accounts from the same IP address, which would be detected as illegitimate activity by the sites. Many internet marketers have got their IP addresses blocked because they are detected by Twitter and other social media websites, but a proxy server can fix this problem altogether.

The most effective way to automate mass social media accounts without running the risk of getting your IP address blocked is to use multiple proxy servers so it appears as though all of the activity is perfectly normal and legitimate. All of that activity coming from one IP address is bound to draw the wrong kind of attention from the social media websites you are automating accounts on, so you will have to use multiple proxies to avoid getting blocked altogether.

Proxies v VPN

There are numerous differences been proxy servers and VPNs, and it’s important that you know what they are, especially if you do internet marketing work. While the basic purpose of VPNs and proxies is to conceal the identity of the user or spoof a specific location on earth, there are still a few things that differentiate these services from each other.  A lot of VPN providers also offer some sort of proxy service, and you will be able to find quite a few different public proxy servers that can be used free of charge.

The actual processes that are involved with proxies and VPNs are very different and therefore have different outcomes. A VPN or Virtual Private Network, creates an encrypted connection between your computer and the host server; all of the internet traffic goes in and out of the host server. Your ISP as well as the government can only see that you have connected to a VPN, but not where on the web you have gone. This means that all of your internet traffic is completely hidden. Setting up a VPN typically requires you to download a VPN client. One of the drawbacks associated with VPNs is that they can be expensive, and the encryption process takes a real toll on the servers, resulting in very slow web browsing much of the time.

It is important to keep in mind that a VPN will encrypt all of your internet traffic by replacing your ISP and routing all of the traffic through the VPN server, which includes programs and applications of all kinds. A proxy server is completely browser-based and not always compatible with certain websites, while a VPN will work with any internet-based services. A VPN, however, doesn’t offer as many choices when it comes to which applications are run through your ISP; everything gets routed through the same server when it is connected.

How do proxies work

A proxy server is essentially software that is running on a computer located somewhere between a remote user and the websites the user wants to gain access to. The proxy intercepts all of the requests that the remote user makes, acting as a gateway through which the remote user can access any internet resources they want without ever being identified.

Most websites have numerous ways of identifying the people who visit them, but those who buy proxies will not have to worry about that. When you visit websites through a proxy server, you will never have to worry about being identified at all. Whenever a proxy server makes a request for an internet resource, such as a website, it looks in its local cache of websites that have been visited before. If the server finds the website, it returns it to the user without having to forward the request to the internet at all. If the page is not found in the cache of previously visited websites, the proxy uses on its own IP addresses to request the page from the server on the internet. When the page is returned, the proxy relates it to the first request and passes it on to the user.

Types of proxies

You will find that there are a number of different types of proxies to buy, and it is important to know what some of them are.

Transparent

Transparent proxy servers perform the basic function of a proxy, but the difference is that they do not enforce any local policies. This means that the proxy doesn’t add, delete, or change any attributes or information within the messages it passes along. These are typically used for caching websites and do not really provide those who use them with any real amount of anonymity. These proxies do, however, help users work around basic IP bans. You do not have to configure your browser in any special way to use one of these proxies, and the cache is completely visible to the end-user.

Anonymous

These proxy servers mask the IP address of the user’s computer, using a completely different one. People use these servers to protect and conceal their identities for a number of reasons. When you use this type of proxy server, the websites don’t know that it is you, but the website owner can still choose to block you if they wish. This particular type of proxy server is the best option for those who want to conceal their true identity when browsing the web.

Distorting

This type of proxy server identifies itself as a proxy server so that all of the target websites know that you are using one. Instead of concealing your IP address altogether, it will be switched to a fake one that is not recognizable as your own.

High Anonymity

High anonymity proxy servers do not identify themselves as a proxy server and they do not make the original IP address visible at all. You will find that these proxies only use the REMOTE_ADDR header with the IP address of the proxy server so that it appears as if the proxy server is the actual client.

Reverse Proxy

A reverse proxy server is a common variation of a proxy server and it is typically used for the purpose of passing requests from the internet through a firewall to private networks. In the past, these proxies were used to prevent internet users from having direct access to sensitive data on content serves of an isolated network. If caching is enabled, a reverse proxy is actually able to reduce network traffic by serving cached information as opposed to simply passing all requests to actual content servers.

Intercepting Proxy

This type of proxy server combines a proxy server with a gateway. Connections are made from client browsers through the gateway, which are redirected through the proxy without any configuration required on the client’s end. These proxies can typically be detected by simply looking at the HTTP headers on the server side, though they can still serve a very important purpose for many users.

Buying shared proxies v Dedicated proxies

There are a lot of different types of proxies that you will have to choose from, so it is important that you take the time to review your options before making a final decision of any kind. While some people prefer to purchase shared proxies, others like to use dedicated ones. By taking the time to find out the pros and cons of each of these options, you will be able to decide on the right one for your own purposes.

A shared proxy is utilized by multiple people and it can be used to conceal one’s identity while browsing the internet. Dedicated proxies, on the other hand, are used by only one person. Private or dedicated proxy servers come with a certain guarantee of security and privacy, which are the two things about them that appeal to most people. It is important to choose the right company to go through if you are going to use a dedicated proxy though, as not all of them are completely trustworthy.

The main problem with free shared proxies is that there is very little security that comes along with them, which can be a huge issue for certain people. Depending on what you plan on using the proxy for, you will most likely want total and complete security. You will also have to take your budget into consideration, as some dedicated proxies can be very expensive.

If you want to keep your identity concealed while you are browsing the web, buying a  dedicated proxy service is probably the best option you have. While it is true that it can be expensive to do this, it is definitely an option that is worth it for many people. Those who use shared proxies always run the risk of being identified and suffering the consequences, whatever they may be. Before you make a final decision on a shared or dedicated proxy, it is important to consider these benefits and drawback so you can make the best possible decision.