The Art of Link Building a Vital Strategy for SEO Success

SEO is no stranger to hyperbolic metaphors. But for whatever reason, many of those apply to link-building. It’s the “pulling teeth” of SEO, the “melting butter” of SEO, the “dentist” or the “vacation” of SEO… you get the idea.

It’s also a process that folks continually return to. When you’ve got a process that works, it’s usually worth doing as many iterations of it as you can. Some new data from Firstpagesage underscores that – link signals account for about 13% of Google’s “decision-making” when it comes to determining who lands on the first page of its SERPs.

When done right, link-building can have a meaningful impact on rankings, organic traffic, and domain authority. But it’s not about haphazardly accumulating links from anywhere and everywhere. It’s about earning links that carry weight, are relevant, and match search intent. Context matters.

So in this article, I wanted to explore the ins and outs of link-building: What it is, why it matters, and how you can approach it most effectively.

What Is Link Building?

Link building, at its core, is all about getting other sites to link back to you. These hyperlinks serve as small endorsements: “We think this is a useful resource, and you may too.”

Google factors these signals in heavily. Backlinks have long been one of its core ranking factors. In fact, for years, it was the top factor, bar none. That began to change in recent years, especially in the wake of Google’s Anti-Spam Updates and the 2021 and 2022 Link Spam Updates. Links have since lost some of their supremacy.

However, it’s worth reiterating: they haven’t become insignificant. Not by a long shot. Backlinks remain a top ranking factor, just no longer the only factor driving the Google Ship.

SEO Truths: Link Building Really Does Matter

Search engines like to judge you the same way that people do. And how people judge people is by who they know. Backlinks are who you know online. Point the right websites at yours and Google will see that and think, “Okay, this one is probably worth trusting.” The more high-quality backlinks you have, the better chance you have of rising in the rankings.

You can see why, right? This one should be easy. Except it’s not. Link building is one of the most important things you can do, and it’s right at the top of the list for most SEO experts. It’s been that way for a long time. Years. The argument these days is that it’s slightly less important than it used to be.

There’s some truth in that—especially if you’ve survived a link-spamming penalty from Google—but it’s tough to argue when you see just how much power those links really do have.

For example:

1. It’s a Trust and Authority Signal

You’ve probably heard this one a thousand times, but it’s important, so hear it one more time. Pointed toward your website, backlinks from respected places in your industry are a huge signal to Google and other search engines that the content they’re looking at is worth spending time and energy on. It improves your site’s perceived authority. When your authority improves over time, you can see a nice upward bump in your rankings. That’s the dream.

2. It Helps You Rank Higher

Links are a really powerful ranking factor. This one is simple. In almost every example, you’ll see the #1 page way, way ahead of the #2 and #3 results when it comes to the number of backlinks pointing at those pages. In one analysis, the pages in first position had almost four times as many backlinks as all of the other pages in positions 2–10 combined. Links aren’t the be-all-end-all of rankings, of course, but they matter, a lot.

3. It Helps You Attract Better Traffic

I don’t think this one is talked about nearly enough. In some ways, it’s my favorite reason of all. A backlink from a popular, highly relevant source is great for your rankings, sure, but more than that, it’s real people it will help you drive to your website.

Real people who care about the products and services you have to offer. It’s the kind of traffic that clicks and converts and buys and comes back when they need you again because they didn’t find you by accident. That is powerful stuff.

Link building matters, SEO friends. It has always mattered and it always will.

4. Makes Your Brand More Visible

Having your brand mentioned on high-quality, authoritative sites can do something insidious. It increases your presence on the internet in places you never would have otherwise existed. Every time someone links back to you, you have the opportunity to drive new traffic. Over time, those opportunities add up.

Numerous marketers have reported this and the data supports it. In fact, approximately 80% of digital marketers and SEOs say that link building and brand mentions have a direct impact on organic rankings. I recall a survey done in 2025 that reported over 80% of SEOs say unlinked brand mentions impact rankings, which is almost hilarious because a brand mention with no clickable link is the furthest you can get from an actual link. Many of these marketers publicly acknowledge that increasing rankings and organic traffic is the number one goal for most of their link building efforts.

5. Develops Real Industry Relationships

One of the side-effects of link building that’s often overlooked or underreported is how the process of creating quality links has helped strengthen and build real relationships with my colleagues in the industry. Writing a guest post, collaborating with an influencer, sharing knowledge with another website owner, etc. aren’t just interactions, but the development of actual friendships and colleagues. These relationships often lead to additional opportunities later on and in ways that are sometimes unexpected.

6. Improves Organic Click-Through Rates (CTR)

Search engines like to reward content that shows up in multiple places. So, if your web pages start to earn a number of meaningful backlinks, Google is more likely to increase their rankings. And with higher rankings, your content will be seen more, which in turn, will increase your click-through rates (CTR). Tiny movement, big domino effect.

7. Generates Long-Term Results

Certain marketing strategies are like striking a match. There’s a bright flash of success that quickly burns away. Link building isn’t like that at all. Link building is more like planting a tree. You don’t see movement or results until much later, but the strong backlink profile you built (months or years earlier) will continue to produce positive results (traffic, authority, etc.) long after you initially built the links.

10 Best Link-Building Techniques

Okay, the internet is absolutely flooded with link-building advice. That said, there are a select few techniques that really do stand out. Primarily because they work (and have been working for years), but also because they have stood the test of time.

Here are ten that I think you should spend your time on.

1. Content Creation

You should be creating content that is actually worth linking to. Stuff that is useful, surprising, or, somehow, just better than the content already out there. This could be a long-form, properly researched blog post, an infographic, a video walk-through, or even just a micro-guide that properly answers a question everybody’s Googling.

SEO Value: You may not pick up many links per piece of content, but when you do create something that truly nails it, it’s going to get you credible backlinks from other sites that consider your content useful. This will boost your authority, nudge those rankings, and will usually generate a reliable trickle of organic traffic all on its own.

Tools you should be using:

• BuzzSumo is like a supercharged version of Google Trends. It’s the closest thing I know to reading the newspaper for “what the internet is talking about today.”
• SEMrush or Ahrefs to get a better idea of what people are ACTUALLY searching for, so you don’t end up creating content in a vacuum.

2. Guest Blogging

If it’s done properly, guest blogging still works. The problem is that “guest blogging” has a bad rap, thanks to the spammers who show up, post the exact same thinly-veiled sales pitch over and over, and then vanish without a trace. Ignore them, and focus on finding websites in your niche that actually produce good content and accept guest posts. Pitch a good idea, create a worthwhile article, and do a proper job.

You’ll usually get a link in your author bio, and sometimes you can include a contextual link in the article itself if you can find a relevant point to cover that allows for it (and it makes sense).

SEO Value: This helps you get credible links, sure. It also gets your name (and your brand) in front of new eyeballs. It also lets you start to build up relationships, and those are something that algorithms will never, ever be able to game.

Tools that help:

• Hunter.io or Voila Norbert both help with unearthing email addresses, so you don’t have to make a wild guess.
• Moz has a Guest Blogging guidelines tool that will give you a pretty good list of potential sites that accept contributors.

3. Broken Link Building

Broken link building is one of those processes that, when you first hear about it, sounds rather dull. However, as soon as you actually get into the swing of doing it and see how strangely satisfying it can be, you know it’ll stick with you. You are, essentially, scouring the internet for links on other websites that no longer point anywhere in particular (missed pages, deleted posts, etc.) and contacting the site owner politely, saying, “Hey, this link’s not working… How about a different one?”

SEO Value: Everybody wins. You tidy up the internet (the world-wide-web could always do with a tidy up) and receive a decent backlink in exchange. You’re also improving the user experience of their site, so you’re not being selfish, either.

Tools to use:

• Ahrefs or Check My Links when you need to see broken links at speed.
• Screaming Frog SEO Spider if you’re happy to wait for a thorough crawl.

4. Skyscraper Technique

The Skyscraper Technique has been around for a long time, and the fact that it’s not been killed off yet is a testament to how well it works. The general principle is easy to grasp: Find a piece of content that’s already performing well, see what people are liking about it and then create something that’s richer, clearer or more current than the existing piece. Once you have that, contact all the people who linked to the original content and ask them to point their link at your creation instead.

SEO Value: The existing pages already have some level of link equity and if you can start to divert a portion of that toward your own upgraded content, you’ll see a relatively swift impact on your rankings.

Tools you can use:

• Ahrefs so you can see who’s linking to the original content.
• Moz’s Open Site Explorer for a second opinion or more in-depth analysis.

5. Resource Pages

Resource pages are one of those dusty, analog-style strategies that can still yield fantastic results. If you dig around your industry long enough, you’ll inevitably start to encounter these “helpful links” or “recommended resources” pages that people save and revisit. Spot a good one? Pitch your content to be included. We at EcoSEO provide resource link building services.

It’s become a kind of white whale of the EcoSEO link-building team—it’s a go-to comfort-zone strategy for them because it’s reliable and not a complete crapshoot.

SEO Value: Since these pages generally attract people (and other sites) looking for useful content, you’ll have a consistent flow of backlinks coming in over time.

Tools/Websites:

• Ahrefs or SEMrush — search for pages with keywords like “resources,” “helpful links,” or other related stuff.

6. Qwoted

Qwoted is similar to HARO, but with a more organized and mellow interface. Journalists get a more vetted pool of experts to select from, rather than sorting through an avalanche of pitches. It’s a little more civilized, so unsurprisingly, many writers prefer it.

Features: Things like pitch intelligence (little nudges that let you know a journalist even glanced at your pitch), a more curated space that reduces low-effort spammy pitches, and so on. It makes for a more pleasant environment for conversation, rather than shouting into a black hole.

7. Influencer Outreach

Collaborating with influencers isn’t as easy as sending a direct message to someone and hoping for the best. More often than not, it begins with identifying which influencers matter to your audience. Not the biggest names, not the ones shouting the loudest. But those whose audience overlaps with your audience in meaningful ways. Once you’ve identified a handful, you reach out to them with a proposal which, if all goes well, benefits both parties. Sometimes this results in a simple shout-out. Sometimes it results in a link. And once in a while (when the stars align and both parties have a lot of chemistry), it blossoms into a partnership far bigger than either party expected.

SEO Value: Links from influencers, especially those who have built real communities and don’t have grossly inflated follower counts, provide a quiet but perceptible boost to your SEO. You’ll see the referral traffic, of course, but you also get that immeasurable “credibility rub” that you accrue by virtue of having been mentioned in the same breath as people your audience already trusts.

Tools/Websites:

• BuzzSumo — This tool is great for identifying influencers who are already creating shareable, linkable content.
• Followerwonk — a helpful tool for identifying true decision-makers on Twitter, not just the people shouting into the echo chamber.

8. Press Releases

Press releases have been a thing… well, for ever. They’re about as prehistoric as it gets in internet years. They’re also mostly no-follow links, and don’t deliver that kind of ranking power you would think they would. And yet, against all odds, they do.

A well written press release published on a high authority distribution service gives your profile an incremental nudge in the trust signals department that’s hard to measure but easy to feel. It’s also one of the last link building methods that isn’t absolutely packed to the rafters with spam (well… almost).

Have a truly newsworthy announcement to make (product launch, company anniversary, or just something vaguely leftfield but entertaining), package it up in the form of a press release, and send it out through a distribution service. Or, if you’re feeling a little more saucy, you can take a shot at a journalist that may care.

SEO Value: A backlink from a news site or blog which has picked up your story can have a disproportionately positive effect. One quality publication mention is worth more than dozens of mediocre guest posts.

Tools/Websites:

• PRWeb
• Newswire

Both are good if you want your announcement to land in front of actual journalists and not some neglected back alley of the internet where it will never be seen/read by human eyes.

9. Forum and Community Posting

Okay, this one is kind of a weird one, since forums and general online communities seem to be the saddest place on the internet nowadays. But the truth is, they are actually one of the only places on the web where people still go just to ask real questions and give real feedback. Reddit. Quora. All of those weird niche boards.

All of them can be surprisingly effective if you have the time and patience to actually be an active member there. The thing is you can’t just show up and post links all willy nilly and run. It’s not going to work. People know those types from a thousand paces.

The idea is to actually be an active member of the community. You answer questions, give your opinion. Hell, sometimes you even get dragged into arguments that you didn’t even start. All part of the game. But if you do it long enough and show up enough, people start to recognize that you know what you’re talking about. And that’s when you drop the link once in a while and it doesn’t feel like some half assed attempt at promotion, it just feels like a good solid addition to the conversation.

The thing is most of these communities have a rule where you can have a link in your profile, signature, or the occasional post, but only when it is actually going to provide a benefit to the person reading it. For instance, if someone asks about page speed and you already have a great post written about that, then dropping that link doesn’t sound like sales, it sounds like you are giving them the exact tool they were looking for.

SEO Value: You are pretty much guaranteed a nofollow link from any of these type places. So, it isn’t going to do you much good if you are just spamming these sites. However, it can help your brand identity to show up, plus the occasional right person finds your post and remembers your name.

Tools/Websites:

• Reddit
• Quora
• Any industry specific forum where your target audience actually hangs out

10. Testimonial Link Building Method

Testimonial link building is one of those “too good to be true, but actually is” tactics. Companies love to post positive testimonials — it makes them look like more of a legit business — and it just so happens that they usually put a little link next to it. Now you have an opportunity to get a backlink for free and without having to resort to any sneaky or over-engineered tricks.

The process typically begins with you reaching out to a business whose product or service you genuinely use and actually like. Not “sort of used once and it was OK.” But a product or service that you consistently used to help you complete a task. You write a brief but honest testimonial about what it helped you do — no need for dramatic prose here. Just a short clear example of how it made your life easier or helped you achieve some goal.

They may include your testimonial on their site, and in many cases, your name, company, and link is added right next to it. It’s the kind of link that search engines really love because, again, it is super natural. You’re not gaming the system. You’re simply offering an authentic experience for others, and you should see those types of links rewarded by the major search engines.

Tools/Websites:

Not really a tool-based tactic. You need a few good relationships with services/products you use all the time, though.

General Advice:

• Avoid even bordering on anything that would make Google uncomfortable. It’s easier to just not step over that line to begin with.
• Quality links are better than a bunch of crummy ones. One really good, authoritative link is better than 10-20 spammy links.
• Monitor your backlink profile with something like Google Search Console or Ahrefs — it’s nice to see what’s working and what links are just… existing.

11. Replicating Competitor Backlinks

The biggest “secret” in link building is that sometimes the smartest thing to do is… copy your competitors. This kind of link building method is called Competitor Backlink replication

Take a look at where they’re getting links, and you’ll find some that are proven to work and will save you time and frustration hunting around in the dark.

It’s a pretty simple concept: if your competition is getting links from somewhere, it means it’s already a known opportunity — and if you can either get a link from there as well, or something better, all the better.

Step-by-step

Identify Your Competitors – First, you need to figure out who your real competitors are. It’s tempting to look at any site that sells the same products/services, but this will often lead you down a rabbit hole. Instead, find the sites that are ranking for the keywords that are most important to you. If they’re clearly outranking you, there’s a good chance they’re also sucking up all the traffic.

Check Out Their Backlinks – The easiest (and often most fun) step is to use a tool like Ahrefs, SEMrush, or Moz to figure out what sites are linking to them. Every major SEO tool has this feature built in — just find the competitors you’re interested in, and boom: you’ve got a list of links.

Quality Filter – As always, links are like fish. Just because you caught one, doesn’t mean you should keep it. Look for sites that have a healthy domain rating, are active, and are still relevant to your niche. A link from a dead site, or one that’s only tangentially related to your content is often worse than nothing.

Reaching out – Find an opportunity where you have something valuable to add, and pitch! It might be an updated resource or new guest post or whatever makes sense. The key is to give a reason why you’re reaching out.

This is a fast and easy example: Say there’s a smaller blog with a “Top 10 Link Building Tools” list somewhere. You could email and suggest that they add your product or resource to the list, with a note about why it’s a better tool than some other example on there. Not spammy! In fact, this is a relevant, useful, and mutually beneficial contact.

Podcasting for Link Building

Podcasting is more than telling stories or interviewing cool people — it can also be one of the stealthiest weapons in your link-building arsenal. Thoughtfully done, podcast appearances can give you (and your guests) valuable backlinks that help you not just get more traffic, but also improve credibility and authority.

How? The links in your bio, website, and social media handles in the podcast show notes are backlinks from quality sources. And in the long run, your own episodes will also begin to accumulate links as you get quoted, referenced, or your material shared.

Why? Podcasts are conversational, intimate, and trusted. People want to listen, they care about what’s being said, they trust the stories and expertise of the hosts and guests. A link in a podcast is more than just another pageview — it’s anchored in a natural conversation, linked to by a real person who’s likely an expert or influencer in the topic. This type of link has far more weight than any directory entry link.

Here are some actionable tips for earning links from podcasts:

• Be a guest: Search for podcasts in your niche, and pitch them with a great note. Offer helpful tips and information for the host (include case studies and anecdotes if possible), and be memorable by being real and being helpful.
• Create a podcast: Conduct interviews with industry experts or friends, cover trends and developments, create topical podcasts covering ideas and concepts. Every episode you publish is another link building opportunity, especially if you include links to outside references and resources.
• Use show notes: A bio with links to your website and social links are a given. A single line in the show notes from you to your site can become an extremely valuable backlink.
• Cross-promote: Announce your podcast guest spot on social media, and make sure to always tag the podcast host (even better if you can reciprocate with a link). This will drive more traffic and more cross-promotion for both parties.
• Repurpose content: Look for valuable nuggets of content within podcast episodes you can use to write a blog post, create an infographic or transcript. The opportunities for others to link back to your site will just grow.

SEO Value: Podcast backlinks are links with SEO value. Podcast links are not directories, or 3rd party comments on random websites. These are real genuine endorsements. Links earned from natural organic conversations, quality relationships, and content that others are more than happy to share. These are the links that last, the ones that will help with exposure and credibility, and that will keep on giving you value in the long-term.

Link Building With NAP Profiles & Directory Listings

What is NAP? N-A-P = Name, Address, and Phone number. And no, they aren’t typing your business info onto smoke signals anymore. Get your NAP information right, consistently, across the web, and you could see big returns on small efforts.

Use the links below to learn how to build consistent and quality NAP profiles, and NAP directory links, which are trust signals for both search engines and humans looking for your business.

Tips for NAP Profiles and Directory Listings:

• Use reputable directories, including Google Business Profile, Yelp, Yellow Pages, Bing Places, and any industry or local directories relevant to your niche.
• Be consistent in your name, address, and phone number formatting across all directories. (Search engines don’t love it when “Street” is sometimes abbreviated as “St.”, even in directories)
• If the directory allows it, include a link back to your site. These are low value (not many people click), but it’s an organic, safe backlink to your site.
• Make sure your information is up-to-date in all directories. Hours, website URLs, contact info… If anything changes, update it.

SEO Value: Consistent, accurately managed NAP profiles and directory listings means your business will be more likely to show in local search results. And when you include backlinks in your directories, these are reputable, low risk signals that contribute to your domain authority. It’s not sexy, but it’s effective, and it’s long-term.

Social Media Link Building

It sounds odd at first, but social media is actually really useful for building links! In fact, it can be one of the easiest ways to reach the audience for your link building content.

Posting on Facebook, X.com, LinkedIn and Instagram allows you to share content directly with your target audience.

You want to generate traffic and engagement, so when the content reaches an audience who care about your niche, it will be shared and discussed. As it becomes more popular, backlinks will follow naturally.

Think of social media as little gateways to your site. You want to plant little links here and there, but not all over. Target groups or communities that actually care about your niche. If you are sharing and linking something useful, they’ll spread it for you! Offer value, and when someone clicks that link, it’s a win/win.

SEO Value: Although not all social media sites pass link juice, the value it provides in terms of exposure, audience growth, and additional traffic to your site is unmatched. You may not get backlinks directly from social media sites, but the traffic it generates for your site can increase awareness and bring organic backlinks when someone stumbles on your content and shares it outside of the social site. It’s a slower way of doing things, but it can be highly effective in the long run.

EDU & Government Link Building

The value of a backlink from a .edu and a .gov website is pretty hard to beat. For some reason search engines trust these almost implicitly, and I think it’s well deserved – they are very selective about who they link to.

Links from them are also possible to acquire with a reasonable amount of real-world effort. Scholarships, volunteer work, or building useful educational resources can help you get the attention of universities, schools, and even government institutions. Sometimes it’s as simple as sharing content or tools that they can really make use of in their operations.

Some other options might include research partnerships, educational/government blogs accepting guest posts, or being referenced in official studies/reports. Requires a bit of work to track down the right people and figure out what you can build them something that they’d actually want to link to. Which is part of the reason these links are so powerful. As well as being rare, they’re also pretty exclusive.

SEO Value: Links from these can provide signals of authority and trust to your site. They are rare, and can provide a boost of credibility that can’t be matched by standard backlinks.

What Makes a Backlink Good? A Definitive Guide on Do-Follow Backlinks

Quality, not Quantity

One thing is for certain: if you plan on starting a link building campaign, you’re not going to do it by randomly spamming for links, are you? You are after quality every single time. But what does a good backlink actually consist of? A few ingredients seem to be common when it comes to top-notch backlinks:

• Relevance: A link from a site that relates to your niche (or at least kind of close to it) is going to mean a lot more than a generic link that was just placed on a random page. Think of it as context, and Google does too.
• Authority: The more big and authoritative the site that links to you, the better the link is. A backlink from a site with high domain authority is the SEO equivalent of a golden stamp of approval, while spammy, low-quality links from no-name sites… Well, you get the picture.
• Anchor Text: The exact words that users click on do matter. They should be natural, fitting the rest of the content on the linking site, and not sound forced or unnatural. If it looks like a spammy phrase to you, it will to Google.
• Placement: The same goes for placement. Links hidden in footers or sidebars are not nearly as powerful as ones organically placed in content that’s actually going to be read. When a link provides value to the reader, that’s when it is beneficial.
• Dofollow vs. Nofollow: In a strict sense, a Dofollow link is the only type of link that passes on any SEO value, aka link juice, to the destination. A Nofollow link simply does not. Period. Or does it? Contrary to what many think, Nofollow links can be equally valuable in other ways. They can drive traffic, increase brand awareness, and even lead to natural dofollow links in the future.

Ok, so let’s think of it in a different way: imagine every backlink you get is kind of a vote of confidence you earn from the site you’re getting it from. When a big, reputable site links out to you, it’s as if they’re telling Google, “Hey there, take a look at this website. This is a good one, worth your attention.” The more of these votes you gather, the more Google starts to trust you, the higher your authority becomes and, as a result, the more visible you get. This, my friend, is the power of high-quality backlinks.

Effective Link Building – What NOT to Do

Great link building can make or break your SEO—turn to the dark side, though, and you can seriously hurt your chances. Black-hat link building techniques include:

• Buying links can be tempting as a shortcut. Don’t do it. Even if the sites look legit and active, low-quality links can trigger Google penalties. Earn those links the old-fashioned way, with share-worthy content.
• Link farms exist to create links to other sites. Spammy pages of links, so spammy and blatant that they’re likely to hurt your rankings instead of help.
• Trading too many links with the same site or group of sites. Reciprocal links are OK in moderation, but search engines can detect when they become excessive. They can also pick up on other link schemes with obvious quid pro quo purposes.
• Posting those ever-useless, generic “nice post!” links in blog comments or forums. It’s a total waste of time for links that most sites mark nofollow and Google ignores anyway. And if the site owner sees it? You’re annoying them—and the last thing you need is to turn off valuable PR opportunities.
• Article directory spam. We’re not talking about recent EzineArticles-type submissions. We mean content so riddled with keywords and otherwise bad that even 5 years ago, it had no value. Today, it’s Google-detectable link spam. Links in those directories, unless they’re unique submissions that add real value to that site, are garbage.
• Automated link-building services that spam thousands of links through forums, article directories, blogs, or sites on completely different topics. These links are no good; they’re spammy, irrelevant, and easy for Google to detect and penalize. And even if you get away with it for a while, you’ll probably be sorry you didn’t clean them up.
• Hidden links or cloaking. Link schemes involving text that’s invisible to humans, or ways to show search engines a different version of a page than human users see? AKA “yeah, you’ve been caught.” Google penalties here can be severe, including possible deletion.
• Links inserted into other sites without the owner’s permission. Commonly known as “hacked links.” This is seriously shady. In addition to the ethical and potential legal issues, these links can seriously hurt both that site and yours.

All Google’s executives have consistently warned against using black-hat techniques. As Danny Sullivan has said many times in his current position with Google, it’s not a matter of if Google detects and neutralizes link spam. It’s a matter of when. And when that time comes, the sites using shady link-building techniques are the ones who’ll lose.

Common Link Building Mistakes to Avoid

Building links to a website, just like every other task, can be accompanied by mistakes that newbies can make in the process. Sometimes it can be very difficult not to be tempted by a tempting thought, to follow the impulse and continue the buildup with a “numbers game” or even try to “hack” Google. We’ve all done that at one time or another. Me too. Let me tell you about the most common and easy-to-make ones and why you should do exactly the opposite:

Get Hundreds Of Links Without Context

It is pleasant to build dozens of links to the website. But it does not always bring any results and sometimes can even be counterproductive. Quality is more important than quantity in SEO. After all, it is not Google that counts how many sites link to you, but users. Search engines have a reputation system that gives more importance to quality content. One link from a thematic and authoritative resource than a hundred from absolutely random ones.

Use Inappropriate Pages

The fact that a website or blog exists in the world of the Internet does not mean that it is also suitable for your business. After all, if this project has nothing to do with you, your business and SEO, it can even become suspicious. The main goal of backlinks should be relevance and context. It is these two points that are the key to success and take the lead in building backlinks.

Expand Links From One Source

It is necessary to use different tactics and means to build links, such as blogs, themes, guest posting, recommendations on social media, etc. Therefore, expanding through one channel is wrong because such a link portfolio will look very unnatural to Google’s algorithm. It is important to be as broad as possible, especially when it comes to different types of websites and blogs.

No Monitoring Backlinks

The link portfolio can significantly increase the site’s quality in Google’s eyes. This is why it is very important to follow the progress of links to it using such analytical tools as Google Search Console, Ahrefs, or Moz. By the way, any errors on the site also appear in the backlinks column. Therefore, it is very important not to ignore it.

Use Too Much Exact-Match Anchor Text

Such anchor text or keywords (anchor keywords for exact matches) are mainly suspected of being a link “hack.” The keywords must not be the same, even for different links. Links should not contain too many branded or generic (not closely related to a certain business) keywords. Be sure to diversify your anchor text with the content of your web pages. Anchor text should be a consistent flow of words that would like a user of Google.

Link Building Tools You Actually Need

If you’ve tried doing link building manually at some point, you probably had a dizzying “humans shall not pass” experience. While it can be done this way, you’re strongly encouraged to take advantage of some link building tools that will make your life a lot easier (and productive):

• Ahrefs: At some point or another, we’ve all heard of Ahrefs. Search engine data that functions like X-ray specs is exactly what this powerful toolset can offer to your backlink strategy. Visualize your competitors’ backlinks, identify new prospects, monitor your own links, the list goes on. For once, this one actually lives up to the hype.
• Moz Link Explorer: There are many different variations and Ahrefs alternatives that you can get into. Moz has a well-known tool that serves a lot of purpose. For backlinks, it can work for you, either to help differentiate between low hanging and valuable fruit, or simply to get more information on potential links to acquire.
• BuzzSumo: Not just for content research, BuzzSumo will help you identify trending topics, while simultaneously highlighting the names and social media accounts of influencers within your space that are most likely to engage, share or link to your content. Akin to Ahrefs, another all-star tool for your SEO game.
• SEMrush: SEMrush has it all, not just links. An all-in-one package where you can keep track of your outreach and links, as well as get an idea of what the competitors are up to (keyword: spy).
• Google Search Console: The underrated freebie. This free-to-use Google search console will show you exactly who’s linking to you (at the bare minimum, of course). Filter the data you need, assess quality, identify patterns, and maybe even find a hidden gem or two.

The Reason Why This Matters

Link building takes time, sometimes it can be messy. It’s not one of those things you can do once and never have to do again. But at the same time, if you build quality links, you’re also building meaningful relationships, establishing your niche authority, and attracting the traffic that will stick around. Stay on top of your content creation game, keep an eye on what the search engines are up to and modify your approach as you go, and you’ll start to notice progress and consistent, tangible growth over time.

Think of it as gardening: You plant the seeds (links), take care of it (quality content + outreach), and in time, it will develop into a healthy ecosystem that will feed your site, your visitors, and your business.

FAQ Section:

How long does it take to see results from link building?
It can take anywhere from a few weeks to several months to see noticeable improvements in rankings, depending on the quality of the links and the competitiveness of your niche.

Can I buy backlinks?
Buying backlinks is against Google’s guidelines and can lead to penalties. It’s better to focus on acquiring backlinks through legitimate and organic methods like white-hat guest posting, broken link building, and content creation.

Is link building still important for SEO in 2023?
Yes, backlinks remain one of the top-ranking factors in SEO. As long as search engines value backlinks, link building will continue to play a vital role in SEO strategy.

What is the Skyscraper Technique?
The skyscraper technique involves finding high-performing content in your niche, creating a better and more in-depth version, and then reaching out to people who linked to the original content to ask for a backlink to your superior version.

How do I know if a backlink is valuable?
Look at the relevance and authority of the website giving you the backlink. The link should come from a site that is related to your industry and has a high domain authority.