Link Building
The practice of acquiring backlinks from other websites to improve authority and rankings. When done right, it's one of the most effective SEO tactics. When done wrong, it gets you penalised.
Why It Matters
Links remain one of Google's top ranking factors. A site with a strong, diverse backlink profile will consistently outrank a site with identical content but fewer links. Link building is how you actively grow that profile rather than waiting and hoping.
The challenge is that the line between legitimate link building and link manipulation has been policed heavily since Google's Penguin update. Tactics that were standard practice in 2010 will get you penalised today. The key is earning links through genuine value rather than buying, exchanging, or manufacturing them.
In Practice
Create content worth linking to: original research, comprehensive guides, useful tools, unique data. Then actively promote it to journalists, bloggers, and industry publications who cover your topic.
Digital PR is the modern evolution of link building - creating newsworthy content or data that earns media coverage and links naturally. HARO (now Connectively) and journalist request platforms can also generate quality links.
Broken link building, resource page outreach, and guest posting on quality sites still work. Mass directory submissions, link exchanges, PBNs, and bought links don't - at least not without significant risk.
Common Mistakes
Buying links from vendors who promise "high DA" placements. Pursuing quantity over quality. Ignoring relevance - a link from an irrelevant site carries less value. Not diversifying anchor text, making your link profile look manipulated.
Related Terms
Glossary
Backlink
A link from another site to yours - still one of Google's top ranking factors.
Glossary
Link Equity
The ranking value passed through links from one page to another - also called link juice.
Glossary
Anchor Text
The clickable words in a hyperlink - a relevance signal Google actually uses.
Glossary
PBN (Private Blog Network)
A network of fake sites built to manipulate rankings with links - don't do this.
Glossary
White Hat SEO
SEO that follows search engine guidelines - sustainable, penalty-free, and worth the wait.
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