Definition
Link building is a professional term that covers all activities related to increasing the number of incoming links to a website from other websites.
Search engines interpret links as recommendations, and the more recommendations you have, the more popular you are in principle. However, there's a big difference in how much value a link can transfer, so not all links are equally valuable.
Key Principle
Fundamentally, all genuine links carry the greatest value - those you earn completely naturally when other website owners choose to link to you because what's being linked to stands out in one way or another.
Understanding Link Value
Not all links are created equal. Link value depends on multiple factors that determine how much "link juice" or authority is passed from one page to another.
Link Value Calculator
Estimated Link Value:
Formula: (Authority × 0.85) ÷ Links × Time Factor
Time factor increases value over first 24 months
High-Value Link Characteristics
- ✓ High domain authority source
- ✓ Relevant to your content/industry
- ✓ From editorial content
- ✓ Few outbound links on page
- ✓ Natural anchor text
- ✓ Dofollow attribute
Low-Value Link Characteristics
- ✗ Low authority or spammy source
- ✗ Irrelevant to your content
- ✗ From link farms or directories
- ✗ Many outbound links on page
- ✗ Over-optimized anchor text
- ✗ Nofollow or sponsored attributes
Two Forms of Link Building
Fundamentally, there are two forms of link building, and these two forms differ markedly from each other in approach, effort, and long-term sustainability.
Earned Links
Natural recommendations you have earned by creating valuable content that others want to reference.
Acquired Links
Links you actively acquire through various strategies, outreach, and tactical approaches.
The Ideal Link Building Strategy
Most successful SEO strategies combine both approaches: creating amazing content that naturally attracts links while also proactively reaching out to relevant websites and building relationships in your industry.
Earned Links - Natural Recommendations
Earned links cover the occurrence of all natural links - links you've earned and recommendations you've obtained solely by others finding your website and finding it attractive enough to create a link pointing to it.
The reason you've earned links can be many, but you've somehow distinguished yourself enough that a person has chosen to insert a link on their website pointing to yours, thereby recommending what's being linked to and thus your website.
Can you influence earned links?
Absolutely. By creating fantastic content and marketing it to the right people, you can greatly increase the chances of earning more incoming links.
Content Types That Earn Links Naturally
Original Research & Data:
Industry studies, surveys, and unique data sets
Expert Roundups:
Interviews and insights from industry leaders
Visual Content:
Infographics, interactive tools, and visualizations
Breaking News Analysis:
Expert commentary on industry developments
Link Bait Strategies
Link bait is the art of creating something that gives your website attention and coverage, and through that, incoming links. It can be through images, video, text, and much more, but it's best if it's something you can showcase on the site you want links to, so it can be used as a reference point.
Advanced Link Bait Ideas:
Newsjacking & Trending Topics
Capitalize on current events and trending topics in your industry. Create timely content that adds expert insight to breaking news or trending discussions.
Example: Industry report analyzing the impact of new regulations
Contrarian & Controversial Content
Take a well-researched stance that goes against conventional wisdom. Controversial content generates discussion and natural links when done thoughtfully.
Example: Why [Popular Strategy] Actually Hurts Your Business
Ultimate Resource Guides
Become the definitive source for information on a specific topic. Include data visualizations, expert quotes, and comprehensive coverage.
Example: The Complete 2025 Guide to [Industry Topic]
Data-Driven Humor
Present data or insights in an entertaining, memorable way. Humor makes content more shareable and linkable.
Example: Ranking Cities by Coffee Consumption vs. Productivity
Original Research & Studies
Conduct and publish original research that provides new insights into your industry or target audience.
Example: 2025 Consumer Behavior Study: [Industry] Edition
Free Tools & Resources
Create valuable free tools, templates, or calculators that solve real problems for your target audience.
Example: ROI Calculator for [Specific Use Case]
Link Bait Success Metrics
Acquired Links - Active Link Building
All forms of links where you are actively involved in the setup of the link in one way or another are called acquired links.
Examples of this could be adding your own link to a link directory, an article directory, a guest blog, a social bookmarking service, a business directory, etc.
White Hat Acquired Links
- • Guest posting on relevant sites
- • Resource page link building
- • Broken link building
- • Digital PR and journalist outreach
- • Industry partnership links
- • Business directory submissions
Risky Link Building Tactics
- • Private blog networks (PBNs)
- • Link farms and exchanges
- • Comment spam
- • Low-quality directory submissions
- • Paid links without disclosure
- • Automated link building tools
Purchased Links and Disclosure
All forms of purchased links also fall under acquired links, regardless of whether they are created as a sponsored collaboration, marked in another way, or not marked at all.
Important: In many countries, you must mark purchased links as sponsored, as failing to do so is a breach of advertising laws. Google also requires all paid links to be marked as nofollow and rel="sponsored".
Risk of Purchased Links
In principle, Google tries to nullify the value of all links that are purchased in one way or another. Therefore, you can never be sure that a link you've bought actually affects your rankings in search engines.
Should you avoid purchased links entirely?
Can I risk buying links that have no value? Yes, absolutely. Does that mean you shouldn't purchase links? No - because even though some links might not work, others will. In competitive markets, it's very difficult to compete if you don't use acquired links, as it has become the de facto standard.
The key is to focus on high-quality, relevant link opportunities that provide value beyond just SEO - such as referral traffic and brand exposure.
How Google Uses Links
Googlebot finds and follows all new links they find on the Internet, which naturally includes links to your website. Googlebot crawls pages primarily to find new content, which they do through the links they encounter during their crawl.
How the process works:
Discovery: Googlebot discovers links to your page
Processing: Information is sent to a "sandbox" for your website
Calculation: The link graph (large calculation) is updated continuously
Implementation: Rankings change only when this is updated
Link Processing Timeline
Link Quality Signals
The value from links rarely comes immediately. The link graph, which is a large calculation that goes from the weakest website to the strongest, must be continuously updated. And it's only when this is updated that rankings change in search results.
PageRank and Link Value
PageRank Explained
Google performs a complete calculation of all websites it knows about and assigns them a numerical value. This value describes how popular the website is, and this value is called PageRank in professional terms.
PageRank is an essential part of Google's algorithm and simultaneously what made Google the world's most popular search engine.
Before Google and PageRank
Before Google included links in calculations for a page's importance, there was no hierarchy in search results, and results were shown based on trivial relevance scores. For example, by counting the number of times a search term appeared in text. Not surprisingly, this didn't provide fantastic search results.
Modern PageRank Evolution
Key Link Metrics
While Google's internal PageRank is not publicly available, several SEO tools provide their own metrics to estimate link value and domain authority.
Domain Authority (DA)
1-100Predicts ranking potential
Page Authority (PA)
1-100Individual page strength
Trust Flow
0-100Link quality assessment
Citation Flow
0-100Link quantity assessment
URL Rating (UR)
0-100Ahrefs page strength
Domain Rating (DR)
0-100Ahrefs domain strength
Metric Correlation Analysis
Modern Link Building Best Practices
Content-First Approach
- • Create 10x better content than competitors
- • Include original research and data
- • Make content visually appealing
- • Optimize for shareability
Relationship Building
- • Engage with industry influencers
- • Contribute to industry discussions
- • Attend virtual and physical events
- • Provide value before asking
Technical Excellence
- • Ensure fast loading times
- • Mobile-first responsive design
- • Clean, crawlable site structure
- • Strong internal linking
Common Mistakes to Avoid
Link Quality Issues:
- • Buying low-quality links
- • Over-optimized anchor text
- • Irrelevant link sources
- • Link velocity spikes
Strategy Mistakes:
- • Focusing only on homepage links
- • Ignoring competitor analysis
- • No follow-up on outreach
- • Neglecting link maintenance
Ready to Master Link Building?
Now that you understand the fundamentals, dive into the most complete guide to link building - with all the strategies, tactics, and tools you need to succeed.
Read the Complete Link Building Guide