Effective Link Building Strategies that Drive SEO Success

David Farkas  
Table of Contents

If you care about organic search traffic, then it is absolutely necessary to understand what link building strategies work and which strategies to avoid.

Much has changed since the “Golden Age of Link Building,” which happened from about 2006-2012. Much has also changed since Google implemented Panda, Penguin, RankBrain, Accelerated Mobile Pages, and other search algorithm adjustments. 

A lot has stayed the same, though, too. We’ve had years to reflect on major Google algorithm changes, and we’ve spent those years carefully observing what works. We use many of the same link-building fundamentals today that we used in 2012. 

Google’s main consideration is “user experience”– serving up the best possible results for any given search query. And, since we want our clients and ourselves to be highly visible in the Search Engine Results Pages, our link building efforts are much more successful when we keep Google’s main goal in mind. 

In this guide, I’ll be covering a number of link building strategies that you can rely on to boost your SEO efforts and rankings and the strategies that are ineffective or even worse – harmful.

Since we’ve had years to look at the after-effects of Google’s big shakeups, which many saw as anti-link building measures, I can show you what still works for me and what gels with Google’s master plan for their monolithic search engine and the kinds of links that are worth your time and effort. Every single website is different, and the ideal linking strategy for every website is different, too. Keep your own website in mind as you read this article. 

Let’s get back to the fundamentals. 

Links are valuable to everyone who uses the web. For link builders, marketers, and general SEO-types, good links lead to increased search rankings and visibility. For the average person who doesn’t spend even a single second per day thinking about SEO, links are useful in other ways. 

The average person clicks a link to get to another webpage. That link could be in a website’s navigation, on an internal webpage, on a SERP, on a map, in a directory, or on a social media platform. The average person clicks a link because they’re interested in what’s on the other side. Do you want to read a review? You click a link. Add something to your shopping cart? Click a link. Book an appointment? Click a link. Find out what a celebrity was doing last Friday? Click a link. Read more of your favorite writer’s blog post? Click a link. 

You get the picture. 

Links are absolutely everywhere because they are the supporting skeleton and foundation of the world wide web. I’d go so far as to say they are the very currency of the web. 

Links have been valuable since before Google was even a thing, and before other search engines were even reliable. Before you had a dependable search engine, you had to click a link on a relevant webpage to get to any related content you were interested in. The average person still uses links that way. They always have and, until the very infrastructure of the web changes, they always will. 

Links are the currency that buys trust. If your website gets a link from a New York Times article or from a popular food blog, it’s a signal that your content is of similar quality. That link signals to Google that the NYT or Epicurious trust your content enough to push their readers towards it. The link also signals to those readers that your content has, within the context on the linking webpage, enough merit and quality to be worth your time and your click. 

So, in its purest and most valuable form, a link is a signal of trust and quality for your website. 

Not every link you click takes you to a quality webpage, of course, so not every link is valuable. Even after Google’s crackdown, you can encounter a garbage link almost anywhere. That’s why Google clamped down on spammy links and why good link builders work so hard to build links that make sense and enhance user experience. 

Think about it this way– you only want your website to be associated with trustworthy links from relevant sources. You don’t want someone to be disappointed when they click a link and land on your website. You want someone to be interested, satisfied, or even delighted when they land on your website from a hyperlink. 

That’s what Google wants, too. I can’t say I’ve agreed with every decision and algorithm change Google has ever made, but I agree with them on this principle. Links are currency backed by trust, and we want to earn and keep the trust of the users who land on our websites. 

Let’s talk more about these users and the general audience for your links– because it goes a bit deeper than you might think. 

There are two types of audiences for your links– human and not human. 

Let’s start with the humans because, at least for our purposes, they’re easier to explain and understand.

Boiled down to the basic truth, the human audience for your links is made up of the people who might click them. At their best, these are people who are interested in your website’s niche, your content, your website itself, and what you have to offer them. At their worst, they’re people who ended up in the wrong place, clicked the wrong link, or are just clicking around with their eyes closed. 

Luckily, your human link audience usually tends to fall more towards the first category. They’re the people whose needs and expectations you need to satisfy in order to make your website successful. 

There are also some non-humans whose needs you need to satisfy– Google’s web spiders and search algorithms. And, while human beings are almost infinitely complex, we know more about them than we do about Google’s secretive, proprietary search engine algorithms. 

So while any person who finds your link can click it and visit your website, Google’s search algorithms help make sure the right people can actually find you.  

Google judges and scores your links (and your website) based on many factors, some of which we just don’t know. 

Here are the main link quality factors we do know:

  • Relevance – How relevant the linked content is to the linking page.
  • Anchor Text – The actual text of the link such as ‘click here’ or ‘www.dogfood.com’ or ‘cheap dog food New Mexico.’
  • Authority – The authority of the linking site– is it a big name or a trusted entity?
  • Link Quantity – Does the same website link to the same page on your website multiple times? Google’s web spiders and search algorithms take it into account. 
  • ‘Nofollow’ or ‘do follow’ – ‘Nofollow’ is a piece of code you write into a link’s HTML that basically tells a search engine that particular link is not important.

So while a person who clicks your link and lands on your website might be disappointed or feel misled, they are not nearly the harsh audience that Google is. Google is always judging your links, and its search engine algorithms are always vigilant. 

If you want visibility on Google’s search engine, you have to play by their rules– because they’re an audience that’s always watching. 

If you’ve read this far, you probably already know the value of a link and are interested in building more of your own, so I’ll keep this section relatively short. I do want to tell you exactly what links can do for your website, though. 

There are four main things links can do for your website. 

  1. Direct Traffic

As discussed in the ‘value of a link’ section earlier in this article, links can generate direct traffic to your website. If a blogger or webmaster links to you from their site, and your content is relevant to their website’s users, some people will click that link and land on your website. 

Direct traffic from those links is valuable, as those people who click those links are probably already interested in your niche. If you provide good content that satisfies that user, you may even get a new fan, follower, or customer. 

Example: For instance, check out this article from The Pet Express. It links to six different “great pet blogs.” If you’re interested in pets and want more content like what The Pet Express produces, you’re likely to click one or more of those links. You might even enjoy what you find enough to become a regular reader of one of the linked blogs. 

The second thing a link can do for your site is boost your organic search ranking, increasing search engine visibility. 

These types of links are usually earned by making good content. If you produce an article, video, podcast, image, infographic, or anything else that catches the eye of a person who runs an authoritative, high-quality website, they might link to you. If they do link to you, Google’s search algorithms and web spiders will notice. 

The people who create these valuable links are usually “curators of quality.” These types of links from trusted sources are the way to move the needle on search rankings. 

Example: A Florida distillery got a great link from Forbes because they use oysters in their vodka making process. They did something compelling enough for one of Forbes’ lifestyle contributors to write about them and link to their website. 

  1. Both

Certain links can both drive direct traffic and boost organic search rankings. These links are exceedingly rare. 

Take a look at the example in section 1– it’s going to send some direct traffic, but it’s likely not from a “big” enough website to increase search engine visibility all on its own. The link in example 2 is going to be a valuable link for organic search visibility, but it’s probably not going to send a lot of direct traffic to the distillery’s website. Not every Forbes reader lives in or near South Walton, Florida after all. 

The type of link that generates direct traffic and boosts search rankings usually comes only from the most trusted websites in your particular niche. Your website’s niche is different than mine, so the type of link that provides both traffic and rankings will be different for both of us. 

Example: Vice recently ran an article about a man with a large collection of fast food toys. It was posted in the website’s “life” and pop culture section, so anyone who clicked the article was likely interested in learning more about the man’s collection. Vice directly linked to the man’s personal website. Because Vice is known for curating odd and interesting things to a group of hyper-interested users, the man likely saw a huge increase in direct traffic. Because Vice is a huge, high-authority website, the man’s search engine rankings likely increased, too. 

  1. Neither 

Some links provide no value– they send no direct traffic and they don’t impact organic search. The majority of links on the web fall into this category. 

If you want to build links, you need to make sure you’re building them in the first three categories. That’s what I’m going to help you with in the next section. 

Building links is hard work that takes a long time. If you want to effectively build valuable links, you need to be willing to put the work and time in. The more shortcuts you take, the less valuable your links will be. 

First things first, though– you are going to be wasting every second you spend building links if your website isn’t worth linking to. If your website isn’t easy to use, doesn’t load quickly, doesn’t have good content, doesn’t answer user questions, and doesn’t seem like it was made and maintained by real human beings, then you shouldn’t be trying to build links. 

Valuable links are created by people, and most people won’t link to something that looks outdated, spammy, or empty. 

If your website is already up to code, then read on. If not, you might want to spend some more time on your website and revisit this article a little bit later. 

If you’ve got your ducks in a row, know that effective link building requires using multiple strategies at once. 

Here are some of the strategies I have used in the past and still find to be effective today. 

  1. The Basics

First, we’ll start with “the basics.” The basics are what I like to call the links that anyone can get. These links are usually less valuable than links you can obtain through other strategies and don’t necessarily even require linkable content, but they can help you out in the long run. 

Anyone can get links in relevant directories. These can be local directories, niche directories, national directories, industry directories, or any number of other directory types. In general, you just submit your website and you get a directory link. It’s as simple as that. 

Of course, you want to make sure the directory is trustworthy and relevant. Getting links from dozens or hundreds of random directories will not help you out in the long run. Stick to what makes sense. 

Another thing I file under “the basics” is something like your basic blog roll. It’s like having your friends link to you. These are usually sitewide links from lower-authority sites, so they don’t push the needle too much. But if a friend, acquaintance, or contact gives you a vote of confidence with a link, it may result in some direct traffic. 

Building merit-based links means you have to create something interesting, useful, or entertaining. Something people want to link to. We call this type of “something” a linkable asset. 

I’ve written about how to create linkable assets at length in the past, so I urge you to check out some of that content if you want to get started. 

These linkable assets can include infographics, “101” guides, ultimate guides, and resource pages. Basically, you want to find the best content in your niche and either improve upon it or tackle it in a different way. 

These links, which generally provide organic search rankings boosts and some amount of direct traffic, usually come from “curators”– those people looking to link their audience to the most useful and relevant sites in your niche. 

And, remember that this merit-based approach will be different for every single website. You’ll need to create your own blueprint for creating the type of linkable content that resonates within your niche and industry. 

Know that you’ll seldom get these links just by sitting back and waiting, even if your content is incredible. You’ll hardly ever build links by being passive. I find that some amount of outreach is always required. 

Outreach is a link builder’s bread and butter. You can reach out to bloggers, website administrators, website contributors, and anyone who has access to modify or publish content on a website. 

There are the real people you need to approach in order to get a link. For instance, if a website mentions your brand but doesn’t link to you, you may be able to reach out to them for a link. 

In general, we use link outreach to:

  • Get links for unlinked brand mentions
  • Publish guest posts
  • Get our linkable assets in front of relevant bloggers or curators
  • Get our websites linked on relevant resource pages
  • Suggest our website as a better alternative to something a website is currently linking to 

You’ll have to decide which one (or more) of these methods is right for you and your website. 

Outreach is always time consuming and sometimes difficult. In general, the harder a link is to get, the more valuable it will be to your search rankings and direct traffic. 

You may only hear back from one out of every ten people you email. You may hear back from even fewer people than that. Because it’s tough and demanding work, you need to make sure to craft your own outreach plan– only reach out to relevant websites. Every site you want a link from needs to make perfect sense for your niche and industry. 

If you want the granular, in-depth guide on outreach, I’ve already written it for you. 

And if you want to learn one outreach trick that will set you apart from other link builders, I’ve got that covered, too. 

There’s no link building without outreach, so you’d better get started. 

  1. Linkbait 

Linkbait isn’t something you can rely on for your core link building strategy. But sometimes it’s fun (and necessary) to take a break and try something different, which is where linkbait comes in. 

“Linkbait” is any piece of content that’s useful, funny, or controversial enough that people link to it on their own accord, or can be easily persuaded to link to it. The type of linkbait that will work for you heavily depends on your website, your niche, and your industry. Linkbait can also result in spectacular failure, so plan accordingly. 

Linkbait can be an industry-based hot take, an unusual approach to getting something done, an almost unbelievable story, or the funniest thing that’s ever happened to someone in your niche. With linkbait, you usually either need to go big or not bother. 

It sometimes works, but you need to weigh the pros and cons– calculate how long it will take you, how likely it is to get a couple of links, and how to do it without damaging your reputation. 

Linkbait doesn’t make sense for every website or every niche. If it makes sense for you, you now know what to consider. 

  1. Other Strategies 

There are many other link building strategies, as well. The four strategies I’ve outlined so far are some of the most effective ways to still build links today, but there are more ideas out there than I can fit in one article. 

Here are a few examples:

  • Event links (conferences, seminars, etc)
  • Local links (local listings, BBB, newspaper sites, etc)
  • Educational links (written curriculum, internship postings, scholarships, alumni directories, etc)
  • Community links (forums, Q&A sites, etc)

There are dozens more examples, too, of course. How deep you want to dive is completely up to you. If you somehow find yourself at the end of these fundamentals and need to try something new, you can check out this post from Backlinko. 

So I’ve told you about the things that still work for me today, many of which I’ve been using for years and years. I also need to tell you about what won’t work this year or any year. These ineffective strategies are fairly obvious, so I’ll keep it short. 

Link building tactics to avoid:

  • Don’t buy links in an attempt to trick Google – Google is surprisingly good against sniffing out paid links, and they go against Google’s rules. 
  • Don’t buy cookie cutter packaged link services – The people who sell these services seldom tailor links to your website or niche. You may get some links, but most of them won’t be valuable. 
  • Don’t base your link decisions solely on search engines – Google considers user experience first when it comes to their search engine. If you only consider Google and don’t consider the people clicking your links or landing on your website, you likely won’t do very well with Google. 
  • Don’t go against quality guidelines – Don’t violate Google (or any other search engine)’s links quality guidelines. You may get a boost in the short run, but you could be looking at a penalty in the long run. 

I believe these four tactics are all pretty easy to avoid. If you want to be effective and successful, don’t be tempted by the easy wins– keep away from these ideas and focus on the proven fundamentals. 

In Conclusion

Most of the link building strategies I do on a daily basis aren’t all that different from what I did three (or even five) years ago. I stick to the fundamentals and hone my skills. I also take notice of what works and what doesn’t. Luckily, the strategies I’ve spent the most time on over the length of my career are still effective. 

I’ve tried to get the idea across that link building is tough and takes a long time, but also that it can have a huge impact on your website and your business. If you only remember one thing from this article, make it this: In general, the easier any link is to obtain, the less valuable that link is likely to be.

Also remember that your link building approach should be unique. What works for me might be similar to what will work for you, but it may differ wildly. The specific link building approach used for any given web site should be different based on each site’s focus, content, and intended audience.

The types of links that help one site gain search engine visibility are not the types that will help another site. Every site has its own linking potential. 

Much earlier in this article, I talked about how links are the web’s  currency. But the links you build to your website also tell a story. Your links tell a story about how hard you worked, how much relevance mattered during your work, and whether you value your users or not. 

Think of your link building story like this:

  • The links that point to your site tell a story about your site, like a transcript or “rap sheet”
  • Search engines decide if that story is credible in order to make decisions about your site’s ranking 
  • Since the linking approach required for any given web site must vary depending on that site’s focus, content, and intended audience, then each site deserves its own link building and content publicity plan or blueprint 
  • Your most important decision about links will be which ones to pursue, and why

Where to spend your link building effort and why has been the most important fundamental of what we do since the industry began. You have to determine how and where to apply these link building fundamentals to your website, your niche, and your audience. 

I can teach you how to build links successfully, but it’s up to you to figure out which links are worth your time and effort. 

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