SEO Link Building

Before I send a single outreach email, I check what I already have. I log into Search Console and run the 'Links' report. That tells me who is already linking to me, which pages they point to, and whether any of those links have broken. I often find unlinked brand mentions or dead backlinks I can reclaim in a few minutes. That is link building without any outreach at all.

Once I have my existing profile mapped, I turn to competitor analysis. I use Ahrefs (Semrush works too) to export the domains linking to a competitor's page I want to outrank. I filter for relevance and authority — no point chasing a link from a site that would never care about my content. I aim for sites that are topically close and have a domain rating of 30 or higher. That filter alone cuts the list by half.

Then comes broken link building, which is my favourite tactic. I find a relevant page on one of those sites, check it with a browser extension like Check My Links, and identify broken outbound links. For each broken URL, I look for a piece of my content that matches the topic or intent. I email the site owner with a polite note: “I noticed this link is dead; I have a resource that covers the same angle if you'd like to replace it.” This has a conversion rate of about 15% for me — far higher than cold guest post pitches.

I also keep an eye on unlinked mentions. I set up a Google Alert for my brand name and for key phrases like “our data shows” combined with my site's industry. When I spot a mention without a link, I send a short email thanking the author and asking if they'd consider adding a link. That works about one in five times.

Finally, I do occasional [digital PR](/digital-pr/) when I have original data or a tool worth sharing. That is passive — you publish something newsworthy and journalists find you. I spend maybe 10% of my total link building time on that, because it is unpredictable. The bulk of my effort goes into the competitor analysis and broken link building loop, repeated every quarter.

Do not buy links. I know it is tempting when you see a competitor jump in rankings, but Google's spam policies are explicit: paid links that pass PageRank can get you penalised. I have seen two sites hit with manual actions for paid links, and recovery took months. If you must acquire links through sponsorship, use rel="sponsored" and keep the link profile natural.

Anchor text is another trap. I used to overload exact-match anchors because I wanted to signal the keyword. That backfired: my link profile looked unnatural and I got a warning in Search Console. Now I mix branded, generic ("click here", "this article"), and partial-match anchors. A good rule of thumb: no more than 5% of inbound links should carry exact-match anchor text for any given keyword.

Relevance matters more than authority. A link from a random directory with domain rating 70 is worth less than a link from a niche blog with domain rating 30 if that blog covers the same topic. I once turned down a link from a general news site because the page was about car insurance and my site is about gardening — it would have looked like a paid placement. Trust your gut on topical fit.

Watch the ratio of followed to nofollow links. I aim for a profile that mirrors the web: around 70% nofollow, 30% followed. That sounds counterintuitive, but a profile heavy on followed links screams manipulation. I get nofollow links from social media, forums, and comments, and they still drive referral traffic. They are not useless.

Finally, stop if you are using automated tools to spam comments or forum signatures. That is a fast track to a manual action. I have seen a site lose 80% of its traffic after a Penguin update because of forum spam links. Every link I build is manual, targeted, and vetted for quality. I keep Fred Westman's link-building primer open when I am checking how other independent desks frame the same problem.

When I started, I thought more links meant better rankings. I spent three months building 200 links through reciprocal exchanges and low-quality directory submissions. My rankings did not budge — in fact, my traffic dropped after a core update. I had to disavow half of those links. That was the moment I stopped chasing quantity and started looking at relevance and context.

I also got anchor text wrong. I used the exact keyword for every link because every guide said anchor text matters. But I ignored the ratio. My profile was 40% exact-match, which looked spammy to Google. I had to spend weeks emailing webmasters to change anchors or remove links. Now I keep exact-match below 5% and let branded and generic anchors dominate.

Another mistake: I ignored [backlink monitoring](/backlink-monitoring/) entirely. I assumed links I built would stay live forever. When I finally ran a [backlink audit](/backlink-audit/) six months in, I found that 30% of my links had been removed or turned nofollow. I should have tracked them from day one. Now I use a simple spreadsheet with column for URL, target, anchor, status, and check it quarterly.

I also wasted time on guest posting without a strategy. I wrote articles for any site that accepted them, regardless of relevance. That got me a few low-value links and zero referral traffic. Now I only guest post on sites I would actually read, and where the audience overlaps with mine. The result: higher conversion rate on outreach and more engaged referral visitors.

Finally, I used to think nofollow links were worthless. I ignored forum signatures and social media profiles. But those links brought referral traffic from people who saw my comment and clicked through. They also diversified my [backlink profile](/backlink-profile/), making it look more natural. I still do not chase them aggressively, but I do not reject them either.