What Is Link Building?

July 18, 2024 Christopher Jan Benitez

Link building.

These words send shivers down the spines of SEOs.

As one of the most difficult yet important parts of SEO, however, you need to embrace link building for SEO to increase your site’s traffic.

In this post, I’ll go over the entire spectrum of link building - what it is, how to do it, and more.

But be warned - this post is going to be over 6,500 words shedding light on every nook and cranny about this topic.

So buckle up and get ready for an arduous and crazy ride about building links.

Anatomy of a Backlink

To begin, you need to know what constitutes a backlink.

In essence, a backlink—also known as a hyperlink—is a link from a different site to your site.

Here’s what a link looks like in our post about free backlinks:

As you can see, the phrase “Product Hunt” has a different colour than the rest.

Normally, a blue link indicates that people can click on it. However, other sites changed the colour of the link to suit their needs.

But whenever you hover over a link with your cursor, the pointer turns into a hand with its index finger pointing up.

Now, here’s what a link looks like under the hood.

The < a> denotes the anchor tag. Any text that appears after the tag will link to the target page.

Inside the anchor tag is the href property. This is where you can find the target page of the link.

The string of words following the anchor tag will be the link’s anchor text. The linked page provides context and helps search engines understand the content of the linked page, which is crucial for SEO.

Finally, the anchor tag is closed with a “< /a>.” That means the link stops from the last word before the closing tag.

From the example above, the hyperlink points to the Product Hunt homepage. And the anchor text is a branded one (Product Hunt).

Since the link appears from our blog, the hyperlink effectively becomes a backlink.

A Quick History of Link Building

Link building has come a long way since the early days of search engines. Let’s explore its evolution and impact on SEO.

In 1998, Google revolutionized online search with its algorithm-based approach.

Unlike directory-based search engines like Yahoo! and Altavista, Google used the PageRank algorithm to weigh page quality, with backlinks as a primary factor. Link building has since become a crucial part of search engine optimization (SEO), emphasizing the value of high-quality links from authoritative websites.

In the early 2000s, SEO was largely unregulated, leading to manipulative link-building practices. Empty websites filled with links and other black hat tactics flourished until Google’s Jagger Update in 2005 targeted link-building spam.

Subsequent updates like the Farmer Update targeted thin content and article submission sites.

The Helpful Content Updates have recently reshaped the SEO landscape, emphasizing the importance of established brands with robust link profiles.

However, sites that survived this latest round of algo updates had one thing in common: established brands with a robust link profile.

With all the algorithmic changes, one thing is certain:

Backlinks play a vital role in SEO.

How Do Search Engines Treat Backlinks?

So why is link building that important to Google?

Why not measure the quality of a site based solely on the content it produces or any other factor?

It’s because Google treat links as recommendations.

The recommendations you get from influential websites validate yours.

Ultimately, link building aims to get as many links from high-authority sites as possible.

However, you can only get backlinks if you have great content on your site.

Nobody wants to recommend a website that sucks because that shows poor judgment on their part.

So, it would be best if you gave them a reason why they should link back to your site. And great content is at the very heart of it. High-quality links from authoritative and topically related websites are crucial to validating your site and improving your organic search rankings.

The Proof is in the Pudding

Moz released a study in 2015 that measures the different ranking factors according to importance.

Using its highly popular full-suite SEO tool to the test in conjunction with others like Ahrefs, SimilarWeb, and the like, Moz was able to correlate a site’s link profile and its organic rankings.

To no one’s surprise, domain-level and page-level links got the highest scores.

Two years later, SEMrush conducted its test to determine which ranking factors are the most important.

While user activity, such as time on site, bounce rate, and others, carries more weight, total referral domain and backlinks aren’t far behind. High-quality backlinks can help a website rank higher in search results.

In 2019, Eric Enge of Perficient Digital ran another test regarding whether links matter for SEO.

His team calculated the Spearman Correlation for x number of pages in SERPs for the queries they used and took the Quadratic Mean to extract the scores.

Using this methodology, they were able to run tests for the following:

Number of links to a page - computes the correlation between sites and their total number of backlinks
Links to a page by query type - computes the correlation between links and informational or commercial search intent
Links to a page by market segments - computes the correlation between links and industry (finance, medical, technology, others)
Links aggregated by normalized link counts - computes for the correlation between sites and the normalized link totals of 10 SERP calculations.

Talking about this at length wouldn’t do justice to the amount of work Eric and his team put into their research. So I suggest you check it out for yourself.

In short, adding new links to the page can help spike its organic ranking, as seen in their case study.

There’s nothing new that their study added to the notion that backlinks are important in SEO. However, they laid the groundwork on how well-placed links from authoritative sites can tip the scales in your favour.

Finally, it’s important to mention that all studies above only prove link building as a correlation to increase organic search ranking and not causation.

Focusing on link-building does not immediately result in higher rankings. Other factors come into play, most of which are mentioned in the Moz and SEMrush studies.

The point is this:

While link building is a big puzzle piece, it alone doesn’t form the entire picture.

More Proof

Speaking of case studies, there are others conducted by brands to show how link-building helps grow their website’s organic ranking.

Outreach Mama, a very popular backlink seller, managed to rank on the first page for four vital keywords in the span of eight months.

Backlinks from other websites significantly contributed to their SEO success, showcasing the importance of acquiring high-quality links.

They employed a three-step strategy to acquire the links that helped propel them to the top. We will also discuss the tactics mentioned on their page, so it is better to hold off on them for now.

Brian Dean is no stranger to SEO, and we can’t talk about him without mentioning the Skyscraper Technique.

While people are creating skyscraper content, Brian was one of the first to employ this tactic to resounding success.

By creating a better version of Vaughn’s Google Ranking Factors on his blog, he was able to double his site traffic in just 14 days.

Other studies out there attest to the effectiveness of link building for growing their organic traffic.

At this point, it’s just a matter of doing it and making it happen.

But is Link Building Bad?

Backlinks are good, but link building is bad, according to Google.

Sounds confusing, I know.

Let’s first go back to Google’s Webmaster Guidelines.

Here, you will learn specific ways how to make your website easier to find and index by Google.

There’s a section in the guidelines that talks about link schemes.

Here’s what it says:

Also, the guidelines touch upon unnatural links, which are defined as “creating links that weren’t editorially placed or vouched for by the site’s owner on a page.”

It then lists examples of unnatural links that people should avoid.

In a nutshell, here’s what Google says about link building:

“Making” backlinks for your site in any shape or form is bad.

So if you’re submitting your site to a directory site for a backlink, then you’re doing it wrong.

To delve deeper into the mindset of Google regarding link building, here’s what Webmaster Trends Analyst at Google John Mueller has to say:

However, while this is what the bigwigs at Google are telling us, the results for building links are different.

The case studies featured above can make the case for natural backlinks.

However, some participate in link schemes but generate positive results.

For obvious reasons, no published case studies attest to the success of link schemes in fear of getting penalized.

But if you did your research, you should know that many out there win SEO because of these schemes.

One legitimate strategy for acquiring backlinks is broken link building. This involves finding backlinks that no longer work and persuading the publishers to replace them with working links to your site. You can propose a replacement link by identifying broken pages on competitors' sites, analyzing their backlinks, and reaching out to the appropriate contact.

To Build Links or Not to Build Links?

So, the question remains:

Should I build links or not?

Here’s my take on it.

From the start, it’s best to build great content first by taking a cue from Brian’s Skyscraper Technique.

By doing it correctly, you’ll be able to bag a link or two without taking the effort to build links.

But once you’ve exhausted the links your content is generating, it’s time to start building links.

And by dipping, I mean you need to slowly but surely acquire links.

You don’t want to make a splash by getting a thousand links in a day just like Servando Silva did in his churn and burn backlink case study.

He used GSA Search Engine Ranker to build over 15,000 backlinks from 2,700 domains in three weeks.

This is the epitome of a link scheme, folks.

Surprisingly, his site was ranking at the top of Google search before Penguin 4.0 hit, bumping his organic search from 500 visitors a day to 100.

He claimed to be recovering from the update months after, but WordPress shot down his site before he could conclude.

But the fact that he got penalized in the first place due to spammy link-building is a red flag.

Making backlinks in bulk is unnatural and lends your site to devaluation. So it’s in your best interest to go slow first with building links and scale up as you see fit.

What Makes a Good Backlink

If you’re all in with link building, keep reading because I’ll discuss the importance of quality links and what constitutes “good” backlinks.

As you already know, not all links are created equal.

In fact, a single link may be much more potent than a thousand links combined.

In this part, I’ll discuss the factors affecting link equity.

Knowing what affects the quality of the backlinks you’ll get will help you maximize their impact on your organic rankings.

Authority

Google determines the quality of a backlink according to the site’s authority.

A site like Entrepreneur wields the most authority over other online publications. So if you get a backlink from CNN, expect your ranking on SERPs to shoot up. High-quality sites linking to your web pages can significantly improve their rank.

But here’s the problem:

Authority is a very difficult metric to measure.

To date, Google considers over 200 ranking factors to determine the position of a web page on SERPs.

Ideally, you want to review at least the most influential factors of each site to know how authoritative they are. You can prioritize sites that perform well in ranking factors from here.

However, doing this is time-consuming and a waste of resources.

Instead, you can get a good idea of how authoritative a site is based on different SEO metrics.

Originally, PageRank provided a score from 0 to 10 (10 being the highest) based on Google’s algorithm.

The higher the score, the more influential it is on organic search. Thus, the more reason you should secure a link from it, the better.

However, since PageRank closed down, other indices give you information about a website instead of different ranking factors.

But before we list the most popular ones, Google Webmaster Trends Analyst John Mueller mentioned that they don’t use a “website authority score.”

Instead, Google uses “sitewide signals” to rank new pages. Of course, he didn’t reveal what these are.

That’s why SEO metrics are used today. Due to the vague statements Google makes regarding links, people took it upon themselves to provide indices to establish how authoritative a site is.

That said, before are a few you should know:

Domain Authority (Moz)

The Domain Authority (DA) is the way Moz measures the probability of a website ranking on organic search.

It computes the ranking factors, such as total links and linking root domains, and provides an aggregate score from 0 to 100.

You can get a site’s DA by logging into your Moz account (free or paid), going to Link Explorer, and entering the URL there.

The MozBar Chrome extension also provides you with the DA of pages on SERPs.

Flow Metrics (Majestic)

Flow Metrics from Majestic is an excellent way to know a site’s authority based on its backlinks.

Flow Metrics are divided into Trust Flow (TF) and Citation Flow (TF).

Trust Flow takes into account the quality of a site’s link profile. If a site acquires links from influential sites, expect a high TF.

On the other hand, Citation Flow refers to the popularity of a link or page based on the quantity of its backlinks. A high CF means that the site has many backlinks.

Both metrics go hand in hand to help you determine how to treat a site as a link partner.

For example, a site with a high CF doesn’t necessarily make it a good link partner. Citation Flow is only interested in the volume of backlinks a site has, not the quality.

This is where Trust Flow comes in. Using TF to look for link opportunities is a much better metric.

Getting links from high TF sites will increase your site’s TF and CF. However, backlinks from high CF sites will boost your CF, not your TF.

Domain Rating (Ahrefs)

Domain Rating computes the strength of a site’s link profile both in size and quality.

What’s interesting here is that Ahrefs uses a logarithmic scale from 0 to 100 (100 being the highest).

Therefore, the gaps between sites with high DR (75-76) and low DR (25-26) are different.

Websites will find increasing their DR from 25 to 26 much easier because the demand for generating backlinks is lower.

However, as their DR increases, the demand for more quality backlinks will increase. Therefore, boosting their DR from 75 to 76 is much harder unless they can secure backlinks from high-tier sites.

As you can see from the metrics above, you need an account from Moz, Majestic, and Ahrefs to access these scores individually. A free Moz and Majestic account gives limited access to these metrics for several URLs. Ahrefs, however, requires you to subscribe first before accessing their data.

Later, I will show you how to get all three metrics using a tool without signing up for all three accounts.

Dofollow

In link building, you tap into the power of the sites linking back to you.

As mentioned earlier, their backlinks serve as a recommendation in the eyes of Google. The more backlinks you get from authoritative sites, the greater your chances of ranking on top of organic search for your keywords.

However, some links don’t affect your site’s SEO.

Even if you have a backlink at a very prestigious site in your niche, it’s possible that their recommendation of your site won’t matter to Google.

This happens if the backlink has a dofollow attribute.

About Nofollow Links

Before describing this type of link, you need to understand why it came to be.

Going back to when link-building spam ran rampant, comment spam was one of the most effective ways to generate backlinks to your site.

Here’s a common example of a comment spam:

This type of comment does not add any discernible value to the conversation. Its main goal is to get a link from one’s site pointing back to theirs.

Before comment spam went out of hand, Google implemented the rel=nofollow tags on comments in 2005.

As a result, search spiders didn’t consider all the links coming from the comment section.

The objective is to limit the proliferation of comment spam, if not dissuade these people from practising this tactic at all.

Over time, site owners use rel=nofollow to prevent link juice from flowing to the site they linked out to.

There are two reasons why websites set their outbound links to nofollow.

First, they want to keep all their link juice within their site (which is not advisable).

Second, Google advised them not to nofollow paid links.

Asking for payment for links is considered a link scheme, and they want to avoid potential penalization.

Therefore, a dofollow link doesn’t pass authority from one site to another.

So it doesn’t matter if you got a link from a site like Entrepreneur if the link you get from there is nofollow.

So, your goal now is to learn how to identify dofollow links from nofollow.

To identify nofollow links from a page, install the Nofollow Chrome extension.

Next, go to the page and click on the Nofollow icon from your browser menu.

The tool indicates nofollow links with a red-dotted border around the link.

Here’s an example of a link to my site from an Entrepreneur article:

Here’s what a dofollow link looks like in HTML format:

The only difference here is the link has the rel=nofollow attribute inside the anchor tag.

Therefore, before finding link opportunities, you need to know first how they treat backlinks.

While some follow the Google guidelines to a tee, others don’t really mind keeping links to dofollow.

The Different Hats of Link Building

Google has come a long, long way since the Wild, Wild West of online search in the early 2000s.

The algorithmic updates over the years set a precedent on how people should approach link building. Instead of getting links by brute force and volume, people need to observe this practice with subtlety and a strategy. Internal links are links within your website, while external links are incoming or backlinks from other websites. Both types are crucial for SEO, with external links significantly improving ranking.

However, if there’s one thing about Google that people don’t gloss over enough, it’s this:

Google’s algorithm is just math.

It determines which pages to rank on SERPs using an equation that computes for different website variables.

As a site owner, you have two choices:

Should you follow the Google webmaster guidelines and stay within the limit?

Or should you experiment with the algorithm and take it to the limit sounds?

This is where the spirit of Spaghetti Western continues to resonate in SEO.

You will see different link-building tactics categorized into hats.

Some link-building tactics walk within the confines of Google’s rules.

Others cross the border and take site optimization into their own hands.

So which one is which?

White Hat

People who practice ethical link-building associate themselves with white hat link-building.

These gunslingers (link-slingers, as you will) are the good guys. They don’t engage in link schemes or break the laws stated in the Webmaster Guidelines.

Later on, we will discuss their link-building tactics so you can replicate them.

By being good, obedient link builders, you’d expect them to rank higher and faster on Google, right?

Not really.

In fact, white hat link building is a rather long process with slow upward mobility.

In a case study conducted by Ahrefs, only 5.7% of websites rank on the first page of Google search after a year of being “first seen.”

Out of the 5.7% sites, most of them rank on Google after two to three months.

Remember that the study doesn’t consider the type of links acquired during the period.

Nonetheless, the data helps set your expectations when ranking for your keywords.

On white hat link building, expect to rank even longer when taking up its tactics.

The reason is the difficulty of “earning” links versus “getting” them.

By playing the white hat game, you are hands-off when building links.

You can’t ask people to link to your site in any way or manner.

It’s up to the person whether or not to link to your site.

Sticking by the white hat route can be a frustrating experience as a result.

But here’s why people build links ethically in the first place:

Sustainability.

If you’re playing the long game and are in no rush to rank for your keywords, then white hat link building is your jam.

By straddling within the lines that Google deem acceptable, you also make your website algorithm-proof.

So, whenever Google rolls out a major algorithm update, expect your site to remain in place at the very least—if not increase your rankings even further!

Black Hat

Black hat link building has gotten a bad rap over the years, and with good reason.

I mean, who wouldn’t be annoyed to see hundreds of spam comments that link to Viagra and Cialis sites?

However, black hat link builders have refined their practices ever since.

It is true that, unlike white hat link builders, they have total disregard for what Google considers acceptable practice.

Nowadays, black hat link building is more concerned with pushing the envelope of organic search in general.

They no longer use tools to mass-produce and auto-generate backlinks online.

Instead, they take a more deliberate approach when it comes to building links “unethically.”

If done correctly, they will rank at the top of Google SERPs in a matter of weeks.

Charles's payday loan site was getting 300 organic visitors a month. After using black hat link-building tactics, its traffic rose to 30,000 in just six months.

Granted, Charles spent over $17,500 from his pocket to roll out his black hat link building strategy.

However, he recovered the expenses and then some by generating a monthly revenue of $20,000 in CPA commissions from the site.

More importantly, his clients were earning $110,000 a month thanks to his help.

Here’s another example of successful black hat link-building:

Asif Ali used thematic link building, a modified version of a link exchange.

In a nutshell, he looked for link partners similar to the niche of his client’s site and reached out to exchange backlinks with them.

There weren’t any results of the organic traffic and keyword ranking after the campaign. But he did receive a positive reaction from one of his clients:

There are probably many more studies there that attest to the effectiveness of black hat link-building.

At the very least, the results should encourage you to consider implementing these tactics into your strategy.

However, if there’s one thing to discourage you from wearing a full black hat, it’s the constant dance with the Google algorithm.

Black hat link builders may see tremendous gains in the short term. However, in the long run, if and when another Google algorithm update hits, their organic traffic could instantly disappear.

By engaging in unethical linking practices, you risk the future of your site with every Google algorithm update.

There’s no way for you to know if your site will be safe years from now.

Then again, it’s possible that you could retain your organic traffic as continuous algorithmic changes leave your site unscathed.

But the uncertainty that you live by with black hat link building makes its tactics not for the faint of heart.

Gray Hat

There’s a good chance that you use a healthy combination of black and white hat link-building techniques.

In this case, you are a grey hat link builder.

You’re interested in tactics that move the needle and not because of association.

So, if you see good results from buying and earning links simultaneously, go for both!

However, what defines your actions is your ability to take the ambiguous text found in the Google Webmaster Guidelines to your advantage.

For example, Google has nothing in its Webmaster Guidelines about buying expired domains.

At one point, private blog network owners got some of their sites deindexed. It is believed that Google tracked expired domains to distinguish which ones become part of a PBN.

However, people have smartened up since then, and nothing much has come out of it.

That said, grey hats don’t mind getting their hands dirty and engaging in unscrupulous link-building tactics.

At the same time, they balance their black hat efforts with white hat activities.

Because they play both teams, their sites benefit from faster and more sustainable ranking on Google SERPs.

On the downside, they are not susceptible to ranking drops after an algorithm update. But there’s a very good chance that the drop in ranking is minimal, and their sites can recover over time.

You can make a case for Charles’ study in favour of the grey hat. Aside from his black hat tactics, he optimized meta tags and content, sculpted internal links, and others.

Popular Link Building Tactics Over the Years

In this part, I’ll be talking about link building techniques that remained prevalent through the years.

They have endured all the changes because they abide by the Google Webmaster Guidelines.

I mentioned link building tips you can follow to get your campaign up and running.

That said, below are some of the best you need to know before jumping into the link building fire:

Guest Posting

Guest posting is a great way to increase your online visibility by publishing content on someone else’s blog.

More importantly, this tactic lets you secure a backlink on the body of the content or the author byline.

Here’s a breakdown of the process of finding guest posting sites:

Search for Write For Us pages from sites in your niche using this search operator: keyword inurl:write-for-us. Replace the keyword with your niche.
Reverse-engineer the process by finding blogs that popular authors in your niche have written using this search command: author:author. Replace the second author with the author’s name.
Verify the quality of the blogs accepting guest posts by looking at their SEO metrics.
Organize the blogs according to authority and contact the best blogs first.
Submit your post in observance of their editorial guidelines to increase your chances of publishing.

Additionally, analyze your competitors' backlinks to identify linking opportunities and patterns. Create similar or better resources on your own website to leverage those link building patterns.

Blogger Outreach

This tactic requires sending cold emails to potential link-building partners within your niche.

The key to blogger outreach is creating the best possible outreach email to bloggers that maximises conversion rate.

When done correctly, you can see a 204% increase in website traffic in a span of four months.

Here’s how a usual blogger outreach campaign goes:

Find influential bloggers based on their niche; follower count on social media, reply ratio, and their site’s SEO metrics. Use tools like Ahrefs to find bloggers with authoritative sites and Hunter to extract their email addresses.
Organize your list according to the metrics gathered above. Reach out to bloggers from most to least authoritative
Determine how you plan on getting a link from their site and craft your outreach email based on this goal. Send them out using an outreach tool like Mailshake to manage your interactions with the bloggers.
Set up follow-up emails to them to increase their reply rate

Unlinked Mentions

Also known as link reclamation, this process involves finding mentions of your name or brand without a link back to your site. The goal now is to reach out to these sites and request for a backlink.

There’s a good chance that you can reclaim your link from their site since they mentioned your name in the first place. Maybe they just forgot to attribute your name to your site, so reaching out to them is worth a shot.

A case study shared by James Brockbank at PAGES shows that they were able to secure 72% of unlinked mentions into backlinks for an international travel brand. They secured links from sites like MSN, Travel & Leisure, Lonely Planet, and others.

So if you want to try on this tactic for size, here’s what you must do:

Discover brand mentions using Google Alerts (free) or Mention (paid). Using a paid tool, in this case, is ideal because you receive the alerts in real-time.
Send an email to the person responsible for corrections on their contact page. It’s best not to reach out to the author or journalist,, especially for bigger publication,s because they’re busy with their next assignment.

Aside from the email you will send, timing is key to getting good results from this campaign.

So when you receive an alert about a mention of your brand without a link back to your site, reach out to them immediately. It means they just published the post and would be more receptive to corrections before they move on to their next post.

Paid Link Placements

This is where link building gets tricky.

As mentioned earlier, paid links go against the Google Webmaster Guidelines.

Any link actually with your intervention is a big no-no in Google’s eyes.

However, we also mentioned that some people (along with others) were able to see increased ranking on SERPs using this tactic.

Again, it is up to you to pursue paid links as part of your strategy.

And if you do, you may win organic search just like Charles did.

But before you begin, you need to know the average cost of a backlink and the risks associated with it.

Based on the studies conducted by Ahrefs across 180 blogs, the average price for a backlink is $77.80, which is lower than the average of $352.92 in 2016.

Using this price as a benchmark, cheap linking building services from Fiverr are out of the question.

If $5 for 10,000 instant backlinks didn’t work before, it won’t work today.

So, if you’re looking for a paid link supplier, a quick Google search should do the trick.

Some would even reach out to you via email or social media.

The real issue with paid links, besides Google’s disdain for manipulative link building, is finding trusted sources.

It’s easy to buy from a vendor that lets you choose blogs from various niches.

Securing the link after publishing is a different story.

Assuming that your vendor has no control over the websites where you can find your backlinks, your link can be removed without warning.

That’s what happened to Artёm Klimkin of LinksHero when he lost seven of the 22 links he purchased ($550 in total) within a five-month period.

Again, paid links carry additional risks that you need to worry about.

But if you can find a trustworthy provider of paid links, you should definitely try this tactic.

Private Blog Networks

PBNs are the secret weapon of all-black and grey hat link builders.

It is a sophisticated form of manipulative link building in which people purchase expired domains with existing authorities and link profiles to build brand-new sites.

From here, they use the sites to build links to their target websites.

Aside from determining which expired domains to purchase, you need to mask your digital footprint so the sites don’t point back to you and penalize your target sites.

Charles's PBN course is all you'll need to guide you through the tumultuous process of building a PBN.

Private blog networks also allow people to implement a tiered link-building campaign. This is where people organize websites according to a tier based on their SEO metrics.

For example, sites with high scores go to tier 1, those with a lower score go to tier 2, and so on.

From here, sites from the last tier link upward to tier 1, which then links to a backlink on your money page.

Here’s a visualization of this tactic.

The goal is to use your tiers to help strengthen the backlinks of your target site.

As with most unnatural link-building tactics, there are lots of naysayers about PBNs and with good reason.

To begin with, PBNs give you the most control over any other link-building tactic out there.

The fact that you own the websites means that you can place your backlinks anywhere you want.

But with great power comes great responsibility. And your responsibility is to keep your PBNs on the down low.

Through the years, Google caught people like Spencer Haws, Hayden Miyamoto, and Nathan Gotch using PBNs. The damage cost them and their clients thousands of dollars a month off the table.

So, let it be known that when you’re using PBN to build links, you’re playing with fire.

But if you know how to navigate through the scorching heat of this tactic, then you can enjoy a cool and steady ranking increase over time.

For instance, Matt Diggity ran tests on PBNs and uncovered an algorithmic filter that Google uses to penalise expired domains used for building links.

To avoid the filter, he waited around 36 days before creating backlinks to websites from the domains.

Here are the results:

The increase in organic rankings across all sites for weeks shows that PBNs are alive and well.

What’s Next?

Judging from this post, much has been said about link building.

And believe it or not, there’s more to say about link building as a whole. And that’s a good thing!

Building links remains the most dynamic among the bunch compared to other ranking factors.

Google continues to improve its search engine by providing users with an up-to-date algorithm that provides them with better results.

At the same time, SEO continues to push the boundaries of acquiring links, which forces Google to make algorithmic changes.

This delicate but necessary dance between Google and SEO helps link building flourish continuously with new ideas and approaches to increasing organic rankings.

And that’s why you need to be vigilant for any changes in getting links.

For those seeking to navigate the intricate world of link building and boost their site's authority, consider enlisting Charles and his team's expertise.

Their proven track record in developing effective link building strategies can help elevate your keyword rankings and overall online presence.

Get his link building services here!

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