Link building: a guide to getting started

Link building means getting other websites to link to yours. These links, called backlinks, remain one of the signals Google uses to decide that a page deserves to rank well. This guide explains how link building works and how to go about it without wasting budget.

Why links still matter

A link from a serious website works like a recommendation. Google was built on this idea with PageRank, and links are still part of its ranking signals. A site that earns links from trustworthy pages close to its topic has a better chance of ranking for competitive queries.

Links also have indirect effects: they bring visitors, make your brand known and help search engines discover your new pages faster.

The three pillars of a good link

1. Relevance

A link to a renovation company is worth more on a home improvement site than on a cooking blog. Look for websites whose topic is close to yours, or at least consistent with it.

2. Quality of the source site

Check whether the site gets traffic, ranks for keywords and receives links from varied domains. Metrics such as Trust Flow (Majestic), Domain Authority (Moz) or the number of referring domains help you sort sites, but none of them is enough on its own. We cover these criteria in our article on choosing a site for a backlink.

3. Link context

A link placed inside the text of a useful article, surrounded by sentences on the same topic, passes more value than an isolated link at the bottom of a page.

How to build a link building strategy

1. Pick the pages to push. Usually the homepage, a few service or category pages and your best content.
2. List the target queries for each of those pages.
3. Set a steady pace. A few links every month beat one big wave followed by nothing.
4. Vary your anchors. Brand name, site address, natural phrases and a few descriptive anchors. See our guide to anchor text diversity.
5. Measure. Track the rankings of the pages you work on and check that every link stays online.

The most common link formats

• Sponsored article: an article published on a third-party site that contains a link to you. This is the most widely used format. See how to buy a sponsored article the right way.
• Link insertion: a link added to an article that is already published and often already indexed.
• Footer or homepage link: a link shown across the whole site or on its main page, mostly useful for your brand. See when a footer link makes sense.

Mistakes to avoid

• Buying many links on sites with no traffic and no topic.
• Always using the same exact-match anchor.
• Pointing every link at a single page.
• Forgetting to check that links are still in place a few months later.

Where to start

Start small: a few quality links, well placed, to your most important pages. Watch how things move over two to three months, then adjust. On RankoPress you see the metrics and the price of every site before ordering, and every link is guaranteed for 3 years.