What link building is: and, above all, what it isn't

/ What is link building?

Link building is an SEO (Search Engine Optimization) strategy that involves actively taking action to get other websites to link to yours, so that search engines see your site as relevant because of its popularity.

These links, or backlinks, have always been one of the key factors in Google rankings. Over the years, as search engines have evolved, that's changing, and a link by itself is nothing. Spoiler: they're still important.

Google has spent years going after practices aimed at getting these links artificially with the sole purpose of manipulating rankings. They spell it out in their spam policies. Look under "Link spam."

On top of that, they're rolling out algorithms that "understand" context far better and are much better at spotting patterns that expose artificial linking practices.

/ A widely misunderstood concept

If we start from the beginning, the first thing you should know is that a lot of people don't even write the term correctly (great start, huh ;).

Link building is written as two separate words — not "linkbuilding" as one (yes, some people really do write it that way). And when it appears mid-sentence, like "Expert in link building," it's lowercase, not capitalised. Small thing, but at least now you know how to write it properly.

If the term itself has been mistreated on the page, it's been treated far worse when it comes to actually understanding it. Let me explain:

Whenever you ask any SEO professional whether they do link building, their mind jumps straight to buying links. To me, that's a serious mistake, and one I've spent years fighting against at industry talks. I've heard great SEOs proudly say "I don't do link building," but when you dig deeper, this type of SEO steers clear of buying links, sure, but they're still running strategies to earn them organically.

Link building is exactly that: building.

Let me give you an example:

You launch a study about your industry and pitch it to media outlets to get them to cover it, mention it and link back to the source. Would you consider that link building? To me, without a doubt. If you're carrying out strategic actions aimed at earning links and boosting your authority, that's link building, my friend.

If you're running digital PR campaigns or branded content strategies where your goal isn't just putting out a message to shift how potential customers perceive you, but you're also focused on the links these actions bring in — yes, that's link building too.

So next time someone asks if you do link building, don't think about the format, think about the goal. One of our regular collaborators, "Jorge Jaime Royo," left us some tips on the importance of diversity in your link profile. You can read it here.

/ Buying links on platforms

Before moving on, let me be clear — anyone who knows me knows I've never attacked paying for a link. I've openly said I've paid, and still pay, to appear in certain media outlets. What I do think agencies and end clients need to be crystal clear on is that a strategy built around buying links usually doesn't work. It doesn't even get penalised anymore — you'll simply be flushing your budget down the drain. Those DR 80 links that used to catapult you up the rankings are a thing of the past. Every day I meet clients who've just spent enormous amounts on buying links and seen no results. When I analyse their link profile, I find the usual links on media outlets sold through link-selling platforms like "diariode…" and other outlets that, despite being topically related, are "burnt out" because every single one of their competitors has bought there too.

I think it was César Aparicio, though I don't quite remember who said it, who said the best link is the one your competitor doesn't have. So with a link building strategy built around buying links on platforms, you're not going to get there.

Here's one of my recommendations on this:

– Flip the process: most people start by looking at a platform and picking the sites they like. What I'd recommend is thinking first about the sites that interest you based on topic, traffic, etc., and if it turns out that site happens to be on a platform, then it's up to you whether you want to save yourself the hassle. Basically, don't treat it like an IKEA catalogue. There are plenty of ways to find interesting sites: Google searches, competitor links, and more.

Food for thought:

The more awkward and difficult it is for you to get a link, the less likely it is that every one of your competitors already has it.

/ Forget about metrics, or at least don't focus on them

I know this is hard to swallow. Mainly because every link building tool, or every tool that analyses a link profile, scores links by DR, AR, or whatever else. This is inherited from PageRank, an algorithm Google built to measure the importance of web pages, which those of us old enough, like me, actually lived through. Back in the day, PageRank was visible as a green bar in the Google toolbar, showing a numerical value (0 to 10) for a page's PageRank. But I won't ramble on. The point is, we used to go by mathematical values, and today semantics matter far more. Even so, we still see most SEO professionals judging their link profile by these kinds of numeric scores I have such a grudge against.

Indicators are fine for making certain judgment calls about a media outlet — whether it's been penalised, whether it has mathematical authority, and so on. But you shouldn't treat these indicators as your goal. Here's why: link building metrics

/ What ISN'T link building?

• Automating your way to links, anywhere and any way you can.
• To me, if all you do is buy links, you're doing link buying, which would be part of link building, but you wouldn't be running a good link building strategy. Those approaches just aren't effective anymore.
• Thinking purely in terms of the number of links and their mathematical value. That would be something like "Authority building," which I'm not even sure exists, but it's really just an "Ego Metric." If that's you, it might be time for an update.
• Not thinking about the message you're putting out in the media. A lot of people just want to land a link in a media outlet, but then hand off or downplay the importance of what's actually going to be said there. I've come across big companies whose communications department is extremely demanding about what gets published, while completely ignoring what their SEO team is doing. A huge mistake.
• Limiting yourself to thinking a Disavow is going to solve all your problems.

/ Conclusions

Bottom line: link building isn't (and shouldn't be) synonymous with buying links in bulk or obsessing over empty metrics. It's a strategy that deserves time and creativity. Whether you like it or not.

If all you focus on is DR or your monthly link count, you're missing the point: building something that lasts, that adds real value, and, above all, that isn't easy for your competitors to copy.