If you have ever Googled your business and seen a competitor sitting above you, you have probably wondered how they got there. Most of the time, links are a big reason. Learning how to do link building in SEO is one of the most reliable ways to move your site up the results and stay there over time. Once you really understand the mechanics, traffic starts to feel a lot less random and a lot more controllable.
This guide is written for busy business owners who need to start building visibility today. You do not have time for theory that never hits the real world. You want steps, proof, and a building strategy that actually fits your schedule and your market. That is exactly what you are going to get here.
We will look at how to get other sites to trust you. We will also cover how to build links that last. It is time to turn your website into a powerful asset.
Table of Contents:
- Why Links Still Matter For SEO In 2025
- How Google Sees Links Today
- What Real Link Building Looks Like In 2025
- how to do link building in SEO: Core Strategy
- Step 1: Research Your Link Landscape
- Step 2: Create Content That Deserves Links
- Step 3: Outreach And Digital PR For Links
- Step 4: Local Link Building For Real World Businesses
- Social And Brand Signals That Support Links
- Managing Risk: Pricing, Agencies, And Spam
- Tracking, Measuring, And Staying Patient
- Conclusion
Why Links Still Matter For SEO In 2025
You might hear people say that links are dead, or that Google only cares about content now. That would be nice, but it is just not true. Multiple studies keep showing that quality links and higher rankings still move together.
Links act as the reputation engine of the internet. When high-authority sites point to you, they tell search engines that your information is trustworthy. This transfer of trust is often called domain authority by SEO professionals.
One case study that tested fresh sites over time found that strong links did help pages climb higher in Google. You can read the full breakdown at this link building case study, which walks through the data in detail. Other brands have looked at the question from different angles and reached the same answer.
For example, another analysis of organic rankings walks through the big question, do links help SEO rankings, and comes out firmly on the yes side. Add that to industry coverage that lists links as one of Google’s top three ranking factors, like the writeup at Search Engine Land, and the pattern gets hard to ignore.
It also lines up with how people search. Research from Zero Limit Web shows that over 67.6 percent of clicks go to the first five organic search results. If better SEO link building tactics help you live in that top zone, they matter a lot more than a social post that disappears by tomorrow.
Beyond rankings, links also bring referral traffic. This occurs when a user clicks a link on another site and lands directly on yours. This type of visitor is often highly relevant and ready to engage.
How Google Sees Links Today
Links are not votes that all count the same. Google tries to predict which links people are actually likely to click. Links buried in footers or sidebars might count less than links placed in the main body of useful content. Google’s “reasonable surfer model” described in that same patent shows that context matters as much as raw quantity.
This is where concepts like descriptive anchor text come into play. The clickable text of a link tells Google what the destination page is about. If you use generic words like “click here,” you miss an opportunity to help engines understand your topic.
However, you must be careful not to over-optimize this text. Using exact keywords every single time can look unnatural. It is better to use descriptive anchor text that flows well within the sentence structure.
Since 2019, the search team has also shifted how they treat nofollow links. The nofollow attribute is now treated as a hint rather than a hard block. That means some nofollow links can still help crawling or even rankings if they live on trusted pages and drive real traffic.
What Real Link Building Looks Like In 2025
Good link building is less about “tricks” and more about earning real attention. Think of it like smart PR and partnerships layered on top of high-quality content. A few common myths get in the way, though, so let’s clear them quickly.
- You do not need thousands of links from random sites.
- You do need relevant sites that your customers might actually visit.
- You absolutely cannot ignore Google’s rules regarding spammy link building.
Google’s spam policies spell out that you should avoid paid link schemes and shady exchanges that only exist to pass PageRank. You can read the details on . Your goal is simple.
You want links that a real human would be glad to click. Site owners are protective of their audiences. They will only link to you if it provides value to their readers.
One agency that has focused on clean link building is LinkBuilder.io. They have shared a case study showing how white hat link building grew search visibility in a brutal space like legal. It is a good reminder that you do not need tricks if your offer is real and your outreach is honest.
how to do link building in SEO: Core Strategy
So how do you turn all of this into a real plan you can follow? You are going to move through four main building strategies. Each one feeds the next.
| Phase | Goal | Main Tasks |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Research | Know your baseline | Audit links, study competitors |
| 2. Assets | Create link worthy content | Guides, tools, data, local pages |
| 3. Outreach | Get eyes and links | Cold email, digital PR, expert quotes |
| 4. Maintain | Keep gains, grow more | Monitor, refresh, replace bad links |
Under each phase, you can pick tactics that match your resources. You do not have to do everything at once. It is much better to pick one or two things you can run every single week.
Step 1: Research Your Link Landscape
Before you go chase new links, you should know where you stand today. You want to answer three simple questions. How strong is your current link profile, which sites already talk about you, and what does your competition look like.
There are several online tools that crawl the web and give link data. One large study from Perficient compared the largest index of links among top providers, and showed how much data they track. You can use whichever platform you prefer, but make sure you stick to it so you can compare results month over month.
Run a basic audit. Export your referring domains, spot clear spam, and note any strong industry sites already linking to you. You can check an authority score to see which sites hold the most value.
Then repeat this process for three to five of your main competitors. This gap between your profile and theirs will show you exactly where you need to catch up. You might use SEMrush’s backlink data or Ahrefs to visualize this gap.
You should also look for toxic backlinks. These are links from suspicious sites that might hurt your standing. While Google ignores many of these automatically, it is good practice to be aware of them.
What The Industry Is Really Doing With Links
You might also want to know which tactics actually get used in the field right now. The team at Aira publishes an annual survey called The State of Link Building Report. Hundreds of link builders share what is working for them each year.
You will see digital pr, guest posts, and content led link building show up at the top, again and again. At the same time, purely automated link tricks continue to shrink. This tells you a lot about where to put your time.
Step 2: Create Content That Deserves Links
No outreach email can save boring content. People link to content that gives them an easier life. It helps them teach, explain, win an argument, or save time with a template or tool.
Content marketing plays a huge role here. There is even a word for this kind of thing. Google describes “link bait” as content that is so high quality it naturally earns links over time.
They talk about this idea in their own documentation on link bait. Think data, visuals, checklists, or deep how to guides. When you publish original data, you become the primary source that others cite.
Here are a few proven link assets you can build.
- Beginner guides for your service, like a full walkthrough of a local process.
- Industry statistics or simple studies in your niche using original data.
- Useful calculators or simple tools that help users solve math problems.
- Clear how to content for common problems in your space.
- Visual assets like infographics that summarize complex topics quickly.
If you serve a local area, do not forget location focused pages. According to Google, searches including “near me” grew by about 500 percent year over year, as covered on Think with Google. If you ignore local intent, you leave money on the table.
Website owners love to share things that make their own content look better. If you provide a chart or graph, they will likely embed it and credit you. This is a classic example of how visual assets attracts backlinks.
Content That Aligns With How People Buy
You want content that lines up with your sales cycle. A Demand Gen study found that about 60 percent of buyers read blog posts early in the process. So your linkable content can also be revenue friendly content.
Think about where your buyer feels stuck. What guides, comparisons, or how to articles could help them move one step closer to booking or buying. Those same pieces often make excellent outreach hooks for earning links.
The content benefits are twofold here. You get the SEO value from the link, but you also build trust with the reader. That is relevant content at its best.
Step 3: Outreach And Digital PR For Links
Great content sitting on a lonely site will not earn links. You need eyeballs, relationships, and a clear ask. That is where outreach comes in.
A classic outreach path is digital pr. The team at Moz even suggests one of the easiest methods is simply giving journalists a good story angle, as they explain in a simple PR focused link building tip. The pattern is simple.
Find a news hook, offer strong data or expert quotes, and make it simple for a writer to feature you. When high-authority sites pick up your story, the value is immense. It builds brand awareness and provides a powerful SEO link.
You can also land great editorial links by helping journalists with sources. One well known service is HARO (Help A Reporter Out), which connects reporters with expert quotes. That brand has shifted and you can now find similar requests on platforms like Connectively, which acts as a new hub for expert calls.
Practical Outreach Steps For Busy Owners
If you are short on time, stick with a simple system. Start with a single linkable asset, then send ten to twenty personalized emails a week.
- Search for articles in your topic that mention stats or tips you improve on.
- Send a short email that shows you read their article and pitch your resource.
- Make sure the clickable text you suggest is natural and helpful.
- Follow up once if they do not respond.
Want some help writing good outreach angles. It might be worth listening to expert interviews like the session on mastering the art of link building with Adam Steele. It walks through mindsets and tactics you can swipe and adjust for your brand.
Remember that website owners are busy people. Your email needs to show value immediately. If you can help them update a broken link or improve a guide, they are more likely to respond.
Step 4: Local Link Building For Real World Businesses
If you are a local business, link building looks a bit different. You care a lot about local map results and searches with clear geographic terms. Local SEO relies heavily on these signals.
A detailed ranking factor study from Whitespark found that links are the fourth biggest factor for Google’s local pack, as they explain in their local search ranking factors. It may not be the number one factor, but it clearly moves the needle.
So how do you build local links without losing your mind. A helpful place to start is a beginner friendly guide like how to start local link building, which walks through ideas. It shares tactics like sponsoring small events, getting local press, and building links through partnerships.
Local Signals Beyond Classic Links
Local links do not live in a bubble. They connect with reviews, citations, and on page signals.
One BrightLocal study reported that around 98 percent of consumers read online reviews for local businesses, and most want to see strong ratings. The same group also found that about 94 percent of consumers used a business directory at least once over the past year.
These profiles and directories often carry links back to your site. They may be nofollow at times, but Google now treats that nofollow label as a hint rather than a wall. Good local profiles build trust with both search engines and people.
This tells google that you are a legitimate business operating in a specific area. Do not overlook local communities either. You can use tools like meetup.com to spot local groups and events.
Partnering or sponsoring the right gathering can give you a natural mention. When local sites link to you, it strengthens your geographic relevance. This is highly relevant for ranking in the “map pack” sections of search results.
Social And Brand Signals That Support Links
Social media will not replace links, but it supports them. You need several touchpoints before people feel safe to buy from you. Marketing research shows that on average it takes about seven brand impressions before someone is ready to act.
The tricky part is attention. According to one report, around 96 percent of people aged 18 to 25 check social media daily, and the numbers for older age brackets are still high. Social channels give you daily chances to earn visits, shares, and even organic links from bloggers who discover you there.
These signals can also help search engines better understand your brand. Google explains how it recognizes entities through the Knowledge Graph, where consistent profiles, mentions, and links can tie together under one brand record. It all works as a support system for your main SEO link building push.
Managing Risk: Pricing, Agencies, And Spam
If you are a business owner, at some point you will be pitched on link building services. Pricing ranges wildly. That is because not all links take the same effort to earn.
There is a useful breakdown of link building pricing strategies for SEO agencies that explains different models. You will see flat rates per link, retainers, and project pricing. The main lesson is that real outreach takes time, so anything very cheap likely leans on risky methods.
If you purchase a “50 links for $50” package, you are likely buying spammy link placements. These can trigger penalties that affect SEO negatively. A manual action from Google can wipe out your traffic overnight.
If you are thinking of building an in house team, or using contractors, you may also like guides such as How to do Link Building: Effective SEO Strategies. It gives you a second opinion on the tactics you are reading here and shows how they fit into a bigger strategy.
No matter who runs your link building, have them follow closely. It is always better to go slower and protect the asset you are growing than rush and trigger a manual action that costs you years of progress.
Avoid heavily optimized anchor text backlinks when building links at scale. It looks suspicious if every single link uses your main keyword. A natural profile includes brand names and generic terms.
Tracking, Measuring, And Staying Patient
Links are powerful, but they do not move you overnight. Google needs time to find them, crawl them, and trust that they are real signals rather than spam. So you have to think in months, not days.
You need to know if your effort is working. A simple monthly tracking setup is more than enough to see if your strategy impacts SEO performance.
- Track referring domains and new links in your main SEO tool.
- Watch organic traffic to your target pages.
- Record keyword rankings for your main terms.
- Monitor estimated monthly traffic in your analytics.
Your tracking tool helps you identify wins and losses. There is one more thing worth knowing. Not every domain you buy will last.
Research covered by Digital Information World found that about 70 percent of domains do not even get renewed after their first year. You want your business site to be the rare domain that grows stronger each year instead. This is why getting links from established sites is crucial.
That means staying consistent. It means reviewing your link profile at least every quarter. It also means trimming low value or spammy partnerships that pop up along the way, and staying focused on building real authority.
Conclusion
You have seen that learning how to do link building in SEO is not about secret tricks. It is about giving other sites a genuine reason to point their visitors in your direction, then making it simple for them to say yes. Quality, context, and real human value beat volume every time.
Start small. Run a basic link audit, create one solid piece of content that answers a real buyer problem, and reach out to a handful of relevant sites each week. As those efforts add up, you will notice more rankings, more traffic, and more chances to win new customers from search.
If you remember nothing else, remember this. Links are votes of trust. Earn that trust with helpful content, honest outreach, and a steady, long term mindset, and you will build an SEO asset that keeps paying you back year after year.
