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Is Link-Building Still a Thing, and Does it Work?

Does link-building still work?

Does link-building bring back memories of a bygone era? Some would have you believe link-building is an obsolete SEO tactic… either not effective, or too risky.

The wise sage of all the internet (Google, obvs) would beg to differ.

As with virtually all SEO campaigns, there are no quick fixes. (And if there are, beware. You may have found a wolf in sheep’s clothing!)

Link-building is a long-term investment that will take time, effort, and trial-and-error. But it IS still a viable method for boosting search engine rankings.

Links are one factor among over 200 in Google’s algorithm. It’s always wise to take a holistic approach to SEO rather than focusing all your attention on a single component.

What’s the point of link-building?

Here’s how Google works. Google’s bots crawl and index web pages based on its algorithm. Google’s goal is always to produce the most relevant, quality search results for users. Google wants users to be able to find what they’re looking for as quickly as possible.

Think of links to your site from other sites as “votes” for your content. The more votes you have, the more likely Google is going to consider your site a quality one. There’s one caveat here: the links need to also come from authoritative sites.

Don’t get tricky: Google is very savvy. It’s able to detect low-quality or spammy (“black hat”) links, and will penalize you for them.

Does link-building actually work?

Well, according to Moz, it’s tough to rank in Google without links pointing back to your site. Check this out:

How do you link-build?

Like all organic SEO, link-building is a long game. You have to be patient, and you have to play it smart.

The absolute best way to get external links to your site (from quality sources) is to put out quality content.

Don’t go to blogs and leave your URL in the comments section. And for goodness sake, don’t ever buy links. (That one will turn you into a criminal.)

Here are three easy steps to start a link-building campaign:

  1. Identify your goals.
  2. Determine what type of links you need.
  3. Define what assets you’ll use to attract and earn those links.

The key is to create shareable content! It must be accurate, quality, authoritative. Valuable.

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