Linkbuilding.
Link building is the process of getting other websites to link to yours. Good links from relevant sites build authority over years. Bad links, or attempts to buy authority, do more harm than good.
By Hans Sandblom · Senior SEO Specialist· Published · Updated Our view
Authority is built with patience. Every shortcut costs more over time than it saves.
What link building is.
Link building is the work of getting other websites to link to yours. A link from an external site works as a vote: 'this page is worth referring to'. The more relevant and established the voters, the more authority is added to your domain. Authority is one of Google's strongest ranking signals, and still decisive in 2026. Wikipedia on backlinks↗ summarises the foundations.
Individual links are rarely decisive. It's the link profile as a whole, the pattern over years, that determines how strongly Google sees your domain. That makes link building a long-term investment. Fast campaigns that pump in links over a few weeks usually do more harm than good: they look unnatural and trigger Google's filters.
For AI search, links have gained a double role. They still build the classic authority Google uses for ranking. They also work as validation for AI answers: an AI weighing which sources to cite looks positively on sources linked to by other authoritative sites. Authority builds both SERP position and AI inclusion.
Types of links that work.
Not all links are equal. Some types build real authority, others deliver zero to negative value. The ones we work with:
Editorial links
Links you get because your page is good: articles referring to your case, journalists citing your data, bloggers linking to your guide. Highest value, hardest to earn, nothing that can be 'bought' directly.
Digital PR
Proactive outreach: press releases, expert commentary, your own data or reports that media picks up. Established method for editorial links at scale. Works best when you have data or a perspective that's newsworthy.
Guest posts
You write an article for another site in the industry and get a link back. Good when the site is relevant and the article holds class. Becomes harmful when it's mass-produced content on low-quality sites, Google sees the pattern.
Citations and trade registers
Relevant directories, trade associations, local registers. Less authority per link than editorial, but easy to validate NAP against and important for local SEO.
What to avoid.
Equally important as what works is what doesn't. Or rather: what hurts. Four traps:
- PBNs (Private Blog Networks): networks of sites built solely to link to clients. Google has detected them for over ten years and penalises them consistently per Google's link spam policy↗. Short-term gain, long-term risk of manual action.
- Bought links: paying a site for a link in violation of Google's guidelines. Per Google, paid links must be marked rel="sponsored" (or nofollow) to be legitimate. If they aren't, it's manipulation.
- Link farms: sites that exist only to collect links. Low authority, phased out long ago by Google. Getting a link from a link farm is near worthless and sometimes negative.
- Comment-link spam and forum signatures: old tactic where the link is placed in discussions to build volume. Typically marked nofollow or sanitised, and Google doesn't value them. Can also hurt if mass-produced.
Our stance is simple: no PBNs, no bought links, no comment spam. We build authority through editorial value and digital PR. It takes longer but it holds.
How we work with link building.
We start with your current link profile: which domains already link, what authority do they carry, what gaps exist against the closest competitors. Tools like Ahrefs Site Explorer↗ provide base data; the evaluating analysis is ours. Often the most important work is filling obvious gaps (the industry doesn't refer to you yet) before outreach to new sites.
Tactics differ between clients. For B2B services, digital PR built around your own data or case studies often yields the highest return. For e-commerce, product reviews from industry sites and expert roundups work best. We work with what actually produces links, not what looks prettiest in the campaign plan.
The timeline is clear: first lift is typically seen three to six months in, truly large effects sit at 9 to 18 months. That's the trade-off for doing it right. Anyone wanting 20 links in a month should look elsewhere.
Get a free link profile audit.
Send us your URL and we'll analyse the link profile (authority, relevance, risky links) and compare against your closest competitors. Concrete report.
Write to us →Frequently asked questions about link building
What is link building?
The work of getting other websites to link to yours. Good links from relevant and established sites act as votes that build authority. Authority is one of Google's strongest ranking signals, including in AI search.
What is a link farm?
A site or network of sites that exist just to collect links and link onward. Low authority, nearly worthless for your ranking, and in the worst case can trigger Google's filters. We never work with link farms.
How much should you pay for link building?
It depends on the approach. Digital PR yields high quality at high effort per link. Placements on niche sites yield medium quality at lower effort. What matters is not the price per link but what the link is worth: one relevant link from an authoritative site does more than ten cheap ones. Be wary of fixed packages with a set number of links per month; quality cannot be packaged that way.
How long does link building take to show effect?
First lift in ranking is typically seen three to six months after the first links are established. Truly strong effect sits at nine to eighteen months. It's long-term work, not monthly results. Anyone promising fast likely takes shortcuts that harm.
Are bought links allowed?
Per Google's guidelines, paid links must be marked rel="sponsored" (or nofollow). If they aren't, it counts as manipulation. We don't work with bought links at all. The authority we build holds even if you switch agencies tomorrow.