Every SEO specialist and website owner knows the key to a successful website is to have traffic. This is why they invest time, money, and effort into optimising their websites so they can be easily found on a search. Part of that effort in establishing searchability is through link building services.
The practice of building links has been around for as long as SEO. The earliest adaptation of the practice can be traced back to 1995 when website owners used reciprocal link building. During this time, site owners would build a series of websites that would link back to each other. The practice was very spammy, but it worked for SEO that time until it didn’t.
What went wrong with that link building tactic? As Google evolved, so did the different SEO practices. In this article, let’s look at the evolution of link building and the current trends that work in 2024.
What is Link Building?
In 2024, link building is not dead. It continues to be one of the most relevant SEO strategies with 84.6% of SEO experts depending on linking domains to build backlinks. A study showed that 68% of backlinks are built through content marketing tactics. The same survey revealed that 94% of pages do not contain an outgoing link, and only 2.2% of published content has outbound links.
But what is link building? And how does it affect a website?
As the name suggests, link building is a strategy used in optimising websites, which focuses on building links to your website. Through this approach, you are telling search engines that your website is an authority and trustful site; in the hope of landing on a higher spot of a search engine results page (SERP).
Is Link Building a Bad Practice?
But backlinks aren’t all that bad. If other websites are linking to a valuable page on your site, they are generally citing you as their source. The more links you have from authority sites, the more credible your site becomes. This will signal the search engine to note your site as trustworthy and put you in a higher spot when people search for the relevant keyword.
Outdated Link Building Practices
Because SEO strategies started to become spammy, search engines (like Google) have frowned upon this tactic. Over the years, the strategies for link building have gotten more complicated. This is why practitioners must plan their approach and take time to execute it.
If you are still using old link building strategies, it’s about time you stop. Here are the outdated strategies that no longer work today:
1. Using directories and article submission sites
Image Credit: ezine-articles
In the past, people used to submit their websites to directories and article submission sites as a fast way of boosting their site on a search engine results page. But Google caught on quickly and released the Penguin update to get rid of this strategy.
While some directories continue to exist today and have helped build links, the use of these directories as a strategy for backlinking is outdated advice. If you submit your site to a spammy directory, it could only hurt your rankings since it will send negative signals to search engines.
But if you believe this is a strategy that could benefit your site, choose the directory site carefully. Only a handful of the remaining directories offer value to websites, such as Google Business Profile and Yelp.
2. Leaving spam comments on blogs and forums
Image Credit: Editorial.link
In 2003, there was a surge of blog comments that would flood websites and forums. Some marketers found a way to increase backlinks by leaving behind bulk spam comments using a scraping tool. Unfortunately, most of these comments had nothing to do with the content of the blog but just used the comment section to drive users away from it.
While many of these comments were left undetected for years, many website owners and forum users caught on. They flagged these comments as spam and deleted them. Google then ignores and devalues these links. If the site has been associated with posting numerous spammy comments, it could also be penalised.
3. Buying or selling links
Image Credit: Google
Another practice that many resorted to is to buy and sell links for link building purposes. Unfortunately, this tactic quickly backfired as it was a clear violation of Google’s Webmaster Guidelines, which refer to:
- Exchanging money for links, or posts that contain links
- Exchanging goods or services for links
- Sending someone a product in exchange for them writing about it and including a link
The search giant deemed this practice as a manipulation of the natural link graph. As a result, it undermined the search results quality.
4. Using link farms/networks
Image Credit: SEOMator
Marketers also tried to outsmart Google by creating a network or group of sites that linked to each other or a common site. This practice was referred to as a link farm, which site owners used to increase their link popularity. They usually set up several low-value websites for the sole purpose of building links. This is also the same as getting links from irrelevant sites.
Unfortunately, Google was able to adapt and learn how to identify these sites easily and devalue them. If your site is deemed to be part of a link farm, your site may be penalised by Google since you are trying to manipulate its algorithm. If you are a site owner, these are the signs that should indicate you are getting backlinks from a link farm:
- Quantity over Quality: Usually, link farms prioritise the number of links they leave behind instead of making quality links. If you spot a website having several outbound links pointing to unrelated domains, it could be part of a link farm.
- Low-Value Content: Websites that are part of a link farm usually have content that holds little to no value. These sites were purely created to increase interconnected links, which explains why their content is undervalued.
- Low Domain Authority (DA): High-quality websites tend to build authority because of the links they earn from other sites. If a website continues to have a low DA score despite its age, its content could be neglected and it could be a sign of a link farm.
- Artificially Boosted SEO: Websites that are full of keyword-stuffed articles with tons of outbound links are usually part of a link farm.
It’s easy to mistake websites as part of a link farm. You need to look at the series of websites as a whole instead of a single piece of evidence that it could be part of a link farm.
Link Building Trends that Work in 2024
In the last decade, link building practices have greatly improved. Google has since identified the tactics that black hat and grey hat SEOs were using to build links. Because of these changes, link building has become a more credible practice, with websites being careful of citing other sites.
Instead of doing manual link outreach, marketers learned to improve their tactics by following these:
1. Use Social Media
Social media is an amazing tool for building links. 24% of users rely on search engines but occasionally opt for social media as a search tool. The same study reveals that 18% of people use both, depending on what they are searching for. By sharing your links on social media, you not only connect with those who are using the platform as a search engine, but you also build an online presence for your brand.
Some tips for sharing links on social media:
- Use hashtags strategically: This ensures that your content can be seen by those who are looking for it.
- Create good content: Focus on creating evergreen content that stays relevant and will be searched by people regularly.
- Interact with bloggers and websites: Since social media is built on engagement, build a connection with other bloggers or websites that are relevant to your niche.
2. Post on Forums
Forums are another avenue you can use for building backlinks since you get to respond directly to people who are asking questions relevant to your niche. However, you have to be careful about sharing your content on forums since you might get blocked from it. Forums are strictly moderated by moderators and you need to abide by their rules. You can get them to trust you by following these tips:
- Follow forum rules
- Give tips and advise
- Join the conversation by adding valuable answers
- Link to your post
Some of the best forums to interact with are:
| Forums | Most Users Online (2020) |
| 81.6 billion/month | |
| Craigslist | 14.8 million/month |
| GameSpot | 7.2 million/month |
| Quora | 3.4 million/month |
| Stack Overflow | 3.3 million/month |
Data from Quora
3. Reclaim Organic Links
Image Credit: Siege Media
You can also try reclaiming lost or unliked organic mentions to your site in a process called link reclamation. This is a good strategy to use for both big and small sites. However, you will need to reach out to the website owner to try and reclaim your old links. Still, it is a faster and easier process compared to building new ones.
But how do you find broken backlinks? Here are some of the tools to simplify the process:
- Semrush
- Ahrefs
- Majestic SEO
- Google Analytics
- Google Search Console
4. Offer Infographics
Image Credit: The Hoth
Another surefire way you can earn backlinks is by regularly offering infographics. See to it that you create a beautifully designed graphic that others can use on their sites. Include informative and interesting articles with these infographics so they can position you as an authority in that field. You can create an infographic following these tips:
- Find a concept: You can use infographic directories to get an idea of what you can use.
- Research your data: Be careful not to plagiarise the information included in published infographics.
- Create an infographic: Tools like Canva can help you create a beautiful infographic without starting from scratch. You can also hire freelancers on a one-time project.
- Pitch to website owners: Use an outreach tool to look for websites to which you can pitch your newly created infographic.
How Has the Helpful Content Update Changed Link Building
Although Google first announced that it was releasing the Helpful Content Update in August 2022, the recent March 2024 update took many by surprise. The update got rid of bad practices that people were doing and instead, reward quality content.
In the practice of link building, things also took a hit. Since Google had raised the bar on the quality of content produced by websites, some huge websites also suffered from the update. If you plan to include link building as part of your SEO strategy, you’ll need to do a deeper quality check with the websites you are linking to.
The best way you can build your link is to follow these tips:
1. Offer Guest Blogging
Guest blogging is a great strategy for building backlinks to your site. It is a content marketing tactic where you write and publish an article for another website under your byline. These sites will also credit you for being a “guest author” or a “contributor.”
If you opt to use guest blogging as a way to build backlinks, remember that this is unpaid. While paid guest blogging is not deliberately against Google’s policies, the links included in these articles should be marked as “nofollow.” This means that Google will not count these links when they rank on their search results.
You can follow these tips to find relevant websites that accept guest posts:
Use Google
Image Credit: Zapier
Try to look for relevant sites that accept guest blogging posts using these terms:
- [Your industry] + inurl: “write for us”
- [Your industry] + inurl: “contribute”
- [Your industry] + inurl: “guest post”
- [Your industry] + inurl: “guest post guidelines”
Look at what others are doing
Image Credit: Zapier
Try to reverse-engineer guest posts written by others by searching for this:
- [relevant niche] + “this is a guest post by”
This search will give you a list of the bloggers who did a guest post. Then, look for the publications that they submitted by using these search terms:
- “[Full name]” + “author”
- “[Full name]” + “written by”
- “[Full name]” + “guest post by”
You can then submit a pitch to a relevant website in the hopes that they will accept your offer.
Use Ahrefs’ Content Explorer
Image Credit: Ahrefs
You can also use tools like Ahrefs’ Content Explorer to look for potential websites where you can submit a guest pitch. This tool will let you search websites that mention relevant keywords in the title. The results can then be filtered by Organic Traffic (ST), Domain Rating (DR), Referring Domains (RD), and more.
Once you have a list of the websites or publications that accept guest posts, you can send a pitch to them.
2. Respond to HAROs
Image Credit: Ahrefs
Lastly, you can respond to HARO (Help A Reporter Out) requests created by journalists and reporters. The online platform connects writers with seasoned experts and industry sources to provide data, quotes, or a comment that can be published in their articles or stories.
To respond to a HARO, you will need to do the following:
- Provide data and statistics in your response
- Share industry insights and expertise
- Add quotes
- Use examples
- Include links
- Keep your response short
- Focus on quality over quantity
It’s important to remember that your HARO submission won’t get published all the time. To get noticed, you will need to submit your response promptly and with examples. Since several bad actors use AI tools and fake personas to create HAROs, you will need to compete with them for a chance to be credited by the reporter.
Where to Get Link Building Services in Singapore
These days, 60% of businesses are outsourcing link building services as part of their SEO strategy. If you plan to follow this, make sure to talk with seasoned experts who follow the latest trends in the SEO field. Call us today so we can create a strategy to build links for your site.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is link building service?
A link-building service is a digital marketing strategy where external websites link back to your site, increasing your site’s authority and improving its search engine ranking. This process involves acquiring high-quality backlinks through various methods such as guest blogging, content marketing, and outreach to authoritative sites.
How much should I pay for link building in Singapore?
The cost of link building in Singapore can vary widely depending on the quality and scale of the service. Prices typically range from SGD 1,000 to SGD 5,000 per month but can go higher for more comprehensive campaigns involving premium content and high-authority links.
What are the benefits of link building?
Link building boosts your website’s authority, improves search engine rankings, drives organic traffic, and enhances brand visibility. High-quality backlinks signal to search engines that your site is a credible and valuable resource, which can lead to better positioning in search results.
Is link building effective?
Yes, link building is effective when done correctly. It remains one of the most important factors in SEO, helping to improve search engine rankings, increase website traffic, and build brand authority. However, it requires a strategic approach focusing on quality over quantity to avoid penalties from search engines.
