Updated On: September 10, 2024
Before Google's first tangible updates like Boston in the early 2000s, link-building was like the Wild West, with sneaky tactics aimed at boosting rankings. Fed up with these tricks, Google forced SEO experts to adopt ethical link-building.
Ethical link-building, also known as white hat link-building, involves acquiring links in a fair, non-manipulative manner that aligns with Google’s guidelines and best practices.
Despite black hatters' attempts with PBNs, link farms, and duplicate content, or gray hatters' use of slightly safer but still shady methods, unethical link building is bound to face penalties.
Alternatively, ethical link building — focusing on relevant backlinks and high-quality content, is the only way your website can achieve steady ranking growth, organic search traffic, and robust website authority.
Why is it so reliable? Well, despite its reputation for being slower, ethical link-building practices ensure your website's safety amidst the ever-changing search engine guidelines and algorithm updates. And there are more reasons why:
💡Pro-tip! In our recent survey of 113 SEO experts from around the world, 58.4% rated the influence of links on rankings as high.
Sticking to ethical link-building is tremendously important simply because Google consistently updates its algorithms each year without fail.
Taking a laid-back approach and ignoring these changes will ultimately land you in lower rankings, even if you were doing okay before. So, adaptation is key!
The link-building community has navigated Google's updates with resilience, adapting to the new millennium days of Cassandra, Florida (2003), and Jagger (2005) to recent ones like the Link Spam and Core updates of 2024. From addressing excessive links to focusing on high-quality content and user experience, link builders have witnessed the evolution firsthand.
So, how exactly did all these updates shape the NOW of link-building? Simply put, they hammered home the message that Google isn't playing around. It's either play by the rules ethically or find yourself out of the game. Therefore, Google imposed ethical-link building on link-builders through:
Strategy | Result |
Prioritizing quality links | SEO pros shifted focus from sheer quantity to quality, targeting links from authoritative and relevant sites in their niche or industry. |
Natural link building | Link-builders aimed at organic link acquisition by creating top-notch content that naturally attracts links from other sites. |
Relationship building | SEOs fostered relationships with reputable website owners and influencers to organically promote their links over time. |
Content quality | Link-builders crafted compelling, non-keyword-stuffed content tailored to their audience, exploring sought-after topics across various formats and conducting original studies to earn backlinks naturally. |
Regrettably, no matter how many updates Google might roll out, there are still loads of websites out there chasing rankings and traffic spikes, throwing ethical link-building out the window.
But do they really get away with it? Nope! Eventually, they pay the price. All those unethical practices end up getting them flagged and downranked because you just can't dodge updates forever.
Here’s what to avoid:
A vast share of black hatters try to manipulate rankings by creating Private Blog Networks or PBNs. These are clusters of interlinked websites belonging to one “root website” designed to create an impression of an organic connection between “earned” links.
Their sole goal is to lull both search engines and website visitors into thinking they're dealing with genuine, relevant website linking.
🔎 How to spot?
You can often spot a fishy domain connected to a PBN or lousy backlinks by observing some telltale signs: high DA/DR, low traffic, only a handful of top-ranking keywords, and hardly any page visits.
More cues include:
Grab your handy checklist!
✅ Lots of sites with matching designs
✅ Not-so-great content
✅ Zero-relevance links & content
✅ Strange link patterns
✅ Absent Whois details
✅ Traffic going up and down unexpectedly
✅ Not much action on social media
✅ Poor user experience
Lastly, many PBN-like sites often share IP addresses since blackhatters typically don't host each domain separately. To detect this, we'll perform a Batch Analysis of the linked domains in Ahrefs.
For our experiment, we'll use URLs from several directories that promise "great results" but seem a bit suspicious. Take a look!
Not only do they look alike in design, but checking their IP addresses shows they’re basically the same thing — probably a part of a single PBN due to shared hosting.
Look at the zero traffic and high DRs! Guess, there’s no need to dig further, all the signs are quite telling.
But heads up, there are more shady link-building tactics coming our way!
Why would buying backlinks be considered unethical? After all, isn't it something everyone dabbles in occasionally? Well, our survey revealed that it's actually pretty common. A fair share of SEO experts we asked (92%) believe that their competitors purchase links.
Technically, buying links DOES give blackhat vibes since Google labels "buying or selling links for ranking purposes" a link scheme. And that’s inherently penalty-provoking.
But are penalties for buying links that common? Yes and no. If you get busted, you might pay with a drop in rankings or, in the best-case scenario, see no result from bought links whatsoever. Sounds like wasting your valuable resources, as paid links are generally expensive.
On the bright side, when done right, paid links are pretty hard to detect, especially if you get them from ethical link-building services or reputable websites with high rankings, significant DRs, and high-quality content relevant to your niche.
For instance, editorial links or niche edits could be your best bet when it comes to paid link building. They are easily manageable, effective, and safe for your rankings since they are strategically placed in the existing, relevant content of established and authoritative websites.
Sure, it might take a bit of time to hash things out with website owners, editors, or content teams. But it's one of the most organic ways to snag top-notch links without throwing cash at those that turn out to be duds.
⚠️Attention! Despite the saying that the best things in life come for free, that's not quite the case with niche edits. On average, these could set you back anywhere from $200 to a pricey $1000 per link, especially if you're targeting the most credible and high-ranking sources.
Alternatively, you may turn to Editorial. Link for a little assistance.
We're a 100% ethical link-building service, focused on securing top-notch links through our long-lasting partnerships with authoritative websites like podium.com, monday.com, envato.com, and lots more! All at a reasonable price. Just give us a holler!
🔎 How to spot fraud when buying links?
💡 Pro-tip! Ever checked out Fiverr and similar platforms? It's a hub for freelancers ready to tackle tasks for a small fee.
But beware: it's also a hotspot for black hat link-builders peddling worthless links. Stay sharp and entrust your rankings to ethical link-building services ONLY.
💡Pro-tip! You might also bump into offers of “quality linking” from forum platforms like Reddit, Quora, or else. This is the case when such Web 2.0 links do bring traffic but DON’T carry any weight.
Non-relevant backlinks are just another byproduct of unethical link-building. These come in all shapes and sizes, from classical spam, hidden, low-rate directories links to unrelated links designed purely to trick Google's ranking system.
Links from link farms, PBNs, shady reciprocal link schemes, and those purchased from questionable link-building services also fit into this category.
🔎 How to spot?
In reality, it leads to a low-rate SEO blog. What a blooper!
Imagine you run a car maintenance workshop in Dubai and want to spread the word about your services. While browsing online, you find a top-rated luxury car rental website in Dubai. You think it would be awesome to have a link to your workshop on their site.
However, after checking their domain authority, you might feel less enthusiastic about the idea.
For instance, let's say you're reading an article and encounter a term you're unfamiliar with, like "Google business profile optimization."
Upon clicking the link to find out more, you're redirected to a digital marketing agency page that lists its services. However, there's no mention of the topic you were curious about, such as Google business profile optimization. Irrelevant? Totally!
Check out this article! The keyword stuffing is just ridiculous!
Now that you've figured out what to avoid, let's explore some reliable, ethical link-building strategies to keep your website safe and boost its authority.
Ethical Link-Building Strategies | How it works? |
Relationship-based link-building | Focuses on building links through genuine relationships with other websites, often through outreach and collaboration. |
Creating linkable assets/link-bait content | Involves producing high-quality content or resources that naturally attract links from other websites due to their value or usefulness. |
Connectively (formerly HARO) | Leverages digital public relations strategies and platforms like Connectivity to earn high-quality backlinks by providing expert insights or commentary to journalists and bloggers. |
Guest Blogging | Involves writing articles or blog posts for other websites within your niche, typically with a link back to your own site, to expand your online presence and gain relevant backlinks. |
Relationship-based link-building is way far from engaging in excessive reciprocal linking, which falls under black hat tactics
It focuses on establishing authentic connections with authoritative websites that genuinely WANT to showcase your links because of your valuable content and impeccable reputation. Actually, it’s a win-win for both parties.
Website owners enhance their backlink profiles. And we all know that pages with the highest number of total backlinks frequently attain top ranks. While you can boost your domain authority and search position simply because you link to a top-ranking website. Google loves it!
Let's take a cue from the pros and examine the backlink profile of Backlinko.
Impressive! Backlinko is undoubtedly a highly authoritative website within the global SEO community.
Now, let's dive into its link intersect to understand that getting such impressive backlinks wasn't easy through mass outreach methods, not to mention unethical ones. We’d use another titan such as Neilpatel as a competitor.
Based on the given data, the system quickly generates a list of websites that link to each other, so you can analyze them yourself.
💡Pro-tip! Taking a peek at your competitors' interlinking can do wonders for you. It gives you valuable insights into high-traffic and reputable websites you might want to link to yourself. Once you've identified high-DR websites, you can check their traffic using the Ahrefs Batch Analysis Tool.
This is where your relationship-based link-building journey begins. Choose the most relevant and high-traffic websites from your list, then reach out to their decision-makers. Be friendly and best of luck! Who knows, they might reward you with a valuable link!
Wanna learn the art of relationship-based link-building from the best?
Reach out to Editorial. Link. We've put in the effort to build genuine relationships with top-notch websites with most of the niches and expert areas, so our friends can be YOUR friends too. Contact us and link to the best sources only.
Here's another fantastic example of an ethical link-building tactic that revolves around visually appealing, entertaining, or highly sought-after content.
Often referred to as link-bait content, these materials, such as captivating images, stunning graphics, relevant infographics, unique studies, and eye-catching videos, have the power to grab attention and encourage sharing.
🧐 Why it works?
Securing links, say, for a typical blog article can be time-consuming, considering the extensive outreach needed for a single piece of content. Rather than solely focusing on outreach, complement your efforts with creating linkable assets. Just because website visitors will be naturally attracted to the uniqueness of your content, they will flock to your website without much work from your side. And more traffic is a bonus!
Take HubSpot, for instance. They're well-known for their FREE detailed reports on various topics, packed with fresh stats that professionals look forward to each year. Their annual benchmark reports are a great example of linkable assets that get excellent results.
Now, let's see how many backlinks this linkable asset has generated.
Jaw-dropping results!
💡Pro-tip! Wondering how to make your content more link-bait? Make sure it follows Google’s very own E-E-A-T principle.
A good stats compilation is a hot trend among website users! Many will go to Google images search simply to source stats images that will eventually make them click on your post and stay for more.
💡Pro-tip! The fresher your stats compilation, the more clicks you'll attract. People prefer not to sift through studies and graphs but will appreciate your effort in compiling all the necessary data into a single stats or graph.
And check out the UR of this graph! Quite remarkable, isn't it?
With shorter attention spans, we all tend to prefer consuming information quickly, mostly through videos. Entire generations have grown up on YouTube and TikTok, leading to speculation that these platforms are becoming the new search engines of today.
In 2023, TikTok dominated daily usage with 53.8 minutes per day, while YouTube followed closely with 48.7 minutes daily among U.S. adults.
🧐 Why it works?
Posts linked to videos have an edge over static content — they grab attention, make points quickly, and entertain. So, make sure to add a video to your list of favorite linkable assets. Here are several types of videos trending in 2024 for the best link-building results.
Connectively, similarly to analogical platforms like Featured, Help A B2B Writer, or Prowly, is a well-established method of ethical link-building. Although it isn't focused solely on SEO and works better for finance, business, and tech niches, it can still be effectively used for safe link building.
Just pose a question, and experts on the platform will reach out with answers. If you find an expert whose response is relevant to your content, you can easily exchange links and mentions.
However, in 2024, with the widespread use of Chat GPT and other content-generating AI, finding genuine, human-written answers is becoming harder. Many are simply hunting for reciprocal links without building meaningful relationships.
Plus, many overlook Connectively due to the overwhelming speed of responses: you're literally bombarded with emails and have to dig deep to find your perfect expert comment.
💡 Pro-tip! The best approach to combining link acquisition and relationship building is to start communication with a chosen expert on Connectively and then continue the conversation on LinkedIn.
There, you can get to know each other better, explore each other's posts, engage in discussions in the comments, and share valuable insights on similar topics. Once you've built a strong bond, you can begin discussing collaboration opportunities and potential link placements.
Later, when your content is released, you can mention each other in a post on LinkedIn, helping to spread engagement both on social media and on linked websites.
Another cool idea from SEO experts like Greg Jarboe is to blend in some digital PR techniques for better link-building. By leveraging automated PR tools, you can simplify the task of pinpointing the perfect connections, making your outreach efforts more streamlined and powerful.
Guest posting is one of the most reliable and ethical link-building methods, proven over the years. The concept is simple: submit articles to websites within your industry or niche as a guest writer.
Earlier, we discussed finding excellent platforms for potential guest posts. To ensure your post has the greatest impact, seek websites with solid domain authority, an active audience, and relevant content. Tools like Ahrefs can be incredibly helpful in this regard.
As for guest posting formats you may employ, consider the following:
Ethical link building extends beyond Google's restrictions on ranking manipulations; it’s about recognizing that link building is a marathon, not a sprint.
Hence, to rank high steadily, focus on building solid relationships with authoritative websites, providing value with your links, offering expert advice, and positively contributing to the SEO community.
And just for the record. Black hat tactics are never an option. You can achieve sustainable results from your link-building efforts only by going ethical or delegating to ethical link-building services.
Besides, if you are looking for one, Editorial.Link is at your disposal.