Link building means getting other websites to link to your pages. Search engines find pages through links and use links as a signal about them. The safe route is to earn links by publishing something worth citing. Paying for links that pass ranking credit, or running link schemes, breaks Google's spam policies.
Ahrefs defines it as "the process of getting other websites to link to pages on your website." Yoast puts it as "the practice of earning links from other websites to your own."
A link from another site to yours is called a backlink. Link building is the work you do. The backlink is the result. Yoast notes that links from other sites are "often called backlinks."
Links do two jobs. The first is discovery. Google's SEO starter guide says "the vast majority of the new pages Google finds every day are through links."
The second is as a signal. Google's guide to its ranking systems says PageRank "continues to be part of our core ranking systems," while noting that how it works "has evolved a lot" since Google launched. Semrush says "Search engines like Google see backlinks as signals of authority," but also that "Not all backlinks have the same impact on SEO." Yoast adds that "Links still matter, but they are part of a wider ecosystem of trust signals."
Yoast's rule of thumb is short: "Quality matters more than quantity."
Search Engine Journal's glossary defines an editorial link as "A link that is given by one website to another without the recipient asking or paying for it." Think of a writer who cites your data because it helps their readers.
Editorial links are what most "earn links" tactics aim for. Yoast says "Google recognizes that editorial links earned for merit are strong signals of expertise," which is why they are valued above links you place yourself.
Ahrefs groups link building into four methods. Semrush uses the same four names: earn, ask, add and buy.
Ahrefs lists five general concepts for judging a link: authority, relevance, anchor text, placement and destination. Semrush says "Links from authoritative sites usually have more SEO impact." In practice, check these things:
Google's spam policies define link spam as "the practice of creating links to or from a site primarily for the purpose of manipulating search rankings." The examples it lists include:
Paid links are not banned outright. Google says "It's not a violation of our policies to have such links as long as they are qualified" with a nofollow or sponsored rel attribute on the link. Semrush warns that "over-optimized anchor text can signal spammy link building."
Google's page on qualifying outbound links names three values. Mark paid links with the sponsored value: "Mark links that are advertisements or paid placements (commonly called paid links) with the sponsored value." Mark user-generated content links, such as comments and forum posts, with the ugc value. Use nofollow "when other values don't apply."
Google says "Links marked with these rel attributes will generally not be followed," and adds that the linked pages "may still be crawled" through other routes such as sitemaps. Ahrefs says nofollow "is now treated as a hint." Qualifying paid links this way is what keeps them within Google's policies.
Mergeflo does not run link outreach or PR campaigns. Its platform page says it is not the right fit when you need backlink campaigns or digital PR. What it does is help with the pages that links point to: it finds search gaps and buyer questions, drafts articles in your brand voice for your review, suggests internal links that you approve, and publishes the articles you approve to Webflow when you press Publish. For backlinks, it tracks referring domains, lets you decide on them and re-check them, and builds a disavow file.
Link building is the work of getting other websites to link to your pages. Search engines use links to find pages and, according to Google, PageRank is still part of its core ranking systems.
A backlink is a link from another site to yours. Link building is the set of actions you take to get those links.
Google says PageRank continues to be part of its core ranking systems, and Semrush says search engines see backlinks as signals of authority. Yoast adds that links are one part of a wider set of trust signals, so build links to pages that already deserve to rank.
Google says links marked nofollow, sponsored or ugc will generally not be followed, though the linked pages may still be crawled through other routes. Use the right attribute on links you place and do not treat these links as a way to pass ranking credit.
Guest posting is not banned. Google's spam policies do list links with optimized anchor text in articles, guest posts or press releases as an example of link spam. Keep any link relevant and natural, and avoid paying for it.
It depends on the method and on who does the work, so ask any provider for the scope in writing. Our post on how much link building costs covers the pricing models.
