Link building · 2 October 2026 · 6 min

What a serious link building programme looks like

If the pitch would embarrass you in front of the client, it is the wrong link.

Most link packages fail in the first conversation, when someone promises a domain rating on a schedule. Ratings are a third-party guess. Google does not invoice you in DR points, and neither should your agency.

Start from the page that should rank

A link is a vote for a URL. If that URL is thin, duplicated or pointed at the homepage out of habit, more votes will not invent a relevant document. We pick the commercial or resource URL first, then ask which publications already talk to that reader.

Angles, not blasts

Editors respond to a reason: a local data point, a useful explanation, a quote from someone who does the work, a correction of a lazy statistic. A mail-merge with the words 'quick question' is not a reason. The list should be short enough that a human looked at each site.

What we refuse

Private blog networks, rented homepage links, and 'niche edits' on sites that exist only to sell placements. They sometimes move a chart for a quarter. They also produce the clean-up projects we would rather not inherit. Editorial mentions take longer. They are the ones you can show a finance director.

Measure the programme by relevant referring domains, the URLs that received them, and whether those URLs started to earn impressions on the terms in the brief. If a report leads with a single authority number, ask to see the URLs.