SEO · ServiceMOFU
Link building: links you earn, not links you rent
The short answer
Bought links are a liability with a delayed invoice. Link networks and paid placements are detectable, increasingly devalued, and occasionally punished. PMG builds authority the slower way: creating things worth citing, and putting them in front of people who cite things.
That means original data, genuine expert commentary, and relationships with journalists and publishers who cover your category.
How we earn links
- Original data studies. Survey your customers or analyse your category's data. Journalists need numbers, and numbers get cited.
- Expert commentary. Responding to journalist requests with genuinely useful quotes from a named expert.
- Digital PR campaigns. A newsworthy angle pitched to relevant publications, not a press release blasted to a list.
- Resource content. Calculators, templates and tools that people link to because they're useful.
- Partnership and supplier links. Legitimate relationships that already exist and simply aren't documented on the web.
- Community and event participation. Sponsorships, talks and local involvement with real presence.
What we won't do
- Private blog networks, which are detectable and eventually devalued
- Paid link placements disguised as editorial
- Directory spam and low-quality citation blasts
- Reciprocal link schemes
- Exact-match anchor text at unnatural ratios
- Comment and forum link spam
None of these are ethical objections alone — they're risk assessments. Each is a known pattern that search engines identify.
Measuring link building honestly
Referring domains matter more than raw link count. Relevance matters more than domain authority scores, which are third-party estimates, not Google metrics. And a link that sends real referral traffic is worth more than one that sends none, regardless of what any tool says about it.
Measuring link building
| Metric | Why |
|---|---|
| Relevant referring domains earned | Quality and diversity of links |
| Authority and topical relevance of linking sites | Link value |
| Rankings and traffic for linked pages | Actual impact |
| Branded search and mentions | Broader reputation |
| Referral traffic from links | Real audiences reached |
Link building by business type
| Business | Link sources that fit |
|---|---|
| Local services | Local associations, sponsorships, local media |
| eCommerce | Product reviews, gift guides, digital PR |
| B2B | Industry publications, partners, research |
| SaaS | Integrations, partner directories, reviews |
A worked example
A B2B company had few links and low authority. We published an industry benchmark report, pitched it to trade media, secured partner and integration listings and contributed expert commentary. Quality referring domains grew steadily over six months.
Before link building
- Content worth linking to
- Target publication and partner list
- Brand mention monitoring
- Policy against paid schemes
How a Link Building engagement with PMG runs
- Audit (week 0–1). Accounts, analytics, tracking, website, CRM flow and competitors reviewed, with a written list of what's broken, what's wasted and the three moves we'd make first.
- Plan (week 1–2). Break-even ROAS or a target cost per lead, a measurement plan and a 90-day roadmap for Link Building, with owners and dates.
- Launch (week 2–4). Clean structures, verified conversion signals, the first creative sprint and landing-page fixes.
- Optimise (months 2–3). A weekly test cadence, with budget following the cheapest incremental results rather than platform-reported ones.
- Scale (month 3 onwards). New channels, geographies and retention loops, added only when the economics hold.
Every week you get a one-page scorecard, a change log, the test board and a 30-minute call with your strategist. See how we work and pricing for details.
Why teams choose PMG for Link Building
- Measurement first. Unit economics and clean tracking come before any increase in spend.
- You own everything. Ad accounts, data and creative stay in your name; ad spend goes straight to the platforms.
- Senior hands on the account. The strategist you speak to is the person running it.
- Weekly transparency. Scorecard, change log and test board — every week.
- Short minimum terms. We keep clients with results, not contracts.
- India and international. One Mumbai team running campaigns across Indian cities and overseas markets, Mon–Sat, 7am–9pm IST.
Where we run Link Building
We manage Link Building for businesses across India — including Mumbai, Delhi NCR, Bengaluru, Pune, Hyderabad, Chennai, Kolkata and Ahmedabad — and for companies in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, Singapore and Germany. Campaigns are planned market by market, with language, currency, platform mix and privacy rules matched to each. See all Indian locations and international markets.
Free growth audit
Get a written audit for Link Building.
No sales call required. Tell us where to look; a strategist replies within working hours and sends the written audit within 72 hours.
- Tracking check
- Pixels, Conversions API, GA4 events and offline conversions — what is firing, what is double-counted, what is missing.
- Wasted spend
- Search terms, placements, audiences and overlap that cost money without producing qualified leads or sales.
- Conversion path
- Landing page speed, message match, form friction and follow-up time — where interested people drop off.
- 90-day priorities
- The three changes we would make first, with the metric each one should move.
Frequently asked questions
How many links do we need?
The wrong question. Look at what's ranking for your target queries and what their link profiles look like, then close the relevance and quality gap — not a number.
Are paid guest posts safe?
Google treats paid links passing PageRank as a policy violation. Many "guest post services" are exactly that. The risk is real and the benefit is declining.
How long before links affect rankings?
Typically weeks to months from acquisition, and the effect compounds. Link building is the slowest-acting SEO lever and the hardest to reverse if done badly.
Do we need links if our content is good?
For competitive commercial queries, almost always yes. For long-tail informational content, good content with solid technical foundations frequently ranks without them.
What is anchor text?
The clickable text of a link. Natural, varied anchor text is best; see anchor text.
Is domain authority a Google metric?
No. Domain authority scores come from third-party tools and estimate link strength. Useful for comparison, not a Google ranking factor. See domain authority.
How many links does a page need to rank?
It depends on competition. Some pages rank with few links because the content is excellent and the site is trusted; competitive head terms usually need strong links.
Do you buy links?
No — paid link schemes breach Google's spam policies and can lead to penalties.
How many backlinks do we need?
Quality and relevance matter more than numbers; a few authoritative, relevant links outweigh many weak ones.
Do nofollow links help?
They don't pass ranking signals in the same way, but they can still bring traffic and visibility.
How fast should backlinks grow?
Naturally and steadily — sudden spikes from low-quality sites are a warning sign.
What is a toxic backlink?
A link from a spammy or manipulative source; Google usually ignores them, but avoid building them.
Is there a long contract?
No. Minimum terms are short, because we would rather keep clients with results than with contracts.
Will we own the ad accounts and data?
Yes. Everything runs in your own accounts with partner access for PMG, and you can see it all at any time.
What do you need from us to start?
Access to ad accounts and analytics, your margins and order values (or deal values), brand assets, and a decision-maker available for a weekly 30-minute call.
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Book a strategy call with the people who'd actually run your account. We'll tell you what we'd do — or that you don't need us yet.