Link Building & Digital PR
Link building and digital PR that earn links from trusted sites
Link building services that earn links through digital PR, original data and expert comment. We never pay for links or use link networks, and every source is named.
Content brief
Example- Search
- how much does a new roof cost
- Answer first
- A price range in the first two sentences
- Evidence
- Two cited sources, dated
- Links to
- Roof replacement service page
In every planIncluded in Local or Growth, from $149 a month. Every plan has every feature; they differ by size.
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What we do and do not do in link building
The tactics a provider rules out tell you the most. Few put them in writing.
What we do
- Build assets a publication would want to cover, link or no link
- Contact named journalists and editors one by one, with a reason that fits what they cover
- Give expert comment in reply to journalist requests for sources
- Share the source of every link we earn, including the disappointing ones
- Point out coverage worth having for your brand, even when it carries no link
- Flag a weak campaign idea before we spend your budget pitching it
What we will never do
- Pay for links, or use middlemen who pay for links for us
- Use private blog networks or any group of sites that exists to sell links
- Place articles on guest post farms that publish anything for a fee
- Set up link swaps, whether two-way or three-way
- Buy expired domains and redirect them to your site
- Post links in comments, forums, profiles or directories that exist only for links
- Accept a paid placement without the labelling the platform policies require
Why we start with risk
Why the risk of bought links falls on you
If a link campaign goes wrong, the provider loses a client. You could lose the domain your business runs on. That is why this page starts with what we exclude.
The published spam policies are direct. Swapping money, goods or services for links meant to influence rankings is link spam, and so are large article campaigns published mainly for their links. Paid links must carry a label, and a labelled paid link passes nothing. Much of this industry runs on paying for links and hoping they are never marked.
None of that makes a penalty certain, and plenty of sites with bought links rank well. But you carry a hidden risk with no end date, on an asset that is hard to replace, for an advantage nobody can measure.
Earning links is slower and less predictable. Coverage arrives when an editor decides. What you get is a link profile that needs no explaining to your next agency, investor or auditor.
Common situations
Four common problems with past link buying
- We bought fifty links and nothing happened.
- Usually the links sat on sites with no audience, and Google discounted or ignored them. The next most common reason is that links were never the problem: a technical or search intent issue was holding the pages back.
- Our provider will not tell us where the links came from.
- The clearest warning sign there is. A provider earning coverage lists every placement. One who will not name sources is usually hiding a network they control or a deal you would not approve. You carry the risk, so you have a right to the list.
- We got press coverage and none of it linked to us.
- Common, and not always a failure. Some publications never link out, and the mention still helps your brand. But a campaign sold as link building that delivers unlinked mentions was sold as the wrong thing. Agree this at the start.
- We have a manual action and do not know why.
- Recovery starts with a full list of every link tactic ever used, including undisclosed work by past agencies. Then a disavow file and a reconsideration request explaining what has changed. It is slow, and the best argument for never taking the shortcut.
Where campaigns lose
Most campaigns fail before a single email is sent
Outreach gets the blame because people see it. Most losses happen at the first stage and the last, and pitching harder fixes neither.
- 1Everything you could pitch — Most of it is company news no publication has a reason to run. The story usually comes from what the company knows.
- 2Ideas with evidence behind them — Data you hold, a pattern only you can see, or a rule explained by someone who has to follow it.Ideas with nothing new behind them, which good pitching cannot save
- 3Journalists it fits — A few named writers who cover this subject, contacted one by one with a reason.Mass emails to a list, which get nothing and harm the next campaign
- 4Coverage that runs — An editor decides when it runs. Nobody controls what else happens that week.Weeks when a bigger story is running
- 5Coverage with a link — Coverage without a link still helps your brand. It should be sold as brand work, though.Publications that never link out
How we work
How we earn links and coverage
Find a reason someone would cover you
We interview the people who know your business. What does your data show? What do customers keep getting wrong? What is changing that outsiders have not noticed? This step decides whether everything after it works.
You get: A shortlist of story ideas with the evidence behind each
Measure the authority gap
Which competitors are ahead, what they get cited for, and whether authority is holding your pages back at all. Sometimes you need a better page, not links.
You get: An authority gap report and a recommendation on whether to go ahead
Build the asset
Original research, a dataset with a clear finding, a tool people will reference, or expert comment from a named, credentialed person. Something a publication would want on its own merits.
You get: A published asset with its method explained openly
Pitch to a small list
Named journalists who cover this subject, each contacted personally with a reason the story fits their beat. Mass emails get nothing and damage the next campaign.
You get: An outreach log recording every contact, angle and response
Answer journalist requests as well
Journalists post requests for sources every day, and the fastest credible reply usually wins. Briefed experts bring in steady coverage between campaigns for less effort.
You get: A reply process with briefed spokespeople and response templates
Report every source
Every link, where it came from and what it was for, plus the pitches that failed and why. A report you can hand to anyone.
You get: A coverage report with every source named
A different kind of search
What journalists search before they cite a business
These are the searches of the person writing an article that could cite you. Showing up for them is a big part of why some businesses get quoted again and again.
A journalist looking for a statistic
If your research page is the clearest source for a number a writer needs, the citation almost follows by itself.
- average cost of this service uk 2026
- how many businesses in this sector report this problem
- industry survey data on this practice
- latest figures on this market size
A journalist looking for a source to quote
A named expert with a public profile and a record of clear explanations gets contacted. An anonymous company page does not.
- expert on this subject for comment
- who can explain this regulation in plain english
- specialist in this field willing to be interviewed
A writer checking whether you are credible
Journalists check this before they quote you. What comes up decides whether a promising conversation goes quiet.
- company name reviews and complaints
- is this company legitimate
- company name founder background
These are example searches from keyword research and public search data. Before we suggest anything, we check how often people search for them in your area.
Questions
Questions people ask before buying links
Is buying links dangerous, or is that just something agencies say?
Buying links breaks Google's published spam policies, which call it link spam when money, goods or services are exchanged for links meant to pass ranking signals. That applies whether you buy directly or through a middleman who does not tell you.
The usual risk is a quiet loss: you pay for fifty links, they pass nothing, and you never find out. The worse outcome is a manual action, rarer but costly and slow to recover from.
What is the difference between digital PR and link building?
Digital PR earns coverage by giving publications something worth publishing: original data, expert comment or a newsworthy story. Links follow because a journalist chose to include one. Link building, as usually sold, starts with the link you want and finds a way to place it.
The key question is who decides. If an editor decided, it is a citation. If you or someone you paid decided, it is a placement.
Are guest posts acceptable?
It depends on whether the publication would run the article with no link in it. Writing for a publication whose readers you can help is normal professional work.
The spam policies target large article campaigns written mainly for the links inside them, on sites that publish anything. A site with a page listing its guest post prices is one of those, however it describes itself.
Should we disavow our old links?
Usually not. Google now ignores most low-quality links without penalising the site, and a careless disavow file can remove links that were helping you.
The exception is a manual action for unnatural links, where a disavow is part of recovery. Otherwise, budget does more earning good coverage.
Our business is boring. What would anyone write about?
Most "boring" businesses sit on data or expertise a journalist would want: how your prices have changed over three years, what customers most often get wrong, what is changing in your supply chain, and what a new rule means for the people who follow it.
The story comes from what the company knows. Finding that angle takes up most of the first month.
How many links will we get?
We do not promise a number. Providers who do usually hit it with placements. Earned coverage depends on the news that week and whether an editor finds the story useful.
We do commit to our side: the assets we build, the outlets we approach, the comments we submit, and a full list of every link that results and where it came from.
Check whether links are what is holding you back
Many businesses buy links when the problem was the page, the search intent or a technical fault. We check that authority is what limits you before recommending coverage work.
Prefer to talk it over? Book a free call
Your BOOSTD score improves within 90 days, or your next month is free. After 6 months, more traffic or leads, or we keep working free (up to 6 free months in any 12 months). Read our guarantee
References
Sources for link building
The official documents and research this page is based on. Platform rules change, so check the source before you act on a detail.
Related
More on link building
- digital PR campaignsThe campaign side of earning coverage.
- the standards we work toThe lines we will not cross to get a result.
- warning signs when choosing an SEO agency
- research we publishOriginal data is the most reliable reason to be cited.
- trade coverage for B2B salesOne mention in the trade press can carry a whole buying decision.
Where link building matters most
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Last updated · Published by Zubair Afzal, responsible editor