If you want your website to rank for competitive keywords, you need backlinks.
That's still true in 2027, despite years of speculation that links would become less important. Google has confirmed repeatedly that links remain one of the top three ranking signals.
The challenge is that most link building advice is either outdated (guest post spam doesn't work), dangerous (paid links can get your site penalised), or impractical (HARO is borderline useless now).
This guide covers what actually works.
What is a backlink?
A backlink is a link from another website to your website. It acts as a vote of confidence — the more quality sites that link to you, the more credible your site appears to search engines.
How many backlinks do I need to rank?
It depends on your competition. Check your top-ranking competitors in Ahrefs or Semrush to see how many referring domains they have. That's your baseline target.
Are all backlinks equal?
No. A link from a well-known, relevant website in your industry is worth more than 100 links from low-quality directories. Quality and relevance beat quantity.
What Makes a Good Backlink?
Not all links are created equal. Search engines evaluate links on several dimensions:
Domain authority — a link from the BBC, The Guardian, or a well-established industry publication carries far more weight than a link from a small blog with no traffic.
Relevance — a link from a web design blog to a web design agency is more relevant than a link from a recipe blog. Relevant links signal to Google that your content is recognised by your peers in the field.
Anchor text — the clickable text of the link. "This web design guide" is more informative than "click here." Natural anchor text variation (brand name, generic terms, descriptive phrases) looks better than every link using your exact target keyword.
Editorial placement — links embedded naturally within the content of an article are more valuable than links in footers, sidebars, or comment sections.
The Strategies That Actually Work
1. Create Link-Worthy Assets
The most sustainable link building strategy is creating content so useful that other people link to it naturally.
What earns links:
Original research and data — if you survey your industry, compile statistics, or produce a study, other writers reference and link to it. "According to Evoke Studio's 2027 survey, 73% of small businesses..." becomes a citable source.
Comprehensive guides — "the definitive resource" on a topic. If your guide is genuinely the most comprehensive treatment of a subject online, other sites link to it as a reference.
Free tools and calculators — a free website audit tool, a cost calculator, or a salary comparison tool attracts links from people who find it useful.
Original design or visual assets — infographics, diagrams, and charts are shared and cited. If you create a useful visual that explains a concept well, others embed it with attribution.
✦The Easiest Starting Point
Write the most comprehensive guide to your primary service or topic that exists on the internet. Not 800 words — 3,000+ words covering every dimension of the topic. This is what earns links from other writers who need to reference a source. Our guide to how much web design costs is an example.
2. Digital PR: Getting Into Publications
Digital PR means getting your business or expertise featured in online publications — news sites, industry blogs, podcasts, and magazines that have real audiences.
This is different from traditional PR. You're targeting websites with editorial standards and real traffic — because those links move rankings.
How to do it:
Expert commentary. Journalists and bloggers regularly search for expert sources. Monitoring Google Alerts for keywords in your industry, then reaching out to offer expert comment when relevant stories break, can earn mentions in publications.
Data stories. If you have original data or an interesting take on industry trends, pitch it to industry publications. "The State of Web Design Costs in the UK, 2027" is more pitchable than another opinion piece.
Case studies and success stories. Publications in your industry regularly feature client success stories. If you have a compelling case study, pitch it as a contributed story.
3. Unlinked Brand Mentions
If someone mentions your business online but doesn't link to you, you can often get that mention converted to a link.
Find unlinked mentions using Google Alerts for your business name and tools like Ahrefs' Content Explorer. Then politely email the author and ask if they'd be happy to add a link.
Conversion rates on this are relatively high — people who mentioned you already think positively of your business.
4. Supplier and Partner Links
Every business has relationships — suppliers, partners, industry associations, clients.
Many of these relationships can naturally become backlinks:
- Your web hosting provider might list you in a showcase
- A professional body you're a member of might list members with links
- Partners you work with regularly might feature you in their "who we work with" section
- Clients you've worked with might feature you as a supplier
These are genuine relationships — asking for links from them is entirely appropriate.
5. Local Backlinks
For businesses with local presence, local links carry particular weight for local search rankings.
Local press. A story in your local newspaper or city business publication earns a high-quality local link.
Local business associations. Chamber of Commerce, local business network listings, local professional body chapters — all link to their members.
Local event sponsorship. Sponsoring a local event typically earns a link from the event website.
Local community involvement. Supporting local charities, schools, or organisations often leads to acknowledgment links.
These links are directly relevant to local SEO and help you appear in the local 3-pack. Read the local SEO guide for the full context.
What to Avoid
Paid Links
Paying websites to link to you is a violation of Google's guidelines. If Google detects paid link schemes, it can penalise your site significantly — removing it from search results for affected keywords, or in serious cases, removing it entirely.
This includes obvious paid links AND the grey-area practice of paying for "sponsored content" posts with do-follow links.
Mass Guest Posting
Writing the same guest post for 50 generic blogs is no longer effective. Google's algorithms detect manipulative link building patterns. Low-quality guest posts on irrelevant sites now have minimal value and can look suspicious.
A single well-placed article in a relevant, authoritative publication is worth more than 50 guest posts on small blogs.
Link Exchanges
"I'll link to you if you link to me" — Google's guidelines explicitly flag link exchanges as a manipulative practice.
Private Blog Networks (PBNs)
Networks of websites created specifically to pass link authority — this is among the highest-risk link building practices and has led to significant penalties for many sites.
How to Measure Your Backlink Progress
Track your backlinks in:
Google Search Console — the Links report shows your top linked pages and top linking sites. Check this monthly for new links (and to identify any suspicious spammy links pointing at you).
Ahrefs or Semrush — paid tools that give you a complete picture of your backlink profile, your domain rating, and competitor comparison. Worth the investment for businesses seriously focused on SEO.
Key metrics to track:
- Number of referring domains (unique sites linking to you)
- Domain Rating / Domain Authority score
- Growth trend month over month
| Feature | Ineffective Link Building | Effective Link Building |
|---|---|---|
| Volume | 100 links from low-quality sites | 10 links from relevant, authoritative sites |
| Method | Bulk guest post outreach | Content assets + digital PR |
| Relevance | Any site that will link | Industry-relevant publications only |
| Risk | High (paid links, PBNs) | None (earned editorial links) |
| Timeline | Fast (but penalties follow) | Slow but compounding |
| Long-term value | ✗ | ✓ |
Website that needs stronger domain authority to compete in search?
Evoke Studio builds websites with strong technical SEO foundations and content architecture that naturally attracts links — the right way to build long-term ranking authority.
For new websites: start with the strategies that don't require cold outreach. Submit your site to relevant industry directories and associations. Ensure your suppliers, partners, and professional memberships link to you. Create one genuinely comprehensive resource on a topic your audience cares about — that is the foundation of earned links. Reach out to your existing network about relevant content you've published. Avoid buying links or mass guest posting — the risk of penalty on a new site is disproportionate.
There's no fixed number — it depends entirely on the competition for your target keywords. Check the top 5 ranking pages for your target keyword in Ahrefs or Semrush and look at their number of referring domains. That gives you a realistic baseline. For most local and niche business keywords, 20–50 quality referring domains is enough to be competitive. National or global competitive keywords may require hundreds.
Yes. Despite the rise of AI-generated content and evolving search algorithms, links remain one of Google's confirmed top three ranking signals. The nature of what makes a good link has become more sophisticated — quality, relevance, and editorial context matter more than raw quantity — but the fundamental importance of earning links from credible external sources has not changed. Websites with strong backlink profiles consistently outrank equivalent sites with weak profiles for competitive keywords.
Google Search Console's Links report (free) shows your most-linked pages and top linking sites. Ahrefs and Semrush (paid) give a more complete picture including historical data, anchor text distribution, and competitor comparison. For monitoring new links in real-time, set up Google Alerts for your domain name. Check your backlink profile quarterly to identify any suspicious or spammy links that may have appeared, and disavow them via Google's Disavow Tool if needed.
Domain authority (Moz) and domain rating (Ahrefs) are third-party metrics — not official Google metrics — that estimate the strength of a domain's backlink profile on a 0–100 scale. New sites typically start at 0–10. Established small business sites often reach 20–40. Major publications and established brands typically score 60–90+. Don't optimise for the number itself — it's a proxy, not a goal. Focus on earning quality links from relevant sources and the score will follow.