link building
The practice of earning links from other websites to your own, as a signal of relevance and authority to search engines.
Definition
Link building aims to have reputable sites link to your pages. Legitimate methods include publishing useful research, getting covered by the press, partnerships, directories relevant to your field and guest contributions that offer real value. Buying links or using networks designed to manipulate rankings can violate search engine guidelines and risk penalties. Quality and relevance matter far more than volume. Ask agencies to explain their methods and show examples before agreeing to a program. Be cautious of reports that count links by volume, and ask instead for examples of linking pages you would be proud to be associated with.
In a sentence
The agency earned links by publishing an original industry survey.
We refused offers of cheap paid links because they risk penalties.
