Link building
Link building from real, relevant sites
Earning links from real sites that have a genuine reason to mention you.
What this is
A link from another website is a vote. Search engines have used them as a credibility signal for twenty years and still do, which is why an industry grew up around faking them.
This is the version that does not put your site at risk: links from organisations that genuinely know you exist, because you genuinely have a connection to them.
What you get
Where local links actually come from
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01
Chambers and trade associations
Membership usually comes with a listing. Many businesses already pay for the membership and never claim the link, which is the easiest win available.
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02
Sponsorship
A youth team, a school event, a community fundraiser. You are probably already doing some of this. The organisation almost always has a website with a sponsors page, and almost nobody thinks to ask.
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03
Suppliers and partners
Manufacturers with dealer locators, suppliers with installer lists, businesses you refer work to and who refer back. These links are relevant as well as local, which is the combination that counts.
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04
Local news and community sites
When there is a genuine reason: an expansion, a hire, a piece of work worth reporting. Pitching without one wastes everybody's time.
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05
Getting the ones you already earned
Most established businesses are mentioned somewhere without being linked. Finding those and asking is the least glamorous and highest-yield part of this work.
What I will not do
No paid link networks, no directories that exist only to sell links, no guest posts on sites that publish anything, and no reciprocal link schemes. These are against Google's guidelines, they are detectable, and the downside lands on your site rather than on whoever sold them.
I also will not promise a number of links per month. A monthly quota is exactly the pressure that makes people buy bad links, and a quota is the tell that someone is doing so.
What it costs
Quoted after a free consult, because what it takes depends entirely on what you already have. Book a call, I will tell you what is involved, and you get a number before anything starts. Website plan details are on the pricing page.
Quoted as ongoing work rather than per link, because the honest unit is effort rather than output. Anyone pricing per link is describing something you should not buy.
How this differs
A link is an editorial endorsement from another site that passes authority. A citation is a directory record of your name, address and phone number. Different mechanism, different purpose, and citations are far more mechanical.
AI citation building targets the specific sources AI tools retrieve from, which is a shorter and different list from what helps you in Google.
Questions
What people ask
How many links will I get?
I will not give you a number, and be wary of anyone who does. Real links depend on real opportunities, and a quota is what pushes people into buying the kind that cause problems.
How long does this take to work?
Months. Links are a slow signal and they compound. If you need something this quarter, this is the wrong lever and I will point you at a faster one.
Are directory listings links?
Some are, and most local directories now mark them so they pass no authority. Their value is consistency of your business details rather than link equity, which is citation building.
What if I already bought links?
Tell me. It is worth knowing what is pointing at your site, and it is better established early than discovered later.
Earn links that will not backfire
Tell me what is going on and I will tell you whether this is what you actually need. No pitch deck and no pressure.
Book a free consult