Traditional Link Building Is Dead!

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Let’s face it: traditional link-building, as we know it, is dead.

Tactics that once delivered staggering results now barely scratch the surface. In most cases, there are just too many challenges and not enough rewards.

But there’s more to it.

Here’s a look at some traditional link-building strategies and the issues that plague them:

Guest Posting:

Guest posting was the golden goose for link building. In fact, according to a 2019 Ahrefs study, guest posts made up nearly 60% of the best link-building strategies.

In the formative years of SEO, a simple offer to pen a guest post was met with enthusiastic acceptance. Fast forward to today, and the landscape is saturated with aspiring guest authors often churning out less-than-stellar content – all for the sake of a backlink.

Resultantly, the success rate of guest posting outreach has plummeted to a meager 8.5%. Even within that small fraction, nearly half request a financial exchange for the link, indicating how shrewdly webmasters have capitalized on marketers' budget allocation for link building.

Broken link building:

Broken link building is yet another casualty of oversaturation. As a site owner, I grapple with at least 2 emails daily, pitching link replacements for my site, smarttask.io.

Aside from sifting through these requests and amending the CMS, ensuring the proposed link is contextually relevant is also challenging. Surprisingly, in 60% of instances, the suggested links are far from relevant.

I am pretty sure other webmasters face the same deluge of broken link emails.

Link Exchange (ABC Exchange):

In recent years there has been a surge in the popularity of ABC link exchange, an adaptation designed to circumvent Google's detection of reciprocal link exchanges. In this circular model, 'A' links to 'B', 'B' links to 'C', and 'C' returns the favor to 'A'.

According to our research (interviews with link-builders), almost 80% of all link exchanges are ABC link exchanges.

The problem, however, is as you scale this strategy, it becomes a quid pro quo nightmare, leaving you with a complex spreadsheet of owed favors. The system is further jeopardised if one party loses interest, shattering the link exchange chain.

Creating Linkable Assets:

Recently there has been a buzz about creating linkable assets. Market Research Surveys, Insights from product usage data, Government data Analysis, etc.

These are great to get links, especially from reporters. For news publications, there’s always a dearth of unique stories, and hence reporters pounce upon such reports. They devour unique insights and link back to the original content.

However, the creation of these linkable assets requires significant investment in terms of money, time, and resources. So, while it could serve as a one-off strategy, it would undoubtedly drain marketing budgets if repeated.

Content Marketers have given up:

Due to the above-mentioned factors, you’d often hear content marketers say “Link building doesn’t work” or “We should focus on creating quality content and links will come on their own.”

And I agree with them. Links today aren’t easy to come by. Plus, having a whole team focused on off-page SEO just to build 50-60 quality links per month isn’t cost-effective.

So, where does the solution lie?

While traditional link-building has become increasingly complex, the solution is refreshingly simple and timeless: cultivating relationships and trust.

Helping a partner site with a smooth linking process not only bolsters goodwill but also fosters a reciprocal environment. When you reach out next, they'll remember your past generosity and will be inclined to assist you.

The equation is quite straightforward: a wider network equals more opportunities. It's all about making meaningful connections and nurturing them, to fuel a more effective, lasting link-building strategy.

The Silver Lining

Building such relationships, however, takes time – a luxury that newcomers cannot afford.

That’s why we developed Smartlinks.ai, an innovative platform that accelerates outreach and facilitates ABC link exchanges. Its credit-based system streamlines the process of link building, bypassing years of relationship cultivation.

Here’s how it works:

You register your website and upload articles for link building.

The platform scans your articles and their keywords, searching for link opportunities that match your preset criteria (DR, Traffic, Spam score) within the network.

You create an (inbound) request to receive a link from your target website.

When you receive the link, Karma points are deducted from your account.

Conversely, when you provide a link, Karma points are added to your account.

This approach ensures trust, as all transactions are tracked by the software. Moreover, it provides a rapid, scalable link-building solution that doesn't require exorbitant investment.

So, as I said before traditional link building is dead. All that remains is an intricate game that can only be won with the right tools and strategy.

Traditional Link Building is Dead!