What Is Link Building? Definition
Building backlinks on purpose to strengthen domain authority and rankings.
What is link building?
Link building is the targeted work of earning backlinks, meaning links from other websites to your page. It is one of the most important off-page SEO measures and strengthens the authority of your domain.
A backlink is the single link that points to your site. Link building is the ongoing process that produces such links. It is also one part of off-page SEO, which covers every measure outside your website, including digital PR and unlinked brand mentions.
Example: a Swiss software company publishes a detailed guide for its industry and offers a trade portal a guest article that refers to it. Readers and editors start citing the guide, and the company gains links from relevant sites in its field.
Effective link building strategies
- Content marketing – high-quality content that earns links naturally
- Digital PR – media relations, studies and expert contributions
- Guest articles – expert articles on relevant industry portals
- Broken link building – finding broken links and offering your own content as a replacement
Link building, rankings and AI search
Good link building raises the authority Google assigns to your domain, which helps your pages rank. AI systems also lean on sources with high authority, so a strong link profile supports your visibility in AI answers too. If links were bought for your website in the past, our guide on checking and cleaning up your link profile explains what to do.
Frequently asked questions
What is link building?
Link building is the targeted work of earning backlinks from other websites to your page. It is one of the most important off-page SEO measures.
Why does link building matter for SEO?
Links from relevant, trusted websites strengthen the authority of your domain and help your pages rank. AI systems also prefer sources with high authority.
What is an example of link building?
A company publishes a detailed industry guide and writes a guest article on a trade portal that refers to it. Other sites in the field start linking to the guide.
How does link building differ from a backlink?
A backlink is a single link from another website to yours. Link building is the ongoing work of earning such links, for example through content marketing, digital PR or guest articles.