You’ve probably heard the term “link building” tossed around pretty casually if you’ve dipped even a toe into marketing or SEO conversations. For most business owners, it sounds like something technical that you assume your “SEO guy” or agency handles behind the scenes. Maybe it involves sending emails, maybe it’s shady, maybe it’s just too far down the to-do list anyway. But here’s the thing: understanding how link building works—and what it really means for your business—is not just the job of your developer or your marketing person. It’s something that can, at its core, help you transform your online reputation, build authority in your industry, and ensure your site shows up when someone near you is searching at exactly the right time.
So let's break this down the way I’d walk a client through it. This is about clarity, not complexity. I’m not trying to turn you into an SEO professional—but I want you to see how this one piece can change everything from your web traffic to your sales conversations.
At its simplest, link building is the effort to get other websites to link back to yours. These are called backlinks. And backlinks are one of the most important ranking factors for Google’s search algorithm.
Every link back to your website is interpreted as a vote of confidence. The more high-quality votes you have, the more trustworthy your site looks to search engines. It’s like getting recommendations from respected peers in your industry. If the local Chamber of Commerce links to you from their member directory, that’s a positive signal. If your cousin’s blog about vintage wrestling figurines links to you, Google’s probably going to give you a little side-eye.
Why this matters? Backlinks help search engines gauge:
In short, great content still matters. But if no one is linking to you, it’s like throwing an amazing concert in the woods where no one hears it.
Link building isn’t just a technical game—it’s deeply anchored in human psychology. Think about when you're making a purchasing decision. You probably hop online, look at reviews, maybe ask in a Facebook group or check influencer endorsements. It’s all about trust signals. Backlinks work the exact same way for search engines.
If a respected website in your industry links to you, that tells Google and others, “Hey, this business knows what they’re talking about.” But equally importantly, it helps people feel more confident when they find you in a search result. They Google something, see your name, realize you were mentioned on the local news site or in a national blog roundup—and suddenly you’re not just some random page. You become credible.
I once worked with a Franklin-based therapist, and we got them featured in an article on a regional wellness website. Not only did her traffic surge, but she reported her initial consultations felt different. People came in already sold. That’s what a strong backlink can do—it instills pre-qualified trust.
These are the gold standard. You earn these when someone naturally links to your content because it's excellent, insightful, or useful. Think blog mentions, interviews, or references in guides.
For example, I once wrote a piece about Webflow usability tips that ended up getting cited in someone else's UX research blog. I didn’t ask, I didn’t pitch—they just found it helpful. That’s a clean, organic, editorial link. Google loves that.
Here you write an article for another site and include a link back to yours. Still valuable, but you have more control, so it’s slightly less impactful in Google's eyes unless it's from a really high-authority site.
Don’t mistake this with spammy directory submission. Think more like writing a piece for a design publication that wants your insight on color psychology in UX. You provide valuable content—you get a backlink.
These are structured mentions of your business across directories, like Yelp, Google Business, or niche-specific listings. For local SEO, these matter a lot. This is foundational, so we build this into nearly every SEO strategy I handle with clients.
There’s a big difference between being listed on Clutch.co for agency services and being on a general spammy link farm. Pick quality.
Without getting too technical—most links that pass SEO value are dofollow, meaning search engines follow them and pass ranking weight. A nofollow link tells Google not to transfer SEO weight, but that doesn’t mean it’s useless.
In fact, I’ve seen nofollow links from high-authority sources like Forbes or Quora help generate referral traffic, social signals, and credibility. Don’t ignore a link just because it’s “nofollow.”
This might be the nerdier part—so I’ll keep it practical. Google uses complex algorithms (and now AI) to rank pages by relevance and authority. Link building affects both.
Let’s say you're a wedding photographer in Nashville. You can write the best blog post about 10 Hidden Outdoor Wedding Venues in Franklin—but if no one links to it, you're unlikely to show up when people search.
But if your post gets mentioned on a bridal planning site or a local lifestyle magazine? Suddenly Google's like, “Hey, other experts are referencing this—we should probably bump it up the rankings.” That means more clicks, more leads, and at the end of the day, more business.
One client of mine, a tree removal service, saw a 70% increase in organic traffic over six months simply by earning 6 high-quality backlinks through local news stories and niche blogs. Again, small moves—big difference.
This is the base layer. If your content isn’t good or specific to your audience, no one’s linking to it. This is about going past surface-level “Top 5 Tips” and diving into real insight.
For example, rather than “How to Choose a Website Platform,” we might do “WordPress vs Webflow: Why Our Clients Switched After Five Years.” Real experience. Data. Screenshots. Quotes. That kind of content gets shared.
Sometimes link building is just old-school networking in a digital world. I’ve gotten high-authority links for my clients just by reaching out to local blog owners, editors, and fellow business owners—and offering insight or collaboration.
A photography studio I work with in Brentwood partnered with a local wedding venue to create a vendor guide. The venue included them on their Resources page with a backlink. Help others look good, and links follow.
Sites like Help a Reporter Out (HARO) give you a chance to offer expert commentary in exchange for a mention and link. We’ve used this to land links from news outlets, blog posts, and even podcasts.
If you’re an expert in something—say, how medical sites should handle ADA compliance—reporters writing a piece on web accessibility might want that perspective. So you give it, and you earn a backlink in the process.
Especially for service-based or location-based businesses, making sure all your directory and citation info is consistent and updated is foundational. Use tools like BrightLocal or Moz Local to audit and align listings.
This helps both your SEO and your credibility when a prospective customer compares you to competitors. If your name, address, and website are clean and consistent everywhere, that’s another signal that builds trust—in humans and in Google’s bots.
1. Buying Links From Sketchy Sites
This one trips up a lot of people. You might get cold emails offering 100 backlinks for $199. Walk away. If Google catches you participating in link schemes or manipulative practices, you can get penalized—aka, disappear from search results.
2. Focusing on Quantity Over Quality
Ten links from spammy blogs are worth far less than one link from a respected industry publication. Quality always wins. Think of it like getting a shoutout from Oprah versus 20 random people on Craigslist.
3. Ignoring Relevance
A dog grooming business doesn’t need a link from a cryptocurrency blog. Google evaluates industry and topical relevance. Always prioritize links from sites that share your audience or niche.
4. Not Optimizing Anchor Text
If every backlink says “click here,” that’s a missed opportunity. Aim for anchor text that incorporates your target keyword or service. Example: “Franklin wedding photographer” is better than “website.”
This is where things often get overlooked. People think SEO starts after the website is done. In reality, your design choices, URL structure, blog setup, and meta content all affect your long-term linkability.
If you're building a Webflow or WordPress site, build it ready to receive links:
We’ve baked this into a few builds recently. One Webflow site we just launched had target pages for every local service area optimized with interlinking. Now, when a nearby blogger linked to them, the domain structure elevated all the other location pages too.
If you’re going to invest time or budget into something, you need visibility. Fortunately, you don’t need to be a data wizard.
Use tools like:
Every time we do SEO for a client, we send regular reports on new backlinks earned, their domain quality, and the pages benefiting from them. It helps show what’s working—and where to double down.
Here’s the part I want to stick. Link building isn’t just a checkbox in your SEO package. It’s not about tricking Google. It’s a long-term reputation strategy based on expertise, connection, and earned authority.
When I work with a local business, whether I’m redesigning their Webflow site or just helping them get clear on their message, I'm also thinking about how the site builds trust. How it supports content. How other people might want to reference it. That’s the link building mindset, and it's something I believe more business owners should feel empowered to understand—even if they hire help for execution.
After all, great websites help you connect. Link building just amplifies that connection across the web.
Copyright © Zach Sean Web Design
