In short: Links still help search engines discover and assess pages, but the approaches that last in 2026 are the ones that earn attention from real readers: useful content, genuine press coverage, relevant partnerships and carefully chosen sponsored articles. Avoid link schemes, mass networks and repetitive exact-match anchors, and measure progress by outcomes rather than link counts.

Search has changed a great deal, with AI-generated answers, richer result pages and more personalised results, yet links have not stopped mattering. They still help search engines discover pages, and they remain one of several signals about how other sites regard a page. What has changed is the cost of getting it wrong. Search engines say their systems are increasingly able to ignore links that exist only to manipulate rankings, and Google's own spam policies describe link spam in plain terms.

So the question for link building strategies in 2026 is not “how many links can I get?” but “which links would still make sense if search engines did not exist?” A link from a relevant article read by real people is useful in either world. A link from a page nobody reads, placed to carry a keyword, is a liability.

This article takes a deliberately conservative approach. It describes approaches that tend to stay safe, explains what to avoid, and suggests how to measure the work. It does not promise rankings, because nobody outside a search engine can. If you are working on a brand-new domain, start with the more specific plan in link building for a new website.

Before choosing a tactic, apply three questions to any link you are considering.

  1. Relevance. Does the page and the site share a topic with the page you are linking to?
  2. Real audience. Would actual people read this page, and might some click?
  3. Editorial sense. Does the link help the reader of that page, or does it exist only for the link?

If the answers are yes, yes and yes, the link is likely to be worth having. If two answers are no, the link probably is not worth having, however cheap it is. This test also works as a quick filter when someone offers you a bundle of links. Publishing sites and their quality can be assessed with the criteria in how to choose sites for an advertorial.

Strategies that remain safe

The following approaches have one thing in common: they create something of value to the reader and the link follows.

Useful content that others want to reference

Original guides, clear explanations, checklists, tools and data you have collected yourself give people a reason to link. The content must be better organised or more accurate than what already exists. Publishing it on your own site is the easy part; helping the right people find it is the real task.

Press coverage for genuine news

When you launch something, open somewhere, win recognition or complete a project, a press release can lead to articles on news and business sites. We explain the craft in our press release guide. Coverage depends on editors' interest, so treat it as possible rather than certain.

Sponsored articles on relevant sites

An informative article on a relevant publication can introduce your brand to a new audience and include a link to a useful page. It is a form of advertising that happens to be written like an article, and it should be treated and labelled as such. Used sparingly and chosen carefully, it can be part of a balanced profile. Our link building packages are monthly campaigns built on exactly this kind of publication.

Partnerships, memberships and local ties

Suppliers, associations, chambers of commerce, sponsorships and community organisations often list members or partners. Links of this kind are relevant by nature, often long-lasting, and tell a clear story about who you are.

Digital PR with a point of view

Expert comments, local data, an opinion piece on a topical subject: these build recognition, and links follow when other sites cite you. For this, the person behind the brand matters as much as the brand.

Strategies to avoid, or treat with great care

Several tactics promise quick results and tend to age badly.

  • Private blog networks and mass link networks. Sites created to pass links, often with thin or spun content, are the classic link scheme.
  • Large volumes of low-quality directories or comments. Automated submission at scale creates a pattern that looks artificial.
  • Link exchanges at scale. Occasional genuine cross-references are normal; systematic swapping to boost rankings is covered by Google's guidance on link schemes.
  • Hidden or irrelevant links, such as links inserted into old pages without the owner's knowledge.
  • Cheap bundles with no named sites. If you cannot see where the links will appear, you cannot judge their quality.
  • Exact-match anchors repeated everywhere. Even from decent sites, the repetition is a signal in itself.

If you have already collected suspicious links, our article on the risky backlink profile explains how to assess and respond calmly.

This subject deserves directness. Google's documentation on qualifying outbound links advises that links created through payment or other arrangements should be marked, using rel="sponsored" or rel="nofollow". Its spam policies also describe the buying and selling of links that pass ranking signals as a violation. This does not mean sponsored content is useless: an article can bring readers, brand recognition and referral visits whatever the link attribute. But it does mean no one should promise you that a paid link will lift your rankings, or that it carries no risk.

On our network, links are dofollow by default and nofollow on explicit request. The client decides and carries the responsibility for the choice. Our article on dofollow, nofollow and sponsored links explains the attributes and the trade-offs in more detail.

Building a natural-looking profile

A healthy backlink profile is varied. It contains links from different types of sites, to different pages on your domain, with different anchor texts, built over time. Three habits keep it that way.

  • Vary the anchors. Use the brand name, the web address, descriptive phrases and occasional partial matches. Our article on anchor text in advertorials covers the types.
  • Link to more than the home page. Service pages, guides and category pages deserve links when they are relevant.
  • Keep a steady pace. Sudden bursts after months of silence stand out. A modest rhythm that you can sustain is better than a spurt you cannot repeat.

Natural does not mean random. It means that the links reflect real activity: launches, news, articles and partnerships. If the campaign looks like your actual communication plan, it will usually look natural to everyone else.

A fictional example of a balanced plan

Consider an invented company, a regional supplier of kitchen furniture with a modest website. It has no press history and few external links. A realistic first year of link building might be arranged in layers, with no numbers attached because the right quantities depend on the market.

  1. Foundations. Improve its own pages first: clear service descriptions, a guide on choosing worktops, a page of past projects with the owners' consent. Without something worth linking to, any link campaign is wasted.
  2. Local ties. Make sure it is listed by relevant trade associations, local business bodies and suppliers that it genuinely works with.
  3. News. When it opens a showroom or hires apprentices, send a press release to regional outlets.
  4. Informative articles. Publish useful pieces on home and renovation sites about kitchen planning, with a link to the guide rather than always to the home page.
  5. Review. Every quarter, look at which pages gained visibility and where visitors came from, then adjust.

The mix matters more than any single tactic. If one source dried up tomorrow, the brand would still have others. That diversification is what makes a strategy “safe” in practical terms: it does not depend on a single signal, a single site or a single way of being found.

AI assistants and answer engines now sit between many users and the open web. Whether they cite a source depends on the system and the question, and the details of their selection are not public. What is reasonable to say is that clear, factual, well-structured content on credible sites is more likely to be useful to such systems, and that being mentioned consistently in reputable places helps people and machines recognise your brand. Our article on optimising for ChatGPT, Claude and Perplexity explores this in more depth. For link building, the lesson is to prefer quality publications and accurate descriptions over quantity.

Measuring progress without vanity metrics

The number of links is the easiest measure and the least informative. Better indicators include:

  • Referral traffic from the sites that link to you, and whether those visitors do something useful.
  • Impressions and clicks for relevant queries in Google Search Console, which you can compare over several months.
  • Searches for your brand name, a sign that people remember you.
  • Enquiries and conversions that can be traced to published articles.
  • Index status of the pages you are trying to promote.

Be careful with third-party authority scores. They are estimates produced by tools and cannot be read as Google's opinion; see what DA and PA mean for what they can and cannot tell you. Keep a log of each publication with its date and URL, so that when you see a change in search results you can look back at what you did and when.

Give a campaign time. Search engines need to find and process new links, and effects, if any, are rarely immediate. Judging a campaign after two weeks usually produces the wrong conclusion in either direction.

Next step: start with a small, balanced plan

You do not need to use every tactic. A balanced plan for most small companies combines a few strong pieces of content on your own site, one or two press releases a year for genuine news, and a steady series of informative articles on relevant sites. Our link building packages are monthly campaigns for the third element, using sites from our portfolio, and we publish the live URLs in a report so you can track exactly what appeared where.

Whichever route you choose, remember the three questions: is the link relevant, does it reach real readers, and does it make sense to the person reading that page? If the answer is yes, you are probably building something that holds up better through algorithm updates.

Frequently asked questions

Do backlinks still matter in 2026?

Yes, but they are one signal among many. Links help search engines find pages and understand how others regard them. Google's documentation indicates that links which exist only to manipulate rankings can breach its spam policies, so relevance and genuine editorial value matter more than volume.

What are the safest link building strategies?

Creating genuinely useful content, earning coverage through newsworthy announcements, building relationships with relevant publications and communities, and publishing informative sponsored articles on suitable sites. These approaches build visibility beyond search, so the benefit does not depend on a single ranking signal.

Are paid links against Google's guidelines?

Google's spam policies treat links purchased to pass ranking signals as link spam, and its guidance asks that paid or sponsored links be qualified, for example with rel sponsored or nofollow. Brands should understand this guidance and make an informed decision about how to handle sponsored content.

How many links should I build per month?

There is no fixed number. A sensible pace depends on the size and age of the site, the competition and what the site can credibly earn. Slow, steady growth that mirrors real activity looks more natural than sudden bursts, and quality should always take priority over quantity.

How do I know whether link building is working?

Look at outcomes, not the link count alone: referral visits, growth in impressions and clicks for relevant queries in Google Search Console, searches for the brand name and enquiries from visitors. Give a campaign several months before judging it, and keep a record of what was published.