I’ve been in the SEO industry for nearly two decades at this point, and I can’t remember a year where I didn’t see a headline, tweet or forum post claiming that Google had completely neutralized all forms of link building with the godlike algorithm.
And it doesn’t help the story that Google’s own engineers and press releases will routinely back up that theory, with it being seen as more of the corporation’s propaganda rather than an evidence based analysis of how the algo really behaves.
In 2022, the definitive statement was that ANY bought link, on either the purchasers or sellers website, would be subject to the wrath of derankings and even potential penalties:
Funny how nearly three years later we are seeing a thriving industry, the algorithm relying on authority & links more than ever and an ecosystem that is easily spending over a billion dollars per year to play the search giant at its own game.
Google’s War on Links: All Talk, No Teeth
Google has been on a crusade against link building for as long as I can remember. Every year, we hear the same recycled talking points:
- “Links are less important than before.”
- “Google ignores unnatural links.”
- “Buying links will get you penalized!”
Yet here we are in 2025, and links are still the single most powerful ranking factor after your page’s initial intent, though links are still #1. Anyone who’s actually tested SEO at a high level knows that link building isn’t just alive, it’s thriving.
The real issue? Google hates that SEOs can game its algorithm so easily. They want to make links seem irrelevant because it gives them more control over rankings. If SEOs stopped buying links tomorrow, guess what? Google would have way more control over which sites dominate the SERPs, rather than letting link equity dictate authority.
Links Are Internet Currency, Not Crypto
Google is fundamentally a glorified link database. Its entire system is based on links passing authority, yet it constantly tells SEOs to stop doing the very thing that makes websites rank.
The reality is:
- Every major brand invests in digital PR (a fancy way of saying “we buy authority through press articles”).
- Affiliate marketers dominate search with PBNs, niche edits, and guest posts.
- Local businesses still thrive with (and require) citations, directories, and sponsored placements.
- Google rewards sites with strong link profiles, regardless of whether those links are “natural” or not.
If links didn’t matter, why does every top ranking site in competitive niches have thousands of them? Why do we still see negative SEO attacks using toxic backlinks? Why does ChatGPT need “sources”, aka links? Because backlinks were the foundation of Google, and how they leveraged a new algorithm with PageRank in the first place!
They will always work, despite what some on LinkedIn might have to say…
The Billion Dollar Industry Google Can’t Kill
If Google could “neutralize” link building, why is there an entire economy built around it? Agencies, brokers, webmasters, and marketplaces are raking in billions every year selling and buying links. Even SaaS tools like Ahrefs and Semrush literally exist because links dictate search rankings.
- SEOs still invest heavily in private link networks.
- The biggest brands still buy high authority placements.
- Even Google’s own properties rank because of links.
At the end of the day, Google can preach all it wants, but if links didn’t matter, the industry wouldn’t exist.
Which Sites Should Use Link Building
If you want to rank in competitive industries, you need links, end of story!
- Affiliate sites: The entire affiliate SEO game is won or lost on links. Even the best content won’t rank without authority pushing it up the SERPs. The biggest sites in the space are literally just well optimized content hubs with millions of dollars worth of link equity behind them.
- Local businesses: Try ranking a plumber in a big city without citations, directory links, and geo local links. You’ll get obliterated by competitors who have a solid link profile and age, even if your website is objectively better.
- E-commerce stores: Shopify stores pumping out $100M+ a year are buying links daily to dominate their category. Product page rankings rely heavily on authority links and internal linking.
- SaaS companies & startups: Every major SaaS company that wins in SEO has an aggressive digital PR and link building strategy. The “best tools” listicles and comparison articles? All link placements…
- Content sites & blogs: Whether you’re running a news site, a niche blog, or a media empire, you will not grow without a long term link strategy and you’ll likely be punished for even the smallest of mistakes without the domain authority to compensate for it.
If your business relies on organic search for revenue, then link building isn’t optional!
Which Sites Should Not Use Link Building
There’s only one type of site that shouldn’t waste time with link building:
Sites That Don’t Care About Google
If you don’t need search traffic, why bother?
- Private membership sites that get customers via word of mouth.
- Social media-driven businesses that live off Instagram/TikTok traffic.
- Apps & software with direct user acquisition that don’t rely on search rankings.
Even then, strong brands still build links naturally, whether they try or not! And whenever the opportunity to target organic comes knocking, those domains will have a massive head start vs. those without any links or history.
Sites That Can’t Handle Authority
Not all websites are ready for link building. If your site is:
- Technically broken (bad site structure, slow load times, zero internal linking).
- Filled with garbage content (thin, AI nonsense that Google will ignore).
- A brand-new domain with zero history (unless you know what you’re doing with aged domains or parasite SEO).
…then links won’t save you.
You need strong foundations before dumping money into links. Otherwise, you’re just paying for Google to ignore you faster.
Final Thoughts: Adapt or Die
Link building isn’t dead, it’s just evolved to a next stage. Google wants SEOs to think it’s dead so they stop exploiting it, but the numbers don’t lie. The best SEOs are still using:
- High-quality niche edits (the easiest way to pass authority).
- Strategic guest posts (not spammed, but well-placed).
- PBNs with proper masking (Google still can’t catch everything).
- Authority link building tactics (Media/press placements, sponsorships etc).
If you’re still relying on outdated tactics like forum spam or automated blog comments, then yeah, link building is “dead”, for you. But for those who understand how Google actually works? It’s more powerful than ever, and the reliance on links to power LLMs and AI means you will have the ability to rewrite industry or niche history in the future too.
Scary, exciting and enriching times ahead… Make sure you are at the forefront, and don’t listen to stupid headlines, link building will never die!
Regards,
