Different Approaches to Link Building: Exploring Add, Ask, Earn, and Buy Strategies

Acquiring backlinks, those precious components of SEO, is an unending quest for marketers. While some favor the purchase strategy, others prefer a more organic approach, such as requesting guest post opportunities. Equally, we often see polished professional backlink requests hinting at possible collaborations. All of these are varying link building strategies with one shared goal: acquiring valuable backlinks.

The Efficacy of Different Link Building Strategies

With a plethora of strategies available, a fundamental question that arises is: which is the most successful? It is crucial to appreciate that the techniques are secondary. The primary aspect is understanding why individuals provide links and how they can be persuaded to link to your content.

Four Fundamental Link Building Strategies

After extensive discussions with link-building practitioners from varied backgrounds such as marketing agency owners, affiliate marketers, in-house SEOs, and freelancers, a notable pattern emerged. Fundamentally, all link-building strategies fall into four categories: Add, Earn, Ask, and Buy.

Add

Some websites permit users to publish their content onto their pages, with minimal moderation. These platforms, such as forums or discussion boards, make it easy to add links. However, Google and other search engines generally do not see these links as valuable as they are easily added by anyone. When software or plugins are used to auto-generate backlinks, it drifts into the realm of SPAM rather than quality link building.

Earn

Earning links naturally can be the most efficient way to build quality backlinks but also the most challenging. It necessitates the creation of unique, highly valuable content that others naturally want to link to. For instance, a comprehensive industry report or a groundbreaking piece of research may attract links due to its inherent value, a tactic often known as ‘ego bait’. However, earning links requires considerable effort in producing high-value content.

Ask

Simply asking for backlinks may at first appear ineffective. Still, with the right offer of value exchange, it can yield positive results. Guest blogging is a classic example of this approach, where the exchange of content for a link is made. It’s a fair strategy, provided the guest content is of high-quality, unique, and adds value to the host’s website.

Buy

Finally, there’s the strategy of purchasing backlinks. This option may seem the most straightforward but comes with potential risks and ethical considerations. It’s crucial to ensure any purchased links are from reputable sites to avoid falling foul of Google’s guidelines.

All these link-building strategies each have their inherent benefits and shortcomings. The key to successful link building lies in being strategic, consistent and offering something of value, whether it be in the form of quality content or a mutually beneficial collaboration.