7 Best Link Building Services for SEO Success: Ranked and Vetted

This article will break down the seven best link-building services for SEO success:

Why Link Building Is Important for SEO

In Google’s own words, via its “How Search Works” article on how it determines where articles rank for organic searches: 

“Understanding if other prominent websites link or refer to the content. This has often proven to be a good sign that the information is well trusted.” 

Think of backlinks like you would movie reviews and ratings: the more positive reviews from high-quality, trusted film critics, the better!

If high-authority websites are linking back to your website and your content, it tells users and search engines like Google that your content is trusted, important, and authoritative.

Because millions of blog posts are published every day, link building is more important than ever to truly rank for difficult SEO keywords.

How to Pick a Link-Building Service

Picking a link-building service depends on multiple factors: your budget, if you’d like to fully outsource or partially do it yourself, and the quality of the service.

Link building isn’t new, but finding the right link-building service can be hard. Before picking your backlink service, be sure to analyze: 

• Cost: Link building isn’t easy if done well and with a proper strategy. If you see any link-building services that are extremely cheap, it’s because the quality of links you get is very bad. The best links come from relationships and content quality, which aren’t cheap. 

• Services that promote quantity over quality: Google makes it clear that not all backlinks are created equal. You want links from the biggest websites in your industry, not random blogs you’ve never heard of. Find a link service that prioritizes quality, not selling you 500 links per month.

• DIY or outsource? Want to fully DIY? There are some great tools and services to choose from. Or you can fully outsource to an agency adept at SEO strategy that can build links that contribute to your business goals. 

• Do they walk the walk: The best link-building services walk the walk, or “eat their own dog food.” Analyze their websites and check their backlink profiles. If they have a strong link profile, it’s clear as day that they know what they are doing. If they have barely any backlinks, it’s hard to trust that they can get you any meaningful links.

The 7 Best Link-Building Services for SEO Success: Ranked and Reviewed

1. uSERP: Link-Building Firm

uSERP is a performance-driven link-building service and SEO firm that has done link building for some of the biggest brands in the world, from SaaS to technology to cybersecurity and e-commerce.

uSERP has worked with many clients on backlinks and link-building strategy, with a résumé of brands that includes monday.com, ActiveCampaign, Freshworks, Preply, Nav, PandaDoc, and hundreds more. uSERP boasts an endless scroll of in-depth case studies of its work.

These case studies feature a great variety of companies at all stages and sizes, showing a depth of knowledge about SEO from seed stage to publicly traded company.

Strategies and link-building campaigns listed in the case studies range from guest posting to content contributions, link insertions, digital PR campaigns, brand mentions, link reclamation outreach, and more.

uSERP’s founders and team are active and verified on social media and are often doing webinars with SEO and digital marketing industry leaders like Semrush.

Tips for analyzing your potential SEO link-building service firm like uSERP: 

• Case studies: Always analyze and ask for case studies. The best companies have many case studies showing a variety of companies at all stages and sizes. 

• Samples: Get on a call with the company and ask for samples. You want to make sure the sites they target are high quality, have a high domain rating, and focus on quality content.

• Strategy/team: Go to the firm’s “about page” and analyze the team. Does it have real experience, or is it outsourcing to shady places? Look for real SEOs who walk the walk and will put a true strategy in place to land the best backlinks for your site.

Explore more of uSERP and its SEO link-building strategy.

2. Codeless

Codeless is a group of content-marketing experts that specializes in producing long-form content assets that earn backlinks and press attention. This SEO agency tackles link building, technical SEO, and more.

Its client roster is impressive, spanning B2B and B2C, with companies like Robinhood and Saving For College. This SEO agency does white-hat link building, blogger outreach, guest posting, and more.

Codeless has great case studies that detail its approach and strategy to content and link-building efforts. 

It’s great to see companies doing link building well and according to the guidelines of Google.

3. HARO

Looking to take a DIY approach to a link-building service? HARO, or Help a Reporter Out, is a paid platform and service that helps you connect with journalists directly (and on social media).

HARO brings together journalists and subject matter experts to solve two problems: 

1. Journalists need to quote experts for their articles.

2. Experts want to get featured on big media outlets.

It’s a win-win and a great DIY link-building service for improving search results. You can create an account, sign up for the service, and start doing journalist outreach to earn high-quality backlinks.

It has a nice mix of different niches and industries, helping you tap into valuable publications that want to hear from you.

4. Terkel 

Terkel is similar to HARO, being a do-it-yourself link-building platform. 

Terkel uses a question-and-answer format, meaning blog writers will often use the platform to ask questions about their topic. 

They will then source answers from the responding pool of people and use the best ones for their article.

That means you can earn sweet backlinks by pitching your expertise. 

It’s competitive, but it’s a great, cheap DIY link service and solution for those looking to be scrappy with their SEO strategy before investing in fully managed firms like uSERP.

5. BuzzStream

BuzzStream is a top-rated outreach automation service for link building.

It’s used by link builders, SEOs, and digital PR teams because it has a fantastic CRM system built in. This means you can create your own media newsroom and build long-lasting relationships to pitch.

It’s DIY tool, meaning you have to build and run campaigns yourself, but its tool suite is comprehensive and contains automated tools to schedule, send, and earn backlinks. 

6. The Expert Bookers

The Expert Bookers is a podcast-booking service. Podcasts are a fantastic way to get more backlinks to your website. Each time you appear as a guest on a podcast, you get a link back to your website from its show notes.

Podcasting can drive high-quality link mentions and improve SEO. It’s great for building your brand name and discoverability and diversifying your overall marketing mix. 

Podcasts are also highly shareable content, meaning you can share your podcast clips across other channels and earn even more backlinks.

7. Citation Service

Local SEO is a key way to drive new business if you run a brick-and-mortar location. And building citations is still a great way to show up in local directories and earn powerful links. 

Citation-building services focus on link acquisition with the goal of getting your brand and storefront listed in local directories online to drive more traffic, authority, and store visits. 

If you are focusing heavily on local SEO, using a citation-link-building service can be a great start to improving local search engine rankings.

Link-building services to avoid

So those are all great services and options for link acquisition. But which ones should you avoid? 

Private Blogging Networks (PBNs)

PBNs are conglomerates of websites owned by the same individual or entity that all link back to one another with the goal of gaming search engines to rank their content.

This practice is strictly prohibited by Google and other search engines and deemed spammy. 

Avoid this at all costs, or you might risk a penalty to your website, which means less traffic, sales, and revenue. 

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