Years of planning and designing a product for your target customers, months of getting your website running and optimizing it. It’s a lot, but all this hard work can evaporate in a day if you fail to choose the right link building service and fall victim to a scam.
In 2025, SEO is alive and kicking — and full of challenges that didn’t exist at such a scale before. The surest way to strengthen your authority and start getting more traffic is by engaging in link building. But as with many other things, it’s easier said than done.
How to choose a professional link-building agency that will lead you to success? As this Reddit discussion demonstrates, people who need high-authority backlinks worry about throwing their money down the drain and ending up with fake traffic. That’s why it’s important to watch out for red flags when making your choice, especially considering how oversaturated this market is.
Your business has every chance to stand out and do well — you just need to surround yourself with the right people.
Trusted Partners: What Is a White Label Link Building Service
A white label link building service is a company that builds your links, finds suitable platforms to host them, and follows all editorial standards without resorting to suspicious practices. It has a complete understanding of how Google evaluates and ranks content, and what’s better, it can boast of having established relationships with top-level websites.
This is exactly the kind of agency you should look for, as it’s perfect for businesses focused on delivering their services to a wider base of customers. SEO companies can order link-building services, too, if this is not the aspect of work they’re willing to deal with personally.
The key to having a trusted partner is in the word “trust.” So, what features denote a trustworthy link-building service?
- Sufficient expertise. A respectable company must have verified experience and a rich portfolio with examples of its most impressive client cases.
- Flexible scalability. A successful white label link-building agency should know how to cater to both small and big businesses, adapting to their needs and finding a way to meet them.
- Full transparency. Trustworthy companies explain every step of their work in detail; they don’t hide any placement nuances, giving you a chance to see what exactly you’ll be paying for.
- Proven effectiveness. A white-label link-building company will disclose what kind of results you can expect in what timeframe — this won’t be 100% accurate data, but you’ll get an approximate and realistic picture.
The obvious problem is that it’s difficult to find a professional company in the sea of scammers and amateurs. That is why many business owners wonder: Isn’t it better to go via the in-house link-building route to avoid unnecessary risks and complications?
Building In-House vs. Hiring a Link Building Agency
Some businesses prefer to set up their personal link-building teams, so you might be wondering if this is something you should consider doing, too. The truth is, everything depends on your plans, budget, and other capabilities.
Think about it: to accomplish successful link building, you must hire an SEO specialist, an outreach expert or two, a researcher, and a content writer — and that’s a bare minimum. Each of these people must undergo training and learn the specifics of your business niche, and don’t forget that you have to pay them substantial salaries on a regular basis.
Training your team takes time, money, and effort, and this is something you might simply lack, especially as a start-up. The only undeniable advantage is that you’ll receive full transparency, so think about whether it’s worth the resources you’ll have to spend.
Professional link-building agencies come as a solid alternative to in-house solutions. A good service will easily adapt to your brand voice, and its representatives will already be equipped with the specialized skills and knowledge. They’ll have access to quality platforms that take years to partner with, so delegating this part of the work to experts can be a wise move that will save your time and money while delivering better results.
Spotting Link Building Scams: Common Red Flags
During the 2023 survey, about 11.8% of SEO professionals called link building their most effective SEO solution. This result was second only to the overall content strategy, which was favored by 16.7%. The value of link building is undeniable and unparalleled, and this fact serves as a breeding ground for scammers.
Misleading or outright dangerous link-building services are everywhere. You might stumble upon them when reading public discussions and recommendations, or they might target you personally, drowning you in ridiculous emails or even making phone calls.
How to recognize these guys quickly, without investing any time or other resources in your communication? The answer is simple: you need to spot common link-building red flags.
High-Pressure Sales Tactics
Feeling pressured when dealing with your potential link-building partner? That’s a red, red flag, and no matter how attractive an offer sounds, you should walk away as fast as possible. Here are the things you might hear from such companies:
- They offer their link-building services at a discount that is about to end.
- They accept only a limited number of new clients, and your chance is slipping.
- They urge you to pay and promise to show their portfolio afterward.
- They are being pushy, asking insistent questions about when you will sign the contract and leaving you with little choice.
This is unprofessional behavior that’s often a sign of a scam.
No Specifics about Link Building
If you have never done any link building on your own, you probably have no idea what this process includes. That’s something your potential partner should explain to you in detail.
They must tell you what kind of platforms they’ll choose for hosting your links, giving you a couple of specific examples. Also, they need to outline each step they’ll be taking, from writing content to producing reports about their work. Ask them about the results you might expect in one, three, and six months, and see what they reply.
If a company offers nothing but vague answers and generic explanations that look like they were generated by ChatGPT, that’s a warning sign. Professionals know what they’re doing and how to sell themselves to clients. SScammers pretend to be experts, but very poorly. Chances are, you’ll be able to spot them a mile off.
Too Good to Be True
Getting 50 backlinks for $100? Witnessing a 500% increase in traffic in a week? Making your domain authority (DA) rise to 90 in just a couple of days?
All these offers sound fantastic, and that’s where the problem lies. They are too good to be real. If link building were this effortless and effective, online marketing would implode by now.
Be realistic in how you assess every promise. Don’t agree to impossibly low offers because you’ll end up risking your money at best and ruining the reputation of your business at worst.
Poor Grammar and Informal Style
Scammers often come from third-world countries, and their English leaves a lot to be desired. Check their messages carefully: if they are littered with “dears,” “kindlies,” and typical grammar errors, it’s a red flag, and you should stop communicating right then and there.
Generic Messages with No Understanding of Your Niche
Once you get a message from your potential link-building service, re-read it again, only this time, try to apply it to some other business. Let’s say you specialize in healthcare services. Can the message you received be suitable for businesses that operate in other spheres, like vet clinics, retail stores, etc.?
If the pitch isn’t tailored to your specific niche, you’re probably dealing with scammers. Avoid them at all costs, and choose experts who understand your business and know how to boost its visibility. Even better, they should have experience dealing with companies in a similar sector.
No Published Case Studies or Suspicious Reviews
If a link-building service has no portfolio, it’s the brightest possible red flag you could notice. Sure, maybe this company is just starting out, but you don’t want to become its first client without knowing if these people are worth their salt.
Reviews are also an important factor. These days, it’s easy to post fake comments, but fortunately, it’s just as easy to double-check them. If you see the name of a specific company under a glowing recommendation, don’t hesitate to get in touch and clarify if they really used the services of this agency.
Other Black-Hat Tactics to Avoid
There are other dangerous link-building tactics that you should do your best to avoid. These are the types of companies and strategies to stay clear of:
- Link farms. These are networks of low-quality websites with poor rankings that mislead you by placing links on their connected domains, generating no value, and aggravating Google’s quality check mechanisms.
- PBNs. Private blog networks are fake or dead websites that exist to host links and fool Google. As you can probably guess, it doesn’t end well for anyone, especially the party that owns the links.
- Spun or AI content. Scammers reuse old articles or generate their content with AI; your links end up stuck inside low-quality content that attracts no real audiences.
- Irrelevant bulk posting. Scammy companies tend to place tens and hundreds of links across platforms that have nothing to do with your niche, which triggers Google’s scrutiny and may result in the utter demolition of your rankings.
If you suspect that your potential partner might be considering using one of such tactics, sever your communication and look for other, more reliable providers.
Quality Control: How to Evaluate a Link Builder’s Metrics
There are multiple metrics that can help you assess your link builder’s services. Let’s consider the most important ones.
Domain Authority/Rating
DA and DR are two concepts proposed by well-known third parties like Ahrefs. They include the backlink analysis of a specific domain, which shows its strength and overall authority. Still, it’s important to understand that these metrics are efficient only to an extent.
While having a high DA or DR is great, it means nothing in the grand scheme of things. If your link-building service overfocuses on this metric while ignoring everything else, this might be a problem. Take DA into consideration, but look for traffic-focused promises first and foremost.
Organic Traffic and Niche Relevance
These are the most important metrics that both you and your link-building service should focus on. Your links must be placed on real, functional websites with satisfying organic traffic. Wondering how to check it? That’s simple: just use such tools as Ahrefs or SEMrush, and pay attention to where this traffic is coming from.
Is the location where organic traffic originates from relevant to your target audience? Be sure to check it. For instance, if a hosting site has a lot of visitors, but most of them come from Turkey while you target Americans, this model won’t work for you.
The specialization of the platform with your links has to fully correspond to your niche. It might not be 100% identical, but it has to be close enough to genuinely intrigue your target audience. So, if you offer healthcare services, then professional link builders should place your links on websites focused on health advice, medical equipment, COVID- or cancer-related updates, and so on.
If your chosen company follows these strategies, your backlinks will likely show great results. They’ll deliver organic traffic to your website and might convert at least a part of these people into paying customers.
Anchor Text
Another important metric is anchor text. If you want to improve your rankings and avoid penalties, you should pay close attention to how your link building service handles it.
Anchors should be relevant to the link they represent, and the more diverse they are, the better. Google appreciates natural-sounding anchors, such as brand names, exact or partial matches for the link content, etc. To check what your anchors will sound like, ask your company about it. They should share their anchor guidelines and clarify any aspects you find confusing.
Link Placement
There are many different link placement strategies, and a professional link-building company will know which ones can bring the most value.
- Contextual links are placed within the main bulk of content, typically at the beginning, within the first 2-4 paragraphs.
- Author bio links are added at the end of the article, in a section very few people ever read.
- Sidebars and footers links are equally dubious since they can’t generate enough traffic.
- Links inserted in comments posted on discussion forums are valuable only for a narrow niche and PR campaigns.
Choose a company that offers contextual link placement. Otherwise, you will be losing your money and opportunities.
Content Quality and Editorial Standards
A recent survey demonstrated that most SEO experts, namely 18% of all respondents, identified superior content quality as the most effective link-building strategy of all. Your links might be placed in the most relevant place of the article, and its theme might correspond to your niche, but if the content has poor quality, it’ll be an instant turn-off for audiences. No one cares about links inserted in articles that don’t appear trustworthy.
An expert link-building service chooses top-quality hosting websites and produces or selects content that meets all editorial standards. It is written by real authors, generates genuine engagement through traffic, likes, and comments, and doesn’t lead to spammy websites.
Types of Link Building Services Available
There are different types of link-building services you could choose for your business. They have unique pros and cons, so you should know more about them to understand which one you need.
Guest Posting Services
This approach involves creating content, inserting your link into it, and publishing it on a selected blog. It’s an effective strategy as your link is contextual and the content is tailored to what you need, but it’s crucial to check its quality.
Guest posting can be excellent for businesses looking for long-term SEO success. However, if you entrust it to a scammer or an inexperienced service, you’ll end up harming your website’s credibility.
Niche Edits
This is another effective link-building strategy: it involves inserting a backlink into an existing piece of content that is already indexed and receives organic traffic. Still, there are things to watch out for:
- The content must be fully relevant to your niche.
- The link has to be inserted organically to avoid raising suspicion.
- The website owner has to agree to host your link.
If everything is as it should be, niche edits can bring you substantial long-term value.
HARO Approach
This approach is known as Help a Reporter Out, and it entails getting backlinks from top-level media outlets. You help a journalist by giving them quotes or valuable insights, and they create content that features your backlinks.
As you can probably understand, such link building requires a strong pitch and quite a lot of time. It tends to be expensive, and only professional white label services can arrange such deals.
Blogger Outreach
This is a niche-focused approach, and it doesn’t work for everyone. Basically, a service has to contact big-name bloggers who work in the sphere relevant to your business and arrange link placements on your behalf.
On the one hand, such links can create great value for your business because you and the blogger will be sharing the same target audience. On the other hand, popular bloggers tend to charge high rates, so this strategy might not be sustainable for start-ups and smaller businesses.
Editorial Placements
A white label link building service creates your content and arranges its publication on established, high-quality platforms. The problem is that this content has to meet both Google’s and a hosting website’s standards, which might be difficult to achieve. Still, the end result is usually worth it.
Tips for Finding a Reputable Link-Building Agency
If you want to find a reliable link-building service, you need to follow expert tips. Check them out and always keep them in mind — this will minimize the chances of making a mistake and trusting the wrong company.
- Do close research. Research the company you plan to hire. This involves cross-referencing its reviews, studying its background, and analyzing its offers and communication style.
- Evaluate the cost. If a service offers ridiculously low costs or is incredibly overpriced, both are red flags; compare prices of different companies to find the average one.
- Clarify if reporting is involved. A trustworthy link-building company will offer detailed reporting on its actions, from what kind of links it will build to how they will be doing and what platforms they will be featured on.
- Check what links are on offer. A professional company will offer diverse links since variety helps create a more organic look.
- Review the case studies. Look at the portfolio of your potential partner and check what links and platforms it works with. If there is no portfolio, run away.
Ask the right questions, such as: What industries does a link building service specialize in? How do they find link opportunities, and will they allow you to green-light their decisions before doing anything?
There is also a tricky question that can help you identify scammers. Ask if a company guarantees Google rankings. If they say yes, decline their services — it’s impossible to promise something like this.
Find a Link Building Service You Can Trust
If you want to make sure your business will succeed, you need to approach your SEO very, very carefully. Choosing the right partner who won’t let you down means everything in this regard.
Set up a thorough vetting process. Reject overly desperate offers, propositions that are too good to be true, inexperienced or vague companies that lack portfolios and can’t explain how they plan to approach your order.
Opt for white label providers who prioritize quality over quantity and specialize in your niche. Relevant placements on quality websites are paramount, just as are detailed reports. A normal agency will welcome your need for transparency: they won’t try to hide or give generic answers to clear questions.
Approach your selection of a link-building company strategically. Be vigilant, don’t be afraid to ask questions, and demand the right to approve or decline key placement decisions. By choosing quality providers, you’ll be securing your own long-term success.
FAQ
What is the typical price of link building?
While the price can differ based on various factors, such as your niche and the choice of an agency, typically, you can expect to pay about $400-700 per high-quality link.
Is it safe to use link-building services?
Yes, it’s safe, as long as you choose a white label service with experience and an established portfolio. If you have any doubts about their credibility, feel free to ask as many questions as you require.
How can I tell that the link is toxic?
Poor quality of content, dead websites with no traffic used for placements, irrelevant themes, and articles brimming with outbound links to suspicious platforms are all the marks of a toxic backlink.
How long does it take to improve my visibility?
Link building is a long-term strategy, so if you do everything right and your efforts are consistent, you can expect real results within 3-6 months.
What happens if I choose a scammy link building service?
Choosing a scammer instead of a professional link-building agency leads to the loss of money and reputation. Google knows how to spot toxic backlinks, so it will penalize your website — you might lose the rankings you already have.