What's a link building blog?

A link building blog is an editorial article that is optimised for both internal and external linking. This is done to increase the chances of your content performing well in search rankings and encouraging traffic. 

A lot of websites have blog content, but they aren’t utilising it correctly. This can happen if your content becomes too much of an after-thought or you simply don’t have a comprehensive content strategy in place. 

We get it, it’s easy to not prioritise your website content when you’re thinking about sales outreach and finances, but it’s essential to building a healthy website.

So, are you ready to give your website the attention it deserves? 

How do you categorise a link?

Links come in many forms; you may use different types depending on different use-cases. Here are some common definitions below:  

• Internal links: An internal link is when you’re linking with a URL that exists on the same site. For example, you might have a blog on your website called "Benefits of wearing green hats”, this blog might be linked to a sales page on your website that sells green hats. 

• External links: An external link is when you’re linking with a URl that exists outside of your site. For example, you might have a blog that references a Forbes study and to provide some more authority you might add a link to that study. This would be referred to as an external link. 

• A back link: A back link is when another site hosts a link that directs users to your site. For example, if your site sells vitamin C tablets, an educational wellness article titled "benefits of regular vitamin C consumption” might direct their users to your website if they had wanted to give users a purchase option. 

  
  

  Backlinks can also be separated into two categories; white hat and black hat. A white hat back link is one that is gained ethically, following Google’s guidelines, usually via quality content, outreach, or legitimate PR. You could arrange a blog link exchange, for example!

  
  

  Black hat backlinks are often bought to manipulate rankings and violate Google’s guidelines. Using them can really damage your website in the long-run. 

Do links produce traffic?

When you prioritise good linking practices, you’ll find that it significantly improves your ability to build traffic.

How does this work?

A strong linking infrastructure helps search engines like Google understand your site more effectively. Internal links show how your pages are connected and which ones are most important, while external links demonstrate your site’s relevance and authority within your niche.

When Google can clearly see the structure and value of your content, it rewards you with better visibility in search results.

In short, good blog link building, or any other page on your site, communicates to Google that your site provides genuine value to users, which leads to higher rankings, more clicks, and ultimately, more traffic.

What about blogs with affiliate links?

Affiliate links can be either external links or backlinks, depending on whether you’re the affiliate or the product/service source.

Blogs with affiliate links function just like any other type of link, they connect users to the relevant content and help search engines understand relationships between websites. The main difference is that affiliate links also serve a commercial purpose, tracking referrals and attributing commissions for sales or actions made through the link.

They’re often a result of a commercial partnership you might develop with another business or influencers. 

The benefit? Affiliate links are often unique URLs, whether it’s a blog link or service page link, which means they can be easily tracked and reported. This means you know what is and isn’t working on your site, and you can check the core metric, which is of course, conversions or sales. 

There are lots of custom UTM tools online that you can use, like utmbuilder, that help you build your link and test your content. 

Good linking practice 

When it comes to starting your linking journey, we always recommend beginning with an audit. You might want to attempt to notify any blogs linked to from the past.

This is because, you’ll often find that unless you’ve implemented a link standard from the first page of your website to the latest, links will have been added on your website here and there.

This could be from writers, SEO specialists, anybody who’s had access to that content may have made an independent decision that it was useful. 

By analysing what you have first, you can then build a plan for the future. When you do, follow these tips below!

1) Link similar topics

Where do you start with linking internally? It’s best to imagine how visitors to your site might interact with your content, and ask questions like:

• What’s the next page they’d be interested in during their site journey?

• Where would they go to learn more about a particular topic?

• Are they being led to a service or product?

Of course, when you have that many links, it’s easy to forget if pages are linked and where. That’s why we always encourage you to build content linking maps, these help you track links and also build link hierarchies around pillar pages. 

Keep it on your content checklist; blog, comment, link!

2) Keep your visitors front-of-mind

Links should always serve your site visitors, and more importantly, your clients and customers. On a website you want content to be as easy to find as possible - linking is the easiest way to get someone from A to B. 

Whether it’s helping a visitor navigate between related articles, directing them to a product page, or connecting them to an external resource that adds extra value, links act as pathways that improve the user experience. 

Well-placed links reduce frustration, increase engagement, and encourage visitors to spend more time exploring your site. 

Over time, this not only improves customer satisfaction but also signals to search engines that your website is user-friendly and valuable, both of which can lead to stronger search performance and more consistent traffic growth.

3) Don’t link to competitors

When building your linking strategy, avoid linking directly to your competitors’ websites. 

Every outbound link you include passes a small amount of authority, or “link equity,” to the site it points to. By linking to a competitor, you may unintentionally strengthen their visibility and ranking potential instead of your own. 

If you want to reference information from a competing source, look for neutral or reputable third-party sites instead, such as industry publications, research papers, or trusted news outlets. 

These links still add value for your readers without boosting another business in your niche. In short, reserve your outbound links for credible, non-competing resources that enhance your content, build trust, and support your long-term SEO and traffic goals.

4) Get rid of spammy backlinks

Not all backlinks are beneficial. 

Spammy backlinks, those from low-quality, irrelevant, or suspicious websites, can damage your site’s credibility and even lead to search ranking penalties. 

These links often come from link farms, automated directories, or unrelated sites that exist purely to manipulate search results. To maintain a healthy link profile, regularly audit your backlinks using tools like Google Search Console or other SEO platforms. 

Identify and disavow links that appear unnatural or harmful. By removing or disavowing spammy backlinks, you protect your site’s authority and ensure your SEO signals remain strong. 

A clean, high-quality backlink profile tells search engines that your website is trustworthy, relevant, and deserving of higher placement in search results.