A Nashville accounting firm tried the obvious approach first: hire an agency, build links, improve rankings. Six months and $18,000 later, they had 200 new backlinks—and a manual penalty notification from Google.
The links looked fine in spreadsheets. Directory submissions, guest post placements, niche edit insertions. Standard agency deliverables. But Google’s systems recognized the pattern: links that existed for SEO purposes, not because anyone genuinely wanted to reference the firm’s content.
Recovery took nine months of link removal requests and disavow work. The penalty cost them more than the original campaign.
Here’s what worked instead: the same firm created a Tennessee small business tax calendar—a genuinely useful resource showing state and federal deadlines, estimated payment dates, and Nashville-specific business tax requirements. They promoted it to local business associations, the Chamber of Commerce, and Tennessee-focused business publications.
Result: 47 backlinks in the first year. Not 200, but 47 links from relevant local sources that actually send traffic. No penalty risk. Sustainable authority building.
The difference wasn’t tactics—it was philosophy. Links earned because content deserved reference versus links built because an SEO campaign needed deliverables.
Why Links Still Matter
Google has downplayed the importance of links in recent years, leading some to question whether link building remains worthwhile. The evidence suggests links still matter significantly, but how they matter has evolved.
The current reality:
Links remain a top-three ranking factor for competitive queries. Google’s systems have become more sophisticated at evaluating link quality, meaning fewer links of higher quality outperform more links of lower quality by wider margins than ever.
A Nashville law firm competitor analysis revealed: the top-ranking personal injury firm had 340 referring domains. The second-ranked firm had 890 referring domains. Quality concentration explained the gap—the leader had links from legal publications, news coverage of major cases, and bar association resources. The runner-up had more links total but fewer authoritative ones.
What’s changed:
Google’s systems now effectively filter or devalue:
- Paid links (including “sponsored content” with followed links)
- Private blog network links
- Excessive reciprocal linking
- Links from irrelevant sites
- Links with over-optimized anchor text patterns
- Links from sites that exist primarily to sell links
What remains valuable:
- Editorial links from relevant, authoritative sites
- Links from genuine coverage and mentions
- Links that real humans might actually click
- Links with natural anchor text variation
The Quality Equation
Link quality assessment involves multiple dimensions:
Relevance
A fitness site linking to nutrition content makes sense. The same link to accounting services doesn’t. Relevance operates at domain level (is this site related to your industry?), page level (is this specific page topically connected?), and contextual level (does the surrounding content make the link logical?).
The Nashville accounting firm’s tax calendar earned links from business publications, local chambers, and financial planning sites—all relevant. Had they somehow gotten links from fitness blogs, those links would provide minimal value and potentially raise manipulation flags.
Authority
Links from sites that themselves have strong link profiles and reputation pass more value. A mention in the Nashville Business Journal carries more weight than a mention on a brand-new blog with no established presence.
Authority isn’t just about size. A niche industry publication with modest traffic but strong reputation in your field may pass more relevant authority than a large general-interest site with no connection to your industry.
Editorial nature
Was the link placed because someone genuinely chose to reference your content? Or was it placed because you arranged for it to be there?
Google attempts to distinguish editorial links (someone found your content valuable and linked to it) from non-editorial links (you placed it yourself or paid for placement). Editorial links pass full value. Non-editorial links are increasingly filtered.
The tax calendar earned editorial links—business writers found it useful and referenced it without the accounting firm arranging placement. This differs fundamentally from links placed through outreach asking “will you link to us?”
Traffic potential
Links that real humans might click carry more weight than links buried where no one will see them. Footer links, sidebar widgets, and links in author bios historically passed value but are now heavily discounted compared to contextual links within content that users actually read.
| Quality Factor | High Value Signal | Low Value Signal |
|---|---|---|
| Relevance | Same industry, related topic | Unrelated site or topic |
| Authority | Established, respected source | New or low-reputation site |
| Editorial | Natural, unchosen by link recipient | Arranged or paid placement |
| Placement | Within main content | Footer, sidebar, author bio |
| Click likelihood | Users might actually click | Clearly exists for SEO only |
Earning Links vs. Building Links
The semantic distinction matters strategically.
Building links implies construction—activity you undertake to create links. Guest posting, directory submissions, outreach campaigns. The focus is on the link acquisition process.
Earning links implies merit—links that come because content deserves them. Original research, comprehensive resources, newsworthy activity. The focus is on creating link-worthy assets.
Sustainable link profiles typically require both: assets good enough to earn some links naturally, plus proactive effort to surface those assets to people who might link to them.
The Nashville accounting firm’s tax calendar earned links naturally from people who discovered it. But they also proactively shared it with relevant audiences—local business journalists, Chamber of Commerce newsletter editors, small business associations. That’s not manipulation; that’s distribution.
What “linkable assets” actually look like:
Original data and research:
- Survey results from your customer base
- Industry benchmarks you’re uniquely positioned to gather
- Analysis of trends using proprietary data
Comprehensive resources:
- The definitive guide on a topic (genuinely, not just titled that way)
- Resource directories that aggregate hard-to-find information
- Tools and calculators that solve real problems
Newsworthy activity:
- Significant business milestones or announcements
- Expert commentary on industry developments
- Community involvement and local impact
The common thread: these assets provide value to the people linking to them. They’re not “link bait”—they’re genuinely useful, and links are a byproduct of that usefulness.
Link Building Approaches That Work in 2025
Digital PR
Create genuinely newsworthy stories that journalists want to cover. This requires either actual news (company developments, research findings, significant events) or manufactured news (campaigns, stunts, timely commentary).
A Nashville restaurant group commissioned a survey on dining preferences among Nashville residents. Local food journalists covered the findings. Regional business publications picked it up. Food blogs referenced specific data points. The campaign generated 23 links from credible local and regional sources—not through asking for links but through creating coverage-worthy content.
Digital PR requires either in-house PR expertise or agency relationships. It’s not scalable for every piece of content, but high-quality coverage links are worth significant effort.
Resource-based link building
Create resources that serve as reference material for your industry. When others write about topics you’ve covered comprehensively, they link to you as a source.
The tax calendar approach exemplifies this. The Nashville accounting firm didn’t ask for links—they created something useful enough that people referenced it when writing about small business tax planning.
Resource link building often involves identifying broken or outdated resources in your space and creating better alternatives. If you find that everyone links to a 2019 guide that’s now outdated, creating a current version gives you something to offer webmasters.
Strategic relationships
Professional relationships with journalists, industry influencers, and complementary businesses create organic link opportunities over time.
This isn’t transactional (“I’ll link to you if you link to me”). It’s professional networking that occasionally produces link opportunities as a side effect of genuine relationships.
A Nashville marketing agency built relationships with local business journalists through consistently providing expert commentary when reporters needed sources. Over two years, this produced 31 backlinks from news coverage—none of which they explicitly asked for.
Unlinked mention conversion
Monitor brand mentions and reach out when you’re mentioned without a link. Someone who already found your content worth mentioning often adds a link when asked.
Tools like Ahrefs, Brand24, and Google Alerts identify mentions. Outreach is straightforward: “Thanks for mentioning us—would you mind adding a link so readers can find more information?”
Success rates are relatively high (30-50% in many cases) because you’re asking people who’ve already demonstrated interest in referencing you.
Content-driven link acquisition
Create content specifically designed to attract links in your industry:
- Data studies with findings others will cite
- Industry surveys with reference-worthy statistics
- Interactive tools that provide unique value
- Comprehensive guides that become default references
This differs from general content marketing because the primary goal is link acquisition. The content must still provide genuine value, but content decisions prioritize “will this earn links?” alongside “will this serve our audience?”
| Approach | Effort | Quality Potential | Scalability |
|---|---|---|---|
| Digital PR | High | Very high | Low |
| Resource creation | High | High | Medium |
| Strategic relationships | Medium (ongoing) | High | Low |
| Unlinked mentions | Low | Medium | Low |
| Content-driven | High | Medium-high | Medium |
What Doesn’t Work Anymore
Paid links
Google’s systems have become remarkably good at identifying paid link patterns. Even “high-quality” paid placements from reputable sites carry risk because the commercial relationship creates a non-editorial link.
Some sites still sell links. Some buyers still buy. But the risk-reward calculation has shifted dramatically against buying. The Nashville accounting firm’s penalty experience is increasingly common.
Guest posting at scale
Strategic guest contributions to relevant publications can build authority. But “guest posting” as a link building tactic—producing mediocre content primarily to get a bio link—has been devalued to the point of minimal impact.
The author bio links that guest posting typically provides are now among the most discounted link types. Mass guest posting campaigns that produce dozens of mediocre articles across unrelated sites are filtered or penalized.
Genuine thought leadership published on respected industry platforms still provides value. The distinction is intent and quality.
Directory submissions
Mass directory submission was a link building staple for 15+ years. It’s now almost entirely worthless. Generic directories provide minimal value; even industry-specific directories provide far less impact than they once did.
Exceptions: genuine business directories like Google Business Profile, Yelp, and industry-specific directories where people actually find businesses. These aren’t link building—they’re legitimate business presence.
Private blog networks (PBNs)
Networks of sites created specifically to link to money sites still exist. Google has become highly effective at identifying and devaluing them. The short-term gains don’t justify the penalty risk.
Reciprocal link schemes
“Link to me and I’ll link to you” at scale creates patterns Google recognizes. Occasional natural reciprocal links between related sites aren’t problematic, but systematic link exchanges are detected and discounted.
Getting Started
If you’re new to link building or rebuilding after poor practices:
First: create something link-worthy
Before any outreach, ensure you have content worth linking to. Original research, comprehensive resources, useful tools. If you wouldn’t link to your content, neither will anyone else.
The Nashville accounting firm’s initial campaign failed partly because they were asking for links to generic service pages. The tax calendar succeeded because it provided genuine value.
Second: claim legitimate business listings
Google Business Profile, Yelp, industry associations, local chambers—these aren’t link building tactics but legitimate business presence that happens to provide links. Claim and optimize these profiles.
Third: convert existing mentions
Before seeking new links, capture the value from existing brand mentions. Set up monitoring for your company name, products, and key personnel. Request links from unlinked mentions.
Fourth: build relationships
Connect with journalists, industry influencers, and complementary businesses in your space. Provide value first (expert commentary, useful information, genuine helpfulness) without asking for anything. Links follow relationships.
Fifth: create and promote linkable content
Develop one genuinely link-worthy asset. Invest the time to make it excellent. Promote it to relevant audiences. Measure results. Learn what works for your industry and audience. Iterate.
Ongoing: maintain consistency
Link building isn’t a one-time campaign. Sustainable ranking requires ongoing link acquisition that at least matches competitor efforts. Allocate consistent resources rather than sporadic bursts.
The Long Game
The Nashville accounting firm’s penalty recovery taught them a lesson: there are no shortcuts. The links they built in nine months of recovery—through genuinely useful content and legitimate relationships—provided more sustainable value than the 200 links they’d bought in the failed campaign.
Link building in 2025 is harder than it was in 2015. It requires better content, more patience, and more genuine relationship building. But sites that invest in earning links rather than building them develop competitive advantages that manipulative approaches can’t match.
Every link from a legitimate source represents someone choosing to reference your content. Accumulated over time, these choices build authority that’s resistant to algorithm changes and penalty risks. That’s the goal—not link counts, but genuine authority that serves your business long-term.
Resources
- Google Search Central: Link spam policies
https://developers.google.com/search/docs/essentials/spam-policies#link-spam
- Google Search Central: Qualify outbound links
https://developers.google.com/search/docs/crawling-indexing/qualify-outbound-links
- Ahrefs: Link Building Guide
https://ahrefs.com/blog/link-building/
Link building practices must comply with Google’s Webmaster Guidelines. What works today may be devalued as Google’s systems evolve. Focus on earning genuine editorial links rather than exploiting current detection gaps.