LINK BUILDING SERVICES LEADERS SINCE 2003
We've had ZERO client penalties over 17 years in link building. Outrank your competitors—quickly, naturally and cost-effectively—with our link building guarantee.
Get Your Free Backlink Opportunity AnalysisThis Is What Best-In-Class Link Building Looks Like
BUILD THE AUTHORITY YOU NEED WITH DIGITAL CURRENT
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Domain Authority Strategy Development
Planned in 90 day sprints, we evaluate your goals, SEO progress, keyword gaps, content opportunities, industry trends and more to create a custom, winning approach to link building founded on data. -
Competitor Analysis & Plan To Dominate
We dive deep to find out what’s driving your competitors’ success, then execute a strategy to take and/or replicate their most powerful backlinks, so you can dominate. -
Link Acquisition & Outreach
Tapping our relationships with over 120,000 real sites and conducting new outreach, we take all the heavy lifting of authority development off your plate, so all you have to do is celebrate yours success. -
Preemptive Removal, Cleanup & Disavow
If your site is getting bogged down by toxic links — it’s time for some scrubbing. Our data-driven process ensures you only disavow the truly spammy links and keep those that are helping. -
Penalty Removal
There’s nothing more devastating to your results than receiving a penalty. We’ve helped hundreds of companies recover from other link builders’ penalties and set them back on the path of success. -
Backlink Reporting
Get real insights and strategic recommendations with your monthly report — showing exactly how your authority strategy is growing those keywords responsible traffic that converts.
WHY CHOOSE DIGITAL CURRENT AS YOUR LINK BUILDING PARTNER?
Our Standards are as High as Yours (and Google’s)
While others might be satisfied by finding a site that hits a certain DA target, you know it’s about so much more.
Before we reach out to a publisher, we evaluate their site for domain authority, page authority, trust flow, organic keywords, organic traffic, niche relevance, site ownership history / age, backlink health, site updates & maintenance consistency and even general user aesthetic.
Indexation Station, Population: You
You have goals to hit, so there’s no time to lose. We ensure all links are placed and indexed in a method that actually passes along authority quickly (yes, even citations!).
Your Links Will Stay Live — Guaranteed
Losing links as quickly as you gain them is no way to build authority. Evey link we place is with the intention it will stay live forever, but because sites change and pages occasionally disappear, we back this up with a guarantee.
We proactively monitor all the links we place, and in the rare case one goes down during the guarantee period, we replace it at no additional cost to you.
Collaborate Easily with Your Dedicated Team
As our clients of 11+ years can attest, Digital Current is not a vendor — we are an extension of your team. When you join forces with Digital Current, you get a dedicated, experienced team who knows your business like the back of their hands.
And with unlimited access to your strategic account manager, you have a thought partner for life. You’ll have total transparency into the results you’re getting via regular status updates, detailed monthly reporting and in-depth quarterly business reviews.
CASE STUDY
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The numbers say it all
You probably know that links help boost your search rankings, but did you know they could help this much?
200%
Increase in Conversions
LINK BUILDING 101: WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
Link building is reaching out to websites to score a link back to your website. Those links back — we call those backlinks. Links represent a sort of “vote” for your content and your website as a source of authority, which improves your rankings on search engines. Google sees that other websites value your content and take that as a signal that searchers will, too.
Links are a strong signal — one of the strongest — to Google’s algorithm that your site is popular, credible and trustworthy. For a while, valuing links as part of its algorithm set Google apart from its search engine competitors. And that obviously worked, since Google is now practically the only search engine anyone uses!
Long story short: links help you rise to the top of Google’s search rankings. If two websites have equally relevant and valuable content, but one has more (quality) backlinks than the other, that one will rank higher. And ranking higher to get more traffic that will generate revenue is what SEO is all about.
Search engines want to show the most relevant, trustworthy content to searchers. To show search engines it’s worth it to display your website in search results, get other trustworthy websites to link back to you on their sites.
Each link back is like a vote in your website’s favor for where you deserve to fall in the SERPs. That’s the importance of link building in SEO.
See how we Increased 3 search engine results page positions for keyword 3 to now hold the #1 spot in less than 2 months.
Link building also drives leads because it supports SEO strategy. If you don’t have links on credible sites, your competitors can step right over you on the search results. That’s the importance of consistent link building.
Link building enables you to climb higher in search results. When people are searching for your product or service, your website may be featured more prominently because of link building techniques. The higher your search results, the more clicks (and leads) you can expect to get.
If you’re getting started with link building or need a major overhaul of strategy, contact us for a free consultation.
A link building service is a company that secures links on behalf of its clients by reaching out to publishers to find opportunities for a link to be included on that publisher’s page that points back to the client’s website.
Those clients are typically companies hoping to make money online. They know backlinks drive domain authority and help them rise up the search engine rankings — which will drive more users to their sites.
They also use link building services to place links on sites their potential customers frequent, in order to drive clickthrough by users who may find the product or service appealing.
There are plenty of link building services out there, but some deal in shady practices or work with less-than-reputable sites. Those companies may sell you cheap, quick links that don’t end up driving value for your website — and could even get you penalized by Google, which can knock you right off the results page completely!
So that leads us to ask…
The best link building service sources quality, relevant links from trafficked websites with high domain authority that users and search engines view as reputable and trustworthy.
The best link building service has relationships with vetted publishers and websites.
Digital Current’s been in the link building service industry for nearly 20 years now. In fact, we’re one of the pioneers of the practice, so we’ve got the relationships with publishers that bring us to the front of the line and bank on our reputation for quality content.
And speaking of content — the best link building services work with quality content writers to deliver thoughtful, engaging pieces to be featured on websites for backlink purposes. Digital Current knows how to identify the content needed and partner with the right creative talent to offer irresistible content to our link partners and publishers.
What else do the best link building services have? Industry expertise — knowing how to play in spaces such as hospitality, SaaS, finance, health, education, retail/ecommerce, professional services and others. They’ll also have experience with a range of business types, from small- to medium-sized businesses all the way up to enterprises and large organizations. (Hint – that’s us!)
But what good are links if you can’t measure their efficacy? The best link building services include link reporting. That goes beyond telling you where the link was published and with which anchor text (that’s the text that turns blue to indicate the link — also a big signal to Google around relevance). The best link building services will report on how that link has impacted your website. Is it improving your keyword rankings? Is it driving more traffic to your website, through either link clicks or improved search engine results page position?
The final thing you should look for when you’re trying to find the best link building service? Longevity — the vision to plan long-term. Listen: Google knows, and will penalize you, if you’re building links unnaturally fast. Link building experts like Digital Current know how to meter out link building efforts (it’s different for every industry) in a way that Google recognizes, but doesn’t penalize.
That’s exactly why you should pause and consider working with an expert link building agency before you get yourself in big trouble — and fall off the SERPs altogether!
Oh – and guaranteed up-times. Low-quality link building services will place your link and then let it come down within weeks. That’s not how we roll. If we place a link, we’ll provide you a guaranteed up-time ranging from 30-180 days — and if a link comes down sooner, we’ll get one of equal value to replace it.
Link building services enable your website to rank higher on the Google SERPs (search engine results pages) which will drive more traffic. This occurs because Google recognized backlinks as a vote of authority, trust, and expertise — so the more (quality) backlinks you build, the higher esteem you’ll have with Google (and the other search engines).
Here’s just one case in which we helped a client do just that.
This means your important pages — homepage, product page, service page, and more — will show up for relevant Google searches that drive conversions. You can also rank blog posts, especially for more specific search queries, to drive users into your funnel — and internal linking will pass that authority along to other pages on your site.
But that’s not all.
A quality SEO marketing plan includes not just links, but on-site content supported by those links. This content will fan out to entice your audience at earlier stages of the buying journey, before (and after!) they’re ready to purchase.
Why does this matter? Well – are you remarketing with PPC or social ads? Then you’ll need users to cookie. There’s also a brand awareness play. If a user begins to trust you during their research and awareness stages, the chances of them coming back to you to purchase are higher.
Additionally, link building helps you build relevance in a variety of industries, so you can expand your audience. If you’re looking to break into a new vertical, placing links with quality content to back it up can show a fresh set of users that you’re a player in this space.
Small, local businesses also find value in link building. When you’re going up against large corporations with established industry footprints, link building can help you rise above them in local searches — and guide customers directly to your door.
Another benefit of link building services is the relationships they’ve already established. If you were to build links on your own, it would take hours of research just to understand where you want links placed.
Then, you would have to reach out to publishers and ask for links — and provide the quality content to back it up.
Imagine doing all that work for just one link. Understand that it takes many links — some of the highest ranking web pages have tens of thousands — to actually make a difference.
And that’s when it becomes clear: working with a link building service is the only reasonable way to build a natural link profile that drives rankings and traffic for your website.
Domain authority is how trustworthy your site is on its given area of specialty.
The authority of a domain — or website — represents the trust it garners from search engines as well as users. Links are a key signal here, showing that other websites recognize your website’s authority enough to cite them within their own content. Hence, the power of link building to improve authority which subsequently tells Google’s algorithm to rank your site higher on the results page.
For example, at Digital Current, we are all about digital marketing, so we write content and earn links about that topic, giving our site high authority on digital marketing. If we were to suddenly switch to talking about gardening, that would have a negative impact on our authority because it would confuse search engines (and visitors), so we would drop off of rankings for digital marketing keywords.
To get more links to point back to your site, that requires strategy, time and resources. Link building services involve:
- Identifying high-quality publishers and websites where a link to your website makes sense
- Reaching out to those webmasters to tell them the value of linking to your site
- Ensuring the right link and keyword anchor are used, so they bring value to that website’s audience and, in turn, your business
- Content marketing
- Influencer engagement
- Publisher link outreach services
- Link-earning scholarship programs
- Graphic creation and promotion
- Guest posting
Yes — if it’s done right. Relevant links on reputable sites drive incredible value for your SEO without risking penalty. Building links the right way — from high-quality sources, at a reasonable pace, in an industry-appropriate quantity, backed by rich content — is absolutely safe.
When search engines first developed their algorithms they realized something crucial: most sites don’t want to send their precious traffic away and if they do, it must mean the linked content is worthy. So search engines included backlink numbers in their algorithms to keep track of how many times a website was linked to (read: deemed worthy).
Thus, the “bad way” and the wrong way to build links began when SEO specialists saw this prime opportunity for manipulation and built link farm sites — all links, no content.
To combat the deceit, Google rolled out its Penguin update in 2012, which started to evaluate the quality of links in addition to the quantity and penalize manipulations. In the past seven years, Google’s continued to advance its algorithm to spot malicious link building practices.
So then any paid link building is dangerous, right?
Wrong. You just have to know how to build links the right way.
We’re ahead of the curve. In the 17 years we’ve been leading the industry, we’ve never gotten our clients even a single Google penalty. We ensure safe linking by only building to relevant sites while offering valuable content to their readers, employing several tactics (see below) and tapping sites with high domain authority (aka sites that search engines believe are quality).
That means we place links on reputable websites that take users to rich, engaging content. This builds a quality backlink profile that impresses Google, driving the linked site higher up in search results.
In the simplest terms: white hat link building adheres to Google’s standards and only links between quality, relevant content.
It helps to also know: what is black hat link building?
Link builders of the past (well, they’re still around but luckily less common) essentially took a spam approach to link building — blasting automated outreach to any publisher that would open their email. They posted links with no relevance. They posted links to sketchy websites. They posted links they knew wouldn’t stay live for more than a few days.
Black hat link builders look for any and every loophole to get a link posted — or trick Google into thinking a page had links. They also utilize PBNs — private blog networks — which include webpages set up for the sole purpose of building black hat links. You guessed it — those links hold no value, and Google will penalize you for using them.
Luckily for search users, Google has gotten incredibly accurate at spotting black hat link and can filter those pages from its search results.
White hat link building, on the other hand, takes a genuine approach to building links. In the purest sense, white hat link building is a natural process that identifies where your links should be placed, but aren’t yet. Content worthy of and relevant to your linkable pages.
Google values white hat link building. It knows website owners want to drive links between content that brings value to their users; content that supports (cites) information on their pages; websites that they mention and recommend; and more.
A Google penalty is the negative action by Google — either automatically by its algorithms or manually by its internal teams — that de-ranks your domain on the search engine results page. This typically happens due to nefarious practices such as black hat SEO or black hat link building.
Google penalties are the search giant’s way of enforcing their rules for better websites and ensure the best possible experience for the user.
A manual penalty can expire in around 30 days, if the offending tactic is reversed. (Learn more about Google manual actions.) Algorithmic penalties will typically last longer, as Google relies on its crawlers to understand if your domain is still breaking the rules. Updates to the algorithm can mean you need to make more significant changes to your site in order to meet the new guidelines and get back on the SERPs.
Google penalties are detrimental for traffic and online performance, since you won’t be showing up in the search results.
Things like duplicate content, keyword-stuffed content, inappropriate redirects — and, in the link building department: hidden links, low-quality links, too many links, or links built too quickly — can all trigger Google penalties, manual or algorithmic.
Content is an essential strategy for link building. We have a whole content marketing services team to help.
You can build links by featuring content on your own site and through guest blogging: drive interested users and domain authority to your site.
When you create exceptional pieces of content on your site, other sites will want to use it as a reference. You can:
- Build resource links using original data
- Create thought-provoking opinion posts on what’s going on in your industry
- Write how-to manuals that address frequently asked questions
How to use infographics for natural link building
Infographics are an effective type of content that can turn into link-producing machines. They combine research with illustrations, charts, graphs or other visuals. They present data in a visually compelling format. Why do they work so well? According to a report by “Forbes,” 90% of information transmitted to the brain is visual. Visuals improve retention and learning by 400%. Infographics are a highly shareable form of content that can get you more links. Search Engine Watch reports infographics can increase web traffic by 12%. Effective infographics contain relevant research from credible sites. They tell a narrative that keeps viewers engaged. They provide value to a specific audience, so much that people will share them with others. “Forbes” reports 84% of marketers who’ve used infographics consider the medium effective. We can help you create attention-grabbing infographics with expert copy and design. Then, we share them with the right sites to get you more links.How to use the skyscraper technique to create link magnets
The skyscraper technique involves taking an existing form of content and making it 10x better, so it outshines the competition. You can use the skyscraper technique with your own content or, ideally, with someone else’s. The idea is to find the top-performing piece of content for a search query, or one that relates to your business and content with tons of links pointing back to it. Then, transform that piece of content into something that’s ridiculously improved. Update it with current stats. Add a couple thousand words with more detailed information. Expand on the point-of-view with better research to back it up. Interview people to add real quotes to your piece. Once you have this exponentially better piece of content, you can use it to get links. Use a tool to find the websites linking back to the original piece of content. Then can contact each website and show off your vastly improved offering. See if the website might link to yours instead. In addition to getting websites to swap their backlinks to your site instead of that old piece of content, exceptional forms of content should attract new links anyway. The skyscraper technique takes more time and resources than publishing any old blog post. But the results are well worth it. According to HubSpot, compounding posts generate 38% of all blog traffic. These are the blog posts that stand the test of time, that are so engaging that people continue to drive traffic to them long after they’re published. These are what you’ll aim to create with the skyscraper technique.
There are lots of ways to get links for your website when you’re brand-new. We employ a variety of strategies, including:
- Using content strategy, the skyscraper technique, guest posting and leveraging content for links
- Interviewing experts for original new content, who will want to share and link back to said content
- Incorporating social sharing capabilities into a website
- Ensuring website usability is excellent so sites will want to link back
- Setting up Google Alerts for the business, so you can reach out for a link when your brand is mentioned
- Ensuring pages are indexable
- Using tools like HARO to provide expertise (and get a link back) on news sites
- Offering expertise as a guest on a podcast, video interview or webinar, and asking for a link back in exchange
- Commenting on relevant blogs and sites like Quora
- Using competitor link analysis to reach out to similar sites for links
- Joining local directories and ensuring a consistent presence, with the same name, address and phone number (NAP) displaying your information
- Making a public donation or sponsorship that provides a link back to the business site
Ecommerce sites require a whole unique set of link building techniques. When you’re looking for an answer for how to find opportunities for ecommerce link building, look no further.
We work with ecommerce sites to get more high-quality links pointing back to their stores and products. We ensure our ecommerce sites are listed in the right directories.
Using a variety of specialized link building techniques, we can help you sell more by achieving greater authority in the SERPs.
Contact us for a free ecommerce link building consultation.
If you’re a local business with customers in specific geo-targeted areas, you’ll want to use local link building to climb to the top of local search results.
Local link building requires a different strategy than link building for the masses. You’ll want to connect with local influencers who have highly engaged audiences. These include:
- Local newspapers and media outlets
- Local businesses and chambers of commerce
- Local bloggers
- Local nonprofits
Like most aspects of digital marketing, link building constantly evolves as search engine algorithms evolve. That’s why it’s so valuable to work with an agency that dedicates its entire focus to keeping up with all the tech and search engine updates, so you’re always getting the best strategy.
We’ve outlined questions to ask a link building agency, along with the right and wrong answers. Contact us to ask about:
- Link building tactics
- Keyword selection
- Industry expertise
- Data, reporting and transparency
Link building services costs depend on the industry, business history and goals. Some businesses can earn excellent ROI by spending $1,000 per month, while others need to invest $30,000+ per month to move the needle in especially competitive or specialized niches. A monthly budget model allows link builders to be creative and strategic — using a mix of link types — to meet your goals.
We’ll likely ask you what your budget is during discovery. We do this not so we can make a plan that squeezes every cent out of you, but because we don’t want to waste your time. If you don’t have enough to do link building right, we’ll let you know you should invest elsewhere (such as SEO or content). If you have more than or just enough, you’ll see a proposal for exactly what you need to meet your goals.
Link building costs — and strategies — vary in other ways, too. Are you trying to rank locally or nationally? Are you in the ecommerce game, aiming for foot traffic or interested in driving leads? How valuable and recognizable is your brand?
It’s also a matter of time — as long as it’s done right, link building will never hurt your performance on the SERPs (search engine results pages). The velocity at which you build links, the types of sites you target, and the style of linkable content you utilize can impact how long it takes you to see results or meet your goal. An aggressive campaign can see results in a quarter, while a more budget-friendly approach may see substantial movement in a year.
We work with you to understand how to best leverage your budget and support your business goals with a strategic link building plan.
A backlink audit is a review of all the links pointing to your site. Its purpose is to identify links that may be toxic, how you stack up against your competition and opportunities to make a stronger backlink profile.
So what is a strong backlink profile?
It’s one that has a diversity of domains (i.e., for every 10 backlinks, at least 8 of them are coming from different websites), few toxic links, links coming from sites with ample organic traffic and high domain authority and a variety of anchor text.
A toxic link is a backlink that actually provides negative SEO value to your website because the site that hosted it is deemed “spam” for one of several reasons.
Toxic backlinks can come about in many different ways. It could have been a malicious attack from a competitor, intentionally securing toxic links for your brand. It could have been naturally acquired because you create great content and the site wanted to share it, not realizing the negative impact.
An expert link building service like Digital Current will help you get your toxic links disavowed to improve your website’s authority.
A disavow is telling a search engine that you should not be associated with a particular link.
Your link building agency will develop a file of toxic links and submit it to Google for disavow. The best services will split files into multiple parts to find the “sweet spot” of which links are actually providing negative value.
TRUSTED FOR OVER 17 YEARS
GET YOUR FREE BACKLINK OPPORTUNITIES ANALYSIS
Your competitors are already building authority, jumping the SERPs and pulling in all of your prospects. We’ll identify your top 3 – 5 priorities for backlinking, so you can get on the path for domination.