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The Madison Avenue Field GuideA field guide to marketing & advertising, by Brandon Mina

GlossarySEO & ContentLink Building

SEO & Content

Link Building

Activities aimed at earning backlinks from other websites to raise a site's authority and rankings.

By Brandon MinaCEO, BrandPilot AIUpdated November 2026

Short answer

Link building is the practice of earning backlinks from other websites to improve a site's authority and search rankings. Search engines treat relevant, reputable links as signals of trust. Common tactics include digital PR, original research and guest content. Buying links or using manipulative schemes violates Google's spam policies and can trigger penalties.