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Link Building.
Link building covers all the measures a website uses to gain links from other websites. Clean link building earns links through content, relationships and presence; bought or exchanged links without labelling breach Google's guidelines.
Link Building — Explained in Detail
To search engines, links from other websites are recommendations (PageRank). Link building tries to obtain more of these recommendations. The range runs from entirely legitimate measures, such as an expert article that others cite, to practices Google explicitly classifies as link spam: bought links without labelling, link networks, mass guest posts written only for the link, automated comments.
The line is easy to draw: would this link exist if Google did not? A supplier listing its customers, an association with a member directory, a local newspaper reporting on an opening, a trade portal citing a study: these are links with a purpose of their own. A link on a page that exists only to sell links has no such purpose.
An example of clean local link building: a landscaping company in Meilen sponsors the village association, is a member of the cantonal trade association, is named as a partner by two architecture firms and has a complete listing on local.ch and search.ch. None of these links is spectacular, but together they form a credible, regionally anchored link profile.
Link building routes that work
For SMEs, the most effective routes are usually the obvious ones: using existing relationships with suppliers, partners, clients and associations and asking for a mention with a link; maintaining listings in reputable trade and local directories (local citations); actively informing the media about occasions such as openings, anniversaries or projects (digital PR).
For visibility beyond the region, content that invites citation works: your own data, studies, calculators, clear guides. Our German-language data study on agencies in Zurich is an example of this approach. Content like this also improves the chance of being named in AI answers.
What we do not offer
We do not sell link packages and we do not buy links for clients. The website bears the risk: Google can ignore such links or, if they are extensive, impose a manual action that severely restricts visibility. Paid placements are only permitted with labelling (rel="sponsored") and then pass on no ranking effect.
Link building by clean means is part of our local SEO support and of ongoing SEO. How to check your own link profile and when the disavow tool is needed is explained in the respective glossary entries.
Related Page
Local SEO AgencyFrequently Asked Questions About Link Building
Link building covers all measures with which a website gains links from other websites. The aim is to strengthen the trust and relevance that search engines derive from such links. Clean link building relies on content, relationships and presence rather than bought links.
Yes, as long as the links have a purpose of their own and are not set primarily to manipulate rankings. Bought links without labelling, link networks, excessive link exchanges and automated links breach Google's guidelines.
There is no fixed number. What matters is the relevance and credibility of the linking pages, not the quantity. For a locally active SME, a few links from associations, partners and regional media can achieve more than hundreds of links from random websites.
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