SEO Link Practices to Avoid

Most SEOs don’t lose to competition. They lose to their own link profile. Everyone talks about building links. Almost nobody talks about avoiding the wrong ones. And that’s where rankings quietly drop. Here’s what actually separates strong SEO from fragile SEO: 1. Know what to avoid Not every link is good. → Irrelevant sites → Sitewide footer/sidebar links → Auto-generated or spun content → Paid links with zero value If the link exists only for SEO… it’s a risk. 2. Spot red flags early The dangerous stuff is usually obvious: → “Guaranteed DA” offers → Bulk link packages → PBN footprints → Guest posts created just for links If it scales easily, it breaks easily. 3. Anchor text can expose you This is where most people mess up: → Too many exact-match anchors = unnatural → Repeated anchors across domains = pattern Safe approach: ✔ Brand anchors ✔ Natural phrases ✔ Context-driven links 4. Relevance > metrics Stop chasing DR. Start asking: → Does this site make sense for my niche? → Does it get real traffic? → Is this link editorial or forced? Because Google doesn’t rank links. It evaluates context. 5. Patterns matter more than links One bad link won’t hurt you. But patterns will: → Sudden spikes in backlinks → Same anchors everywhere → Links from unrelated niches SEO penalties don’t come from mistakes. They come from repetition. 6. Disavow is not a strategy Use it only when: → You have a manual action → Spam is clearly repeated → Links come from toxic/deindexed domains Otherwise? Fix your system, not just the symptom. 7. Think long-term Strong link profiles look like this: ✔ Consistent growth ✔ Mixed sources ✔ Natural anchors ✔ Real editorial placements Links aren’t deliverables. They’re outcomes. Most people build links fast. Smart SEOs build links that last. P.S. If Google audited you today… would you pass?

Toxic backlinks aren’t just bad, they can tank your rankings. Here’s the truth most SEOs quietly ignore: Not all backlinks are helpful. Some actively hurt your site’s ability to rank. When Google sees a pattern of spammy, irrelevant, or manipulative links pointing to your domain it doesn’t just ignore them. It starts questioning your entire link profile. And that’s when things go south. Here’s what toxic backlinks often look like: ⚠️ Links from irrelevant foreign sites with gibberish anchors. ⚠️ Links from hacked or expired domains repurposed as PBNs. ⚠️ Massive bursts of low-quality blog comments or forum links. ⚠️ Paid directory links from networks selling “high DR placements.” On paper, you might see: “500 new backlinks this month!” But in reality, your organic visibility starts dropping because trust gets eroded. The algorithm doesn’t care how high a site’s DR looks it cares about context and intent. A link from a DR 20 niche publication can outperform 10 links from DR 90 general sites. If your backlink profile feels off, do this: ✅ Audit with tools like Ahrefs or GSC and identify spammy referring domains. ✅ Disavow the ones that can’t be removed manually. ✅ Focus on earning links from relevant industry sources not link marketplaces. Because backlinks aren’t just about authority. They’re about trust. And once Google stops trusting your link profile, recovery becomes an uphill battle. Toxic links can sneak in even if you didn’t build them. So make backlink audits a regular habit not a post-penalty reaction.

"Your website's no longer indexed on Google" → The #1 WORST thing no marketer wants to hear. Here are 4 red flags your SEO partner's wasting your $$$ on low-quality links and blackhat tactics that could get you kicked off of Google: //1 They offer 20+ links for $1200. After 10+ years building links, I can tell you: If you’re buying links for $40-60 a piece — there’s a 99.999% chance they’re from link farms. Google sees links on link farms as a spammy blackhat tactic. The result: - At best, they get ignored by Google (and don’t boost your domain authority) - At worst, they trigger a manual penalty that removes your site from searches //2 They give you full control over links. Any good link-building partner knows creating quality links requires flexibility. Because when you work with high-quality websites that actually grow your site’s domain authority + increase search visibility: Editors are the decision-makers. They have years of experience building natural, well-placed links that Google values. So if your link partner gives you full control over: - The anchor text - What pages are linked to - Where your link is featured …Odds are, they’re building links on link farms with no editorial process. (AKA – sites that Google doesn’t value.) //3 You’re not seeing progress. If you’re 6 months into a link-building partnership with 15-20 links and: - Your content is educational and not salesy - Your tech infrastructure is strong  - Your website is great …But you’re still not seeing results (like increases in traffic and search rankings) — That’s a red flag those links don’t have much value. //4 They guarantee links on specific sites. The truth: you can’t guarantee links on high-quality sites. But anyone can get links on link farms. All you need is $50-$100, and Bam – you’ve built a link. So if a link seller emails you a list of sites they guarantee links on – 9 times out of 10, those sites are link farms. And again – links on link farms won’t do you any good.  ___ Tl;dr Blackhat practices are tempting because they “guarantee” fast results. But using blackhat tactics is like Russian Roulette. You never know which bullet will be the one that earns you a manual penalty and gets your site removed from Google searches (any business’s nightmare in 2024). The better path: Prioritize quality > quantity with links that *actually* build your site's domain authority. Look for agencies that: - Do fresh outreach for clients - Don’t guarantee endless placements - Have a specialty (Like B2B SaaS, our niche at dofollow.com) → Have you ever been burned by blackhat link building?

What I DO NOT do in linkbuilding: 1. Pay for spammy backlinks 2. Buy placements on low-quality sites 3. Automate outreach with zero personalization 4. Track success by DR alone What we actually do at Jolly SEO: 1. Build real relationships with journalists and editors 2. Personalize every pitch to get real placements 3. Earn links from sites your customers actually trust 4. Focus on rankings, traffic, and long-term impact There’s no shortcut to great linkbuilding. It’s not about buying your way to the top, It’s about earning your way there with strategy and trust. Show up. Be useful. Play the long game. P.S. What’s the worst linkbuilding advice you’ve ever heard? Drop it below 👇

Don't buy backlinks from scammers. Here's how most businesses fall into this trap (+ a better way): You feel like your business lacks an online reputation, and you'd like to boost rankings. 96% of top-ranking sites have at least 1,123 backlinks from unique domains. And scammers use this fact to sell you quick fixes (that will actually damage your reputation). They promise you 50 backlinks overnight. Sounds great, right? Except those links are coming from spammy, low-quality sites. No relevance. No authority. A month later? Google penalizes your website for shady practices. Traffic drops, leads dry up... And the guy who sold you backlinks? Nowhere to be found. So, how can your business gain traction online? Waiting around for others to link to your site is a fairy tale... Here’s what pros do (and shady vendors don't want you to know): • They research and choose sites that are authoritative and relevant to your industry. • They let YOU DECIDE which links you want to point to your domain. • They create guest posts that actually deliver value and are not one-prompt cheapGPT junk. • They advise you against "100 backlinks in a day” schemes and use sustainable link-building practices. • They monitor the impact of each link and fine-tune strategies. Next steps? It's simple: Fix toxic backlinks dragging your website down. And never buy them from shady vendors again.

I did a mini-audit yesterday and it broke my heart. 💔 A trusting blogger who believed someone who had no clue what they were talking about when it came to backlinks. She fell with HCU and has only plummeted since then. Ironically, the person she took advise from had a site delisted entirely earlier this year and still has not recovered. So, here are a few lessons to be learned about backlinks and internal links. 🎯Do not redirect a bunch of random aged domains to your home page - example: the audit was for a travel blog, but now Google sees the site as a finance blog b/c they were told buying aged domains - no matter the industry - helps with authority 🤕 🎯If you are going to buy aged domains, make them niche relevant, like really niche relevant. If you have a travel blog only talking about Mexico - don't send a travel blog talking about Switzerland to it - unless you plan on really expanding to other countries. 🎯 When you do redirect an aged domain to your site, send it to a relevant category, article or better yet - create a page that you "acquired a brand" and send the 301 to that page. Then on that page link out to other important pages since the page will have some decent authority at some point. 🎯If you delete a page from your own site, do not redirect it to the home page. Redirect it to a similar page. If the deleted page does not have backlinks or traffic - just delete it, no need for a redirect at all. You can also do a 410 code to let search engines know the page is gone completely. There are right ways - and wrong ways to deal with links, both internal and external. Doing it wrong can - and will - get you smacked. Be careful who you take advice from!