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Linking 301 – Advanced Back Link & Citation Strategies for 2025

Updated January 2025 – – Websites need authority to rank in Google … end of story. Authority is built up by numerous methods, but one of the most important methods is other websites “voting” for your website, by … yes you guessed it – linking to your website.

link building & backlinking 2015There are literally hundreds of thousands of posts out there that talk about the importance of links, how “backlinks are dead”, don’t buy links EARN THEM (forget PR link farms). Today, I’ll chat a bit more in depth on how linking has evolved into business development and real marketing, which just so happens to be done digitally and the 5 most common types of of links (such as citations, pure backlinks, directories  etc.) and how each play an important role in search engine optimization.

I’ve broken down each area into 9 different categories which include:

1. Value How much will this help with local and organic rankings?
2. Additional Traffic How much (if any) qualified traffic can you expect to get from getting listed.
3. Benefits What are the main benefits of acquiring this link/citation?
4. Acquisition Success Rate The average success rate based on follow-ups divided by successful acquisition.
5. Verification Difficulty How difficult this link/citation is considered to obtain.
6. Followups Required to complete The amount of phone-calls / e-mails it will take to go live.
7. Examples An example of a website to determine what this link/citation looks like.
8. Includes Link to Website Will this link/citation list your website address.
9. Key Identifier Common trends that help identify the type of link/citation.

Here’s the breakdown:

Type of Link/Citation Value & Traffic Benefits, Difficulty & Success Rate
Citations Value: Low/Moderate
Traffic: Low
Benefits: Assists with Local SEO (sometimes organic)
Verification: Moderate
Success Rate: 60–80%
Follow-ups: 1–5
Paid Links Value: Moderate
Traffic: Moderate
Benefits: Assists with Organic SEO
Verification: Low
Success Rate: 99%
Follow-ups: 1–2
Outreach Links Value: High
Traffic: Moderate
Benefits: Assists with Organic SEO
Verification: High
Success Rate: 50%
Follow-ups: 1–10
Member Directory Value: High
Traffic: Moderate
Benefits: Assists with Organic SEO
Verification: Easy (if qualified)
Success Rate: 80–100%
Follow-ups: 1–3
Earned Links Value: Very High
Traffic: High/Very High
Benefits: Assists with Everything
No Verification (earned)
Success Rate: N/A
Follow-ups: N/A

PRIMARY Benefits:

  1. Authority
  2. Additional leads
  3. Good user experience
  4. Additional qualified traffic
  5. Consistency & cleanup (also known as digital marketing book-keeping which also happens to be the worst part of a digital marketers job)

SECONDARY Benefits:

  1. Improved local & organic rankings

If you need assistance with your digital marketing or custom link building, please contact us today to learn more!