A resource by Hartzer.com
Learn link building properly, for free
50 lessons across 9 modules, plus honest profiles of 34 link building tactics — including the ones that do not work. No signup, no email gate, no upsell.
Course modules
1Foundations: how links actually workBefore you build a single link, understand what a link is, what it does, and what it does not do.5 lessons2Judging link qualityHow to look at a link opportunity and decide, with evidence, whether it is worth anything.5 lessons3Reading the link graphA tier 1 link means nothing until you know what links to it. Six lessons on reading a profile at depth.6 lessons4Prospecting and researchProspecting decides the campaign. A good list converts with a mediocre pitch; a bad list defeats a brilliant one.5 lessons5Outreach that worksOutreach is not a numbers game with a persuasion problem. It is a relevance problem people try to solve with numbers.5 lessons6Digital PR and earned mediaThe people who grant these links are journalists working to deadlines, not webmasters weighing a resource suggestion.7 lessons7Choosing and running tacticsPicking the right tactic, sequencing it into a plan, and running it long enough to matter.5 lessons8Measurement, risk and recoveryWhat to count, what to ignore, what a bad profile really looks like, and what to do when something is genuinely wrong.5 lessons9The future of link buildingThe capstone, and the one module that makes an argument rather than teaching a procedure.7 lessons
Start with a tactic
Every tactic carries a visible risk grade. We say plainly when something is dead, when it wastes money, and when it carries risk the vendor selling it will not mention.
Three ways a link is acquired
Graded by risk, not by fashion
- Safe Defensible under Google's link spam policies on its face. 15
- Situational Safe executed well; a problem at volume or executed carelessly. 8
- High risk In violation of published guidelines, reliably ineffective, or both. 8
- Obsolete Not risky. Gone. Documented so you recognize it. 3
Written by Bill Hartzer
Twenty-five years in search, domain names and expert witness work. Majestic Brand Ambassador. This site exists because the good material on link building is scattered, and most of it is selling something.