r/Backlinks

I've been reviewing link performance across several projects recently, and one trend keeps standing out.

A few years ago, many SEOs were comfortable prioritizing high-authority domains, even if the topical match wasn't perfect.

Now, I'm seeing the opposite produce more consistent results.

A contextual link from a genuinely relevant website even with lower authority often appears to have a stronger long-term impact than a generic placement on a much bigger publication.

I'm not saying authority doesn't matter. It absolutely does.

But if I had to rank the factors today, my list would probably look like this:

Topical relevance

Editorial placement within useful content

Natural anchor text

Real traffic and an engaged audience

Domain authority as a supporting signal rather than the primary one

I've also started paying much more attention to whether the page actually serves users instead of simply existing to host backlinks.

Curious to hear what others are seeing.

Have your results changed over the past year? Are you prioritizing topical relevance over traditional metrics like DR/DA, or are you still seeing authority-first strategies work best?

Looking forward to hearing real-world experiences rather than theory.

A bit inspired on someone I saw this do recently, just in another niche. He seems like he knows ball ;) Will respond tomorrow to offers, late here in the NL.

Buying guest post placements for a Spotify music promotion service. Looking for: Music Industry sites. No tech/health/finance/coupon blogs, no "we cover everything" sites.

Site requirements:

• DR 30+
• 5,000+ monthly organic traffic, primarily in developed countries like US / EU /UK mix — no sites whose traffic is mostly from unrelated geos)
• 100+ organic keywords
• Traffic stable or growing over the last 3 months (no core-update decline)
• Sites whose traffic comes mainly from off-niche long-tail pages will be rejected — I check top pages, not just totals
• Clean referring-domain profile — no spam RDs, no PBN footprint
• Clean outbound profile — if recent posts link to casino/CBD/crypto/betting/essay services, don't pitch me

Placement requirements:

• Standard editorial post on the main domain — no subdomains, no "sponsored"/"partner" labels, not under Author/User/Member/Contributor categories
• Do-follow in-content link; article must get indexed — payment via PayPal immediately after indexing
• We supply the content or can collaborate to make it an ideal fit for your audience
• Max 1–2 other outbound links in the article, all niche-relevant
• Post preferrably stays live on the website for a long period, but a minimum of 12 months can be discussed.

To pitch, send: site URL + price + 2 example URLs of past guest placements on that exact domain to see your approach. Everything gets verified in Ahrefs before ordering. Budget is not the constraint; quality is. Serious sellers only.

I've been working in link building for quite a while now, and one thing I've learned is that most outreach campaigns don't fail because of the email,they fail much earlier.

For a long time, I focused on writing better outreach messages. Over time, I realized the real bottleneck was prospect selection.

A few changes made a noticeable difference:

I stopped chasing websites based only on SEO metrics and started prioritizing topical relevance.

I spent more time understanding each site's audience before reaching out.

Instead of sending mass templates, I personalized the value proposition around why the collaboration made sense for their readers.

I also became much more selective with placements. A handful of contextually relevant editorial links consistently outperformed a much larger number of average placements.

Another lesson was that relationship-building compounds over time. Many publishers who initially declined ended up collaborating months later simply because the communication remained professional and respectful.

With Google's continued emphasis on content quality and relevance, it feels like sustainable link building is becoming more about trust than volume.

I'm curious what's one change in your outreach or link-building process that had the biggest impact on your results?

I'd love to hear different perspectives from people working across SaaS, eCommerce, agencies, and affiliate SEO.

Looking for Exchange Links

I have client sites in different niches, mainly Tech, Gaming, Culture, Finance, and Money Making.

I’m looking for non-reciprocal link swaps only.

Example:
I give you a link from Site A, you give me a link to Site B.

Fast TAT, usually around 1 hour.

DM only if you have sites in Gaming, Tech, Culture, or related niches.

DR 25+

I have DR UP TO 65

I am looking SaaS sites to do backlink exchange or guest posting DM for instant link exchange

blackhatforum had a section they removed, is there any other active forum or place with backlink exchange section?

I'm wondering whether niche relevance is really that important for backlink exchanges. If niche relevance is essential, wouldn't that mean we'd mostly need to collaborate with competitors or businesses in the same industry? The number of websites that are both niche-relevant and open to backlink exchanges seems quite limited. So, how important is niche relevance in practice, and is it okay to build backlinks from websites that aren't in the exact same niche but are still high-quality and relevant in a broader sense?

Google Rolled out back to back updates in 2026 from (Feb to June), this may be the reason.

• AI Generated content
  • Crowded with AI generated content
  • low quality AI content Farming
• Search Quality pressure
  • AI Competitors
  • ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, Gemini, Copilot taking their market share
  • Recalibrating - need to serve the existing using with helpful content
• Core updates are shorter and surgical
  • Shorter Duration - march and may core is just 12 days
  • historic it takes 2 - 3 weeks
  • Google is deploying more targeted faster rollouts than sweeping board changes
• The Discovery Update
  • 21+days Long
  • Personalizing the feed algorithm
  • which is tied to entity, authority, brand signal rather than Keyword match

Your thoughts or opinion???

I'm looking to connect with website owners, and SEO professionals for relevant, high-quality link exchanges.

✅ My site has 70+ Domain Rating (DR)
✅ Interested in niche-relevant, white-hat collaborations
✅ Looking for mutual value through contextual backlinks

If you have a quality website and are interested in a genuine link exchange, send me a DM or leave a comment with your niche and website.

Quality and relevance matter more than quantity. Looking forward to connecting!

We're dealing with what appears to be a long-term negative SEO campaign, and we're hoping to learn from people who have gone through something similar.

For nearly two years, we've been seeing a continuous stream of toxic backlinks from spam websites, hacked sites, expired domains, and other low-quality websites pointing to our domain.

While we can't say with certainty whether every link is part of an intentional attack, the volume, consistency, and pattern have raised concerns.

Interestingly, over the last six months, the number of new toxic backlinks being created has dropped significantly compared to the previous year. We're not sure whether Google's systems are simply ignoring more of them, whether whoever is behind it has slowed down, or whether there's another explanation.

We're monitoring everything through Google Search Console, Ahrefs, SEMrush, and other SEO tools, but we'd really appreciate hearing from people with first-hand experience.

Some questions we have:

• How did you determine whether it was an intentional negative SEO attack versus random spam that affects many websites?
• How long did the campaign last in your case?
• Did you contact the owners of the linking domains? Was it worth the effort?
• Did you submit a disavow file to Google? If so, how often did you update it?
• Did you notice any impact on rankings, organic traffic, or manual actions?
• Did you hire a specialized SEO agency, or did you handle everything in-house?
• Were there any tools, processes, or strategies that made a meaningful difference?
• Looking back, is there anything you wish you had done sooner?

We're not looking to blame anyone or name any companies. We're simply trying to understand what has worked for others who have dealt with long-term toxic backlink campaigns.

If you've experienced something similar even if it ultimately turned out to be harmless, we'd really appreciate hearing your story.

Thanks in advance!

Hi guys,
I need good sites with decent DA,PA like 50+, that get traffic from USA and are genuinely ranking for ai development keywords too and have good traffic if anyone is interested pleasE DM

Hi guys,

Looking for a guest posting sites for landscaping niche. Australia based. Budget 50 aud.

Lmk if anyone interested.

Hi everyone,

I am looking to connect with webmasters, bloggers, or SEO professionals for high-quality link building collaborations.

• My Site Niche: Home Services, Relocation, and Home Maintenance (Moving, Painting, AC Repair).
• Target Niches: I'm looking to exchange links or guest posts with sites in Home Improvement, Real Estate, Business, Travel/Expat, Lifestyle, or Local Services.
• What I'm offering: Clean link exchanges (ABC/three-way or guest post swaps) on high-quality, real sites with natural traffic.

If you have a website in a relevant niche and want to trade links to improve our rankings, please leave a comment here or send me a Direct Message (DM) with your site details/metrics.

Looking forward to working together!

Hey everyone,

I’ve been doing a lot of reading lately on how to actually get traction for a new project. Everywhere I look, the consensus is the same: building backlinks is still one of the absolute best ways to drive organic growth and improve your SEO.

The problem is, getting those initial mentions and getting indexed when you're just starting out is incredibly tough.

So, I had an idea: What if we just team up and help each other out?

I’ve set up a specific subdomain on my site purely to acknowledge, feature, and link to your projects.

Here is the game plan:

• I give your site a shoutout and a backlink on my subdomain.
• If you have a space to do the same for me (or for others in this thread), you pay it forward.
• We all get indexed, we all get a solid SEO bump, and we start climbing the visibility ladder together.

If you’re interested in trading links to help each other grow, drop a link to your project below or shoot me a DM. Let’s get some eyes on our stuff!

Also if you have ideas on how to organize this better please drop them here.

I've read on this subreddit and elsehwere that blog posts with a well placed link weighs more than a side bar link on the home page.

Is that true?

If so, how come side bar links (or some call them hard links?) cost way more than guest posts, and are usually priced as a duration vs blog posts that are permanent?

Yo fellow friends,

Been grinding on outreach for what feels like forever. Rn I'm doing it semi-manual but trying to automate where I can, ngl it still moves like a snail

Basically tryna get guest posts published by offering favors, trades, or whatever works. But finding blogs, finding emails, writing pitches, following up... it's a whole ass cycle.

Is there any:

• Software (paid or free) that actually works
• AI tool that doesn't sound like a robot wrote it
• Chrome extensions that save time
• Any workflow you swear by

Not tryna spend $$$ on some overpriced BS either. Just want smth that makes this process less painful.

​So SPINLOG MAG has been live for a bit now, and honestly, the feedback has been unreal. We've had over 200 submissions so far. The coolest part is seeing artists actually reach out on socials saying the features are getting them direct streams and real organic reach. That was the goal from day one.

​The whole vibe is just: Artist for Artist, Producer for Producer. We all know how tough the industry is, so it really has to be a give and take.

​But we’re not stopping at the magazine. I've already secured the domains for two more projects that are currently in the works, and the plan is to build this out into a proper network.

​That's where you guys come in. We're looking for people who share the same mindset. If you want to help run socials, get involved in the new platforms, or just build something together, let's talk. We're also super open to teaming up with other blogs, apps, or partner sites to cross-promote.

​A quick heads up: Please don't just drop a link to your Spotify or app and ghost. We’re looking for actual partnerships. Let me know what your background is and how we can help each other grow.

​A bit of background on my end: this whole thing started as a pure passion project. I'm a dev myself (mostly doing React, TS, and Python stuff) and just love the scene. Everything is funded out of my own pocket. Between the hosting costs and the hundreds of hours writing code, it's a lot, but seeing the community grow makes every late-night coding session completely worth it.

​Obviously, this isn't about profit. But if anyone out there has web space, hosting, or wants to help reduce the running costs somehow, you're more than welcome to jump in. I have some prime placements across the network I can offer in return.

​One strict rule though: I refuse to put annoying ads or spammy banners on the sites. It’s just not my style and the focus has to stay 100% on the artists.

​If this sounds like your kind of thing, drop a comment or shoot me a DM.

​Check it out here: www.spinlog.de