Focus on the right links

Alexandra says: “Start focusing on the right type of links, especially in the age of AI-summarised results.

It’s extremely important to get links in the right context. On the right website, of course, but it’s more about building up your brand and less about the SEO value. That is exactly what you should be trying to do.

Try to facilitate the process of acquiring things through marketing initiatives rather than SEO ones.”

What are the right links to acquire in 2025 and why is the right context so important?

“The right links are the ones that define your brand very well and clearly explain what you do.

For instance, a great example would be listicle posts that target the keyword terms that define your business. If you are Majestic, you have to be featured on all sorts of SEO tools and link-building listicle posts, for example.

When you feature on a listicle among other solutions that are close to your niche, or even in the same niche, then Google can easily understand what you do. As a result, when a user receives AI-generated results, your tool will be featured there because you have links in the right context.”

Should you create this content yourself and get someone else to publish it or find content that already exists and try to get your link on there?

“Just go with the ones that already exist. Normally, the ones that rank highly on Google SERPs are the ones that have already gained some authority from good websites.

If you are part of a well-established niche, it’s very challenging to outrank these posts by creating your own version. If you can’t beat them, why not join them?”

How do you persuade them to include your link?

“There is a trick. With all the AI-generated fluff that we have across the web, people are looking for real expertise. Make your pitch around the fact that you are the real expert because you know the market inside out. You could mention that you represent Majestic, for example, which has been proven to be a market leader.

Besides pitching yourself, also mention that you would love to improve the quality of their listicle post by providing better examples, and you have ideas about how to make their content more in-depth.

That works very well, and that’s how we present our clients and create our pitches. It works because everyone is looking for that expertise element.

You should actually read their content, then you can provide them with an additional paragraph or something else that can add value to it. Run the negotiation and see what they want. Ask questions. Do they want you to suggest an improvement? Do they want you to suggest some extra tools that they left out of their content? Find ways that you can make the content fuller and more in-depth.”

How do you find the listicle posts that you want to appear on?

“It’s quite easy. You can use any tool: link-building tools, email outreach tools, whatever you want – and even Google search engine results.

First of all, you need to brainstorm. As a business representative or a marketer who works for a business, you should already know what kind of search terms define that business. Then, you can find those posts manually.

You can use tools like Semrush and Ahrefs, which provide you with results for any search term. You can use even a free tool, like the SEOquake browser extension, which allows you to export any search engine results.”

How do you measure the success of acquiring a new link nowadays?

“It’s worth mentioning that these kinds of posts, like listicles, have very purchase-focused intent. The users looking for these posts are looking for the right solution for them. As a result, besides bringing brand awareness, the right context, and the right link (even if it’s nofollow because you’re lucky enough to be featured on your competitor’s website), you still get leads.

The users who are looking for that type of keyword are in the right state of mind. If you get a link on a page that is ranking quite high on Google SERPs, then you also get referral traffic. It’s a compound effect of all the possible benefits that you can get from the link.

There are also additional benefits due to AI picking up on these posts. AI technologies and machine learning are based on analysing text, seeing similarities, and finding similar things that are mentioned in the same context. As a result, the chances of appearing or co-appearing in the AI-generated lists around your products increase when you have these very relevant mentions.

This will obviously have a positive impact on your brand as well. Even without the AI-generated results, we have extended search engine results. When users look for something like the top tools for a niche, they will see them listed out in a snippet. If you want to be featured there, then you just need to be featured in a good number of top-ranking posts that cover the keyword or keywords that are close in meaning.

It’s quite straightforward. However, a lot of SEOs have been overlooking this, or haven’t been focusing on it, because they are trying to get links through other types of campaigns. It’s a very overlooked strategy.”

Is there initial work that you have to do to establish your brand entity before you progress to reaching out and trying to build links?

“That can be a bit of a roadblock. If you’re a very new business, and you haven’t established your brand name yet, it might be quite challenging to talk with other brands – especially the well-established ones.

However, if you have something that you can show – perhaps you’ve been speaking somewhere or you’ve been successful in delivering a particular campaign – then you can always refer to that.

You can explain that you’ve recently been featured on a well-known website, for example, so people see that they can trust you. Good companies will try to get these types of brand mentions and run different marketing initiatives, even at the early stages.”

How do you know the other brands that you want to be associated with?

“We usually start by asking the business how they define themselves. Normally, they know what kind of product or service they provide pretty well, and what kind of search terms are most important for them. That’s how we approach it.

However, if you want to expand that list, then you can do research and suggest some complementary topics that might not exactly define the business. For instance, you can use Majestic for content marketing, so being featured on lists of content marketing tools is not a bad idea.

Firstly, though, you need to secure the core. If you go off in the wrong direction, then you will end up with misleading core associations around your brand. You want to have a core that is very clear.”

Besides listicle posts, are there any other types of links that you favour in 2025?

“There are a good number of links that you can get from public speaking: by being featured on podcasts, for instance.

The beauty of these links is in their marketing angle. You get them not because you did something as a link builder, but because you want to share your expertise, as a brand.

It also increases the chances of generating leads, especially if you talk about webinars, online events, and offline events. Obviously, those types of links are quite unique because not a lot of brands are focusing on them, which can differentiate you from other businesses.

Those links also showcase that you’re quite real, which is a very important element nowadays.”

Is it okay to focus on just one type of link or is it important to have broader types of links pointing towards your website?

“I don’t really know because people are usually asking for diversification. They want to see how different types of links work for them. They want to tighten up with different marketing activities and different ways of estimating the value of these links from a business standpoint.

However, if your business is all about public speaking, then it would make total sense to try and be featured on as many podcasts as possible, for example. That’s how you can prove that you are a real expert, because you appear on various podcasts and at different events.

It all comes down to what your goal is and how you can turn those links into something meaningful for your business. If you know how to convert leads from podcasts, and you have a good funnel and a good understanding, then that might be your go-to channel.

It’s all about trying to obtain traffic and real value from those links, not just trying to boost your rankings in search engines. Nowadays, links are a very fundamental element of marketing because that is how you get referral traffic, then leads, and then clients.

You have to be quite strategic with what you want to do with them. The SEO element is definitely still there, but it’s not as important as what’s beyond it.”

If an SEO is struggling for time, what should they stop doing right now so they can spend more time doing what you suggest in 2025?

“I’ve been thinking about co-marketing campaigns, and that is what we are suggesting to our clients as well. It’s a way to exchange traffic.

If you can find a brand that is complementary to what you do and has a good database, then you can do something together – or find even more brands. Then you can exchange your databases in a very meaningful way.

You can co-promote each other and, through that, grow together. On one hand, it is a very natural organic activity. On the other hand, it will give you a huge boost to all possible verticals: brand elements, leads, etc. – depending on what kind of co-marketing activities you go after.”

Alexandra Tachalova is Founder at Digital Olympus, and you can find her over at DigitalOlympus.net.