The Different Types of Link Building

There are four types of link building, defined by how the link is obtained: earned links (someone cites you unprompted), outreach links (you ask: guest posts, resource pages, broken links, journalist requests), arranged links (exchanges and directories), and paid or self-made links, which Google's spam policies treat as link spam. Every named tactic is a variation inside one of those four.

You have probably seen twenty tactic names in a single article, from skyscraper to tiered, and want to know which are the same thing wearing different clothes. Sorting them by who decides the link goes live clears most of it up.

The four types of link building at a glance

The useful way to classify link building is by who makes the decision to link and what, if anything, changes hands. That determines both how Google treats the link and what it costs.

Type	Who decides	Tactics inside it	Google's view	Typical cost if outsourced
Earned	The other site, unprompted	Original data, free tools, definitive guides, digital PR	Ideal	Digital PR retainers $4,000 to $15,000 a month
Outreach	The other site, after you ask	Guest posts, resource pages, broken link building, journalist requests, unlinked mentions, skyscraper	Fine when the editor chooses	Guest posts $250 to $400 per link; HARO services $240 to $700
Arranged	Both sites, by agreement	Link exchanges, curated directories, partnerships	Fine when relevant and moderate; "excessive" exchanges are spam	Usually time, not money
Paid or self-made	You, alone or by payment	Bought links, niche edits for a fee, PBNs, tiered links, profile and comment links	Link spam unless tagged sponsored or ugc	Niche edits $150 to $300 per link; buys nothing that counts

The cost figures are from Ahrefs' survey of link building services (March 15, 2023) and describe what agencies charge, not what the links are worth.

Type 1: Earned link building

Earned link building is publishing something other people choose to cite, with no request attached. It is the type Google describes in its own guidance, and it is the slowest to start and the strongest once it runs. The tactics are really asset types: original research and statistics, free tools and calculators, and guides that become the reference for a topic. Digital PR is earned link building with a promotion budget attached. What is a linkable asset and how do statistics pages earn backlinks cover the two most reliable formats.

The limit is reach. An asset nobody sees earns nothing, which is why most earned links are in practice earned-plus-outreach.

Type 2: Outreach link building

Outreach link building is asking a specific site for a specific link, and letting its editor decide. This is where most of the named tactics live:

Guest posting: you write the article, they publish it with your link. How to write a guest post that gets accepted.
Resource page link building: you ask to be added to an existing list of resources. What is a resource page link.
Broken link building: you point out a dead link and offer your page as the replacement. What is broken link building.
Journalist requests: you answer a reporter's question and are quoted with a link. Does HARO still work.
Unlinked mentions: a site already names you; you ask for the link.
Skyscraper: you build a better version of a linked page and ask its linkers to switch. What is the skyscraper technique.

All of them share one constraint: the reply rate. Backlinko's study of 12 million outreach emails found 8.5% get a response, with one follow-up lifting replies by 65.8% and personalised messages earning 32.7% more replies than generic ones. Outreach is a numbers game played with good manners.

Type 3: Arranged link building

Arranged link building is two parties agreeing to link, with no payment. The two tactics are link exchanges, where site owners each publish an article linking to the other, and curated directories, where an editor lists sites that meet a standard. Google draws the line at volume and intent: its spam policies (updated August 28, 2026) list "excessive link exchanges" and "partner pages exclusively for the sake of cross-linking" as spam, along with "low-quality directory or bookmark site links". A handful of relevant, in-content exchanges between real sites is a different thing, and are backlink exchanges safe sets out where the line falls.

We make Backlinkster for this type: members in related niches are matched to trade one in-content link for one. Whoever starts a swap publishes the partner's article first, the link has to sit in a real article on the member's own domain, and each swap is verified by API. The free plan covers 5 swaps a month.

Type 4: Paid and self-made link building

Paid and self-made link building is any link you can obtain without another person deciding to give it to you. Buying links, paying for niche edits, running a private blog network, tiered links pointed at your other links, and profile or comment links all belong here. Google's spam policies name "buying or selling links for ranking purposes", "using automated programs or services to create links", and "forum comments with optimized links in the post or signature" as link spam, and they say paid placements are fine only when tagged rel="sponsored" or rel="nofollow", which removes the ranking credit the buyer wanted. What is a PBN in SEO and what is tiered link building explain the two schemes people most often mistake for a strategy.

White hat vs black hat link building

White hat link building is types one to three done honestly; black hat is type four, plus any version of the first three faked. The labels are about whether a real editor made a real decision, not about the tactic name. A guest post is white hat when an editor accepted it on merit and black hat when it was bought with a hidden followed link. A directory is white hat when it is curated and used, black hat when it exists to sell listings. SEO practices to avoid lists the versions that get sites penalised.

Which type of link building should you use?

Use the type that matches what you have. A worked example for a site with no links, a small budget and one person's time:

Months one to two: arranged links (a few relevant exchanges, two or three real directories) because they need no reply from strangers and give the site its first referring domains.
Months two to four: outreach, starting with resource pages and broken links where you are offering the editor a fix, then guest posts. Budget forty personalised pitches a month and expect three or four replies.
From month three: one earned asset, such as a small original dataset, promoted through the outreach list you have built.

A site with a content team and budget inverts that: earned first, outreach to amplify, arranged links as a supplement. The best ways to get backlinks in 2026 ranks the individual tactics by effort and return, and the three types of backlinks is the same classification seen from the link's side rather than the work's.

Frequently asked questions

What are the different types of link building? Four, sorted by how the link is obtained: earned (someone cites you unprompted), outreach (you ask and an editor decides), arranged (two sites agree to link, with no payment) and paid or self-made (bought links, PBNs, profile and comment links). Every named tactic sits inside one of them.

What are link building tactics? Tactics are the specific methods inside each type: original data and free tools (earned); guest posts, resource pages, broken link building, journalist requests, unlinked mentions and skyscraper (outreach); link exchanges and curated directories (arranged); bought links, niche edits for a fee and tiered links (paid).

What is the difference between white hat and black hat link building? White hat means a real editor decided to link, for free, on merit. Black hat means the link was bought, automated or self-placed to manipulate rankings, which Google's spam policies define as link spam. The same tactic name can be either, depending on how it was done.

Which type of link building works best? Earned links are strongest per link but slowest to arrive; outreach is the workhorse with an 8.5% reply rate; arranged links are the fastest start for a new site when kept relevant and moderate. Most sites run all three in different proportions.

Are link exchanges a legitimate type of link building? Yes, in moderation. Google's spam policies target "excessive" exchanges and partner pages built only for cross-linking. A small number of relevant, in-content exchanges between real sites is a normal part of the web.

The bottom line

Link building has four types: earned, outreach, arranged, and paid or self-made. The first three are legitimate because another person decides to link; the fourth is link spam because nobody did. Name any tactic, ask who decided and whether money changed hands, and you know which type it is, what Google thinks of it, and roughly what it costs.