Links bought by the kilo
A batch of fifty articles on sites nobody reads. The budget is spent, the rankings don't move.
Link building: fewer links, better placed.
A link is another website vouching for yours. Ten good referees are worth more than three hundred strangers. The work is choosing which ones, and to which page.
- Rattle your competitors.
- Overtake them.
- Protect you from their attacks.
15 years in SEO
4 books on SEO and GEO
200+ sites tracked every day
1M / month visits to my e-commerce site
They trusted me with their visibility
Darty
Eurofins
Cegid
EBP
CNP Assurances
Ingram MicroYou'd rather be recommended by:
What is link building?
Link building means getting links from other websites to yours. For Google, every link counts as a recommendation. Their quality, their relevance and the page they point to matter far more than their number.
The problem
What we see most often.
Everything pointing to the homepage
The homepage doesn't need help. It's your service and category pages that need to climb.
Repeated anchors
The same exact-match keyword on every link. It's the easiest signal for Google to spot.
Your competitors all look alike. Good.
Fig. 1. Your market, as Google sees it. (You're the purple one. Or you could be.)The answer
How I go about it.
First I look at what your competitors have, then at what you really need to get ahead. It's often less than you've been told.
- The gap. How many referring domains the sites ahead of you have, and of what quality. We aim to close the gap, not hit a round number.
- The targets. The few pages that deserve links, chosen for their revenue potential.
- The selection. Real sites, with readers, close to your topic. Every link is checked before purchase and after publication.
- The pace. Steady acquisition, varied anchors, ranking tracking page by page.
In detail
What the link building service covers.
An inventory of your links
I list the sites that already talk about you, and those where the link is broken or lost.
Choosing the pages to support
I identify the pages on your site that will receive links, with the reason for each.
Finding sites
I select media and sites in your industry, read by real people.
Anchor texts
I plan the clickable words in advance, so they stay natural and varied.
The articles
Each link sits in a useful article, written for the readers of the site that publishes it.
Internal links
I link your pages together, so the authority received benefits neighbouring pages.
How it works
How SEO support unfolds, month after month.
- Week 1
The link audit
I compare your links with those of the three sites ranking ahead of you for your searches.
- Weeks 2 and 3
The link plan
You get the list of pages to support, target sites and planned anchors. Nothing is ordered without your approval.
- Month 2
The first publications
The first articles go live. I check every link is in place and that Google can follow it.
- Months 3 to 6
Consistency
A few links each month, on different sites. I adjust the plan based on the rankings observed.
- Every quarter
The check
I go back over every link obtained. Those that have disappeared are claimed back or replaced.
Making the choice
Tailored strategy, link marketplace or no links at all?
| Tailored strategy | Link marketplace | Do nothing | |
|---|---|---|---|
| How sites are chosen | One by one, according to your industry | From a catalogue, by price | Nobody chooses |
| Pages receiving the links | The ones that need to sell | Often the homepage | None |
| Checks after publication | Every link is checked | Up to you | Not applicable |
| Risk | Low, if the pace stays measured | Real, if the sites sell links to everyone | Your competitors pull ahead |
| Suits you if | Your pages are ready and lack authority | You know how to vet sites yourself | You're already ahead on your searches |
A marketplace is a way to order, not a strategy. It can be useful, provided someone chooses the sites and pages before paying.
It's for you if…
- Your pages are well built but sit behind well-known sites
- You target searches where the leaders have lots of links
- You have a regular budget rather than one large lump sum
- You want to know which sites your name appears on
It's not for you if…
- Your site has unresolved technical problems
- You want a hundred links this month on a small budget
- Your pages don't have serious content yet
- You won't accept an article talking about your business anywhere but on your own site
In pictures
What well-run SEO looks like.
Your turn
How much could SEO earn you?
Move the sliders with your own numbers. The maths is deliberately simple: searches, a share of clicks, a conversion rate, the value of a customer.
These are your assumptions, not a promise. We swap them for your real numbers during the call.
Start from a typical profile
Visits / month
Contacts / month
Customers / month
Revenue / year
In practice
What you get.
- An analysis of your competitors' links
- A budget calculated on the actual gap
- A list of sites approved with you before any purchase
- A tracking dashboard: published links, anchors, target pages
- Regular checks on live links
Pricing
How much does a link building campaign cost?
The budget has two parts: my selection and tracking work, and the cost of the publications themselves. I price the whole thing after measuring the gap with your competitors, following a free first call.
- How far behind your competitors you are
- The number of pages to support
- The rates charged by sites in your industry
- How long you spread the effort over
Together, let's devour your competitors.
One by one, and in order. Every spot gained makes the next one easier to take: that's why it keeps growing. See the method
What it brings in
SEO you can count in euros.
A ranking doesn't pay a salary. What counts is what it brings: enquiries, customers, revenue. Move your page up and see what it could bring in.
Example assumptions, open to challenge: 800 searches a month for your trade in your town, 4% of visitors make an enquiry, one enquiry in three is signed (this varies a lot from one trade to another), €1,200 per customer. Click-through rates by position are ballpark figures, and they've been shifting since Google started showing AI answers above the results. Redo the maths with your numbers
What your page could bring in
Ticket no. 10th · worked example- Searchesper month, for your trade in your town
- 800
- Estimated visitsclick-through rate: 1.5%
- 0
- Possible enquiries4% of visitors
- 0
- Possible customersone enquiry in three
- 0
Possible revenue€0
Who you're talking to
Your SEO consultant: a business owner, not just an SEO.
My name is Kévin Papot. More than fifteen years in the job, four co-written books, and the Newp agency, co-founded in Charente. I also run my own online shops, in France and internationally: one of them went from zero to a million visits a month.
Before we talk tags, we talk margin, average basket and profitability. When you book a call, I'm the one who picks up.
FAQ
Link building: frequently asked questions.
What budget should I plan for?
It depends on the gap with your competitors. I price it after analysis, and it's often lower than the estimates you've been given elsewhere.
Is buying links risky?
The risk comes from poor-quality links and repeated anchors. A small number of relevant, varied links doesn't cause problems in my experience.
Who works on my account?
The strategy is me, and I'm the one who answers you. For production (content, development, links), I rely on the team at Newp, the agency I co-founded.
How many links does it take to overtake a competitor?
There's no number that works for everyone. I compare your links with those of the sites ahead of you, page by page. The answer comes out of that comparison, and it varies from one query to another.
What makes a good link?
A link placed on a site people read, covering your topic, in a text someone actually wants to read. If the site publishes anything for anyone, its link isn't worth much.
How long does a link take to have an effect?
Google first has to discover the article, then take it into account. Allow anything from a few weeks to a few months. That's why I look at rankings over time, not the day after publication.
Can you get links without paying for them?
Yes, and that's where I start: partners, suppliers, local press, unlinked brand mentions. These links are free. They take time and good reasons to talk about you.
Should bad links be removed or disavowed?
Rarely. Google ignores most worthless links on its own. I only consider a disavow if the site has received a penalty or a batch of links is clearly artificial.
Do links also help with AI answers?
Yes, in a different way. ChatGPT, Gemini or Claude cite a business more readily when several serious sites talk about it. An article that presents you clearly therefore counts for Google and for AI.
See also
SEO
By industry
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30 minutes · video call · with me
Be the one they remember.
Together we look at where you stand on Google and in AI, and what should change first.
Book a callFig. 2. A K. (The landscape was missing one.)