--- title: "Link building: links that count · Kévin Papot" url: https://kevinpapot.fr/en/netlinking author: Kévin Papot, SEO and GEO consultant language: en updated: 2026-10-15 --- > SEO and GEO consultant for more than fifteen years. I only recommend what I've made work on my own websites, on Google and in AI answers. [Home](https://kevinpapot.fr/en/) / [SEO](https://kevinpapot.fr/en/consultant-seo) / Link building # 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. [Book a call](#contact)[See my method](https://kevinpapot.fr/en/methode) 1. Rattle your competitors. 2. Overtake them. 3. 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 DartyEurofinsCegidEBPCNP AssurancesIngram Micro ## 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. Symptom 1 ### Links bought by the kilo A batch of fifty articles on sites nobody reads. The budget is spent, the rankings don't move. Symptom 2 ### Everything pointing to the homepage The homepage doesn't need help. It's your service and category pages that need to climb. Symptom 3 ### 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. 1. **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. 2. **The targets.** The few pages that deserve links, chosen for their revenue potential. 3. **The selection.** Real sites, with readers, close to your topic. Every link is checked before purchase and after publication. 4. **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. 1. Week 1 ### The link audit I compare your links with those of the three sites ranking ahead of you for your searches. 2. 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. 3. Month 2 ### The first publications The first articles go live. I check every link is in place and that Google can follow it. 4. Months 3 to 6 ### Consistency A few links each month, on different sites. I adjust the plan based on the rankings observed. 5. 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. **On stage.** SEO explained to business owners, without jargon. **A Google Business Profile.** 557 interactions between April and September 2026, up every month. **ChatGPT.** “Very present on GEO, EEAT and conversational search topics.” **Four books.** What I recommend is published, dated and signed. 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. [Check these numbers with me](#contact) Start from a typical profile Monthly searches for your queries Share of clicks you capture Visitors who contact you Contacts who become customers Average customer value 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 [Request a quote](#contact) 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. [Read my story](https://kevinpapot.fr/en/kevin)[See my method](https://kevinpapot.fr/en/methode) 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. --- Source: https://kevinpapot.fr/en/netlinking · Kévin Papot, SEO and GEO consultant, Charente (France).