Link Building Services Without Buying Links, Included in Every SEO Plan
Most "link building agencies" sell placements: a set number of links a month, bought on other people's websites. We don't. Link building is part of every SEO plan we run, and every link is earned from a site your customers actually read.
At a glance
- 5.0 from 50+ Google reviews
- Included in SEO plans from £400 a month
- No long contracts
- Written by Amit Saini, updated November 2026
Link building is getting other websites to link to yours, because Google treats a link from a relevant, trusted site as a vote of confidence. Vimana Digital doesn't sell links as a standalone product. It comes inside our SEO plans, local from £400 a month and national £1,000–£4,000, alongside the pages and technical work that make links worth having. If all you want is a monthly bundle of links, we're the wrong agency, and this page explains why.
- Local from
- £400a month
- National
- £1,000–£4,000
What page one of Google is selling you
On 10 November 2026 we searched "link building agency" on google.co.uk and read the service pages of the agencies on page one. Of the seven sites we could read, six sold placements: guest posts, links slipped into existing articles (sold as "niche edits"), or a fixed number of links a month. One published plan was $2,999 a month for eight links, about $375 each.
Here's the part they don't put on the pricing page. Google's spam policies list "buying or selling links for ranking purposes" as link spam, including "exchanging money for links, or posts that contain links". Paid links are allowed only if they're marked rel="sponsored" or rel="nofollow", and a link marked that way passes no ranking credit. So a paid link is either against the rules or doesn't do the job you paid for.
That doesn't mean every placement gets a site penalised. It means you're paying for the one kind of link Google says it tries to ignore, and taking the risk on yourself, not the agency.
What we do instead
Pages worth linking to
Nobody links to a service page. People link to things that help them: a price guide with real figures, a checklist, original data. We build those on your site first. Our own website cost guides and our check of 17 UK Shopify stores are examples of the kind of page that earns links on its own.
Suppliers, partners and stockists
The easiest good links are from businesses you already work with: manufacturers who list stockists, suppliers with a "where to buy" page, partners, trade bodies you belong to. We find which of these exist, which already mention you without a link, and ask.
Unlinked mentions and broken links
When a site mentions your business but doesn't link, or links to a page on your site that no longer exists, a short polite email usually fixes it. These are the cheapest links there are, and most businesses have a few waiting.
Local and trade directories
The handful that matter for your trade and area, kept accurate. For a plumber that means the trade directories that fill half of page one; for an accountant, the professional bodies. Not a hundred low-quality directories, which Google lists as link spam too. See local SEO.
Press and expert comment
Where you have a real story (a new product, a local first, data from your own business), we'll pitch it. Press release distribution is charged separately and only when it's worth doing. For industrial firms, see our digital PR for Derby engineering approach.
New to this? Read our off-page SEO guide.
How to tell a good link from a bought one
| Earned link | Bought placement | |
|---|---|---|
| Why the site linked | It helps their readers | It was paid to |
| Relevance | Same industry, area or audience | Whatever site sells space |
| Anchor text | Usually your name or a natural phrase | Often an exact keyword, which Google flags in its policy |
| Marked sponsored? | No need | Should be, which removes its ranking value |
| Lasts | As long as the page stays useful | Depends on the arrangement continuing |
| Risk to you | None | Google may ignore it, or take manual action |
Domain Rating and Domain Authority scores appear on almost every link vendor's site. They're made by SEO tool companies, not Google, and they can be pushed up artificially. A relevant local link with a low score can do more for you than a high-score link from a site your customers never visit.
Check your own links in ten minutes
Our free SEO audit includes a links review.
- 1Open Search Console > LinksLook at "Top linking sites". Do you recognise them? Would a customer?
- 2Search your business name in quotesNote any sites that mention you; check whether they link.
- 3List your suppliers, partners and membershipsDoes each one link to you?
- 4Look for sudden spikesA jump of hundreds of links from unknown sites usually means someone bought links for you once. Tell us; it changes the plan.
- 5Check your footer creditsIf your web designer's credit link sits in the footer of every page with a keyword like "web design Nottingham", that's the pattern Google's policy calls "widely distributed links in the footers or templates of various sites".
Where the good links are, by type of business
The right links depend on who you are. A few patterns we plan around:
Local trades and services. Your best links are close to home: the trade bodies and accreditation schemes you belong to, local business groups, suppliers' "find an installer" pages, and the few directories your customers really use. When we checked "plumber leicester" in November 2026, half of page one was directory and review sites, so for some trades those listings matter as much as the links themselves.
Online shops. Manufacturers and brands you stock often list retailers. Gift guides and product round-ups link to shops that make it easy: good photos, clear prices, a short pitch. A buying guide on your own site, the kind collections can't rank for alone, is the page other sites link to. See ecommerce SEO.
B2B and industrial firms. Trade press, industry associations, case studies on your suppliers' sites and technical guides your buyers bookmark. Fewer links, but each one is from the exact audience you sell to.
Professional and regulated firms. Solicitors, accountants and financial advisers have professional bodies and recognised directories that carry real weight, and stricter rules on what marketing can claim. We work inside those rules. See SEO for solicitors.
What a month of link building looks like with us
- 1FindWe check who links to your competitors and not to you, who mentions you without a link, and which of your suppliers, partners and memberships have a page you belong on.
- 2Fix firstAny page we want links to has to be worth landing on, so we improve it before we ask anyone to link to it.
- 3AskShort, personal emails to real people. No templates sent to a thousand sites.
- 4Build one linkable pieceOn national plans, usually a guide, a checklist or a small piece of original data, like the Google checks on our own pages.
- 5ReportEvery new link with its address, date and how we got it, plus the rankings and traffic of the pages it points to. Links we asked for and didn't get are in there too.
Why link building is inside our SEO plans, not sold on its own
Links help pages that already deserve to rank. Point fifty links at a thin page on a slow site and very little happens. So we fix the site, build the pages, then go after links for those pages. Selling links separately would mean taking your money for the step that works least on its own.
| Plan | Price | Link work included |
|---|---|---|
| Local SEO, one location | From £400 a month | Business Profile, local and trade directories, supplier and partner links, review routine |
| National SEO | £1,000–£4,000 a month | All of the above, plus linkable pages, mention reclaim and outreach |
| Press release distribution | Quoted separately | Only when there's a real story |
All prices exclude VAT. Rolling monthly with a month's notice. Every link we get you is listed in your monthly report with its address, date and how we got it.
Results we can show
We don't report link counts as results; we report what the links were for. On our own site, Search Console showed an average position of 7.1 for "seo agency derby" and 4.9 for "derby seo agency" over the four weeks to 7 November 2026. One of our SEO clients, an East Midlands solar installer, went from 167 to 403 Google clicks a quarter, comparing Jul–Sep 2025 with Aug–Oct 2026, with average position moving from 49.7 to 18.8. Links were one part of that work alongside pages and technical fixes, and we won't pretend we can separate them out.
Link buildingquestions,answered
Not covered here? Call and ask. We reply within 24 hours.
Is link building still worth it in 2026?
Yes, but only the earned kind. Google still uses links to understand which pages are trusted, and says so in its own documentation. Bought links are the part it tries to ignore.
How many links do I need?
There's no number. A local trade business usually needs far fewer than a national shop competing with big brands, and relevance matters more than count. Anyone who quotes a monthly link count before looking at your competitors is selling a package, not a plan.
Do you guarantee links?
No. We can't control another site's editor. We guarantee the work: the outreach, the pages and the reporting, every month.
Can I buy link building from you without SEO?
No. Links on their own are the least effective part of SEO, so we only do them as part of a plan. If you have an in-house team and just want advice, see our freelance SEO consultant option.
Do directory links help?
A few do: the trade and local directories your customers actually use. Mass directory submission doesn't, and Google lists "low-quality directory or bookmark site links" as link spam.
What about links for AI search?
Google says its AI features use the same signals as ordinary Search, so the same rules apply: earned mentions, not paid ones. See AI search optimisation.
What's the difference between link building and digital PR?
Digital PR is one way of earning links: getting coverage in the press or industry media. Link building is the wider job, including suppliers, partners, directories and reclaiming lost links.
Find out which links you're missing
Send us your website address. The free audit includes who links to you now, who should, and whether anything in your link profile needs cleaning up.
Related: SEO services · local SEO · ecommerce SEO · AI search optimisation
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