Devenia / Learn / Link building

Do These Link-Building Tactics Still Work?

A practical link-building check: judge relevance, real audience, editorial value, policy risk, and measurable referrals before paying for any placement.
Generated editorial image showing outdated link building tactics being checked against real SEO evidence.

Start with the result, not the tactic

We do not do press release submissions, social bookmarking or mass directory submissions.

These tactics stopped being reliable SEO work years ago. If someone still sells them as a ranking shortcut, ask for proof before you pay.

The decision to make

Is the tactic likely to create useful visibility or referral action, or only activity that sounds like SEO?
Can the provider show evidence tied to this placement, not just a list of submissions?
Is there a real audience and editorial reason behind the placement, or only another link list?

Three tests for any placement

Do not buy a tactic because it carries an SEO label. Test whether it connects relevance, audience, editorial value, and measurable impact.

Relevance

The placement should relate to your business, market, location, or buyer journey. Irrelevant links are not a strategy.

Audience

Real people should use or trust the source. If nobody reads it, searches for it, or values it, the listing is unlikely to help.

Impact

The provider should explain how success will be measured through qualified referral traffic, leads, useful visibility, or communications outcomes. Ranking movement alone rarely proves causation.

Why bulk submissions fail the test

Google has long warned against link schemes and scaled submissions used to manipulate rankings. Review Google’s current spam policies.

Old link-building labels can hide weak work. Judge the outcome, not the task name.

What usually happens

Press-release links

A press release may have communications value. Any links should be qualified where appropriate and should not be sold as guaranteed ranking credit.

Social bookmarking

Social bookmarking is rarely useful unless a real audience uses the service for discovery. Automated or repetitive submissions are a spam risk.

Mass directories

Generic directory submissions at scale are not a substitute for relevant local or industry listings used by real people.

Activity reports

A long submission list can look busy without proving that anyone saw, trusted, or acted on the placement.

Does the placement help customers find and trust the business?

What can still be worth considering

The answer is usually no for bulk submission work. A narrow exception exists when a placement has relevance, visibility, editorial reason, and a real audience.

Relevant directory

It ranks for terms relevant to your business and is used by real people, not only by vendors selling listings.

Industry-specific directory

It helps the right buyers find you and gives them useful context instead of adding your business to a generic link list.

Communications value

A press release may support communications, launches, or media relations. That is different from being a reliable organic ranking tactic.

Real audience use

People can discover and use the placement for a reason connected to your business.

Proof of results

The provider can connect the placement to qualified referrals, enquiries, communications reach, or another outcome that matters.

Evidence comes before budget. A directory should earn consideration through what it does for the right buyers, not through its link count.

Separate useful visibility from SEO theater

The issue is not that every mention or directory is worthless. The issue is paying for bulk tactics with no audience, no relevance, no editorial value, and no measurable result.

Low-value tactics

  • Press release submissions
  • Social bookmarking
  • Mass directory submissions

What might still matter

  • Relevant directories
  • Real audience use
  • Proof of results

Ask for evidence before you buy

If someone promises results from these methods, make the evidence concrete before you spend money.

Rankings

Ask for actual visibility or qualified referral changes linked to the tactic, while recognising that correlation is not proof of causation.

Traffic

Ask for traffic increases, not only a list of completed submissions. Check referral quality and cost.

Relevance

Check whether the referring page relates to your market and why the audience would care.

Discovery

Check whether real users can discover and use the placement.

Durability

Ask what would happen if the tactic stopped tomorrow and whether the placement would still help customers.

Clear conclusion

If the provider cannot demonstrate real relevance, audience, or outcomes, the work may be old SEO theater rather than useful search or communications work.

A useful SEO activity should survive a proof and policy question.

Frequently asked questions

Do press releases help SEO rankings?

Press releases can have communications value, but they should not be sold as a reliable organic ranking tactic. Any paid or sponsored link must be qualified appropriately.

Are directory submissions ever useful?

Yes, but only when the directory is relevant, trusted, visible for useful terms, and used by real people. Mass generic submissions are different and usually not worth buying.

How do I test a provider promising these results?

Ask for evidence: relevant examples, starting baselines, and qualified referral or lead changes. Ask why the placement helps your business instead of only creating another link.

Do not pay for activity without evidence

A long submission list can look productive while doing almost nothing for search performance or customer discovery.

Reject bulk tactics that cannot show relevance, audience, or results.
Consider only relevant placements that real people use and understand.
Ask for qualified referral or communications evidence, not only ranking screenshots.
Spend the budget on work that creates durable value for customers and the business.

If a tactic sounds dated, ask the simplest question: what proof shows it still helps this business now?