Contact Us

Tag: sales funnel

Buying Backlinks in 2026: Safe, Smart, and Scalable

Posted on by BacklinksMatters

Backlinking, as we know, primarily impacts your traffic and ranking on SERPs (Search Engine Result Pages). Although Google recommends natural link building, white hat SEO is adopted by almost all big brands and websites. Sometimes, some brands buy backlinks. 

While many search engine optimizers say buying backlinks is unethical, others argue it is an effective backlinking strategy. 

Key Takeaways
  • 94% of SEO experts believe that link quality is more important than quantity.
  • 52% of marketers think that link building is the most difficult aspect of any SEO campaign.
  • 42% of individuals spend equal time in building both internal and external links.
  • It usually takes a quarter to reap the benefits of generated links in ranking on SERP.
  • 89% of digital marketers curate content with the specific goal of building links.
  • Digital marketers usually spend 28% of their budget on link-building efforts.
  • It is said that 30-35 backlinks generate 10,500 visits per month. Longer content gets more backlinks than shorter content.
  • About 89% of digital marketers think that nofollow links have a positive impact on rankings.

Some SEO professionals might think it is outdated and risky to buy backlinks. Others say that it is the only way to survive in today’s competitive niche. But in reality, the truth lies somewhere in between. 

Yes, when websites buy backlinks, they get faster visibility, but only when you work with the correct backlink-building agencies and follow safe practices. 

Table of Contents

Let’s understand why websites buy backlinks. 

Imagine the internet as a massive community, where every website is a house. And, you have just moved in, you want the people to know you exist. Ideally, you could wait for months, hoping neighbors notice you, or you could ask a few well-known people of the community to introduce you around.

That’s exactly why websites buy backlinks. It’s like getting an introduction from respected neighbors of the community. Their recommendation makes others trust you easily, helps more individuals discover your “house,” and saves you the struggle of proving yourself from scratch.

what is a backlinks

Websites buy backlinks to gain visibility, trust, and traffic from reputable websites of a higher domain authority. 

In a nutshell, link buying is the process of actively increasing the number of backlinks to your website from third-party reputable websites. Backlinks help search engines to explore web pages and secure higher ranks in SERPs. A backlink is like a citation. It is like a web reference to the main web source or website, or web page, giving the viewer the clarity that is often required during the research of any topic. Backlinks are a significant part of any content-creating process.

The more backlinks you have, the higher you rank! But the benefits of buying backlinks don’t end here. There are more benefits mentioned below.. 

Improved Rankings

Search engines are said to consider the number of backlinks your site has when ranking it on SERP.  This is the sole motive behind digital marketers to buy backlinks. In a more competitive environment, this becomes better for e-commerce websites. 

Let’s now understand the impact of backlinks. According to expert studies – 

  • The marketing team of Backlinko says the number one pages of Google’s SERP have more than 4 times the backlinks as those that rank in second or third position. 
  • Authority Hacker swears by the fact that “ when websites buy backlinks, they consider it to be a significant element that directly correlates with SEO success.”
  • Ahrefs, on the other hand, argues that backlinks are the most essential ranking factor. 

Enhanced Traffic Over Websites/Webpages 

As we have already discussed, when websites buy backlinks, it directly improves their ranking on SERP. When websites/webpages appear at the top of the SERP, they will naturally gain more traffic. 

As per studies, it is observed that “ the first position on Google gets around 39.6% of clicks. That’s more than double second place, which gets about 18.4%. And, finally, the tenth position gets just 2.1%. This makes it even more essential to improve ranking. 

What are the Risks when Websites Buy Backlinks?

  • Links placed poorly can trigger algorithmic hits, causing Google Penalties.
  • Mostly low-quality sites or non-essential placements deliver little to no Return On Investment, wasting the company’s budget.
  • When a brand’s webpage appears on spammy websites, it not only affects its credibility but also damages the brand’s image.
  • If you see a company that is bulk-buying from unauthorised sellers, their SEO success is very short-lived, and so is their ranking.
  • Including toxic links often requires audits, disavowals, and extra spending.
BONUS CONTENT: What Is the SkyScraper Technique?

The Skyscraper technique is a link-building space strategy for content marketing. The objective is to improve search engine rankings by finding top-rated content, then creating a significantly better version, and reaching out to the source website to get them to link to your new content instead. 

This is a three-step process – 
  1. Identify popular content with many backlinks
  2. Curate a better piece of your own, and 
  3. Then contact the websites linking to the original website, asking them to promote your significantly better content. 

While many websites or agencies can buy backlinks on your behalf, it is also essential to identify which ones will be beneficial for your brand and which ones will make your brand look spammy and lose its credibility. 

Hint: To find the perfect backlink services company, determine if their niche is similar to yours. 

Let’s look at places to buy backlinks. Here is the list of the five best places to buy backlinks – 

  1. Backlinksmatters 

buy backlinks by backlinksmatters

Backlinksmatters is a newly launched content marketing agency in the link-building space that looks for ways to help you promote your brand by adopting SEO techniques like guest post services (with their guest post management, you can easily boost your brand’s search visibility, organic traffic, and domain authority), and link building packages (their link building packages are designed to help brands strengthen their domain authority, and buy backlinks from real and relevant websites).

  • Founded In 2025.
  • Headquarters: Lucknow, India.
  • Services They Offer: Guest Post Services to boost your brand’s organic traffic, and provide aid to brands interested in buying backlinks with no effort. 

  1. Thrive Internet Marketing Agency 

Thrive Internet Marketing Agency

Thrive Internet Marketing Agency is known to adapt to an evolving AI-driven search environment, and is amongst the best places to buy backlinks. While other successful SEO agencies evolve to reward intent-rich results, Thrive focuses on applying a data-driven model that gives importance to link acquisition strategies built to succeed in Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) environments. 

  • Founded in: 2005
  • Headquarters:  Arlington, Texas.
  • Services They Offer: SEO & AI SEO Strategies, Digital Public Relations (PR), Content Marketing, and helps Websites Buy Backlinks. 

  1. Inflow

inflow

Inflow is a digital marketing agency that is known for its deep eCommerce SEO & link-building expertise. The primary objective of this agency is to help websites acquire high-quality backlinks and link placements over product review platforms, digital magazines, and reputable lifestyle publications. 

  • Founded In: 2007.
  • Headquarters: Denver.
  • Services they provide: eCommerce link building, SEO strategies like competitive gap analysis, and content-driven backlinks. 

  1. Sure Oak

Sure Oak

The Sure Oak is a recognized and reputable US-based link-building agency with a growing social presence. Their team takes great pride in building a good reputation by adopting white-hat outreach strategies for their clients. 

  • Founded In: 2017
  • Headquarters: New York.
  • Services they provide: Guest posting, content-driven backlinks, and digital PR.

  1. One Page Power

One Page Power

One Page Power is a digital marketing agency that helps websites buy backlinks without compromising on the quality standards. Their in-house content marketing team assesses high-quality backlinks while collaborating with SEO strategists to curate linkable assets customized to fit your website’s niche. 

  • Founded in: 2010.
  • Headquarters: Boise, Idaho.
  • Services they offer: Custom Backlink Campaigns, Backlinks Audit, and Link Reclamation.

Before you buy backlinks, treat the entire process like choosing a trusted vendor for an important event. 

buy backlinks checklist

The right choice elevates everything, and the wrong choice creates chaos. Here is a checklist you must follow before you, buy backlinks for your website. 

  • Always choose quality over quantity. A couple of high-authority links are better than dozens of cheap & spammy ones.
  • It is always advised to buy links from websites related to your niche.
  • eCommerce Websites publishing hundreds of paid posts daily are risky.
  • Marketers should always look for genuine traffic, not just high DA/DR numbers.
  • The link should blend smoothly into the content; never force a link where it is not required. Readers want valuable content, not paid promotions. 

How Much Do Backlinks Cost?

Let’s now discuss the pricing of backlinks

  • Low-quality sites: $5–$30 
  • Mid-tier blogs/niche sites: $40–$150
  • High-authority publications: $200–$1,000+
  • Top-tier industry websites / major media: $1,500–$5,000+

Summing Up

In 2025, when websites spend a lot of time and budget to buy backlinks, it is important to utilize them productively rather than blindly going for any appealing backlink opportunity. 

It is important to approach the process of link buying thoughtfully; it is advised to avoid low-quality shortcuts and invest in websites that actually add value rather than spam your valuable website. 

When done right, backlinks become more than just an SEO strategy. They become long-term assets that help your website rank, grow, and stand out in a competitive digital world.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. What is buying backlinks?

In a nutshell, buying backlinks is the process of actively increasing the number of backlinks to your website from third-party reputable websites. Backlinks help search engines to explore web pages and secure higher ranks in SERPs. 

A backlink is like a citation. It is like a web reference to the main web source or website, or web page, giving the viewer the clarity that is often required during the research of any topic. Backlinks are a significant part of any content-creating process.

2. Is buying backlinks illegal?

Buying backlinks can be a bit controversial in SEO. It also goes against Google’s guidelines if not done properly, but it is not illegal. 

3. How much does it cost to buy backlinks?

Without exaggerating on this – Top-tier industry websites / major media: $1,500–$5,000+. 

4. How do beginners get backlinks?

There are various ways to do so:

  • Guest Post Outreach
  • Broken link building (where you can look for a broken link, and reach out to the website with your link as a replacement)
  • Finding unlinked mentions on reputable websites
  • Cross-link exchange

What is the SEO Funnel, and How Does it Work?

Posted on by BacklinksMatters

In 2025, SEO is no longer just about ranking in search engines with keywords; it’s now about understanding your users’ intent, using AI-driven insights, and building trust with consistent value. SEO funnel has become the backbone of this approach, helping brands to improve their organic reach.

As Google’s Search Generative Experience (SGE) and AI Overviews change how users discover and read information, creating and improving the SEO funnel is a must, and it allows businesses to guide customers from the awareness stage to the conversion stage.

Key Takeaways

1. A strong SEO funnel is important in 2025, as AI-driven search is growing and impacts user behaviour

2. Backlinks stay the most powerful authority signal across all funnel stages.

3. Intent-aligned content and clear internal linking help both users and AI models understand what your expertise is in.

4. Middle-of-funnel pages perform better when supported by niche-relevant backlinks.

5. Pages that are focused on conversion need trust elements like proof, clarity, fast load speed, and high-authority links.

6. Reviewing your funnel regularly keeps you competitive and visible in both traditional search and AI overviews.

In this article, we’ll break down what the SEO funnel is, how it works across its three key stages, the important role of backlinks, and how we’ve successfully created SEO funnels for our clients. 

What Is the SEO Funnel?

SEO funnel is a strategic model that helps businesses understand how their users move after discovering their brand, to taking a meaningful action, like purchasing, all through organic search.

It is built on the principle that every search shows an intent, and by adjusting content, keywords, and backlinks to those specific intents, you can guide users naturally toward conversion.

Instead of focusing on rankings, the SEO funnel focuses on building expertise, experience, authority, and trust (E-E-A-T) at each stage.

An SEO Funnel has 3 interconnected types, which are listed below

  • Seo Content Funnel: Seo content funnel educates your users and builds awareness through valuable insights.
  • Link Funnel: Link funnel builds credibility through high-quality, contextual, and relevant backlinks.
  • Sales Funnel: Sales funnel converts customer interest into measurable business growth.

How the SEO Funnel Works?

SEO funnel works like a guided path that leads users from their first encounter with your brand to a point where they trust you enough to make a purchase. It imitates the buyer’s journey through three important stages: Awareness, Consideration, and Decision.

[Image Source: Outreach Monks]

Each of these stages of the seo funnel demands different methods, such as content optimization, building a keyword strategy, and trust signals. However, all of them have one thing in common: they are connected through consistent messaging, strong internal links, and data-backed optimization.

1. Top of the Funnel (TOFU) — Awareness

This is where the seo funnel starts. Users at this stage don’t know about your brand yet they are still searching for solutions to a problem they are facing. Currently, your goal should be to educate users and avoid focusing on selling at this stage

  • User Intent: Informational Content 
  • Type: Blog posts, guides, infographics, videos, and educational explainers.
  • Optimization Focus: Broader keywords, topic authority, readability, and shareability.
  • Example: A user searching “how to improve website visibility” might discover your blog post introducing SEO fundamentals, just like you found this blog about SEO Funnels.

Creating content that is genuinely helpful boosts E-E-A-T signals and shows Google that your expertise serves the user’s needs first, which is very important in appearing in AI overviews and featured snippets.

2. Middle of the Funnel (MOFU) — Consideration

In this stage, users exactly know what their problem is, and they are actively looking and comparing multiple solutions to find the best one. Your job here is to make your content demonstrate your expertise and trustworthiness.

  • User Intent: Comparative or evaluative
  • Content Type: Case studies, how-to guides, webinars, whitepapers, and product comparisons.
  • Optimization Focus: Semantic keywords, topic clusters, internal linking, and data-backed examples.
  • Example: A post like “Best SEO funnel strategies for 2025” can build credibility and gently nudges your readers toward your service or product you provide.

At this stage, you should also use expert insights like stats from credible sources to tell your users and AI engines that your website provides the best authoritative and accurate information, which is an important factor for ranking in Search Generative Experience (SGE) results.

3. Bottom of the Funnel (BOFU) — Conversion

Now your users have the solution to their problem, and they know about your brand. At this stage, they are ready to act. Your goal is to remove any hesitation and doubt to make the next step (conversion) obvious

  • User Intent: Transactional or action-oriented
  • Content Type: Landing pages, testimonials, comparison charts, pricing pages, and demo offers.
  • Optimization Focus: Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO), schema markup, persuasive CTAs, and UX clarity.
  • Example: Showing a landing page offering a “Free SEO Funnel Audit” converts awareness-stage users into clients.

You can achieve this by using testimonials and pricing that are transparent without any additional charges, plus make sure to use author bios and external validations so that E E A T helps your brand stand out from the competitors and even rank in AI summarised search results.

The Role of Backlinks in the SEO Funnel

Backlinks are still one of the strongest ranking factors in 2025, not just because of their volume, but also because of their context and quality. In a modern SEO funnel, backlinks serve as trust badges that inform users and search engines at each stage.

Along with boosting visibility, they also validate the expertise, boost your website’s domain authority, and create an interconnected ecosystem of internal links, which are important for ranking in AI overviews and search engines (Which should be your main goal to rank higher and faster)

Why Backlinks Still Matter?

Google’s algorithm and now its AI-based understanding of web context still rely on backlinks to determine topical authority and trustworthiness. 

When a credible site with high domain authority links to your content, it endorses your expertise. 

The act matches directly with the E-E-A-T principle, showing your knowledge is recognised by other experts in the same niche.

For instance,  a niche-specific backlink from a marketing publication shows stronger authority than dozens of random backlinks that don’t match your niche

How We Built SEO Funnels for Our Clients

Here at BacklinksMatters, we have noticed that every funnel in seo is powered by one core strength: strategic and high-quality placement of backlinks.

Instead of trying and conquer every seo component, we focus on the single factor that affects the visibility and authority of your funnel movement the most.

We work in a very simple manner; we improve the client’s entire funnel by giving each stage the backlinks that it needs to attract more customer attention and to build credibility, and eventually drive more conversions.

We map your users’ search intent and identify the most plausible link-building opportunity, and secure the link placement.

Challenges and Solutions in the SEO Sales Funnel

Building a Seo conversion funnel is not easy, and most of the time it fails. Let me tell you some reasons why it fails.

A strong seo conversion funnel fails when visibility, authority, user experience, or any other test signals break at any stage. 

While backlinks still are one of the strongest drivers of authority and growth in ranking, businesses like yours can also face issues like poor content depth, ranking content with wrong intent keywords or external signals (like backlinks) and internal elements ( like UI/Ux and structure)  that guide users from search conversion.

Common Challenges & Their Solutions

  • Low search visibility? Solution: Get diversified backlinks for your top funnels, plus optimise your content from time to time
  • Strong content by no authority? Solution: Get High-quality backlinks from niche sites
  • High traffic but low engagement? Solution: Improve your page structure and provide clarity
  • Ranking stuck on page 2? Solution: Make sure your anchor texts are relevant to their links
  • Competitors dominating SERPs? Solution: Do a backlink gap analysis and replace your outdated content 

Optimizing Each Funnel Stage for Better Results

A high-performing SEO funnel scales only when you improve each stage from time to time. Growth comes from aligning content with improving users’ journey, search intent, and optimizing for AI-driven discovery.

At the top stage of the funnel, visibility increases when you publish intent-based content, solve users’ problems by answering real questions, and use structured data to surface in AI overviews.

In the middle stage of the funnel, users engage more when your guides, comparisons, and resource page are supported with niche-relevant backlinks and strong internal linking across your content, which enhances EEAT.

At the bottom funnel, conversions rise when your service pages are polished with case studies, social proofs, clear pricing, and smooth CTA’s

How to Use AI & AEO for Funnel Growth

AI tools and answer engines’ first priority is clarity and authority with structured information. AEO checks if your content is ready for AI-powered summaries and contextual responses.

Key optimization actions you can take

  • Use Q&A formatting, definitions, and structured bullets to match AI response patterns.
  • Add schema markup such as FAQ, How-To, and Organization data.
  • Build authority backlinks toward your informational content to rank in AI summaries.
  • Include expert quotes, personal experience, original analysis, and supporting data for stronger EEAT.

How to Track and Measure Performance

Tracking can turn your assumptions into actionable steps. GA4, UTM tags, and conversion dashboards can help you understand which funnel assets work and which one needs improvement.

What to measure

  • Traffic Source Performance: Which backlinks drive qualified sessions?
  • Engagement Metrics: Scroll depth, time on page, navigation patterns.
  • Conversion Paths: Where drop-offs occur across the funnel.
  • Campaign Tracking: UTM codes to identify high-performing backlinks, partnerships, and content.
  • Revenue Impact: Assisted conversions, last-click conversions, and ROI from SEO efforts.

Use Personalization & Experimentation Across the Funnel

A strong funnel in seo is which adapts to users’ behaviour. Personalization, testing, and CRO (conversion rate optimization) help convert more visitors without depending on additional traffic

Practical improvements you can make

  • Personalize CTAs based on visitor intent (cold, warm, or ready-to-buy).
  • Test landing page layouts, headlines, value propositions, and offers.
  • Use heatmaps to understand friction and remove unnecessary elements.
  • Build topic clusters and refine internal linking to improve user flow.
  • Create multiple content variations for AI Overviews and monitor which performs best.

Final Thoughts

A well-designed seo funnel is still one of the most reliable growth engines in 2025, especially as an AI system prioritizes authority and clarity. 

When each stage is supported with strong content, meaningful use experience, and planned backlinks authority, your brand becomes easier to discover and more convincing to engage with

The businesses that are winning today are the ones that understand how searchers think, what AI tools prioritize first, and how to build trust at every touch point

If you want to scale sustainability, review your seo funnel and identify where users fall off.

Because every improvement can make compounds into long-term growth.