Are backlinks still worth it? A straight answer after Google’s updates
Yes, but not just any link. What Google says about links today, what changed after the link spam updates, and when a backlink is worth paying for.
The short answer: yes, but not just any link
Links from other websites are still part of how Google understands the web. Google’s guide to its ranking systems says it uses systems that look at how pages link to each other to work out what each page is about and which may be most helpful, and that PageRank, one of its core systems since launch, has evolved a lot and is still part of its core ranking systems.
The better question today is not whether links matter but which links count. A link from a site your audience reads, inside real content about your subject, is a different thing from hundreds of links on sites nobody visits. The first builds trust and sends visitors; the second may not be counted at all.
What changed: Google neutralises artificial links
In December 2022 Google announced a link spam update that uses its SpamBrain system to detect sites that buy links and sites built to pass links to others, and to neutralise unnatural links. Whatever credit those links used to pass is lost.
In practice, cheap bundles of “thousands of backlinks” are no longer just a risk: they are mostly money with no effect. Sites built only to sell links, and manufactured comments and directories, are exactly what these systems are trained to ignore.
What didn’t change: a link is a road people take
Before search engines, a link was how a reader moved from one page to another, and it still is. A link in an article your audience reads sends interested visitors today, whatever it does for rankings. So always ask: if this link had no effect on Google at all, would it still be worth its place?
That one question prevents most mistakes. A site with real readers in your country and field deserves a look even with average metrics, and a site nobody visits is not saved by a high score in a measuring tool.
What Google says about paid links
Google’s spam policies treat buying or selling links to manipulate rankings as link spam, whether the payment is money, goods or services. The same policies say buying and selling links is a normal part of the web’s economy for advertising and sponsorship, when the link is marked rel="sponsored" or rel="nofollow".
That is why every publisher on Linkaza states which link type they offer, and buyers see it before ordering. The choice is yours; the simple rule is: pick a site first for its audience and its relevance to your field, know the link type before you pay, and don’t build your plan on one link lifting you on its own.
When a backlink won’t help
Links amplify what is there; they don’t fix what is broken. If the target page is slow, doesn’t answer the searcher’s question or is blocked from indexing, links won’t save it. Check it first with the SEO audit and page speed tools.
Links also do little when they come from outside your audience: a gaming site linking to a dental clinic in Riyadh may publish the link, but it won’t bring a patient or tell Google much about what the clinic does. A link that disappears after a few weeks, or sits on a page that never gets indexed, doesn’t deliver what you paid for, so check your link once it is live.
How to tell whether links helped
Decide before ordering what you will measure. In Google Analytics, follow the visits that come from the publishing site; in Search Console, follow the target page’s impressions, clicks and the queries it appears for. If you sell, the measure that matters most is the orders and enquiries those visits bring.
Give results time before judging, and compare the page with itself before and after rather than with a competitor that has been at it for years. Log every link you got with its date and price, so you know which kind of site is worth repeating in the next round.
The bottom line
Backlinks aren’t dead, but cheap links in bulk have lost their value. What works today is fewer links, from real sites with readers in your field and country, pointing to pages ready to be visited, with full clarity on link type and publishing terms.
To get started, read the backlink quality checklist before you choose, then browse the marketplace, where you see each site’s traffic, link type and price before ordering.
Sources & further reading
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