Top 7 Link Building Mistakes to Steer Clear of in 2025

As a brand/business owner or a marketer working for one, you are always trying to build trust, visibility, and engagement for your digital storefront. 

One surefire way to do this is through the process of gathering backlinks from the right and relevant websites. 

However, link building isn’t just about getting other websites to point to yours; it’s about building relationships, authority, and trust in your niche.

A single well-placed backlink can do wonders for your organic traffic, but there’s a catch: it has to be the right kind of link.

When link building goes wrong, the consequences can be brutal—wasted time, lost resources, Google penalties, and even a tarnished brand reputation. So why do so many brands fail at this seemingly simple task? 

In today’s blog, Rituraj Sengar, Sr SEO Analyst at Mavlers will help us uncover the most common link-building mistakes and how to avoid them.

Mistake 1: Getting links from low-quality or irrelevant websites

Imagine opening a fine dining restaurant and handing out flyers at a junkyard. That’s what it feels like when your website gets backlinks from irrelevant or low-quality sites. These links don’t just fail to help you—they actively harm your SEO.

Low-quality websites with spammy content or unrelated niches signal to Google that your site may not be trustworthy. For example, if you’re running a SaaS company, getting backlinks from a random travel blog or a general blog with 15 unrelated categories isn’t going to cut it.

How you can avoid: Prioritize quality over quantity. Assess metrics like Domain Authority (DA), organic traffic, and spam scores before pursuing a backlink opportunity. 

Tools like Moz, Ahrefs, and SEMrush can help vet websites and ensure you’re targeting the right platforms for link building.

Mistake 2: Overusing exact match anchor text

Anchor text optimization is an art. Overdoing it with exact-match anchor texts is like stuffing all your food into one bite—it’s unnatural and might choke your SEO efforts. Google’s algorithm flags this as manipulation, and penalties can follow.

For example, if you’re targeting “website development in Chicago,” don’t repeat that exact phrase in every backlink. Instead, mix it up with variations like:

• Website development services near Chicago

• Web development in Illinois

• Top-rated Chicago web development companies

How you can avoid: Always aim for anchor texts that feel natural and fit seamlessly within the content. Diversity in anchor texts not only looks organic but also helps you target a broader range of keywords.

Mistake 3:  Lack of diversification between no-follow and do-follow links

When it comes to backlinks, many brands chase only do-follow links, assuming they’re the holy grail of SEO. While do-follow links are important for passing link juice, an over-reliance on them makes your backlink profile look unnatural.

Enter no-follow links—often misunderstood but equally valuable. A no-follow link from a high-authority site like Forbes or The New York Times can still drive significant traffic, build credibility, and signal to Google that your site is engaging with trusted platforms.

How you can avoid: Here’s the ideal balance ~ aim for an 80:20 ratio of do-follow to no-follow links, and remember, the focus should always be on quality over quantity.

Mistake 4:  Ignoring internal linking opportunities

Getting an external backlink is great, but what happens next? Many brands fail to leverage the benefits of that backlink by ignoring internal linking.

Let’s say a high-quality website links to your blog post. If that blog isn’t connected to other important pages on your site, visitors (and Google) will hit a dead end. Internal linking ensures the traffic flows throughout your site, distributing the “link juice” to other important and relevant pages as well like your services or homepage.

Here’s why it matters:

• It strengthens site structure, improving SEO.

• It boosts user navigation, keeping visitors engaged.

• It helps less-popular pages (like services or landing pages) gain visibility.

How you can avoid: Make internal linking a habit every time you publish new content.

Mistake 5: Choosing the wrong agency or freelancer

Outsourcing link-building is common, but choosing the wrong partner can derail your efforts. Many agencies or freelancers prioritize quantity over quality, chasing irrelevant, low-value links that add no real authority to your site.

How you can avoid: Before signing on the dotted line, do your homework:

• Check their past work: It’s pertinent to request case studies or examples of successful link-building campaigns.

• Read testimonials: It’s also advisable to look for reviews from previous clients.

• Ask questions: Get into detailed discussions with them to understand their process, including how they vet link opportunities and ensure compliance with Google’s guidelines.

Remember, good link-building takes time. If someone promises hundreds of links in a week, run the other way.

Mistake 6: Falling for guaranteed links or unrealistic promises

“Guaranteed first-page rankings!” “1,000 backlinks in 24 hours!” Do such false promises ring a bell? 

Well, these too-good-to-be-true promises often lead brands into the murky waters of link farms and black-hat tactics.

The reality is that sustainable link-building is a marathon, not a sprint. The easier a link is to obtain, the less value it typically holds. Bulk link purchases or shady marketplaces can result in penalties, undoing months (or years) of hard SEO work.

How you can avoid: In case of doubt, use this thumb rule ~ if it feels too easy, it’s probably not worth it. It’s important to focus on building relationships and earning links through genuine efforts like guest posting, collaborations, and content marketing.

Mistake 7: Failing to disavow toxic links

Toxic links are like weeds in your garden—ugly, harmful, and capable of choking all the good work you’ve done. These links typically come from sketchy websites: think gambling sites, illegal product pages, or other platforms that clearly don’t follow Google’s rules. Instead of helping your SEO efforts, these bad links can drag your rankings down faster than you can say “penalty.”

So, how do you know if you’ve got toxic links lurking around? Tools like SEMrush’s Link Audit are your go-to. They flag these harmful links with a “toxicity score” on a scale of 1 to 100. Anything leaning toward 100 is basically screaming, “Get rid of me!”

How you can avoid: Well, here’s the deal ~ the best way to handle toxic links is to avoid them altogether. But if they’ve already found their way into your profile, don’t sweat it. 

That’s where Google’s Disavow Tool becomes your new best friend. It lets you tell Google, “Hey, these links aren’t my fault—don’t hold them against me!”

The key is to stay ahead of the game. Regularly audit your link profile, keep an eye out for any shady activity, and clean things up before they become a bigger problem. A healthy link profile isn’t just about protecting your rankings—it’s about building a solid, trustworthy foundation for your brand. Toxic links? No thanks—they don’t belong in your SEO strategy.

The road ahead

By steering clear of the above common fails in backlink-building strategies, you can ensure a healthy backlink profile for your brand’s website. 

If you are considering outsourcing your link-building endeavors to Mavlers and want to know in detail about the KPIs in place, may we suggest the perfect guide?! Here you go, folks ~ Mavlers’ Link Building Success: What KPIs You Should Expect?