Link building is one of the most misunderstood parts of B2B SEO. Many startups throw money at backlinks and hope for rankings — but end up disappointed.
In a recent conversation with Julian Kirfel (founder at Linkbroker.de - an AI based marketplace for purchasing high quality backlinks), we broke down what link building actually takes to work — and how early-stage companies can approach it strategically, without wasting budget.
Here are the key learnings.
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What are the most common mistakes B2B startups make when they start link building — and how can they avoid them?
1. Mistake #1: No clear strategy or keyword focus
Many companies start link building without knowing:
What URL they want to rank
What keyword(s) they want that page to rank for
Whether those keywords actually map to revenue
Julian's advice:
Focus first on the pages that drive revenue — your "money pages"
Rank for terms that reflect your business goals, not vanity metrics
Only build links when you have clarity on keywords, URLs, and competitive gaps
2. Mistake #2: Buying too many cheap links
Julian sees it all the time: companies trying to "scale" link building by buying 100+ cheap backlinks.
Why that fails:
Cheap links often come from AI-content farms or irrelevant sites
Google recognizes unnatural link profiles and ignores (or penalizes) them
Instead:
Go for quality over quantity
A few strong, relevant backlinks have much more impact than dozens of low-grade ones
Make sure your link sources are legitimate and align with your niche
3. Mistake #3: Measuring the wrong things
Many agencies report on total traffic or blog post visits — even if none of that traffic converts.
Instead, track:
How your money pages perform (rankings + conversions)
Which keywords drive revenue, not just visits
Link building impact in the context of sales performance
Pro tip from Julian: Use Ahrefs, Sistrix or other tools to isolate performance for specific pages.
How to know if you're ready for link building?
Not every SaaS or tech company should start with link building right away.
You need to have:
A technically clean site (page speed, crawlability, indexation)
Core content in place (your offer, your value props, your product & use case pages)
Keyword rankings that are close to page 1 → link building helps you move from position 8 to 3, not from 100 to 10
2 ways I can help you get ready for link building 🤝
1️⃣ 1-on-1 Marketing Advisory - For B2B founders who need strategic guidance (starting at €500/month)
2️⃣ Advisory + Execution - For B2B founders who also need hands-on support with content creation, design and execution (starting at €1500/month - includes Advisory)
🔗 Book a call via valentineiber.com
When to start link building — and how much to spend?
As always in marketing the answer is: it depends.
Julian’s advice:
Start once you see rankings plateau for your main key keywords
Benchmark your competitors’ backlink profiles (e.g. via Ahrefs)
Begin with your homepage and core product/feature or use case pages
Think of link building like a house: strengthen the foundation before adding floors and fancy designs
Budget: Even 5–10% of your paid media budget can be a strong start.
Test, measure, and scale.
Link building for the AI era
Julian emphasized: Brands win.
Why?
AI-generated content is everywhere. Trust signals matter more than ever.
Backlinks are not just SEO tricks — they’re brand signals.
Link building = building authority and visibility across the web
Also:
Tools like ChatGPT and Bing are increasingly influenced by brand and backlink presence
To show up in AI results, answer real user questions clearly (e.g. "What’s the best restaurant software for small teams?")
Final takeaway: Link building = trust building
If you want to:
Be seen as credible
Rank for competitive B2B terms
Get long-term organic traffic that converts
Then link building should be part of your growth plan — not as a growth hack, but as a trust-building, authority-building process.
Start small. Start focused. But start with the fundamentals right.
Big thanks again to Julian for these insights.
Feeling stuck with link building for Google + AI search engines?
Julian from Linkbroker.de can help you out.
They also offer local SEO and support with PR articles.
Highly recommend you check them out, if you want to take your SEO efforts to the next level.
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Cheers
Valentin
