The Only Link Worth Building

The link building industry is obsessed with metrics. Domain Rating. Domain Authority. Trust Flow. Citation Flow.

All of these metrics can be gamed. And they are. Constantly.

There's only one link quality signal that actually matters, and most SEOs ignore it completely.

The Signal That Can't Be Faked

Does the linking page get real traffic from real people?

That's it. That's the whole evaluation.

A link from a page with 10,000 monthly visitors passes more value than a link from a page with 0 visitors, regardless of what any metric says about the domain.

Why? Because Google can see the traffic. They have Chrome data. They have Android data. They know which pages people actually visit. A page that real humans read and engage with is, by definition, valuable. A link from that page is an endorsement that matters.

How to Check Real Traffic

Before pursuing any link, estimate the page's actual traffic:

Option 1: Ahrefs/Semrush traffic estimates. Not perfect, but directionally useful. If a page shows 0 estimated traffic, it's probably worthless regardless of domain metrics.

Option 2: SimilarWeb. For larger sites, gives you a rough sense of real visits.

Option 3: Common sense. Would anyone actually visit this page? If it's a random guest post on a blog that hasn't published in 2 years, the answer is no.

The Ghost Site Problem

Most link building targets "ghost sites" - Potemkin villages that exist solely to sell links.

The profile: DR 50+, hundreds of pages, accepts guest posts, publishes on a schedule. Looks legitimate on paper.

The reality: zero actual readers. The posts exist only for link juice. Nobody visits except other SEOs checking metrics.

Google knows which sites are real and which are link farms dressed up with metrics. A link from DR 70 ghost site is worth less than a link from a DR 30 blog that actual humans read.

What Actually Drives Link Value

The hierarchy of link value:

Tier 1: Links from pages that rank for competitive keywords. These pages have proven value to Google. Links from them carry weight.

Tier 2: Links from pages with consistent traffic, even if modest. Real readers, real engagement, real value.

Tier 3: Links from new pages on established sites. Not much traffic yet, but the domain has trust.

Tier 4 (worthless): Links from pages with no traffic, no rankings, no readers. Doesn't matter if the domain has DR 90. If nobody sees the page, the link doesn't count.

The Practical Filter

Before pursuing any link opportunity, ask:

• Does this page rank for anything?
• Would I click this link if I saw it?
• Would this link send me actual referral traffic?
• Is there a human audience that would see this?

If the answer to all of these is no, the link isn't worth your time regardless of what the metrics say.

Stop chasing metrics. Start chasing links that actual humans might click. Once you have quality external links, make sure you're also maximizing the value of your internal links.