12 Types of Backlinks, Ranked by Ranking Value
Not all backlinks move rankings. Some carry serious weight, some do almost nothing, and a few can get you filtered or penalized. This guide ranks the 12 types of backlinks you'll actually encounter — from the editorial links every SEO wants to the comment spam nobody should touch — so you can spend your budget on links that work. If you're new to the topic, start with what backlinks are and come back; this article assumes you know the basics.
How this ranking works
We ranked each type by how much it typically moves rankings when the linking site is legitimate — real organic traffic, real editorial standards, relevant topic. A guest post on a DR 60 site with traffic beats an "editorial" link from a DR 20 ghost blog, so treat the ranking as a guide to the format, not a guarantee. Whatever the type, check the link's quality before you count it as a win.
1. Editorial / contextual links
The gold standard. A writer or site owner links to your page from within their content because it's genuinely useful — a statistic, a tool, a guide worth citing. These links sit in the body of a relevant article, surrounded by related text, on a page the site actually wants to rank. Google's systems are built to reward exactly this. They're also the hardest to get: you need content worth linking to, plus outreach or enough visibility that people find you. Most serious link building services exist to manufacture this outcome legitimately — earning contextual placements you'd struggle to get on your own.
2. Guest post links
You write an article for another site in your niche and include a link back to your own page, usually in the body. Done properly — real sites with real traffic, useful content, natural anchors — guest posts are one of the most reliable ways to build contextual links at scale. Done badly — mass-produced content on sites that exist only to sell posts — they're a footprint Google has been discounting for years. The gap between good and bad guest posting is the whole game, which is why vetting the host site matters more than the link itself. That's the core of our guest posting service: every site is verified in Ahrefs for traffic and topical fit before anything gets written.
3. Niche edits (link insertions)
A link added to an existing, already-indexed article on someone else's site. The appeal is speed and inherited authority: the page may already have age, links, and rankings, so your link starts passing value immediately instead of waiting for a new post to earn its place. Quality varies with the same factor as guest posts — the site. A niche edit on a page with real organic traffic is close to an editorial link; one on a link-farm page is worthless. Niche edits are usually cheaper than guest posts because nobody's writing new content.
4. Resource page links
Links from curated "useful links" or "resources for X" pages — university lists, industry association pages, tool roundups. They're editorial by nature (a human chose to include you) and often live on trusted domains, but the pages themselves usually have modest authority and lots of outbound links, which dilutes what each link passes. Still solidly worth pursuing if your content genuinely fits the list. We cover the outreach process in our guide to resource page link building.
5. Directory links
Listings in business directories, industry directories, and local citation sites. The good ones — genuine, curated directories with editorial standards, plus the majors like Google Business Profile ecosystem citations — provide modest value and matter more for local SEO than national rankings. The bad ones — pay-to-list farms with 50,000 unrelated businesses — do nothing. A handful of relevant, legitimate directories belongs in every site's foundation; a directory "campaign" of 500 submissions belongs in 2009.
6. Forum links
Links from forum posts and communities — Reddit, niche forums, Stack Exchange, Quora. Most are nofollow or UGC-tagged, so direct ranking value is limited. Their real value is indirect: referral traffic, brand visibility, and occasionally getting your content in front of someone who links to it editorially. Participate where your customers actually are; don't drop links for the link's sake — forums police that aggressively anyway.
7. Profile links
The link in your bio or profile on platforms where you have an account — social networks, SaaS review sites, community profiles. Nearly all nofollow, low value individually, but a normal part of any real brand's link profile. Worth setting up once for the branded search presence and consistency; not worth "building" beyond that. Any service selling "500 profile backlinks" is selling noise.
8. Comment links
Links left in blog comment sections. Almost universally nofollow since the mid-2000s, precisely because they were abused into oblivion. A thoughtful comment on a relevant post can drive a trickle of referral traffic and start a relationship with the author. As a ranking tactic, comment links are dead, and automated comment spam is one of the fastest ways to make your link profile look toxic.
9. Sitewide / footer links
A link that appears on every page of a site — footer credits, sidebar blogrolls, "designed by" links. Thousands of links from one domain sounds impressive, but Google effectively collapses sitewide links to roughly the weight of a single link, and paid footer links have been an explicit target of link spam updates for over a decade. If you get one naturally (a partner, a client credit), fine. Buying them is poor value and elevated risk.
10. Image backlinks
Links earned when someone embeds your image, infographic, or chart and credits the source. The link often points at the image file or sits in a caption, and attribution is frequently missing entirely — which is why image link building usually means reverse-image-searching your graphics and requesting proper credit. When the crediting page is relevant and the link lands in the content, these behave like editorial links. The catch is volume: unless you produce genuinely citable visuals, opportunities are scarce.
11. Redirect backlinks
Links acquired by 301-redirecting an expired or acquired domain into your site, passing along its backlink profile. When the old domain is genuinely relevant and its links are clean, redirects can pass meaningful authority. In practice, most expired domains for sale have spam-riddled profiles, and redirecting an irrelevant domain tends to get its links ignored — Google is good at spotting the pattern. This is a tactic for experienced operators with the tools to audit a profile, not a shortcut for everyone else. If a vendor's "authority boost" package is really just redirects, walk away.
12. PR / news links
Links from journalists and news publications, usually earned through digital PR campaigns, data studies, or expert commentary. Ranked last not because they're weak — a link from a major news outlet is one of the most powerful single links you can get — but because they're the least controllable format on this list. Many news links are nofollow or syndicated copies, campaigns routinely produce unlinked brand mentions, and you can't reliably point them at the commercial pages you need to rank. Treat PR as a brand and authority play with ranking upside, not a dependable link pipeline. Our digital PR link building guide covers when it's worth the spend.
Backlink value vs. effort
| # | Type | Ranking value | Effort / cost | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Editorial / contextual | Very high | High | The goal of every campaign |
| 2 | Guest post | High | Medium–high | Core tactic when sites are vetted |
| 3 | Niche edit | High | Medium | Best value-per-dollar for most sites |
| 4 | Resource page | Medium–high | Medium | Worth it when you genuinely fit |
| 5 | Directory | Low–medium | Low | A few relevant ones; local SEO mainly |
| 6 | Forum | Low (indirect) | Low | Participate, don't link-drop |
| 7 | Profile | Very low | Very low | Set up once, move on |
| 8 | Comment | Near zero | Low | Skip as a tactic |
| 9 | Sitewide / footer | Low, risky | Low | Avoid buying |
| 10 | Image | Medium | Medium | Only if you produce citable visuals |
| 11 | Redirect | Variable, risky | High | Experts only |
| 12 | PR / news | High but unpredictable | Very high | Brand play with SEO upside |
Which types LinkVetted builds
We build the top three: editorial-style contextual placements, guest posts, and niche edits — because they're the formats where quality can be verified before you pay. Every site we place links on is checked in Ahrefs for organic traffic, traffic trend, and topical relevance, and you see the live placement before payment. We don't sell directory packages, profile links, sitewide placements, or redirect schemes, because we wouldn't buy them for our own sites. Pricing starts at $69 per link — see current rates for the full breakdown by DR tier.
FAQ
What type of backlink is most valuable? Editorial contextual links — links placed naturally within relevant content on sites with real organic traffic. Guest posts and niche edits on properly vetted sites are the closest buildable equivalents.
Are nofollow backlinks worthless? No. Nofollow links (common in forums, profiles, and news sites) don't pass authority directly, but Google treats nofollow as a hint, and these links drive traffic and often lead to followed links later. They just shouldn't be what you pay for.
Which backlink types should I avoid completely? Automated comment spam, bulk profile packages, paid sitewide footer links, and redirect schemes built on spammy expired domains. All are cheap for a reason: they either do nothing or add risk to your profile.
How many types of backlinks does a natural profile have? A mix. Real sites accumulate editorial links, a few directories, some forum and profile links, and the occasional news mention alongside their strongest contextual links. A profile that's 100% one format — especially one buildable format — is itself a footprint.
Want links from the top of this list, with proof before you pay? Get in touch and we'll show you the vetted sites first.