Great talking to you Tim.
Google offers very clear guidelines on what they consider to be helpful when it comes to SEO. Here is their best practices guide for SEO: https://developers.google.com/search/docs/fundamentals/seo-starter-guide
Here is a direct quote from their guide about links:
“ Google primarily finds pages through links from other pages it already crawled. In many cases, these are other websites that are linking to your pages. Other sites linking to you is something that happens naturally over time, and you can also encourage people to discover your content by promoting your website”
Links are one of the countless factors that are part of the pageRank calculation. Pagerank has evolved over the years. Here is direct excerpt from Google on PageRank: “While PageRank<https://developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/ranking-systems-guide#link-analysis> uses links and is one of the fundamental algorithms at Google, there's much more to Google Search than just links. We have many ranking signals, and PageRank is just one of those.”
How link building companies obtain links?
The overwhelming majority of backlinks are through blog posts, sponsored text links and in publishing sites. Google specifically mentions in their guide to avoid these practices and if paid/sponsored links are obtained, they must be nofollow which renders them useless for ranking purposes.
https://developers.google.com/search/docs/essentials/spam-policiesThey
Unless sites link to another site voluntarily and naturally, link building outreach is contradictory to this principle. It has always been used to game the system and manipulate rankings. SEO companies know this and so does google and that is why their impact has dwindled.
Here is what google actually does suggest:
Promote your website https://developers.google.com/search/docs/fundamentals/seo-starter-guide#promoting
Effectively promoting your new content will lead to faster discovery by those who are interested in the same subject, and also by search engines. You can do this in many ways:
* Social media promotion
* Community engagement
* Advertisement, both offline and online
* Word of mouth, and many other methods
Linkbuilding was our main strategy for the first 12 years because it used to work and perhaps was the most powerful factor when the algorithms weren’t intelligent enough to detect between spammy, gray-hat and white-hat links. Over the last 7-8 years, we have ranked countless of sites without any link building campaigns using methods that are helpful and meaningful to both users and search engines.
Immediate Impact
The biggest area of opportunity on an immediate bass is an audit of your Google ads account. Our research and testing show your google ads are
Showing for searches it shouldn’t show for. Based on our experience in this space, we can significantly improve your results while reducing your ad spend by as much as 30%. I am happy to provide a confidential and complementary audit if you have access to your google ads account. This can have an immediate positive impact on revenue and cost reduction.
BTW, does the Montreal location offer nursing/skilled care or still strictly non-medical?
Best Regards,
Hafiz Bahramzi
Saba, Inc.
3954 Murphy Canyon Rd | Suite D 201
San Diego, CA 92123
Office: 858-277-1717
Mobile: 858-699-2011
Fax:858-815-6887
WWW.SABASEO.COM<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__WWW.SABASEO.COM&d=DwMF-g&c=euGZstcaTDllvimEN8b7jXrwqOf-v5A_CdpgnVfiiMM&r=SsMC6qf6C4XLlRS2HKr25oUlBgU15cKQCoSdWpkAatI&m=1qFTpfE89qARkWP7ZGsb1nkdk1_NQmuVSl59sZD60s1ioqlRgSa0Zme1n2Payfuc&s=v1ockWi63t9vZ-K78PkrmR3dJbxrR5b1583aERwSHAU&e=>
Powerful Online Marketing Strategies That Work
From: Timothy Thomas <tt@thekey.com>
Date: Friday, July 11, 2025 at 8:53 AM
To: Hafiz Bahramzi <hafiz@sabaseo.com>
Subject: Re: Collaboration
Link Building Is Not Dead — It’s Evolved
Google still uses backlinks as a core ranking signal. High-quality, relevant links continue to indicate authority and trustworthiness. But the old methods of link building — like spammy guest posts, link exchanges, or directory submissions — no longer work and can actually hurt your rankings.[Image removed by sender. :arrows_counterclockwise:] What Changed in Link Building
1. Quality Over Quantity
2. Google’s algorithms (especially post-Helpful Content Update & SpamBrain) are much better at identifying:
o Irrelevant or manipulative links
o Low-value backlinks from PBNs or expired domains
o Paid links disguised as editorial
3. Shift Toward “Link Earning”
4. The best links now come from:
o Publishing useful, unique, expert-driven content (especially with original data or case studies)
o Being cited as a source organically
o PR-driven efforts or brand mentions that turn into links
5. Google's Emphasis on E-E-A-T
6. Links are evaluated in context of the site’s experience, expertise, authority, and trust. Links from niche-relevant sites with real editorial oversight matter more than ever.
[Image removed by sender. :white_check_mark:] Modern Link Building Strategies That Still Work
TacticEffective in 2025?NotesDigital PR[Image removed by sender. :white_check_mark:]High-impact for brand mentions and natural linksHARO/Help a B2B Reporter[Image removed by sender. :white_check_mark:]Still great for earning authority linksNiche Guest Posting[Image removed by sender. :white_check_mark:]Only when personalized, relevant, and from reputable sitesLinkable Assets (e.g., infographics, tools)[Image removed by sender. :white_check_mark:]Encourages passive link earningPodcast Interviews[Image removed by sender. :white_check_mark:]Often results in high-quality branded linksBroken Link Building[Image removed by sender. :warning:]Still works, but highly competitive and time-consumingBuying Links[Image removed by sender. :x:]Risky and increasingly detectable by GoogleLink Exchanges & PBNs[Image removed by sender. :x:]Strongly discouraged — easy penalty trigger
On Fri, Jul 11, 2025 at 11:35 AM Hafiz Bahramzi <hafiz@sabaseo.com<mailto:hafiz@sabaseo.com>> wrote:
Ok pls join the link in a minute.
________________________________
From: Timothy Thomas <tt@thekey.com<mailto:tt@thekey.com>>
Sent: Friday, July 11, 2025 8:30 AM
To: Hafiz Bahramzi <hafiz@sabaseo.com<mailto:hafiz@sabaseo.com>>
Subject: Re: Collaboration
Yeah I can join for a few minutes
On Fri, Jul 11, 2025 at 11:28 AM Hafiz Bahramzi <hafiz@sabaseo.com<mailto:hafiz@sabaseo.com>> wrote:
Hi Tim, I am so sorry, I messed up of the timing. Let me know if you are available and we’ll get on ton the teams link.
Haffiz
________________________________
From: Timothy Thomas <tt@thekey.com<mailto:tt@thekey.com>>
Sent: Friday, July 11, 2025 8:03 AM
To: Hafiz Bahramzi <hafiz@sabaseo.com<mailto:hafiz@sabaseo.com>>; Phil Chanda <phil.chanda@thekey.com<mailto:phil.chanda@thekey.com>>
Subject: Re: Collaboration
Are we still on?
On Thu, Jul 10, 2025 at 6:16 PM Timothy Thomas <tt@thekey.com<mailto:tt@thekey.com>> wrote:
Yeah I can do that
On Thu, Jul 10, 2025 at 5:42 PM Hafiz Bahramzi <hafiz@sabaseo.com<mailto:hafiz@sabaseo.com>> wrote:
Can you do 8 AM pacific?
From: Timothy Thomas <tt@thekey.com<mailto:tt@thekey.com>>
Date: Thursday, July 10, 2025 at 1:26 PM
To: Hafiz Bahramzi <hafiz@sabaseo.com<mailto:hafiz@sabaseo.com>>
Subject: Re: Collaboration
Could you squeeze me in tomorrow?
On Thu, Jul 10, 2025 at 4:14 PM Hafiz Bahramzi <hafiz@sabaseo.com<mailto:hafiz@sabaseo.com>> wrote:
Tim Hi,
How are you, my friend? Always happy to have a chat with you. What works best for you next week. I am mostly open Wednesday and Thursday.
Looking forward to catching up.
Best Regards,
Hafiz Bahramzi
Saba, Inc.
3954 Murphy Canyon Rd | Suite D<https://www.google.com/maps/search/3954+Murphy+Canyon+Rd+%7C+Suite+D?entry=gmail&source=g> 201
San Diego, CA 92123
Office: 858-277-1717
Mobile: 858-699-2011
Fax:858-815-6887
WWW.SABASEO.COM<http://WWW.SABASEO.COM>
Powerful Online Marketing Strategies That Work
Disclaimer: This message is intended only for the use of the Addressee and may contain information that is PRIVILEGED and/or CONFIDENTIAL. This email is intended only for the personal and confidential use of the recipient(s) named above. If the reader of this email is not an intended recipient, you have received this email in error and any review, dissemination, distribution or copying is strictly prohibited. If you have received this email in error, please notify the sender immediately by return mail and permanently delete the copy you received.
From: Timothy Thomas <tt@thekey.com<mailto:tt@thekey.com>>
Date: Thursday, July 10, 2025 at 12:01 PM
To: Hafiz Bahramzi <hafiz@sabaseo.com<mailto:hafiz@sabaseo.com>>
Subject: Collaboration
Hi Hafiz,
We're looking to do some link building and future state content creation. Can we grab some time to chat?
Thanks!
Tim
--
Tim Thomas
Head of Midwest & Canada Divisions | TheKey
Mobile: 514.591.9387
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