Buying your backlinks can now actively hurt your rankings. Here’s what’s changed and why it matters for your business…
If you’re a business owner who’s been watching your website rankings slip for no obvious reason, or you’re starting to wonder if your SEO investment is actually doing anything at all, well, you’re not alone.
March 2026 has been one of THE most disruptive months in the history of Search Engine Optimisation, which is saying something.
And the businesses feeling it hardest are the ones who’ve been, let’s say, a tiny bit “creative” with their backlink strategy. Which is to say, paying for them rather than learning to master PR to get them organically.
So here we are. Google is now rewarding (and punishing), in plain English, so here’s what you can actually do about it to ensure you keep your website up there with your competitors.
What exactly happened in March?
Without much warning, Google rolled out not one but two major algorithm updates in quick succession – first came the March 2026 Spam Update on 24-25 March, which turned out to be the fastest spam update in Google’s history.
Then, just hours later on 27 March, the Core Update began rolling out all over the world. It finished on 8 April, leaving many business / website owners scratching their heads.
By the way, the timing wasn’t accidental. Google used the spam update to strip away manipulative link signals, then immediately applied the core update to re-evaluate rankings with those signals out of the way. Smart really – think of it as a two-step sweep: clean the floor, then redecorate.
Needless to say, the impact was significant. SEO platform SEMrush recorded a volatility score of 9.5 out of 10 across search engine results, one of the highest scores ever recorded, and 55% of tracked domains saw highly noticeable ranking movement. Business sites which were propped up by certain types of backlinks got hit hard.
Why does my backlinking strategy matter THIS much?
Quick explainer if you’re not deep in the SEO world.
A backlink is simply a link from one website to yours. When a respected media publication, a journalist, or a relevant website links to your content without being asked to (without being paid to) – Google treats it as a genuine vote of confidence.
It’s quite a lot like a recommendation in the real world. If a well-known expert in your field says, “go check this company out,” people assume it’s worthwhile advice.
It’s not new – Google has always used backlinks as one of its primary signals for deciding where to rank a website. And the logic isn’t needlessly complex like some have claimed… overall, if lots of credible websites are linking to you, your content must be worth reading. So it gets pushed higher up in search engine results. That’s it!
Except that’s not entirely it. Because businesses figured out they could cheat the system. Opportunities emerged to simply mass buy those links with directory listings, manipulating the algorithm and climbing the rankings without really deserving to be there. For a while, it worked. It doesn’t anymore.
Do I need to understand what Domain Authority is?
Yes and no. You just need to understand that Domain Authority (DA) is a score from 0 to 100 that estimates how credible and trustworthy a website is, in Google’s eyes. A brand new website with nothing pointing to it might sit around a DA of 5. A major national newspaper could be in the 80s or 90s.
When a high-DA website links to yours, say the Guardian mentions you in a story, it passes what’s called “link equity” to your site. One link from a genuinely respected source in your industry is worth an enormous amount, and it compounds over time.
The data backs this up pretty clearly, too. Recent research analysing 1,330 URLs found that Domain Authority showed a near-perfect step-wise correlation with Google rankings, while raw backlink count (total, unfiltered number of individual links) was erratic and inconsistent. Pages in the top three positions averaged a DA score of 71.8, compared to just 55.1 for pages buried on page three and beyond.
Here’s a very surprising fact just to throw a spanner in the works 95% of all web pages have zero backlinks pointing to them!
So, if you’re actively building quality links, you’re already ahead of the vast majority out there. But build the wrong kind, and after March 2026, you’re now actively causing yourself harm.
Yes, bought backlinks are a liability now
For years, certain SEO agencies sold backlink packages involving hundreds of directory submissions, links on low-quality blogs, or what are known as “private blog networks,” clusters of websites created purely to link to other sites and game the rankings.
Google’s March 2026 Spam Update went directly after all of this and targeted link insertion deals (where site owners sell contextual links inside existing pages), and large, private blog networks that had survived previous crackdowns. About time, in a way. But bad news if you’ve ended up in one of them without realising.
Basically, if you’ve been using a supplier who promises “500 backlinks for £99,” you’re probably in one. And removing those links won’t fix it overnight.
Recovery means building genuine authority, which takes time and self-education (enter, this blog!).
A backlink strategy still really matters, by the way
Before getting into what good backlink building looks like, it’s worth being concrete about what’s actually at stake here.
- Position one on Google attracts roughly 27-40% of all clicks for a given search.
- Position two gets around 18-19%.
- Position three, about 10%.
- By position seven or eight, you’re looking at 3-4% of available clicks.
- Page two? Less than 1% of people will ever find you.
In practical terms: for a search that 1,000 people run each month, ranking number one could bring you 270-400 visitors. Ranking number seven might bring 25-30. That’s not a small difference, it’s the difference between a channel that works and one that doesn’t. SEO gets you to the door. Backlinks are what open it.
What does a good backlink look like, now?
Digital PR has become the leading method for building links that actually move the needle. Research shows 67.3% of marketers now use it as their primary link-building approach, because it earns genuine editorial coverage from credible publications through real stories, data and expert commentary.
Research from Backlinko, based on analysis of millions of Google results, found that the top-ranking result has on average 3.8 times more high-quality backlinks than the pages sitting in positions two through ten. The March updates haven’t changed that logic, they’ve just made it more pronounced.
It’s not about having the most links. It’s about the right links.
When building high-quality backlinks you need to look at three metrics:
Topical relevance
More than ever before. A link from a website covering your industry carries far more weight than a link from a generic directory. If you’re a financial services firm, a link from a respected industry publication is genuinely valuable. A link from a recipes website, not so much.
Domain authority of the linking site
One link from a well-established publication, relevant site or trade body is worth more than dozens from low-quality, rubbish sites. Real editorial context too – the link should always sit within genuine written content, not dropped into a poor and purpose written blog.
Traffic on the referring page
links from pages that actually get visitors carry more weight. High domain authority but no organic traffic? That’s usually a sign something’s off.
Here’s what to do now…
Start with Google Search Console. Look for any drops in impressions or clicks around 24-27 March. A drop at the 24-25 March mark points to the Spam Update, meaning your backlink profile is in need of some love. A drop from March suggests an issue with link authority and quality.
Either way, the action is the same…simply stop buying cheap links, focus on earning real ones (sounds easy but it’s often a major operation). If your competitors are ranking above you, there’s a reasonable chance they’ve built a stronger, more credible backlink profile. That’s the gap worth closing.
So do the legwork. First, find out where you sit in SEO rankings, website authority and identify backlink gaps. Then set a backlinking strategy for where you want to hit. Now use on online backlink checker and see which backlinks build the brand authority and which are damaging your positioning in search engines. Now improve your content marketing by building relevant material that is relevant to your market. Finally, check for any broken backlinks (they can damage your SEO scores).
Then keep going. Ultimately, you must treat link-building strategies as an ongoing PR activity rather than something you purchase and then forget all about. So keep measuring search results, page rankings and brand awareness.
At Aura PR, our backlink service is built around this approach. We earn editorial links from relevant, credible sources through actual PR work – which means press coverage, guest posts, expert commentary from industry leaders, brand mentions, and relationship building with the writers that matter.
If you want to understand what your current backlink profile looks like, or want to talk through how a quality-focused strategy could work for your business, get in touch with the team! We always like a chat.
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