How does link building work?

Link building is the process of earning links from other websites back to yours. Those links help search engines understand that your site is trusted, relevant and worth referencing. But not all links carry the same value. Where the link comes from, how relevant the website is, where the link appears and which page it points to all matter. The goal is not to build the largest backlink profile. It is to build the right authority around the pages and topics you want to own.

Will this Visibility Audit help us prepare for AI search?

Yes. Links are still an important part of how search engines evaluate authority. They also contribute to the network of mentions, citations and references that helps AI platforms understand which brands are credible within a category. That does not mean every backlink improves AI visibility, but being consistently referenced by trusted, relevant sources strengthens your overall authority across search. Link building still works. Low-quality link building is what stopped working.

Do backlinks help with GEO?

Yes, but not simply because a backlink exists. Backlinks help build the broader authority and credibility signals that AI platforms use to understand a brand. When your business is consistently mentioned and linked by relevant, trusted websites, it gives search engines and AI systems more evidence that your brand is established within the topic. Links can also help your content rank and get discovered in traditional search, which increases the likelihood that it will be crawled, referenced and surfaced by generative platforms. That said, GEO is not about building links directly to an AI answer. The value comes from strengthening the network of credible mentions, citations and sources surrounding your brand.

What are the different types of link building?

Link building can include guest articles, digital PR, original research, expert commentary, link insertions, resource outreach, broken link building and reclaiming unlinked brand mentions. For franchise and multi-location brands, it can also include regional media, chambers of commerce, community organizations, industry associations, sponsorships and existing local partnerships. The right strategy depends on where the opportunity is. We may need to strengthen the brand as a whole, support a specific service page or build more authority around individual locations.

What is the difference between a guest post and a link insertion?

A guest post is a new article written for another website. A link insertion adds your website as a relevant resource within an article that is already published. Guest posts give us more control over the topic, the surrounding content and how the brand is positioned. Link insertions can be valuable when the existing article is highly relevant and already has traffic, rankings or backlinks of its own. We use both. The better option depends on the website, the article and what we are trying to accomplish with the link.

How many backlinks should you build per month?

There is no standard number that works for every site. The right pace depends on your current authority, your competitors, the quality of the opportunities available and how many pages you are trying to support. A site competing in a crowded national category may need a very different program from a brand focused on a few priority markets. We would rather build five links that support the strategy than twenty links that only increase the total in a reporting tool.

How much does link building cost?

The cost depends on the type of link building being done, the amount of outreach involved and the quality of the websites being targeted. Most ongoing programs start from $3,000-12,000, while larger digital PR and original research campaigns require a bigger investment. Cost per link can be useful for budgeting, but it should not be the only measure. A cheap link from an irrelevant site is still a poor investment. The value comes from whether the link strengthens a page, topic or market that matters to the business.

What are the most common link building mistakes?

One of the biggest mistakes is evaluating opportunities based on authority metrics alone. A high Domain Rating does not automatically mean the website is relevant, trusted or reaching the right audience. We also see brands send nearly every link to the homepage, overuse the same anchor text or build links to pages that are not strong enough to rank. The page receiving the link still needs to be useful, technically sound and aligned with the search intent. Links can strengthen the right page. They cannot make the wrong page rank.

What does Trebletree’s link building service include?

We start by reviewing your existing backlinks, competitors, target pages and internal linking structure. That helps us understand where additional authority is most likely to make an impact. From there, we build the strategy around the actual opportunity. That may include guest articles, link insertions, expert contributions, original research, digital PR or local link building. Trebletree handles the research, prospecting, outreach, content development, placement management and reporting. We also look at how authority moves through the site, because earning more links only gets you so far if your strongest pages are not connected to the pages you need to rank.

How long does link building take to work?

It depends on what you are trying to accomplish. A highly targeted campaign with the right budget may begin moving a specific page or group of rankings within three to six months. A broader or lower-volume program may take longer to produce a visible jump, even though each relevant placement is still strengthening the site’s authority over time. The timeline also depends on the goal. Improving rankings, increasing referral traffic, building visibility in AI search and shaping how your brand is discussed online are different outcomes, and they should not all be measured the same way. We set expectations around the strategy, competition, budget and number of placements available. Link building can support growth, but we will never promise that a certain number of links will produce a specific ranking or AI citation within a fixed period.

How do you measure link building results?

We report on every live placement, including the linking website, target page, anchor text and context of the link. We also monitor the pages receiving those links. That includes changes in rankings, impressions, organic traffic, referral traffic and overall visibility. The number of links matters, but it is not the final result. We want to know whether the pages we are supporting are becoming more visible and more competitive.

How is link building different for franchise and multi-location brands?

Franchise and multi-location brands need to build authority at both the brand and location level. National links can strengthen the overall domain, but that does not automatically mean every location page becomes competitive. Individual markets may also need local links from regional media, business organizations, community partners and other locally relevant sources. The internal linking structure matters too. Authority earned at the corporate level needs a clear path to regional and location pages. Otherwise, the brand can have a strong backlink profile while its locations continue to struggle in search. Learn more about our franchise SEO services .

Design that converts

UI / UX Design Services

Getting people to your site is half the job. We design the experiences that turn the traffic you already earn into customers.

Get a Free UX Teardown

Our UX WOrk

The traffic you already have is the cheapest to convert. Bad UX is how you waste it.

$10

returned for every $1 invested in UX

Forrester

10%

users won’t return after one bad experience

Google

Why Trebletree

Most sites don’t have a traffic problem. They have a conversion problem.

People arrive, can’t quickly find what they came for, hit friction they can’t even name, and leave. It never shows up in a rankings report, but you feel it in the numbers that matter.

We’re a small, women-owned agency that designs and builds, so our UI/UX work isn’t a slide deck handed to someone else. We research it, design it, test it, and ship it, then keep refining based on what real users actually do.

And because UX lives right alongside our SEO, GEO, and development, the pages we help you rank and get cited for are the same ones we make convert.

Impact of good UX

You can feel the difference.
So can your customers.

Same task, two experiences. One fights the user at every step. One gets out of the way.

A Friction
death by a thousand small annoyances

✗ 12 fields crammed into a grid, no grouping
✗ Rigid formats punish the user
✗ An error that never says what went wrong
✗ The primary action is tiny, grey, and hidden

B Flow
it just works, so people finish

✓ Only what’s needed, in the order people expect
✓ Plain-language labels and forgiving inputs
✓ Generous spacing so nothing feels like work
✓ One clear, obvious next step in full view

Every extra second of friction is a reason to leave. We design those seconds away.

Get Started with a Free UX Teardown

We’ll take a first look at your most important pages, flag the friction that’s quietly costing you conversions, and point out the single change worth testing first. No cost, no obligation.

Get Your Free Audit

The Basics

UX vs. UI: what’s the difference?

They get used interchangeably, but they’re two different jobs, and great work needs both.

UX

How it works

User experience is the whole journey: how a site is structured, how easily someone finds what they need, how little friction stands between them and what they came to do. The logic and flow underneath the surface.

UI

How it looks and feels

User interface is the surface people touch: layout, type, color, buttons, interactions. Good UI makes the right action obvious and the whole thing feel considered and trustworthy.

How We Work

Every decision grounded in real user behavior

Good UX isn’t a one-time redesign you run start to finish. It’s a cycle: learn, build, prove, improve, then go again. Each pass is grounded in what users actually do.

 01

Research

Analytics, heatmaps, session recordings, and real behavior to find where people struggle, before touching a design.

 02

Design

Interface design built around the task the user is trying to complete, not the way your org chart happens to be arranged.

 02

Test

A/B and multivariate testing so decisions are settled by data, not opinion. What lifts conversions stays; what doesn't, goes.

 04

Refine

The wins point to the next opportunity. We iterate, compounding small gains into a site that converts better every quarter.

The full stack, from research to pixels.

Every deliverable we offer, mixed and matched to what your project actually needs.



UX Research & Audits

Heatmaps, session recordings, funnel analysis, and usability review to find where users struggle and why.



Wireframing

When a project needs a rethink, we map the structure in wireframe first, cheap to change, before a pixel of design.



A/B & Conversion Testing

Structured experiments that settle debates with data and turn small wins into measurable lifts.



Information Architecture

Logical structure, taxonomy, and navigation so people find what they need without thinking about it.



UX & UI Design

Interface design built around the task, clear, accessible, and shaped by how people actually move through a page.



Not every project needs every step.

Some need deep research; some need wireframes; some just need the right change tested and shipped. We scope to what the work actually requires, not a fixed assembly line everyone gets billed for.

UI/UX Projects

From messy to measurable.

Good UX isn’t guesswork. We diagnose what’s costing you conversions, redesign around it, and let an A/B test settle whether it worked. Here’s that approach on two very different problems.

High-intent booking flow

Urban Air Birthday Pages

15% > 40%
Clicks to the birthday booking platform increased 167% from 15% CTR to 40% CTR.

Before · the problem

The birthday booking process was multiple steps, but the page never made that clear. Parents couldn’t tell what was involved or where to start, so they hesitated instead of booking.

Wireframe · what we did

We ran a dedicated wireframe phase to nail down the information hierarchy before any design. With a booking flow this complex, getting the structure right, what comes first, what each step involves, was the whole game.

urban air high fidelity design step 3 ux

After · the result

The redesign was built to test. We launched a full A/B test against the original, and click-through to the booking platform climbed from 15% to 40%.

UX and custom plugin development

The Little Gym Class Calendar

Project Overview

The Little Gym came to us for a calendar overhaul. Their existing WordPress calendar plugin was bloated with features they didn’t need, it slowed the site down and didn’t play well with their off-site booking system. So we designed and built a custom calendar plugin to spec: lightweight, built around exactly what they needed, and designed to show off their classes with clear descriptions and advanced filtering that made it easy for parents to find the right fit.

More to Explore

UI/UX Design Insights

Why “We Can Just Use AI” Doesn’t Replace a Strategy Partner

by Megan Michelakos | Franchise SEO, Franchise Website, SEO, Websites

AI didn’t hand you an in house team, it handed you a very fast collaborator that still needs direction. Here’s how we help clients get the most out of AI instead of just more out of AI.

The SEO Checklist for a New Website Your Dev Agency Doesn’t Have (But Should)

by Megan Michelakos | Featured, SEO, Websites

Most websites launch without a single conversation about SEO. The design looks great, the dev team ships on time — and then the traffic doesn’t follow. Here’s the checklist you should bring to every website kickoff.

Boost WordPress Site Speed Without Compromising Features

by Lauren Busby | Websites

Creating a WordPress site that’s both feature-rich and lightning-fast can feel like a daunting challenge. But the good news is, you don’t have to sacrifice one for the other. At Trebletree, we specialize in crafting websites that offer an engaging user experience...

Planning for a Website Project: 8 Tips for a Smooth and Successful Build

by Megan Michelakos | Websites

Master the essential steps for effective website planning. I’m sharing some practical tips to ensure your site’s success and keep your project on track with less stress.

Evaluate Your Website in 5 Steps

by Megan Michelakos | Websites

Make sure that your brand is represented well in the digital world.

Bad Friends Make Bad Websites

by Megan Michelakos | Websites

You wouldn’t want a friend that was all looks and no substance. Your customers want beauty and content when they find you online.

Free UX Teardown

Find out what’s quietly costing you conversions

Tell us your site and what’s not converting, and we’ll take a real first look, where visitors are hitting friction, where they’re dropping off, and the one change we’d test first. It’s a quick taste of what our full UX Audit covers, no cost, no obligation.

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UI / UX Design Services

Most sites don’t have a traffic problem. They have a conversion problem.