Link Wheels: Everything you need to know

Link building is controversial. Because when it comes to link building, there are (roughly) two ways you can go about making them:

Spammy (or bad) and original (or legitimate). 

Honorable mentions: Some may look legit and good quality backlinks, but they’re not. 

Now here’s the fun part: Not everyone makes what’s called “good quality” backlinks. (at least most of them)

So here I am again, discussing another link-building strategy for you. Let’s uncover what a link wheel is.

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Too Long; Didn’t Read

Link Wheels are made to manipulate rankings and they are against Google’s guidelines. They are made by posting content on various web 2.0 sites and then interlinking one another to form a wheel.

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What is Link Wheel?

Link wheel is an off-page strategy that focuses on creating content on web 2.0 sites and interlinking them to manipulate a website’s ranking. 

In simpler words, we create blogs and articles on different websites, then give one link to the next website’s blog, and one link to the main website. 

This strategy is not so popular today, but it was at its peak in the late 1990s till 2005 

But it is still in practice as many people still provide services like this on multiple forms and websites like Fiverr. 

Now that we know their popularity and definition, let’s look at…

How do Link Wheels Work?

Link Wheel works by posting content on different web 2.0 websites and linking each other and the main website to create a wheel-like structure. This helps in boosting the backlink profile of any website. 

Let’s start by looking at what a link wheel may look like:

As you see, there is the main website in the middle and it is surrounded by different websites. Each points an arrow to one another. But what’s happening here?

Let me give you a quick content before driving deep: All of the websites that are labeled “site 1, site 2…” are web 2.0 sites. This means that all of these sites run on user-generated content (UGC). 

Now suppose you found some UGC sites like Blogger, Jimdo, Medium, Weebly, and more. And you write 1 article on every site related to your main website’s niche. 

And in all of those articles, you include 2 external links, one to the next blog and one to your main website. 

So for example, you write the first blog on Medium and the second on Jimdo. When you edit the medium article, you give one link to Jimdo’s article, and one to your website. 

Similarly, suppose that your third article is on Weebly. Now, when you edit Jimdo’s article, give one link to the Weebly article, and one to your main website. 

Here’s how that looks visually:

And this process will go, as long as you want it to. You are free to choose the number of sites (or spokes) on the wheel.  

Now there’s a thing called an advanced link wheel. Here’s how that may look:

You may notice that there are small link wheels that make up a large link wheel. This helps in the diversity of links and websites. 

And this link wheel can become even huge, to the point that it’s impossible to find any new sites for posting content. 

But the real question is…

Is Link Wheel White Hat SEO or Black Hat SEO?

Google thinks of these as link schemes, and link schemes are against webmaster guidelines. So it’s safe to say that these tactics fall under black hat SEO. 

Link Wheels are mostly made to manipulate the rankings, and thus, can be considered as black hat. 

I asked John on Twitter what he thinks about these, and here’s what he said:

Wow, that's a blast from the past :-). Those were popular … late 1990's / early 2000's. Those are essentially link schemes, so they would be against our spam policies.

— 🦇 johnmu: cats are not people 🦇 (@JohnMu) October 25, 2022

So it’s safe to say that you shouldn’t waste your time, resources, or money on building these.

Do Link Wheels still work?

No, link wheels don’t work today. They were popular in the late 1990s and early 2000s, but they aren’t as relevant in the 2020s. 

There are a ton of SEOs who may use tactics like this today, but it is not necessary that they will work. Because Google’s algorithms are more powerful than ever.

And with major updates coming now and then, it’s important that we don’t do anything that risks our website’s reputation in search. 

In 2022 alone, there were many updates that affected the bad actor’s sites. People who were manipulating search in any way were given lower rankings and huge drops in traffic and searches. So why would we risk our efforts by doing things that are against the guidelines? 

Are link wheels worth it?

Link Building tactics like Link Wheels are not worth it because these are considered link schemes by Google and they are against Google’s webmaster guidelines. 

Wasting your time, money, and efforts in making these will not be fruitful. And as John said, you should better go for a run, than make link wheels. 

Yeah, I don't mind so much that people are doing useless things, if it makes them feel better, but yes, it's a waste of time & energy. Go for a run instead, it'll make you feel better too, and give you more energy in exchange.

— 🦇 johnmu: cats are not people 🦇 (@JohnMu) October 25, 2022

Final Thoughts

Link wheels are not and never will be worth it because they are solely used for manipulating search engines. 

They were never used for engaging with the audience or providing value, their sole purpose was to rank higher, and Google can’t stand that. 

So it’s best to channel our energy into doing valuable and fruitful for our audience. 

That’s it from my side! If you have any questions, you can drop them to my email, or you can come to chat on our server!

Alternatively, if you like reading daily content, follow me on Linkedin!

See you soon!

Suggested Reading: What is social bookmarking submission in Off-Page SEO?