Got a website, but no one talks about it?

Can’t find your site even on the local Search Engine results?

….Or maybe your website is buried deep down on Google page 25!

All of these may point to one single thing—An ill-maintained backlink profile of your website. 

Because no solid backlink profile=poor online visibility.

Let The Backlinks Take Your Site Up on The SERPs!

Building a solid backlink profile is not just required, it’s practically essential if you want to see your business thrive in the hardcore competitive digital landscape. 

The logic is simple…

The more backlinks (links from other authoritative sites suggesting credibility) your site has, the more backed up it is (by the industry influencers), & the higher your site’s visibility is, resulting in higher market share & increased user engagement. 

But cracking the industry network for authority backlinks is pretty hard (yeah, harder than splitting that walnut!)

Especially, when every other digital marketing expert/business professional is trying their best to get a hang of those “100% effective” link-building strategies that would make their site’s rankings & visibility shoot up like a rocket.

But, unfortunately, there’s no such magic wand that can earn you a high-quality backlink in a jiffy.

Then, What’s That Go-to Solution for Increased Brand Visibility?

Hang on!

The tables can be turned anytime if you manage to get brand recommendations from the leading industry experts & the top niche bloggers/influencers.

Even Google considers your business site authentic, credible, valuable, & user-relevant if and only if it gets those “votes of confidence” (must have heard the term many times by now, we’re sure!) in the form of backlinks from reputable industry resources.

How?

By building trust with the industry professionals.

And the results?

✔️Improved site authority

✔️Higher SEO rankings

✔️More referral traffic

✔️Increased brand awareness

✔️Better site visibility online

In short, your website gets that much-needed exposure, and now, more target audience can actually find it on the web!

But, What About The Link-building Strategy That Actually Works?

Honestly, there are tons of strategies to implement. 

But which one works better is subject to your niche industry, market competition, target audience, overall budget, resource availability, business goals, & more. 

You can just visit our home page & quickly have a look at the proven link-building strategies. (We’ll wait until you return, don’t worry!)

But today, we’re going to focus on two of the most talked-about link-building strategies (link insertion vs. guest post) in this blog. 

…And, we promise, at the end of it, you will be able to come to a conclusion regarding which one will work for you!  

The Strategic Controversy is Buzzing Everywhere!

You must have heard about “high-quality guest posts” or maybe “cheap niche edits”, no?

They are just link-building strategies that always spark controversies (literally, the debate is ever-lasting regarding who plays the backlink game better)!

In the late 1990s & early 2000s, bloggers could only think about guest posting for community building & backlink acquisition. The hype was in vogue till the mid to late 2000s and to some extent, in the early 2010s as well.

But, when Matt Cutts, the then Head of Webspam at Google, announced the great fall of guest blogging strategies for the purpose of link-building, the trend shifted drastically! 

The mid-2010s’ experts could not rely on just one link-building strategy anymore due to Google’s unpredictable algorithm updates. But at present, different link-building strategists have different opinions about the potential of the largely carried out strategies for authority & visibility boost.

Link Insertion Vs. Guest Post: Find Out Who Wins!

Around 86% of the online marketers practice link-building these days.

Some of them have already established their business site as a renowned global brand through link-building & some of them are still trying to find a way through the digital crowd. 

WHY?

It’s because different link-building strategies hit differently!

If you are also stuck between two widely practiced link-building strategies, link insertion vs. guest post, to be precise, you’re at the right place.

Hello, everyone!

Welcome to today’s blog, where we will be discussing the pros and cons of these two strategies so that you can decide on the most effective link-building strategy to implement for your brand growth. 

In this blog, you’ll find out:

✔️About guest posting

✔️Pros of guest posting

✔️Cons of Guest Posting

✔️About Link insertion

✔️Pros of link insertion

✔️Cons of link insertion

✔️Their similarities 

✔️The key differences

✔️Factors to consider (when deciding between these two)

✔️The ultimate winner

✔️Our experts’ suggestion 

If you’re still hooked on us, let’s get straight into the blog.

But before we talk about link insertion vs guest post, there’s a reason behind bringing the concept of “guest post” to the forefront at first. You’ll know once we start talking about link insertion, we promise!

💡Have Quality Content at Hand? Try Guest Posting Now!

Enjoy drafting something new?

Then, this strategy is for you. 

This powerful SEO link-building strategy involves publishing high-quality articles, posts, blogs, & other informative content on external reputable websites. 

If your content is relevant and valuable to the users, the target website will accept your guest posts and publish them on their own platform, earning your website a ‘do-follow’ backlink.

Wondering what the benefits are?

✅Increased referral traffic

✅Boosted Domain Authority

✅Improved site credibility

✅Increased web visibility

But, you know what the best part is?

…long-term site authority & strengthened industry relationship.

Now, coming to the key fact…how it works!

Here are the simple steps to try out…

☑️Find out niche websites with high DA/DR

☑️Research the trending niche topics

☑️Identify the content gap (any topic that’s not yet covered)

☑️Draft unique content (with all those data-based reports, charts, diagrams, infographics, images)

☑️Connect with the site owner/editor via emails, DMs, & social media platforms

☑️Pitch smart (trickiest part, make sure you highlight the Value your content will provide)

☑️Follow up twice if you don’t get any response (1st after 2 days of pitching and next time after a week)

That’s it!

If your efforts are genuine, you are great at drafting SEO optimized & well-researched articles, and you are lucky enough (actually, it’s about being consistent), you will secure a do-follow backlink for your website on the very first go (if not, keep your writing & pitching spree on the go). 

But, there are some absolute NOs for guest posting…

❌Targeting spammy & irrelevant websites 

❌Drafting duplicate content

❌Overusing the keyword/anchor text

❌Inserting bio links within the content (try contextual ones, instead)

❌Violation of editor guidelines

Well, that’s enough for now.

Wanna know why the hype with this strategy?

📌Helps you build a strong backlink profile in the long run

📌Gives you control over the link placement

📌Helps you grow your industry network

Now, let’s quickly have a look at the potential risks of implementing this strategy for link-building.

Drawbacks of guest posting you should be aware of:

👉Writer’s block (if you’re constantly trying your best)

👉Time-intensive process

👉Risk of poor integration (might not match the tone of the pre-existing articles on the target site)

👉Chances of rejection

👉No guaranteed SEO result

So, what do we think about guest posting?

You can try this out if you are new to the journey of link-building, especially if you want to address your link-building needs by yourself initially, and you have an indomitable urge to write new articles or blogs. However, be prepared for the rejections at first.

Wanna see a side-by-side comparison between guest posting & link insertion?

Stick with us till the end.  

💡Wanna Cut The Efforts? Consider Link Insertion as Easy Pickings!

This is literally for those who absolutely hate the hard work (find it intriguing? Well, you’re smart enough then!)

All you need to do is find a niche-relevant website and ask the site owner to add a link back to your own site’s content.

Strategic. 

Smart.

Effective.

Isn’t it?

The outcomes are endless…

✅Increased site authority

✅Enhanced brand exposure

✅Improved website rankings

✅Solid brand exposure

✅Increased traffic

…what else you need!

Here is a quick outline of the steps involved:

☑️Identify relevant sites with high DA/DR 

☑️Connect the site owner or editor (don’t get scared of the process so far)

☑️Offer the link back to your site’s content 

☑️Propose value (explain why it might help the users)

☑️Write up 2 to 3 lines to make the link contextually relevant with the target article ( not needed if it fits into the content naturally)

Once the site owners add your link to their website’s content, you’ll automatically get a backlink to your website.

Isn’t that a win without all the fuss of writing new content every single time? ( just what we promised…)

But here are a few things to be careful of:

❌Targeting spammy content or sites with low traffic

❌Purchasing backlinks

❌Link exchange

❌Targeting generic keywords

❌Inserting links in comments

❌Forceful link insertion

❌Ignoring readers’ convenience

Make sure that the link to your article does not seem unnatural within the context of the targeted article. It should blend in with the theme and tone of that piece of writing almost seamlessly in a way that evokes the readers’ curiosity. 

…and you’re good to go.

Wondering about the pros of implementing this strategy?

Here they are:

📌You don’t require fresh content every time

📌Gets your site instant visibility (thanks to the high DA of the target resource)

📌Increased authority of your website faster (because you don’t need to start from scratch)

📌More referral traffic (you’re already targeting websites with higher organic traffic)

Getting your site linked to an already established niche resource instantly signals the search engine that your site’s content is relevant, useful, and worthy to get featured on the SERPs.

However, don’t rely on this single strategy every time, because…

👉Link placement on spammy sites can drop your site’s rankings (drastically)

👉Less control over the link placement (you can propose ideas, but ultimately, the site owners decide where to place the link)

👉Absolutely zero control over the content quality

👉If the target website gets penalized, your site also gets flagged as ‘spammy’

So, should you implement this strategy?

Well, why not!

It gets you all the link-building benefits without all that extra work. 

But, give it a try only when you are sure about the quality of the target website, and you’re in a hurry to boost your site’s SEO score.

🔊Link Insertion Vs. Guest Post: Time for The Ultimate Battle

Well, enough of these theories!

Here comes the moment you’ve been waiting for…

Who wins the link-building game is pertinent to further discussion. However, we’ll try to unfold the real truth layer by layer in the next two sections. So, stay hooked.

Before We Hit Reality, Let’s Find What They Have in Common 

Here’s a simplified chart for your better understanding.

Link Insertion vs. Guest Post
	Link Insertion	Guest Post
Gets you High-quality backlinks	✔️	✔️
Increases SEO rankings	✔️	✔️
Drives relevant & qualified referral traffic	✔️	✔️
Helps you build brand authority	✔️	✔️
Inbound links to your website	✔️	✔️

From the table above, one thing is clear. 

Both link insertion vs. guest post can help you get the above-mentioned benefits. 

…no doubt about that.

But where do they stand apart?

That’s exactly what you will learn about in the next sub-section. 

And…the list is going to be long. So, stick through it!

Link Insertion Vs. Guest Post: Unpacking The Core Differences

The Key Aspects	Link Insertion	Guest Post
Objectives	Acquiring backlinks from high DA industry resources (mainly)	Content contribution & relationship building
Content Ownership	Might vary depending on the placement location	The target site owner
Relationship focus	Might be long or short-term, depending on your requirement	Collaboration with the industry partners
Control over link placement	Links can be placed multiple times within the blog as per the brand’s requirement, but significantly less control over the link placement	Better control over link placement, higher possibilities for natural placement
Target SEO factors	Boosting Domain Authority & trust building	Referral traffic & backlink acquisition
Speed of implementation	No need to write new content every time	Requires significant time to draft content & get it published
Cost/resource usage	Lower costs because you only need to pitch to the potential site owners for link placement	Higher; involves much time & effort
Time to show results	Almost instantly, gets indexed right away	Slower, requires significant time for indexing
Content relevancy	Lower as you need to make sure that the link to your site fits within the existing content	High because you write fresh content on a relevant topic
Brand exposure	Less, as it focuses more on link value than website visibility	High; ensures enhanced site visibility on Google
Potential risks	Much higher, especially when the links are placed on spammy websites	Low if your content is valuable for the users
Success rate	Low to medium, success depends particularly on your outreach skills	Higher if your content is high-quality
Ethical consideration	Make sure you target authority websites with a higher DA/DR, organic traffic, & brand reach	You must follow white-hat link-building practices
Best for	Quick wins with minimal effort	Long-term SEO growth

Already got a rough idea which is better between link insertion vs. guest post?

Let us help you further!

Things to Consider before You Take Side with One

Well, no fluff…only real talks!

If the table is not enough to make a decision, here are the key criteria that you should focus on if you want to know who performs better between link insertion vs. guest post. 

So here we begin…

	Link insertion	Guest post
Faster indexing	👍	👎
Control over link placement	👎	👍
Cost-effective	👍	👎
Results guaranteed	👍	👎
Sustainable practice	👍	👎

👉Indexing

Link indexation is relatively faster with link insertion compared to guest posts because you are already adding a link back to your site on a resource that is relevant, high-authority, credible, drives significant organic traffic, & most importantly is in good terms with Google. 

👉Link Placement

With guest posts, you know exactly where you will place the links back to your website because, since you have drafted it, you’re well aware of the context. However, with link insertion, the link to your website will be placed within pre-written content, and only the target site owner/editor will decide on the exact link placement location.

👉Resource intensiveness (most important)

Guest posting is intensely time-consuming!

No matter how fast you are, it’s gonna take more than a week (at least) to research a relevant topic, draft valuable content, & pitch to the website owners for securing placement opportunities. With link insertion, you’re already saved from all these complex workflows. All you need to do is find contextually relevant content on some of the top-ranking resources and focus on pitching!

👉Expenses

If you want to write your own article, it’s fine!

However, guest posting needs consistent efforts & you might need at least 5 to 10 articles per month to start with. Also, all that industry and topic research adds further. So, you must hire a team of writers to be on par with scalable strategic implementation. 

That’s exactly where your cost expands because good content writers would charge you around 100$ per project. Also, maintaining an in-house team of SEO writers is even more costly.

With link insertion, you get away with paying around $50 to $150 per backlink, and you are done!

👉Risk of resource wastage

We want you to think about this, really!

Suppose you spent around $1000 to $1200 to get around 12 articles written by professionals. 

But what if none of them end up getting published on an authority site?

All your efforts, time, resources, & money are wasted! (because you don’t have any control over the decisions made by the target website owners/editors.)

With link insertion, you will secure backlinks for your site, and there’s no doubt about that. Even if one high-end niche edit would cost you around $350 or more, you only pay the price one time & that too, in return for a guaranteed backlink.

Totally worth the deal, isn’t it?

Link Insertion Vs. Guest Post: Who Wins?

Differentiating factors	Link Insertion	Guest Post
SEO value	⭐⭐⭐	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Resource effective	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐	⭐⭐
Cost effective	⭐⭐⭐⭐	⭐⭐
Time efficient	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐	⭐⭐
White-hat compliance	⭐⭐⭐	⭐⭐⭐⭐
Brand exposure	⭐⭐	⭐⭐⭐⭐
Authority building	⭐⭐⭐	⭐⭐⭐⭐
Control over link placement	⭐	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Long-term value	⭐⭐⭐	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Instant results	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐	⭐⭐
Content relevance	⭐⭐⭐	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Must be thinking about the former one, no?

But honestly, both of them win, but differently!

Let us explain why…

Guest Posting for The Slow But Steady Winners!

The process of guest posting might take time, drain out your effort & resources, & even fail to show you results immediately ( or never may be, if your content gets rejected), but it offers something great!

➡️Provides you with a chance to create something unique (already contains high value for the users, if well-researched)

➡️Helpful for targeting specific keywords (increased chances of higher site rankings if you use branded keywords strategically)

➡️Drives increased referral traffic once you manage to get your content published on an authority site

➡️Good for you if you want to boost your site’s visibility and exposure

➡️Contributes towards sustainable website and brand growth on Google

➡️Establishes your brand as  a trusted authority with each passing day

➡️Improves your writing skills & knowledge about industry trends (“Practice makes a man perfect!)

Link Insertion for Those Who Love Quick Wins!

This might help you acquire high-quality backlinks (only if you target highly authoritative & niche-specific websites), resulting in faster link indexation & authority boost without the need for writing new content. But there are some significant risks involved. 

🟥Your site’s authority is dependent on the target website’s niche authority

🟥If the target resource gets penalized, your site’s rankings also drop

🟥Placed links might feel unnatural in the context of the target blog/site content

📋So, Which One to Go with?

👉If you are on a tight budget

👉Don’t wanna spend dollars in vain 

👉Want a faster authority boost

👉Want guaranteed backlinks

👉Or wanna pay only after backlink acquisition 

…definitely go for link insertion. 

🌟Moreover, once the link to your website is placed within the content, it will stay active till it is live. 

But remember one thing!

🚩You’ll be at a greater loss if your target website is spammy, irrelevant, or gets penalized for some reason!

🎯That’s why it’s good for businesses that are already running well, because reputable authority sites will let you add links to your articles. 

But…

👉If the budget is not a constraint for you

👉You’re up for drafting new content every single time

👉You’re alright with investing your effort/resources for crafting new content

👉Not looking for guaranteed backlink acquisition

👉You’re fine with a slow link-building process

👉Not seeking instant SEO results

👉But…want sustainable SEO benefits for your website through link-building

…guest posting is for you!

🌟Moreover, guest post links stay live for years because they are part of your content. Also, if you target the right platform with a good brand reach, organic traffic, & authority score, your site’s backlink profile is in safe hands! 

🚩However, if the target website cleans up old posts, you would lose the backlinks. 

🎯 So, if you’re planning to start a new business or have just launched a website & are looking for gradual brand exposure, awareness, and visibility, go for this link-building strategy. 

Got a clear idea by now?

We’re glad that we could make it easier for you.

But, wait!

Have you ever wondered?

What if one of these strategies that you plan to implement fails?

You need a backup…

Trust The FastLinky Experts’ Combined Approach!

Remember that we said, the digital marketplace competition is unbelievable.

Most importantly, the site owners receive thousands of guest post & link insertion proposals each day.

What if they miss out on yours?

Or you get a rejection?

It’s better to have a Plan B, always!

Our professionals suggest implementing diverse link-building strategies, to be specific, a combination of both link insertion vs guest post, so that:

🔷You get complementary benefits

🔷You’re good to go, even if one of the strategies fails

Remember that childhood story of the race between the rabbit and the tortoise?

We don’t want you to be either of them because you need both speed and accuracy to secure quality backlinks faster.

So, Simply Diversify Your Approach for A Greater Purpose…

It’s just that you need to find niche-relevant resources with higher audience engagement for guest posting so that your site gets maximum online visibility & referral traffic. On the other hand, look for high-authority niche resources for link insertion that can pass valuable link equity to your site. 

No matter what your brand goal is, there’s no harm in adopting a holistic approach, especially when it comes to building backlinks (something which is beyond your direct control). 

With that, we’ve already reached the end of this blog. 

Hope it helped you & now you know which works better among link insertion vs guest post. 

So, that’s it for today. 

If you need experts’ advice or help in link-building, don’t forget to give us a call at +91 6290101838 or send us an email at [email protected].

Wish you a happy link-building journey ahead. 

Frequently Asked Questions 

Q1. What is the difference between backlinks and guest posts?

Ans: Backlinks are links from external resources to your website that signal Google about your site’s credibility, reliability, authority, & user value. Guest posts are articles/blogs that you publish on other websites to earn backlinks to your website. In short, a backlink is the result of the link-building process & guest post is the content itself (or a strategy) that helps you get backlinks.  

Q2. What do you mean by guest posting?

Ans: Guest posting is the process, popularly referred to as a link-building strategy, that involves writing & publishing articles on external resources. It ensures a wider brand reach, enhanced site visibility, more referral traffic, and improved authority through leveraging the expanded industry network & higher Google rankings of the external target platforms. 

Q3. Is guest posting real or fake?

Ans: Guest posting is one of the most trusted, reliable, and widely implemented link-building strategies. However, the effectiveness of this strategy is dependent on the implementation method. If you perform white-hat link acquisition practices by focusing on providing the users with genuine value, you’re on the right track. However, following spammy or black-hat techniques will lead to Google ranking disasters.

Q4. Which platform is best for guest posting?

Ans: Target the top-tier websites that are relevant to your industry, drive massive organic traffic, have a good engagement rate, a higher authority score/Domain Rating, and a higher search engine ranking. 

Q5. What is link insertion in guest posting?

Ans: This is an SEO technique that helps you get backlinks to your website. It involves the process of placing a link back to your website naturally within a pre-published article on an external site. Basically, you add value to the pre-existing content by updating it with your link via influencer/blogger outreach. In return, you get a backlink to your site without writing fresh content. 

Q6. Is guest posting good for SEO?

Ans: Yes!

Guest posting is a widely practiced link-building strategy even in 2025.  However, if you want it to be effective, focus on the quality, contextual relevance, & authority of the target resource. Targeting only high-authority platforms for guest post placement can get your website quality backlinks.   

Q7. Is guest posting still effective?

Ans: Yes, but only if you practice ethical techniques, target relevant & authority sites for guest post placement, focus on providing users with genuine value, and have good outreach skills to negotiate placement opportunities with the site owners. 

Q9. What is an example of a guest post?

Ans: Ever gone through the Hubspot blogs? The articles published there with a short bio at the end that links back to a marketing agency, industry blogger, or niche influencer are examples of guest posts. Here, you are a part of referral traffic landing/visiting their website/social media profile through the bio link, acting as a guest post backlink. 

Q10. What is an example of link insertion?

Ans:  A digital marketing blog with a link to one of your site’s articles inside is an example of link insertion. To practice link insertion, you don’t need fresh content. Simply ask the website owner to update their already-existing content with a link back to your website’s blog/articles that would add value to their readers, potentially driving them to your website via the hyperlink, now acting as an effective backlink for your site.