The 3 Types of Backlinks (And Which One Actually Ranks You)

The three main types of backlinks are natural links, manually built links, and self-created links. They differ by how much effort they take, how much Google trusts them, and how much risk they carry. Knowing which is which tells you where to spend your time.

1. Natural (editorial) backlinks

These are links you didn't ask for. Someone read your content, found it useful, and linked to it on their own. Examples: a blogger citing your research, a journalist referencing your tool, a forum answer pointing to your guide.

Trust level: highest. Google loves these because they're the hardest to fake.
Effort: high up front (you have to create something link-worthy), then passive.
Risk: none.

Natural links are the gold standard — but they're slow, which is why most sites also build links deliberately.

2. Manually built backlinks

These are links you actively pursue by convincing another site owner to link to you. This category includes guest posts, digital PR outreach, broken-link building, and link exchanges where two owners agree to link to each other.

Trust level: high, when the links are relevant and in real content.
Effort: moderate to high — it's outreach and relationship work.
Risk: low if done naturally; higher if you spam identical anchors or trade links at scale.

This is where most practical link building happens, because you get control and speed without buying links. Backlinkster sits here: it matches you with real site owners for verified in-content swaps, which gets a new site links faster than waiting for purely natural ones — as long as you keep them relevant and natural.

3. Self-created backlinks

These are links you place yourself: directory submissions, business profiles, blog comments, forum signatures, and social profiles.

Trust level: lowest. Google knows anyone can create them, so most pass little or no authority.
Effort: low.
Risk: low individually, but easy to overdo into spam territory.

A few relevant directory listings are fine for legitimacy and discovery. But a link profile built mostly of self-created links looks thin and won't move competitive rankings. Compare the trade-offs in link exchange vs directory submissions.

Dofollow vs nofollow cuts across all three

Separate from these three categories is whether a link is dofollow or nofollow — which determines if it passes ranking signals at all. Any of the three types can be either. A natural editorial dofollow link is the most valuable thing you can get; a self-created nofollow directory link is near the bottom. See dofollow vs nofollow links for the full picture.

Which type should you prioritize?

A healthy profile has all three, but weighted toward the top:

Mostly: natural + manually built links from relevant sites.
Some: a few reputable self-created listings for legitimacy.
Watch the anchors: keep anchor text varied across every type so nothing looks manufactured.

The bottom line

Natural links earn the most trust, manually built links give you speed and control, and self-created links round out legitimacy. Spend your energy on the first two, use the third sparingly, and keep everything relevant and in real content.