Link building works, we all know that by now. But the brands that grow the most also know that link building alone often needs some reinforcement.

Over the past few years, we have executed hundreds of campaigns. We saw companies improve their rankings, increase their crawl budget, and grow structurally in organic traffic. But we also noticed that the brands that grew the fastest and most sustainably did more than just link building. They invested in their brand through consistency and repetition. They built trust and credibility.

That is what brought us to Digital PR. We believe that Digital PR in combination with link building forms an incredibly powerful collective — one that genuinely complements itself.

In this blog, we explain how we see that combination, why it works, and what it means in practice for your growth strategy.

Link Building as the engine

Link building is nothing new. Ever since the early days of SEO, it has been used to strengthen the authority of a website. Link building drives structural SEO growth and contributes to several key areas:

• More crawl value. By increasing your authority, you free up more crawl budget for your website. You achieve this by, among other things, offering genuine value to your users.
• Scalable and controllable. With link building, you have more control over costs and results than with many other SEO tactics.
• Higher rankings. That said, rankings are not achieved through link building alone — your technical foundation and content also need to be in order.

A limitation of link building on its own, however, is that you are sending signals to Google that you should be relevant. It does little to show who you are as a brand — especially if you build links in a traditional way, with many exact-match anchors, landing pages, and no thematic connection between placements.

This is also something we can help with. At Publisher Place, you can outsource your link building. We build and execute your strategy, so you can focus on the other elements of your growth.

Digital PR as validation

Our Digital PR model is designed to add the layer that classic link building lacks: brand narrative, newsworthiness, and recognisability. Together, these create credibility and increased authority within your industry.

Editorial placements that our campaigns secure on real news websites — such as De Telegraaf, NOS, or De Limburger — send a different kind of signal. Not sponsored. Not paid placement. Earned.

Our model evaluates where the greatest opportunities lie across four pillars: Demand & Recognition, Authority Signals, Narrative & Context, and Share of Voice.

A well-executed campaign builds greater brand recognition, strengthens authority signals, delivers your story consistently, and makes it shareable on your own channels.

We do this through concrete research questions, blueprints, and direct journalist outreach.

The Combination That Makes the Difference

Link building builds your foundation. Digital PR gives your brand weight. Together, they achieve something neither can accomplish alone: lasting authority — in search engines, in AI systems, and in the minds of your audience.

The brands that understand this are not choosing between the two. They are using both strategically, in proportion to where they are in their growth.

Curious whether this combination is right for you? Let us know.