About Backly & Sander Nilsen
Backly is a personal, independent knowledge base on backlinks and SEO. I am Sander Nilsen, a Norwegian SEO consultant. I built Backly to give marketers a straight, comparative answer — grounded in Google's own policy and primary sources — instead of a sales pitch.
Who writes Backly
I have spent 10+ years working on SEO and link building — in-house and agency-side, for small businesses and international brands. Over that time I have run outreach campaigns, audited toxic backlink profiles, filed disavows, and watched Google's guidelines and algorithms change what "works." Backly is where I write that experience down in the open.
The goal is simple: a reference you can trust more than a vendor blog. Everything here reflects my own analysis of primary sources and independent data — not a client's marketing brief. When I am uncertain, I say so; when a tactic carries risk, I name it.
How I research each page
Every guide begins with primary sources — Google Search Central's spam and link-scheme policies — plus independent SEO research and documented positions from named practitioners. I separate what is legal from what violates Google policy, compare tactics on risk, cost and durability, and cite every claim so you can verify it.
- Primary sources first, vendor marketing last.
- Comparative scoring across every tactic (policy risk, cost, durability).
- Real, attributed expert positions — never invented quotes.
- Every factual claim carries an outbound citation.
Start reading
New here? Begin with the fundamentals of link building, learn the types of backlinks, or see the honest breakdown of where to buy links safely. The full library is on the all-guides index.
Contact
Questions, corrections or a factual dispute? Email info@backly.org. I correct errors quickly and note material changes on the page.