First off, trying to unnaturally manipulate the results in Google is not allowed and you'll be dropped from Google if you try this on a large scale, in fact Google disapproves of most unnatural link building but at the moment it is still a grey area.

Purposely putting links on third party websites or asking to swap links is unnatural. Google wants a third party websites to take it upon themselves to link to your website because you have a piece of useful information, content or product on your website, of course we all know that waiting for a third party site to do this is not going to help your business and is not going to build you a decent backlinks profile so marketing companies still do link building.

However link building has changed over the years and what worked 10 years ago such as using software to place back links on 1000's of website a week to trick Googles old, primative bots into thinking you are popular and therefore worth ranking high, will get you banned nowadays.

These days marketing companies will do a few selective backlinks a month which although still unnatural, Google turns a blind eye to.

Google wants quality content and the list below is taken from the Google developers website

• Does the content provide original information, reporting, research or analysis?

• Does the content provide a substantial, complete or comprehensive description of the topic?

• Does the content provide insightful analysis or interesting information that is beyond obvious

• Does the headline and/or page title provide a descriptive, helpful summary of the content?

• Does the headline and/or page title avoid being exaggerating or shocking in nature?

• Is this the sort of page you'd want to bookmark, share with a friend, or recommend?

• Would you expect to see this content in or referenced by a printed magazine, encyclopedia or book?

• Does the content present information in a way that makes you want to trust it, such as clear sourcing, evidence of the expertise involved, background about the author or the site that publishes it, such as through links to an author page or a site's About page?

• If you researched the site producing the content, would you come away with an impression that it is well-trusted or widely-recognized as an authority on its topic?

• Is this content written by an expert or enthusiast who demonstrably knows the topic well?

• Is the content free from easily-verified factual errors?

• Would you feel comfortable trusting this content for issues relating to your money or your life?

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