When growing link-building agency LinkBuilder.io, co-founders Stewart and Michael Dunlop opted out of the usual growth playbook.

They didn’t network. They didn’t post on social media. They didn’t go on podcasts.

Instead, they practiced what they preached: They built a quality website and used SEO to generate leads.

“I was always a practitioner, so right from the beginning we focused on using SEO to generate the majority of our leads, since that was essentially the service we were offering to our clients,” Stewart said.

By 2023, around seven years after launch, several companies expressed interest in acquiring the bootstrapped agency – and given changes that already were affecting the SEO industry, Stewart knew it was the right time to sell.

How LinkBuilder.io grew its client list

In the world of SEO, link building is a strategy brands use to improve their rankings in Google search results.

Simply put, the practice involves getting other websites to link to your site. These links, called backlinks, act as a vote of confidence. The more high-quality websites that link to your site, the more trustworthy and authoritative it appears to Google. As a result, your website is more likely to rank higher in search results — the ultimate win in SEO.

In 2016, Stewart, who had a background in SEO and link building, identified a need for more white hat (i.e., ethical) link-building services. For years, Google had warned of bad SEO practices — called black hat SEO — yet scammy agencies still remained a problem.

Enter: LinkBuilder.io.

What set LinkBuilder.io apart from other link-building services was the customized strategy for each client — including conducting a full link and content audit, discovering new link opportunities, A/B testing outreach emails and more.

LinkBuilder.io offered clients two link-building packages: Pro for $5,999 a month and Growth for $9,999 a month. Growth included more services, like internal linking optimization, a toxic backlink audit and 27 links per month (versus 16 with Pro). There was also a custom option for agencies.

At the time of sale, LinkBuilder.io had around 100 active clients, and revenue was mid-7 figures.

The company had a team of 35, who were mostly remote contractors, which included link builders, project managers and writers.

Stewart attributed the agency’s success to hiring great people.

“We always focused on continuously looking for talented people who also had positive and hard-working mindsets,” he said. “We hired great people even if there wasn’t an immediate demand, because we trusted the growth would come at some point and great people on the team would be the only way to really keep growing.”

A checklist for selling LinkBuilder.io

In 2023, about seven years after launch, the Dunlops felt as though they’d taken LinkBuilder.io as far as they could.

“As you start scaling an agency past a certain point, it becomes very difficult,” Stewart said.

Stewart is also a realist. Although Google hadn’t yet released its largest-ever algorithm update that shook up the world of SEO (that happened in March 2024) and ChatGPT had only been available to the public for less than a year, he understood SEO — as he knew it then — wouldn’t last.

“I knew that all empires eventually fall and (eventually) the traditional search engine browser would go the same way, so that was always a constant worry in the back of my mind,” he said. “I did think about how to ‘time’ the exit best, but that’s obviously a risky move.”

With these factors in mind, they worked with business broker FE International to find a buyer. They found a few interested parties — including some big-name companies in the space — and connected best with Marc Hardgrove, co-founder of Next Net Media.

Next Net Media helps brands grow their digital presence through AI-driven SEO, content and link-building strategies. It’s a prominent player in the space and owns other SEO companies including Authority Builders, The HOTH and SEOJet, which was acquired in 2021.

“Hardgrove saw our brand as an amazing strategic addition to the company he had already built, and he’s a very charismatic and magnetic kind of guy who had a clear vision and a really positive outlook on things,” Stewart said.

He added: “We just didn’t vibe with some of the other buyers we spoke to and didn’t want to sell to someone who didn’t share our passion.”

The biggest challenge during the deal, Stewart said, was due diligence. Next Net Media had backing from a private equity firm, which ran financial, legal and operations audits simultaneously.

“Absolutely no stone was left unturned,” Stewart said. “We probably had a checklist of 500 separate items we had to get through — anything from explaining a specific operational process to explaining marketing expenditure for the past three years.”

In September 2023, Next Net Media officially acquired LinkBuilder.io. The sale price was not disclosed.

The big question: Is SEO still relevant?

Since the acquisition, Next Next Media has taken steps to adapt to the AI age.

“Admittedly, I will say that in 2024, I thought SEO was seriously threatened, but now my opinion has changed,” Stewart said. “There’s been a huge investment in SEO companies and startups aiming to help brands get mentioned more across AI chatbots, and I think ‘search,’ in general, is just so competitive right now, which is great.”

He added: “Google’s market share may be slipping a little, but people are searching more than ever (across Google, ChatGPT and other platforms), so I think SEO and authentic online content in general is going to continue a meteoric rise over the coming year.”

After selling, Stewart and Michael went to work on a new AI SaaS tool in the pay-per-click (PPC) digital marketing space called PPC.io. Their goal is to help agencies improve landing pages, ad reporting and more for their clients.

“We built lots of processes in our agency, so I think I can add value in that area,” Stewart said.

As for advice for other founders looking to sell, Stewart recommended finding a growth agency to uncover new ideas to grow.

And, he added: “Make sure your growth trajectory is solid and rising — don’t wait too long to sell.”. If the timing is right for your business and for you personally, it might be worth selling regardless of whether the market is booming.