Nandla links are backlinks built on the forums and community sections of the top websites on the internet, following the off page SEO method taught by Tanveer Nandla, the founder of iSkills Pakistan. The idea is simple to state and slow to do well. If your brand shows up, helps people, and carries a link on the same websites that already dominate Google trust, some of that trust rubs off on your site, and your authority grows on ground you did not have to build.
Most content about this strategy is a gig page. Freelancers on Fiverr and Upwork sell Nandla strategy backlinks for 40 to 120 dollars, but almost nobody explains the method itself. This guide does. It covers what Nandla links are, why forum links on top sites still carry weight, the exact step by step process, the anchor text rules, the mistakes that get accounts banned, and a working sheet of Nandla sites you can use.
Who is Tanveer Nandla, and where does this strategy come from?
M. Tanveer Nandla is a Pakistani entrepreneur, blogger and digital marketing trainer. He founded iSkills, a training platform based in Multan that teaches freelancing and SEO, and he has worked in digital marketing for more than 15 years. His students work heavily in blogging and affiliate SEO, where a new site has no authority and no budget for big editorial links.
The Nandla strategy grew out of that problem. A student with a fresh domain cannot buy his way onto strong websites. But strong websites run forums, question sections and communities, and those are open to anyone willing to register and contribute. Nandla built a system around collecting those websites, the top few hundred authority domains that allow a forum profile or discussion presence, and working them patiently. In his courses this link type took his name, and in the Pakistani SEO market it is now simply called Nandla links.
What exactly is a Nandla link?
A Nandla link is a backlink to your website placed on a high authority website through its community layer. In practice it is one of these:
- A forum profile page that carries your website link.
- A signature link shown under your forum posts.
- A link inside a genuinely helpful forum answer, where the rules allow it.
- A profile or bio link on the community section of a top website.
The websites are the point. The list behind the strategy covers roughly the top 500 websites by authority and traffic, the names everyone knows, plus strong niche forums. One link on a quiet page of a giant domain is not magic. Fifty patient, surviving links across the strongest domains on the web is a foundation a new site cannot get any other cheap way.
Nandla links vs ordinary forum backlinks
Ordinary forum link building grabs any forum that accepts a link, including dead forums with no traffic and heavy spam. The Nandla approach filters hard. The site must be a real, high authority website with an active community and moderation. A moderated forum that deletes spam is exactly why the surviving links mean something.
Why Nandla links help a website
Authority by association
Search engines judge a new site partly by the company it keeps. A link profile that includes the strongest domains on the internet tells a different story than one built only on fresh blogs and directories. Nandla links put your brand on those domains early.
They survive where cheap links die
Links on moderated, high traffic websites are hard to place and hard to lose. A profile that took a week of real participation to build does not vanish when a link seller server goes down. Longevity is a ranking input nobody can fake.
Referral traffic is real
A useful answer on a busy forum sends visitors, not just link value. For service businesses and affiliate sites, forum readers in buying mode are often the first traffic a new domain ever gets.
They diversify the link profile
A natural link profile is mixed. Editorial links, profiles, forums, social signals. Nandla links are one of several link building strategies that work for Pakistani websites. Nandla links fill the forum and community slice of that mix with top tier domains, which makes the whole profile look like a brand that exists, not a site that bought links in one shape only.
How to build Nandla links, step by step
Step 1: Get the sites list and filter it for your niche
Start from the master list of top websites with forums and communities. Then filter. A parenting blog gains little from a developers forum where its answers look lost. Keep the giant general sites, add the strong forums in your niche, and drop the rest.
Download the Nandla Links Sites Sheet
The sheet lists the authority websites with forum and community sections, with DA, spam score, traffic and working notes for each. Open the Nandla links sites sheet and make your own copy before you start.
Step 2: Create accounts like a person, not a bot
Use a real name or a consistent brand name, a proper profile photo, and a filled bio. Complete every field the profile offers before you think about the website link. Empty accounts with a link added in the first minute are the first accounts moderators delete.
Step 3: Earn the right to carry a link
Many top forums unlock signatures and profile links after a set number of posts or days. Even where there is no formal rule, spend the first days answering questions, welcoming new members, and reading the forum rules. Ten useful posts with no link beat one dropped link that gets your account flagged.
Step 4: Place the link in the right spot
The order of value, from safest to riskiest:
- The website field of your forum profile.
- Your signature, once unlocked, with a branded anchor.
- An in post link inside an answer where your page truly is the best resource for that question, and only where the forum rules allow it.
Step 5: Keep participating at a low, steady rate
Nandla links are a slow strategy. A few posts a week, month after month, builds profiles that age and strengthen. A burst of 200 links in three days looks like exactly what it is.
Step 6: Track everything in a sheet
Record the website, your username, the profile URL, the post URLs, the anchor used, and the date. Check the links monthly with one of the free backlink checker tools. If a profile link drops or a forum closes the signature feature, your sheet tells you what to rebuild.
Anchor text rules for Nandla links
Forum links punish greedy anchors faster than almost any other link type, because the same signature shows your anchor on every post you make. Follow this mix:
| Anchor type | Share | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Branded | 50 to 60 percent | Imran Khadim |
| Naked URL | 20 to 25 percent | imrankhadim.com |
| Generic | 10 to 15 percent | my website, this site |
| Partial keyword | 5 to 10 percent | SEO services in Pakistan |
| Exact keyword | Almost never | Only where it reads naturally in an answer |
One branded anchor repeated across a forum is a identity. One exact match keyword repeated across 40 forums is a footprint.
How many Nandla links should a site build?
For a new website, 30 to 50 quality Nandla links across the first two to three months is a strong foundation. For a growing site, keep adding 10 to 15 a month alongside other link types. The count matters less than the survival rate. Thirty links still live after six months beat a report of 100 links where half the accounts were banned in week one.
Mistakes that kill Nandla link campaigns
- Registering and linking on day one, on every site, with the same bio text.
- Copy pasting the same answer into many forums. Moderators and members spot it, and Google does too.
- Buying instant Nandla link packages built by bots. The accounts are low quality, the posts are gibberish, and the links die or hurt. If such links already point at your site, learn how to disavow toxic backlinks.
- Ignoring forum rules. One banned account on a top website usually means your domain is blacklisted there for good.
- Pointing every link at the homepage. Link some profiles to a strong inner page where it fits the forum topic.
- Stopping after the link is placed. Profiles on active accounts hold value. Dead accounts get pruned.
Do Nandla links still work in 2026?
Yes, with the same condition as every foundation tactic: they support rankings, they do not create them alone. A site with Nandla links, profile backlinks and cloud stacks still needs real content and a few strong editorial links to rank for money keywords. What Nandla links do better than most cheap tactics is make a young domain look established and trusted, which is the wall most new sites die against.
Get Nandla links built for your site
Building these links properly takes weeks of patient account work, which is why most site owners hand it over. I build Nandla links as a service, manually, on the same top authority websites described in this guide, with branded anchors and a full live links report.
Message me on WhatsApp, or see the full off-page SEO service.
Or start yourself with the sheet above and the steps in this guide. Either way, do the slow version. It is the only version that lasts.
Nandla links questions
Are Nandla links dofollow?
Mixed, like every honest answer about forums. Many top websites give nofollow profile and signature links, and some give followed links. The strategy does not depend on one type. A natural profile has both, and the authority and traffic value sits in the domain quality, not only in the follow tag.
How long do Nandla links take to show results?
Expect the first movement in four to eight weeks for low competition keywords, as profiles get indexed and accounts age. This is a foundation strategy, not a quick fix.
Can Nandla links hurt my site?
The manual version taught here, no. The bot built, spun post version sold in cheap packages can. The difference is whether a human being actually participated on the forum.
What is the difference between Nandla links and profile backlinks?
Profile backlinks are the website field link on any platform profile. Nandla links are a specific system: profiles, signatures and participation on the forums of the top authority websites, worked patiently from a curated list. Read next: [link profile backlinks article] and [link cloud stacking article].
Do I need the sites sheet to start?
No, you can find forums with search and patience. The sheet saves the weeks of checking which top websites still run open communities and where the link sits on each one. Get it here: Nandla links sites sheet.
