About Us
A Lisbon agency built on editorial standards, not link schemes.
How we started
Link Building Portugal began in a shared workspace near Intendente in 2019. The founders, Sofia Mendes and Tomás Ferreira, had spent the previous decade on opposite sides of the SEO industry. Sofia ran content and outreach for a European SaaS company. Tomás managed performance marketing for a Lisbon agency where clients constantly asked why their rankings would not move despite publishing blog posts every week.
The answer, almost always, was the same: weak off-page authority. Competitors with fewer pages and thinner content ranked higher because they had spent years earning links from trusted sources. Fixing that required dedicated outreach skill, not another round of on-page tweaks.
They started taking on link building projects for two local clients, a wine exporter and a coworking chain, while keeping their day jobs. Within six months, both clients showed measurable ranking improvements on competitive terms. Word spread through Lisbon's startup community. By early 2020, Link Building Portugal had its first full-time hire and a small office on Av. Almirante Reis.
What we believe
We built the agency around a few principles that still guide every campaign:
Links should be earned, not manufactured. We refuse projects that depend on PBNs, link farms, or undisclosed sponsored placements. Our reputation in the Portuguese market depends on clients trusting us with their domain history.
Outreach is a craft. Good pitches read like useful emails, not SEO spam. We invest in journalist relationships, data assets, and subject matter expertise so editors have a reason to respond.
Transparency beats vanity metrics. Clients receive live URLs, context on why each placement matters, and honest assessments when a tactic is not working. Domain rating is a filter, not a finish line.
Local roots, global reach. Being based in Lisbon gives us access to Portuguese media relationships and an understanding of how EU brands navigate multilingual SEO. It also means we work across time zones with UK and US clients without the friction of a purely remote shop with no physical presence.
The team today
We are fourteen people across outreach, content, strategy, and operations. Most of the team sits in Lisbon, with remote contributors in Porto and Coimbra for regional campaigns.
| Role | Focus |
|---|---|
| Campaign strategists | Audits, competitor analysis, KPI planning |
| Outreach specialists | Prospecting, pitching, editor relationships |
| Content writers | Guest posts, data reports, PR copy |
| Digital PR leads | News angles, journalist databases, embargo coordination |
| Account managers | Client communication, reporting, workflow |
Sofia leads strategy and client relationships. Tomás oversees outreach operations and hiring. Neither appears on sales calls to inflate credentials with founder mythology. Clients work directly with the people running their campaigns.
Our office
You will find us at Av. Almirante Reis 54, Piso 6, 1150-019 Lisboa, Portugal. The location is deliberate. Arroios sits between the city center and newer business districts, close enough for client meetings without the pretense of a Marques de Pombal tower suite.
We host quarterly workshops for in-house SEO teams covering outreach ethics, link audit methodology, and how to brief agencies effectively. If you are in Lisbon and want to discuss link building over coffee, the door is open.
Who we are not
We are not a full-service SEO agency that treats links as an upsell. We are not a link marketplace. We do not guarantee specific domain ratings or promise page-one rankings in thirty days.
What we do promise is a rigorous process, clear communication, and a team that understands the difference between a link that helps and a link that creates future headaches.
Work with us
If our approach resonates, explore our services or read case studies from fintech, e-commerce, SaaS, and local businesses. When you are ready, get in touch and tell us about your site, your market, and what success looks like for your team.