SEO (Search Engine Optimisation)  is changing faster than Superman in the phone booth.

Here is one old SEO techniques you should NOT be using OR allowing your Agency to use , if you pay someone for SEO:

 BackLinks and SEO :

Back in the day (  years ago) Google and the other Search Engines used to say that IF you had a lot of links to your site, that was great!
A whole industry sprang up, (especially in India) with what was know as Link “Farms”.
That all changed dramatically in 2012 & 2013 with Google’s infamous ‘Penguin’  & ‘Panda’ Updates and continues to evolve 

Any SEO “value” NOW depends on the authority (& quality)  of the site that is sending YOUR site a link.
If they are ‘spammy’ (eg 1 or 2 page sites) this is bad.
This is particularly true if those links appear quickly, over a short period of time ie “unnaturally’ fast.

Let me be clear .
IF you have links to really solid, well regarded sites that are relevant to what you do and write about, that is a good thing.
Do those Links manually and ensure you check them.