Consider Query Objects source.

CommunityLinksQuery.php

<?php

namespace App\Queries;

use App\CommunityLink;

class CommunityLinksQuery
{
    /**
     * Fetch all relevant community links.
     *
     * @param  string|null  $channel
     * @return \Illuminate\Database\Eloquent\Collection
     */
    public static function get($channel)
    {
        return CommunityLink::with('votes', 'creator', 'channel')
            ->forChannel($channel)
            ->where('approved', 1)
            ->leftJoin(
                'community_links_votes',
                'community_links_votes.community_link_id', '=', 'community_links.id'
            )
            ->selectRaw(
                'community_links.*, count(community_links_votes.id) as vote_count'
            )
            ->groupBy('community_links.id')
            ->orderBy('updated_at', 'desc')
            ->paginate(3);
    }
}

LinksController.php

<?php

namespace App\Http\Controllers;

use App\Queries\CommunityLinksQuery;

class LinksController extends Controller
{
    /**
     * Display all community links.
     */
    public function index()
    {
        $links = CommunityLinksQuery::get();

        return view('community.links', compact('links'));
    }
}