How to get backlinks? Check the guide!

If you use the right methods of acquiring backlinks, you can significantly improve your site’s ranking position and authority. Below you can find examples of strategies for acquiring good backlinks, regardless of your industry.

Ways to acquire backlinks for your site

1. 01Creating resourcesComprehensive, accurate, interesting content.
2. 02Natural citationsJournalists and bloggers link to your content.
3. 03Reliable dataIncluding real, verified facts.
4. 04Scalable methodAcquiring high-quality links organically.

The aim is to create content that others want to link to naturally, which is preferred by Google.

1. Creating linkable assets

This strategy includes the following actions:

• creating high-quality subpages that naturally attract backlinks,
• promoting them in relevant publications.

If this strategy is implemented correctly, it will become a scalable method of acquiring high-quality links for your site.

However, remember that you need to create assets that other sites want to link to. Popular examples include:

• data-backed reports,
• in-depth guides,
• infographics and other visual elements.

If you create a resource that is comprehensive, interesting and accurate, users may naturally cite you as the source. The best thing about this strategy is the natural placement of links, and that is preferred by Google.

The aim of such activities is to create something that journalists and blog creators will use in their articles, where they will link to such content. It is therefore worth ensuring that real, verified data is included. In addition, such content should be updated regularly, easy to understand visually, and suitable for many industries.

2. Ensuring you appear on resource lists

One of the most effective and simplest methods of acquiring backlinks is the so-called link building on resource pages and resource sites.

Resource pages are a kind of bibliography with lists of links (e.g. sources). There are many resource pages on practically any topic. Here are some examples:

• resources about learning SEO,
• information for people training dogs,
• pages about career planning.

One example could be a page about career planning. It contains links to other sites that help people plan careers in various industries.

Usually, getting your own site listed on such pages involves filling in a special form. This will help you acquire a valuable backlink and takes only a few minutes. More resource page options can be found by looking at which sites link to competitors’ websites.

It is worth checking this to find sites that are good additions to the resource pages already acquired. You can also create such pages yourself. Appearing on such pages usually means filling in submission forms or contacting site owners personally.

3. Looking for broken links (broken backlinks)

Broken-link building is the process of looking for faulty links on sites in your niche and contacting webmasters to present them with your own resources that can replace the broken links.

Broken links negatively affect user experience and the site owner’s reputation. This means there is a strong chance of using your resources. This tactic involves quite little effort and provides benefits for both sides. The site owner gets rid of the faulty link, and you gain a backlink. We also have this option in Ahrefs.

After finding options involving faulty links, carry out the following actions:

• creating a replacement page on your own site,
• contacting the owner of the site linking to the broken page and offering your page as an alternative option.

4. improvement in the case of popular content

The skyscraper technique means acquiring backlinks by carrying out the following proven process:

• finding effective content that has earned lots of links,
• creating better content,
• promoting that content among the people who linked to the page mentioned at the beginning.

In other words, create good content and show it to the people for whom it will matter.

The skyscraper technique is effective because people are naturally interested in what is best. Your goal is therefore to become the tallest “skyscraper” in your field. Your content should be so good that people will want to link to it, rather than to other options.

When creating the best possible content on a given topic, it is worth focusing on things such as:

• comprehensiveness,
• uniqueness,
• original visual elements.

Are you ready to try the skyscraper technique? 

• start by checking the competition,
• your goal is to find popular sites in your niche and see which of their pages are earning the most backlinks.

In particular, pay attention to the following points:

• which pages are earning the most backlinks?
• what do they have in common?

You can use various helpful tools or the Google search engine to look for good pages for specific topics.

Look for a topic in your niche that you want to work on. Then look at the sites that appear on the first page of the search results. Check not only traffic and backlinks.

Review these sites and pay attention to the content, graphics and other elements that can make your page even better. After gathering the information, create your own page competing with the sites you have found.

Remember not to take published content that is performing well and add/rewrite a few sentences and insert illustrations. That will not achieve the desired result. Instead, develop the topic yourself from a different angle and with a different structure, visual elements, etc.

When creating (or updating) a page using the skyscraper technique, your goal is to make the page:

• more comprehensive,
• more up to date,
• better designed,
• better organised.

After updating the page, look for people who could potentially link to it. The key is to contact people who have links to similar content. You will offer them a better, more comprehensive option to link to.

In this case, quality matters more than quantity. This means that you can get 10-15 links, but they will work effectively if they come from relevant sites with authority. Ideally, you should create a solid page that people will link to without hesitation.

5. Acquiring contextual links

You have probably noticed that certain articles contain additional sources recommended in the text or in the “Read more” section. Such links embedded in the text are called contextual links.

The key issue in acquiring contextual links is finding the right potential linkers to reach out to. You can look for them by browsing articles related to the content you are promoting that have a “Read more” section.

Let us assume that you have created a new report about email marketing. Try looking for articles that talk about marketing trends and recommend other articles.

Here is how you can find them using search engines such as Google:

• marketing trends inurl:blog intext:”Read more”,
• marketing trends inurl:blog intext:”Recommended articles”,
• marketing trends inurl:blog intext:”Recommended reading”.

When you reach out to the author who would place your content, do not forget to mention why it is worth sharing. 

Moreover, once you get into the habit of acquiring backlinks, you may start noticing that other publishers will begin contacting you themselves. Thanks to a good relationship-building strategy, publishers will come to you on their own and there will be no need to send them enquiries.

Relationship-based backlinks are important, unlike simple (and common) link exchanges. Google can and certainly will choose high-quality publications with backlinks. In other words, “link for link” options are not good.

Relationship-based backlinks are accepted by Google thanks to relevant keywords, the credibility of websites and efforts to earn backlinks from leading sites.

6. Checking competitors’ links

One of the faster methods of looking for backlink opportunities is carrying out a link gap analysis. This involves looking for sites that link to your competitors, but not yet to you.

If a site has links to more than one of your competitors, it will probably also place a link to your site.

7. Contact with suppliers and publishers

If you sell other people’s products, you may have an excellent opportunity to acquire backlinks leading to your site.

Many manufacturers and suppliers have “where to buy” pages on their sites. The supplier is happy to link to stores from its own site, because in this way it promotes its own products, which will be bought more eagerly.

This link acquisition tactic is simple.

First, create a list of all your suppliers. Then visit each site to find out which one has links to retailers. Look for a button or link such as, for example, “retailers” or “dealers”.

Next, look for the site on which your site has not been included. Contact the company and ask for a link to be placed to your site. Remember that a given publisher may require a fee from you. In Poland, we have many paid providers, e.g. Linkhouse, Whitepress, Orion Media and others. There is something for everyone.

8. Contact with business associations

If you are a member of a business association, you may have an easy opportunity to acquire a backlink. Business associations are organisations that connect companies, usually in one area (e.g. a local Chamber of Commerce).

To get started, join a local business association or go to the site of the organisation you belong to. Then check the “members” page. It usually takes the form of a member directory. If you belong to the association but do not see yourself on the list, contact the organisation and ask for your site to be added.

If you are not a member, but you think you can benefit from membership, meet the requirements and become one. Then try to get a link.

9. Look for relevant roundups

List-style articles can vary depending on your industry. They may cover various topics, such as for example:

• best [type of business] in [city],
• 20 best [products],
• 10 best blogs about [topic].

For example, in the case of “best vegetarian recipes”, the search results are list-style articles. The key issue is finding lists that do not include your site. This can be done using Google search operators. These are commands designed to search for more specific things. With their help, it is possible to identify lists on which your site does not appear.

Use the minus sign (-) to exclude phrases you do not want to see in the search results. In this case, it will be your company name.

Let’s assume you own the Italian restaurant Quartino Ristorante in Chicago. If you want to look for lists that do not yet include your company, you can enter the following phrase into Google: “best restaurants in Chicago -Quartino Ristorante”.

None of the results will include the phrase “Quartino Ristorante”. Pay attention to the first page of results and list any roundups on which you would like to place your site. Then contact the owners of such sites and ask to be included on the list.

10. Updating old content

If you find an article or research report that has not been updated for some time, check how many backlinks it has. If there are many publications referring to this content, you have come across a real diamond.

You can simply try to create better, fresh content with more relevant data. After publishing it, you can contact the bloggers and journalists who linked to the older content to let them know about the update.