22 Link Building Strategies with Process & Examples

Link building strategies are one of the most important components of search engine optimisation because they directly impact how search engines evaluate a website's authority and relevance. In simple terms, link building is the process of acquiring hyperlinks from other websites that point back to your own, acting as signals of trust and credibility. When multiple quality websites link to a page, search engines interpret this as proof that the content is useful and deserves higher visibility in search results.

 

Beyond rankings, link building also helps businesses grow their brand presence, attract referral traffic, and build long-term digital authority. A strong backlink profile allows websites to compete in competitive markets, gain exposure to new audiences, and establish themselves as reliable sources of information within their industry.

Table Of Content

• Directory Submission
• Business Review
• Job Posting
• Social Media
• Social Bookmarking
• Q&A Sites
• Articles & Blogs Submission
• Blog Commenting
• Guest Posting
• Images & Infographics Submission
• Videos Submission
• PPTs & PDFs Submission
• Partnership & Reciprocal Backlinks
• Influencer-Generated Backlinks
• Digital PR (HARO)
• Crowdfunding
• Broken Link Building
• Create Link Worthy Content (Skyscraper Technique)
• Convert Brand Mention into Backlinks
• Find Competitor Backlinks & Fill the Gap
• Recover Lost Backlinks Regularly
• Types of Backlinks: Dofollow and Nofollow
• Conclusion

Directory Submission

Directory submission is the process of submitting your website’s URL and business details to online directories under relevant categories. It helps improve your website’s visibility, build backlinks, and drive targeted traffic from users interested in your niche.

Process Of Directory Submission

1. Find Reputable Directories

The first step is to find reputable directories relevant to your website. Most directories accept only sites within a specific niche, category, region, or industry. You can search Google using keywords like:

• "list of web directories"
• "your niche + web directory"
• "your niche + directory submission"

This helps you find high-quality directories where your site can be submitted effectively.

2. Sign Up & Prepare Your Website Information

Before submitting your site, create an account on the directory using genuine details like your real name, email, and business information. Some directories allow guest submissions, but signing up often improves approval chances.
At the same time, gather all the details you’ll need for submission:

• Business Name
• Address
• Phone Number
• Website URL
• Business Description (50–150 words)
• Services or products you sell
• Office hours/working hours
• Business Logo or Images (if required)

Having an account ready and your website information organized ensures a smooth, quick, and successful submission process.

3. Choose the Correct Category

Most directories have multiple categories and subcategories. Always pick the one that best matches your website’s niche. Submitting to the wrong category can reduce visibility or even lead to rejection.

Example: If your business is a local restaurant, a directory like Justdial would have categories like Restaurants > Italian Restaurants or Restaurants > Cafes.

4. Verify Your Submission

After submitting your website, check your email or the directory for a verification link or check it manually. Confirming your submission ensures your listing is approved, active, and visible to users. If your submission is not approved, try contacting the directory’s support team or sending an email to resolve the issue and get your website listed.

Bonus Tip: When submitting to directories, prioritize high-quality, reputable directories over submitting to a large number of low-quality sites. Quality directories provide better backlinks, improve your website’s authority, and attract targeted traffic. Submitting to too many low-quality directories can harm your SEO, so it’s better to focus on a few trusted and relevant directories in your niche.

Business Review

Reputation management platforms and business review websites are online platforms where businesses can create profiles and customers can leave reviews or ratings. These platforms help build credibility, trust, and authority for your business while providing valuable backlinks.

Examples: include Google Business Profile (GMB), Bing Places, Justdial, Yelp, G2, Trustpilot, and even platforms like Snapchat Maps for local businesses. Submitting your business to these sites also helps improve local SEO and visibility in search results.

Process Of Reputation Management Platforms Effectively

1. Create or Claim Your Business Profile

Register your business on relevant review platforms using real and accurate details. For example, a local café can create a profile on Google Business Profile, Bing Places, or Yelp to ensure their business is recognized online.

2. Provide Accurate Details

Include essential information like business name, address, phone number, website URL, and a short description. Accurate and consistent information helps search engines and users find your business easily.

3. Encourage Customer Reviews

Ask satisfied customers to leave honest reviews about your products or services. Genuine reviews increase credibility and influence potential clients to trust your business.

4. Monitor & Respond

Check reviews regularly and respond to feedback, both positive and negative. Engaging with reviewers shows that your business is actively managed and that you care about customer satisfaction.

5. Update Regularly

Keep your business information, services, offerings, and images updated. Platforms like Google Maps, Bing Places, and Snapchat Maps allow you to regularly post updates or promotions to maintain visibility and trust.

Bonus Tip: You can display these reviews on your own website to build social proof. This not only improves trust with visitors but also boosts SEO by showing engagement and credibility.

Job Posting

Job posting sites are online platforms where companies post job openings and candidates apply for jobs. Examples include platforms like Indeed, Glassdoor, Monster, Internshala, Naukri, and similar portals. These sites allow businesses to create company profiles and include their website links, which helps in generating backlinks.

Process of Job Posting

1. Create a Company Profile

Register your company using real business details. Add your company name, logo, description, and website URL. A complete profile increases trust and visibility.++

2. Post Relevant Job Openings

Publish genuine job openings related to your business. Avoid fake or irrelevant postings, as they can harm your brand reputation.

3. Add Your Website Link

Include your official website URL in the company profile and job description. This creates a direct backlink.

4. Use Clear Job Descriptions

Write professional job descriptions including responsibilities, skills, and benefits. Well-written posts attract more views and clicks.

5. Update and Manage Listings

Regularly update job posts, remove expired roles, and respond to applicants. Active profiles gain more visibility and credibility.

Bonus Tip: For creating job postings and building backlinks, you can use popular job posting platforms such as Indeed, Glassdoor, Monster, LinkedIn Jobs, SimplyHired, Naukri, Internshala, Shine, TimesJobs, Freshersworld, and remote platforms like Upwork, Freelancer, We Work Remotely, and Remote OK. These websites allow businesses to create company profiles, post genuine job openings, and add their website links, which helps in gaining high-authority backlinks while also attracting real job seekers to your brand.

Social Media Backlinks

Social media backlinks are links to your website that are shared on social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, or Pinterest. These links may not always pass traditional SEO “link juice,” but they increase traffic, brand visibility, and online authority, and can indirectly improve search engine rankings through engagement and sharing.

Process of Social Media Backlinks

1. Choose the Right Platforms

Focus on platforms where your target audience is active. For example, students may use Instagram or Pinterest, while professionals prefer LinkedIn.

2. Share High-Quality Content

Post blogs, infographics, videos, or guides with a link back to your website. Ensure the content is useful, engaging, and visually appealing.

3. Use Attractive Visuals

Platforms like Instagram and Pinterest rely heavily on visuals. Clear, eye-catching images or infographics encourage clicks and shares.

4. Include Natural Links

Add your website link in posts, captions, bios, or stories. Use anchor text that clearly explains what the user will get by clicking.

5. Engage with Followers

Respond to comments, messages, and mentions. Engagement increases the visibility of your posts, which indirectly boosts link traffic.

6. Track Performance

Use analytics tools (like Google Analytics or platform insights) to track how much traffic and engagement your social media backlinks generate.

Bonus Tip: Repurpose content for multiple platforms: turn a blog into an infographic for Pinterest, a short video for Instagram, or a carousel post for LinkedIn. This multiplies the number of backlinks and increases reach.

Social Bookmarking

Social bookmarking is the practice of saving and sharing your website links or content on online bookmarking platforms. These platforms allow users to organize, manage, and share links with others. For SEO, social bookmarking helps in generating high-quality backlinks, increasing visibility, driving traffic, and improving search engine indexing.

Process of Social Bookmarking

1. Choose Quality Platforms

Select reputable and high-authority bookmarking sites. Avoid spammy sites with low traffic or poor reputation. Examples: Reddit, Mix, Scoop.it, Diigo, Folkd.

2. Create an Account

Sign up using a genuine email, name, and business or website information. Fill out your profile completely to look credible.

3. Prepare Your Content

Gather the URL, title, short description, and relevant keywords or tags for the content you want to bookmark.

4. Submit Your Links

Upload your website URL or blog post to the platform. Add a descriptive title, write a brief summary, and include relevant tags.

5. Categorize Properly

Place your submission in the correct category or topic to ensure it reaches the right audience.

6. Engage and Share

Interact with other users’ posts, comment, and share your bookmarked content. Engagement increases visibility and referral traffic.

7. Monitor Your Links

Check which bookmarks are getting clicks or engagement and update or reshare content when needed.

Bonus Tip: On image-based platforms like Pinterest, high-quality, visually appealing images dramatically improve clicks and shares. Always make your visuals clear, eye-catching, and relevant to your content.

Q&A Sites

Q&A sites are platforms where users ask questions and experts or community members provide answers. Building backlinks from Q&A platforms involves sharing helpful, relevant, and in-depth answers, and then naturally linking to your content to support or expand the information. When done correctly, this method improves brand visibility, drives targeted traffic, and builds authority without looking spammy.

Process of Link Building on Q&A Sites

1. Find Relevant Questions

Use the search feature on platforms like Quora, Reddit, Stack Exchange, or niche-specific forums to find questions related to your industry. Focus on problems that your content can genuinely solve.

2. Provide High-Quality Answers

Write detailed and informative responses that fully address the question. Longer, well-structured answers perform better, get more upvotes, and remain visible for a longer time.

3. Add Links Naturally

Instead of dropping random URLs, insert your link as a supporting resource. Use natural anchor text and link only when it adds real value or further explanation.

4. Avoid Spamming

Do not place links in every answer. Excessive linking can lead to account suspension. Focus on helping first, linking second.

5. Optimize Your Profile

Use your profile bio to include your website link and a short description of your expertise. This acts as a permanent backlink source.

Bonus tip: Focus on questions with high views and recent activity for better traffic. Always link to relevant blog posts instead of your homepage, and stay consistent by answering a few quality questions regularly to build authority over time.

Article and Blog Submission

Article and blog submission is the process of publishing your articles or blog posts on reputable directories and platforms to earn backlinks, improve SEO, and drive targeted traffic. While article submission focuses on posting informative, original articles, blog submission is more about listing your blog or website in directories. Both methods help search engines discover your site faster and increase your online authority.

Process of Article and Blog Submission

1. Find Relevant Directories and Platforms

Search for high-quality directories in your niche that accept articles or blogs. Examples include AllTop, Blogarama, BlogTopSites, Medium, Tumblr, Blogger, and LinkedIn. Focus on sites that are active, credible, and relevant to your industry.

2. Create an Account (If Required)

Sign up with real details such as your name, email, and website. Complete your profile fully to increase the chances of approval.

3. Prepare Your Content and Website Details

Before submitting, gather:

• Blog or article title
• Website URL
• Short description or article summary (50–150 words)
• Target keywords
• Logo or relevant images

4. Submit Your Article or Blog

Upload your content or website details to the directory. Choose the correct category or niche so it reaches the right audience. Ensure articles are original and informative.

5. Follow Submission Guidelines

Carefully read each platform’s rules. Some directories may review your submission before approval, so following guidelines increases the likelihood of acceptance.

6. Monitor Your Submissions

Check if your articles or blogs are approved and live. Track the backlinks you earn and update submissions if your website information changes.

Bonus Tip: Focus on quality over quantity. A few high-authority directories provide far more SEO value than hundreds of low-quality submissions.

Blog Commenting

Blog commenting is the practice of leaving thoughtful responses or feedback on other people’s blog posts. It helps you engage with the author and readers, build relationships, and can drive traffic to your own website if done genuinely and strategically.

Process of Blog Commenting

1. Select Blogs Relevant to Your Niche

To reach the right audience, focus on blogs that align with your niche. Commenting on relevant blogs not only enhances your link profile but also helps drive targeted traffic to your website. You can find these blogs through Google using search queries like:

• Your niche keyword + “add your comment”
• Your niche keyword + “submit your comment”
• Your niche keyword + “leave a comment”
• Your niche keyword + “post comment”

2. Use Authentic Details

Always register or comment using genuine information, including your real name, email address, and website. Real details increase the chances of your comment being approved and build trust with the blog owner.

3. Read the Post Carefully Before Commenting

Avoid jumping straight to the comment section. Read the entire post to understand the topic thoroughly. Also, skim through existing comments to see the tone and style others are using. This will help you craft a comment that fits naturally into the conversation.

4. Write Meaningful Comments

Your comments should be thoughtful, relevant, and of good length around 100 words or more. Check for spelling and grammar mistakes, as errors can reduce your credibility. Providing genuine insights demonstrates your expertise and increases the likelihood of your comment being approved.

6. Follow Up Regularly

Don’t just comment once and forget. Regularly visiting and engaging with blogs helps you maintain visibility and continue building relationships with both the author and the community. Consistent interaction strengthens your presence and authority over time.

Bonus Tip: Posting your comment soon after a blog post is published increases its visibility. Early comments are more likely to catch the attention of the author and other readers, potentially sparking discussions. Active engagement can turn your comment into a conversation, boosting your reputation in the niche.

Guest Posting

Guest blogging is the practice of writing and publishing articles on other websites in your niche. It helps you build authority, reach new audiences, and earn high-quality backlinks to your own website. Unlike spammy link-building, guest blogging focuses on providing valuable content that benefits both the host site and your own brand.

Process Of Guest Posting

1. Identify Relevant Blogs

Start by finding websites that accept guest posts and are related to your niche. Look for blogs with an active audience and good engagement. Use search queries like:

• "your niche + write for us"
• "your niche + guest post guidelines"
• "submit article + your niche"

Focus on blogs where your content will be useful and relevant, ensuring the backlinks you earn are meaningful and credible.

2. Research and Understand the Blog

Before pitching or writing, read the blog carefully to understand its audience, style, and tone. Study their most popular articles to see what topics resonate. This ensures your content aligns with their readers’ expectations and increases your chances of acceptance.

3. Pitch Your Guest Post

Craft a professional pitch to the blog owner or editor. Include:

• A brief introduction of yourself or your brand
• A clear topic idea or headline
• Why it will benefit their audience
• Examples of your previous work (if any)

Keep your pitch concise, polite, and focused on value. Avoid generic emails that don’t show you’ve researched the blog.

4. Write High-Quality Content

Once approved, create a well-structured article that provides actionable insights. Focus on:

• A clear headline and introduction
• Subheadings for easy reading
• Practical tips or steps
• A relevant conclusion with a natural backlink to your site

Avoid over-promoting your brand. The goal is to inform and engage readers while subtly linking to your website.

5. Follow Submission Guidelines

Every blog has its own submission rules like word count, image usage, formatting, and linking policies. Follow these instructions exactly to improve your chances of publication.

6. Promote Your Published Post

After your guest post goes live, share it on your social media, email list, or website. This not only drives traffic to your guest post but also strengthens the backlink’s value and improves your credibility in your niche.

7. Engage with Comments

Respond to any comments or questions on your guest post. Engaging with readers builds your authority, encourages discussion, and helps the host blog see you as a valuable contributor.

Bonus Tip: Ways to Pitch Effectively

Email Directly,Contact Form Submission ,Social Media Outreach,Networking Through Comments

Image & Infographics Submission

Image submission is the process of uploading your images to popular image-sharing websites along with proper titles, descriptions, and links to your website. These platforms allow users to discover, share, and link back to your content, which helps in generating backlinks and increasing brand visibility.

Process of Image & Infographics Submission

1. Create High-Quality Images

Use original and attractive images such as infographics, banners, charts, product images, or educational visuals. You can easily design professional-looking images using tools like Canva, which offers ready-made templates for social media posts, infographics, presentations, and more. High-quality and well-designed images are more likely to be shared, liked, and linked, which increases the chances of getting backlinks and traffic.

2. Optimize Images Before Uploading

Rename your image files with relevant keywords (for example: digital-marketing-tips.png). Compress images for faster loading and add alt text if the platform allows.

3. Choose Reputable Image Sharing Sites

Select popular and trusted platforms for submission. These sites already have high traffic and authority.

4. Upload with Proper Details

While uploading, always add:

• A clear title
• A keyword-rich description
• Relevant tags or categories
• Your website URL in the source or profile section

5. Use Watermarks or Branding

Add your logo or website URL on the image itself. This ensures brand recognition even if the image is shared without a link.

Bonus Tip: To get the best results from image submission, always choose popular and high-authority image sharing platforms such as Pinterest, Flickr, Imgur, Instagram, Tumblr, Unsplash, Pexels, and DeviantArt. These platforms already have massive user bases and strong domain authority, so uploading your optimized images there increases your chances of getting more visibility, engagement, and quality backlinks.

Video Submission

Video submission backlinks are links to your website that you include in videos uploaded to video-sharing platforms. These videos can be tutorials, product demos, reviews, or educational content. When viewers click the link in the video description, it drives traffic to your website and builds high-authority backlinks.

Process of Video Submission

1. Create a Profile

Sign up on video-sharing platforms such as YouTube, Vimeo, Dailymotion, MetaCafe, or Facebook Watch. Fill out your profile with accurate information, including your website link, to appear credible.

2. Create High-Quality Videos

Make videos that are informative, engaging, and relevant to your niche. Use clear visuals, good audio, and appealing content.

3. Optimize Video Details

Add a descriptive title, engaging description, and relevant tags. Include your website link naturally in the description.

4. Include Calls-to-Action (CTA)

Encourage viewers to visit your website or blog for more detailed information. This increases clicks on your backlink.

5. Share and Promote

Share your video across social media and embed it in blog posts to maximize reach and traffic.

6. Monitor Performance

Use platform analytics to track views, clicks, and engagement. Update descriptions or CTAs if needed to improve performance.

Bonus Tip: Create short, attractive thumbnails and engaging video intros to grab attention. On platforms like YouTube, the first few seconds determine if viewers will watch and click your link.

PPTs & PDFs Submission

A SlideShare presentation (or PPT) is a slide-based document created using tools like PowerPoint, Google Slides, or Canva and uploaded to platforms such as SlideShare to share information in a visual and easy-to-understand format. These presentations are commonly used for education, marketing, branding, and link building, as they help reach a wider audience and drive traffic through links added in the slides or description.

Example: Creating a PPT on “Top SEO Tips for Beginners” and uploading it to SlideShare with a link to your blog in the description or final slide.

Process of PPTs & PDFs Submission

1. Create High-Quality Slides

First, create an informative and visually appealing presentation using tools like PowerPoint, Google Slides, or Canva. Keep the content simple, useful, and related to your niche.

2. Add Your Website Link

Include your website URL naturally in the slides (usually in the first or last slide) and also in the presentation description. This creates your backlink.

3. Export as PDF or PPT

Save your presentation in PDF or PPT format for easy uploading.

4. Create a SlideShare Account

Sign up on SlideShare (or similar platforms) using real details and complete your profile.

5. Upload Your Presentation

Upload the file with a clear title, proper description, and relevant tags or keywords.

6. Optimize Title & Description

Use a catchy title and write a short description explaining what the presentation is about, including your website link.

7. Share & Promote

Share your SlideShare link on social media and embed it in your blog to get more views and traffic.

Bonus Tip: Use simple design, readable fonts, and strong visuals better-looking slides get more views, which means more clicks on your backlink.

Partnership And Reciprocal Backlinks

Reciprocal and partnership backlinks are links exchanged between two or more websites where each site links to the other. This method is used to build relationships, increase website authority, and drive referral traffic.

Process Of Reciprocal And Partnerships Backlinks

1. Identify Quality Partners (Relevance & Authority)

Start by finding websites that operate in complementary niches. These are sites that target a similar audience but are not direct competitors. For example, a digital marketing agency can partner with a graphic design studio or a content writing service.

You can search for reciprocal and partnership backlink opportunities by looking for websites in your niche that serve a similar audience but are not direct competitors. Use Google search queries like:

• "your niche + partner with us"
• "your niche + resources"
• "your niche + recommended tools"
• "your niche + write for us"

Before reaching out, analyze the site’s quality using SEO tools such as Ahrefs, SEMrush, or Moz. Check their Domain Authority (DA) and aim to partner with websites that have equal or higher authority than yours. Also, review their traffic trends and backlink profile to ensure the site is legitimate, active, and not spammy.

2. Outreach and Relationship Building

Avoid sending generic outreach emails. Instead, personalize every message. Mention specific articles or resources from their website that you genuinely found useful. This shows authenticity and increases response rates.
Always offer value first. Rather than asking for a link directly, suggest a meaningful collaboration such as featuring them in a blog post, resource list, or guide. You can also leverage existing relationships with clients, vendors, or business partners who already trust your brand.

3. Best Practices for Safety (Avoiding Penalties)

Always prioritize quality over quantity. A few strong, relevant backlinks are far better than hundreds of low-quality ones.
Ensure every link looks natural and editorial, not placed in footers or link exchange pages.

Vary your anchor text and avoid repeating the same keyword repeatedly. Keep reciprocal links below 10–15% of your total backlink profile to maintain a healthy link ratio.
Regularly monitor your links to ensure they remain active, relevant, and beneficial.

Bonus Tip: Never participate in link farms or link networks created only for swapping links. Avoid partnering with direct competitors or spammy websites with low authority and poor content quality. These can seriously harm your SEO and brand reputation.

Influencer-Generated Backlinks

Influencer-generated backlinks are links to your website or content that are created when influencers in your niche mention, feature, or promote your brand. These backlinks are highly valuable because they come from trusted, authoritative sources with a large audience, which boosts your website’s credibility, referral traffic, and search engine rankings.

Process of Influencer-Generated Backlinks

1. Identify Relevant Influencers

Find influencers in your niche who have blogs, websites, or active social media profiles. Focus on influencers whose audience aligns with your target market.

2. Build a Relationship

Engage with their content by commenting, sharing, or mentioning them on your platforms. Genuine engagement increases the chances of collaboration.

3. Offer Value

Provide content, products, or insights that are useful to the influencer. For example, guest articles, expert quotes, tutorials, or case studies.

4. Request or Encourage Backlinks

Politely ask them to reference your website in a blog post or article, or provide content they can use with a link back to your site. Avoid being pushy; focus on mutual benefit.

5. Collaborate on Content

Co-create blog posts, guides, or campaigns that naturally include backlinks to your website. This ensures the link is contextual and valuable

Digital PR (HARO)

Digital PR is an online strategy where you promote your business, content, or expertise to earn media coverage, mentions, and high-quality backlinks. Unlike traditional PR, Digital PR focuses on the digital ecosystem blogs, news websites, podcasts, and online magazines. It helps improve SEO, brand visibility, and website authority.

Process Of Digital PR

1. Identify Platforms and Opportunities

Start by finding platforms where journalists, bloggers, or content creators are looking for sources. Examples include:

• HARO (Help A Reporter Out) Connects you with journalists seeking expert insights.
• SourceBottle - Similar to HARO, but popular in Australia and international markets.
• Pressfarm - Helps startups get media mentions.
• BlogDash - Connects bloggers with brands for guest features or stories.

2. Monitor Relevant Queries

Sign up on these platforms and monitor queries daily. Look for opportunities that match your niche or expertise.

3. Craft a Professional Pitch or Response

Write a concise and helpful response to the query. Include:

• Your name and credentials
• A useful quote, statistic, or insight
• Your website link for inclusion

4. Personalize Outreach

If you’re contacting journalists or bloggers directly, customize your pitch. Highlight why your content or story is valuable to their audience.

5. Follow Up and Track Mentions

If your contribution is accepted, your brand may be mentioned, and a backlink added to your website. Track these mentions to measure the impact on traffic and authority.

Bonus Tip: Focus on credibility and usefulness rather than self-promotion. Providing data-driven insights, case studies, or expert quotes increases the chance of earning backlinks from high-authority sites.

Crowdfunding

Crowdfunding is a way to raise money for a project or idea by collecting small contributions from many people online. Instead of taking a loan or finding one investor, you get support from the public sometimes in exchange for rewards or early access.

Example: A student wants to launch a new mobile app. They create a campaign on Kickstarter and ask people to contribute small amounts. In return, contributors get early access, special features, or other rewards.

How Crowdfunding Helps With Backlinks?

Most crowdfunding platforms allow you to add your website link in your campaign description, profile, or updates. This link becomes a high-quality backlink because platforms like Kickstarter, Indiegogo, or GoFundMe have strong domain authority.

Example for Backlink: A student creates a campaign for a study planner app and adds a link to their blog:
“Check out free study tips and resources at www.studysmart.com.”

Visitors to the campaign can click the link, bringing traffic to the site while the link acts as a valuable SEO backlink.

 Process Of Crowdfunding Backlinks

1. Choose a Reputable Platform

Select sites like Kickstarter, Indiegogo, GoFundMe, or Patreon.

2. Create a Complete Profile

Use real details and include your website link in your profile or campaign section.

3. Plan Your Campaign

Decide your goal, target audience, and rewards. Prepare images, videos, and a clear project description.

4. Add Your Website Link

Include your link naturally in the campaign description, rewards, or updates.

5. Promote Your Campaign

Share on social media, blogs, and email newsletters to reach more people.

6. Engage With Supporters

Reply to comments and update your campaign regularly to keep it active and visible.

7. Track Performance

Use platform analytics to monitor clicks and engagement on your website link.

Broken Link Building

Broken link building is a backlink strategy where you find broken (non-working) links on other websites and suggest your relevant content as a replacement. This helps the website owner fix their broken links while you earn a high-quality backlink to your website.

Example: A student runs a blog about study tips. They find a website with a broken link to an old “time management guide” and email the site owner saying:
"We noticed your time management guide link is broken. You can replace it with our updated guide here: www.studysmart.com/time-management."

Process Of Broken Link Building

1. Identify Your Target Websites

Look for websites, blogs, or resource pages in your niche where your content would naturally fit.

Ideal targets are sites with high domain authority (DA) and active readership, because links from these sites carry more SEO value.

Example: If your website is about study tips, target education blogs, student resource pages, or learning websites.

2. Find Broken Links

Use tools to locate broken links (links that return a 404 error or point to removed content):

• Ahrefs - Use “Broken Backlinks” or “Broken Outgoing Links”
• SEMrush - Use “Backlink Audit” and “Broken Link Checker”
• Check My Links (Chrome extension) - Quickly scans web pages for dead links
• Check Manually.

Focus on links that are related to your content, as relevance increases the chance the site owner will replace it.

3. Prepare Replacement Content

Identify a page, article, or blog post on your website that can naturally replace the broken link.

If you don’t have content that fits, create new content specifically for this opportunity.

Make sure your content is high-quality, informative, and updated, so the site owner will see it as a valuable replacement.

4. Outreach to the Website Owner

Find the website owner’s contact information (email, contact form, or social media).

• Craft a polite, helpful message:
• Mention the broken link you found
• Explain why it might affect their readers
• Suggest your content as a replacement

Example:

Hi [Name],
I was browsing your article “[Article Title]” and noticed a broken link to [Old Link]. I thought your readers might find this resource helpful: [Your Link].
Thanks for considering!
Keep it short, professional, and helpful don’t sound spammy.

5. Follow Up

If you don’t receive a response in 7–10 days, send a gentle reminder.

Be polite and don’t spam sometimes website owners just miss the first email.

Bonus Tip: Focus on older, high-traffic pages with broken links replacing these gives a better chance of getting backlinks and targeted visitors.

Create Link-Worthy Content (Skyscraper Technique)

The Skyscraper Technique is a content strategy where you find popular content in your niche, create a better, more detailed, and updated version of it, and then promote it to people who already linked to the original content. The goal is to make content so valuable that others naturally want to link to it.

Process of Skyscraper Technique

1. Find Link-Worthy Content

Use tools like Ahrefs, SEMrush, or Google to identify popular articles, guides, or studies in your niche that already rank well and have many backlinks. This helps you find proven topics that people are already interested in and linking to.

2. Create Superior Content

Develop content that is 10x better than the original. Make it more detailed, updated, and visually attractive by adding examples, statistics, images, infographics, or step-by-step explanations. Your content should fill the gaps and answer the topic more completely.

3. Email Outreach

Find websites or authors who linked to the original content and send them a professional email. Inform them about your improved version and politely suggest it as a better resource they can link to.

4. Promote Your Content

Share your content on social media, email newsletters, forums, and communities to increase visibility and encourage more natural backlinks.

5. Track and Follow Up

Monitor which websites link to your content and follow up with non-responders after a few days to increase your success rate.

Bonus Tip: Focus on quality over length your content should solve the problem better than any other page, not just be longer.

Convert Brand Mentions into Backlinks

Converting brand mentions into backlinks means finding websites that mention your brand, business, or website name but do not include a clickable link, and then requesting them to add your website link. This is one of the easiest backlink strategies because the site already knows about you.

Process of Converting Brand Mentions into Backlinks

1. Find Unlinked Brand Mentions

Use tools like Google Alerts, Ahrefs, SEMrush, or Brand24 to track where your brand name is mentioned online without a link.

2. Check the Mentions Manually

Visit each page to confirm that your brand is mentioned but not linked to your website.

3. Reach Out to Website Owners

Send a polite email thanking them for the mention and request them to add a link to your website for better user experience.

4. Provide the Correct Link

Share your exact website URL to make it easy for them to add the backlink.

5. Monitor Results

Track which mentions turn into backlinks and follow up if needed.

Bonus Tip: This method works best with news sites, blogs, and review articles, as they often update content and are more likely to add links when asked politely.

Find Competitor Backlinks & Fill the Gap

This strategy involves analyzing your competitors’ backlinks to see which websites are linking to them, then creating better or similar content and reaching out to those same websites to earn backlinks for yourself.

Process of Finding Competitor Backlinks & Filling the Gap

 1. Identify Your Competitors

Before analyzing backlinks, you must first know who your real competitors are. These are the websites that rank for the same keywords and target the same audience.

Identify Competitors ThroughUsing tools like Ahrefs, SEMrush, SE Ranking, or Ubersuggest to find websites competing for your main keywords.

Segment Competitors:

• Domain-level competitors: Websites that compete with you across many keywords.
• Page-level competitors: Specific pages that rank high for your target keyword.

 2.  Analyze & Find Backlink Gaps

A backlink gap refers to websites that link to your competitors but do not link to you.
Use Link Intersect Tools:

• Ahrefs - Link Intersect
• SEMrush - Backlink Gap Tool

These tools compare your domain with multiple competitors to show missing backlink opportunities.

 3. Fill the Gap (Replication Strategies)

Once you have your list, use these methods to secure backlinks:

• Guest Posting: Reach out to blogs where competitors published guest posts and offer your own high-quality content.
• Resource Page Links: Find directories, listicles, or “best tools” pages that list competitors and request inclusion.
• Broken Link Building: Check if those sites have broken links and suggest your relevant content as a replacement.
• Create Superior Content: Analyze your competitor’s most-linked pages and create better, updated, and more detailed versions.
• Competitor Mentions: Use tools like Google Alerts or Brand24 to find mentions of competitors and pitch your brand as an alternative.

Bonus Tip: Track your progress monthly keep a spreadsheet of competitor links you’ve targeted and monitor which ones you’ve successfully converted into backlinks. This helps you refine what works and scale faster.

Recover Lost Backlinks Regularly

Recovering lost backlinks, also known as link reclamation, is the process of identifying backlinks that were removed, broken, or changed over time and restoring them. This helps maintain your website’s authority, traffic, and search rankings. Tools like Ahrefs, SEMrush, and Google Search Console make it easy to track lost links and act quickly.

Process to Recover Lost Backlinks

1. Identify Lost Links

Use tools such as Ahrefs, SEMrush, or Google Search Console to find backlinks that are no longer active.

2. Analyze the Reason

Check why the link was lost common reasons include page deletion (404), URL changes, content updates, or broken links.

3. Reach Out to Webmasters

Contact the site owner politely and request the link be restored or updated. Share your latest relevant content to increase approval chances.

4. Fix Broken Links (301 Redirects)

If the linked page no longer exists, set up a 301 redirect to a relevant live page to recover link equity.

5. Monitor Regularly

Audit your backlink profile weekly or monthly to catch and fix issues early.

Bonus Tip: Set up email alerts for lost backlinks using tools like Ahrefs or SEMrush so you can take action immediately faster recovery means less impact on rankings and traffic.

Types of Backlinks: Dofollow and Nofollow

Backlinks can be categorized into different types based on how search engines treat them, and the two most important technical types are dofollow and nofollow backlinks. These link types determine whether search engines are allowed to follow a link and transfer authority from one website to another. Understanding the difference between dofollow and nofollow links is essential for building a safe and effective SEO strategy, because not all backlinks contribute to rankings in the same way. A healthy and natural backlink profile usually contains a balanced mix of both types, which helps websites grow steadily without triggering spam signals or algorithm penalties.

Dofollow Backlinks

Dofollow backlinks are the most valuable type of backlinks from an SEO perspective because they allow search engines to follow the link and pass ranking power, trust, and authority to the linked website. These links directly influence keyword rankings, domain authority, and organic traffic. When a high-quality and relevant website gives a dofollow backlink, it acts as a strong endorsement and signals to search engines that the content is reliable and deserves higher visibility. By default, all links are dofollow unless they are specifically marked otherwise, which means you usually do not see any special attribute in the HTML code for dofollow links.

HTML Example of a Dofollow Link:
<a href="https://www.example.com">Visit our website</a>

In this code, there is no rel attribute, so search engines will follow this link and pass SEO value.

Nofollow Backlink

Nofollow backlinks are links that include a special HTML attribute telling search engines not to pass authority or ranking value through the link. These links were introduced to prevent spam and manipulation, especially on platforms where users can freely add links such as forums, blog comments, and social networks. Although nofollow links do not directly improve search rankings, they are still important because they generate referral traffic, improve brand exposure, and help maintain a natural and diversified backlink profile. Search engines expect real websites to have a mix of link types, and nofollow links play a key role in making a backlink profile look organic.

HTML Example of a Nofollow Link:
<a href="https://www.example.com" rel="nofollow">Visit our website</a>

Conclusion

Building backlinks is a crucial part of improving your website’s SEO, authority, and traffic. From blog submissions and social bookmarking to influencer collaborations, crowdfunding, and broken link building, each strategy offers unique benefits. However, it’s not enough to just acquire backlinks you should always maintain a record of your backlinks, regularly monitor their status, and prioritize links from high-authority, relevant domains. Consistently tracking and evaluating your backlink profile ensures that your website maintains strong SEO performance, avoids potential penalties, and continues to grow sustainably over time.