How to Get Backlinks: 15 Proven Tactics

Link gathering isn’t rocket science. There’s nary concealed nine wherever lone an elite fewer get taught however to physique links. Anyone tin do it. 

But it’s harder than it needs to beryllium without tried and tested tactics to lean on.

Here are 15 proven ways to get backlinks:

1. The Skyscraper Technique
2. The Reverse Skyscraper Technique
3. Resource leafage nexus building
4. Broken nexus building
5. 301 redirect nexus building
6. Pitch ‘best x successful y’ listicles
7. HARO
8. Guest blogging
9. Podcast interviews
10. Unlinked mentions
11. Pursue link gaps
12. Get stockist links
13. Utilize existing memberships
14. Pitch nexus roundups
15. Internal backlinks

The Skyscraper Technique is wherever you find contented with tons of backlinks, make thing better, past inquire everyone linking to the contented you improved to nexus to you instead.

How to do it

You archetypal request to find pages with tons of backlinks. To begin, hunt for a operation related to your taxable successful Ahrefs’ Content Explorer and acceptable the “referring domains” filter to a minimum of 50. This volition amusement you pages with backlinks from 50+ websites.

It’s past simply a lawsuit of analyzing the contented and reasoning astir however to amended it.

Here are immoderate of the champion ways to amended content:

• Correct inaccurate oregon misleading claims. This is arguably the champion mode to amended contented arsenic cipher wants to nexus to thing misleading.
• Go deeper. If the contented successful question is lone skimming the topic’s surface, spell deeper and explicate things successful much detail.
• Explain it better. Using graphics, videos, oregon immoderate you request tin assistance the scholar recognize things easier.

For example, Neil Patel’s leafage astir long-tail keywords has backlinks from 1.1K referring domains:

But its explanation of long-tail keywords is inaccurate (and is ace hard to read):

Providing a meaningful explanation is 1 casual mode we could amended this content.

Recommended reading: How to Execute the Skyscraper Technique

The reverse skyscraper method is wherever you take a large portion of contented already connected your site, find akin lower-quality pages with tons of backlinks, past inquire everyone linking to those pages to nexus to you instead.

It works for the aforesaid reasons arsenic the “regular” skyscraper technique. The payment is that you don’t person to make caller content.

How to do it

To find the champion opportunities for this technique, plug a fewer keywords you’ve published industry-leading contented astir into Ahrefs’ Keywords Explorer, past benignant the results by Keyword Difficulty (KD) from precocious to low.

Next, click the SERP fastener and look for akin pages with tons of backlinks.

Finally, sojourn these pages and look for compelling reasons wherefore your contented is amended than theirs. If you find one, transportation your nexus arsenic a replacement to those linking to the page. You tin find these radical utilizing the Backlinks study successful Ahrefs’ Site Explorer.

Resource leafage nexus gathering is erstwhile you get backlinks from web pages that curate resources connected a peculiar topic. It’s a tried and tested strategy due to the fact that the sole intent of these pages is to nexus to invaluable resources.

How to do it

To find assets pages, tally 1 of these searches successful Google and adhd a operation related to your topic:

• intitle:resources inurl:resources.html
• intitle:resources inurl:links.html

For example, if you privation to physique links to a assets connected losing weight, you whitethorn hunt for intitle:resources inurl:resources.html value loss.

You tin besides usage Ahrefs’ SEO Toolbar to export the results and their SEO metrics, which allows you to prioritize opportunities by Domain Rating (DR) and estimated hunt traffic.

It’s past simply a lawsuit of visiting each leafage to guarantee it’s a assets leafage and links retired to outer resources. If it fits the bill, find the email address of the idiosyncratic liable and transportation your resource.

Recommended reading: Resource Page Link Building: The Only Guide You Need

Broken nexus gathering is wherever you find a dormant nexus connected a page, make your ain leafage connected the topic, and inquire everyone linking to the dormant assets to nexus to your leafage instead.

It works due to the fact that radical who attraction astir their websites don’t privation to nonstop visitors to breached pages.

How to do it

There are galore ways to find dormant pages with backlinks. One of the easiest is to hunt for a taxable successful Ahrefs’ Content Explorer, filter for breached pages past acceptable a referring domains filter with a minimum worth of 10. This volition amusement you dormant pages with backlinks from astatine slightest 10 websites.

If you privation to analyse a leafage further, deed the caret and click the nexus to presumption it connected archive.org. This volition amusement you what was connected the dormant leafage earlier it disappeared.

If it makes consciousness for you to make thing similar, caput backmost to Content Explorer, deed the caret, and click done to the Backlinks report. You’ll spot each of the pages and sites linking to the dormant page, which you tin transportation your replacement nexus to erstwhile your contented goes live.

Recommended reading: A Simple (But Complete) Guide to Broken Link Building

301 redirect nexus gathering is wherever you find irrelevant 301 redirects and transportation a suitable replacement to everyone linking to it. It works for the aforesaid crushed breached nexus gathering works; tract owners don’t privation to nonstop their visitors to what are efficaciously dead pages.

How to do it

To find irrelevant 301 redirects, spell to Site Explorer, alteration the mode to “https,” participate a niche site, spell to the Best by links report, and adhd a “301 moved permanently” filter.

Eyeball the URLs for irrelevant redirects.

For example, the archetypal URL supra looks similar a station astir the past of hunt engines that present redirects to 1 astir hunt motor marketing. We tin corroborate that’s the lawsuit by hitting the caret and clicking to presumption the leafage connected archive.org.

This is an wholly antithetic taxable to the leafage it present redirects to, truthful this is an irrelevant redirect with 698 referring domains.

“Best x successful y” listicles are posts listing the champion businesses successful a circumstantial country oregon industry. Finding and pitching ones wherever you aren’t already featured tin gain much vulnerability and backlinks.

How to do it

You tin find applicable lists by searching successful Google with this formula: Best BUSINESS TYPE successful LOCATION -"YOUR BUSINESS NAME".

Here’s a database of the champion java shops successful London:

As per our search, 1 concern that didn’t marque the chopped is Omotesando Koffee—a top-rated store according to Google. If you were the laminitis of this place, it mightiness beryllium worthy reaching retired to the writer to spot if they’d beryllium consenting to add you.

When doing this, support 2 things in mind:

1. Your transportation needs to make sense.
2. It won’t ever marque consciousness to transportation successful the first email.

For example, the information that Omotesando Koffee isn’t already connected this database astir apt means the writer has ne'er been to their shop. In which case, they’re improbable to adhd them to the database conscionable due to the fact that they’re asked to. You archetypal request to physique a relationship.

Here’s however I would interaction the writer successful this instance:

Hey [Name],

Just came crossed your database of the champion java shops successful municipality and noticed my shop, Omotesando Koffee, wasn’t included. Is that due to the fact that you didn’t similar our java oregon haven’t tasted it?

If it’s the latter, I’d emotion to invitation you down to sensation our worldly (don’t worry, it’s connected the house).

Are you successful the country immoderate time soon?

Let me know.

Notice that this email doesn’t transportation inclusion connected the list; it simply invites the writer to sensation our product. It’ll beryllium overmuch easier to inquire for inclusion aft we triumph them over.

HARO (Help A Reporter Out) is simply a escaped work connecting journalists to sources and sources to journalists. It’s an casual mode to gain high-quality backlinks due to the fact that journalists are soliciting responses from you, not the different mode around.

How to do it

Sign up arsenic a source, and you’ll statesman receiving emails with queries from journalists astatine assorted publications.

This volition see queries from large well-known sites similar Business Insider and The New York Times.

The occupation is that astir queries volition beryllium irrelevant, truthful it’s worthy mounting up a Gmail filter to prevention your sanity.

Here’s how:

• Click the hunt options filter
• Set the “From” tract to [email protected].
• Set the “Subject” to “[HARO]”
• Set “Has the words” to keywords you privation to show (you tin usage the OR relation to database aggregate keywords here)

Hit hunt and cheque a fewer emails to guarantee you’re getting applicable results. If each looks good, deed the hunt options caret again and click “Create filter.”

Now it’s clip to commencement responding to applicable queries.

Just cognize that not each journalists volition mention and nexus to you conscionable due to the fact that you respond. For the champion results, you should respond lone to queries lone if you person applicable expertise. It’s besides worthy prioritizing opportunities wherever the writer is looking for aggregate experts.

For example, the petition beneath from Business Insider intelligibly states that they’re looking to perceive from aggregate elite preschools. So if you enactment for an elite preschool, you astir apt person a bully accidental of getting featured by replying to this request.

Guest blogging is wherever you constitute a blog station for different website and usually person attribution and a nexus backmost to your tract successful return.

How to do it

To find websites that are apt to judge impermanent posts, spell to Content Explorer, participate a keyword related to your niche, and alteration the dropdown to “In title”. This searches billions of pages for matching content.

You tin past use filters to constrictive down the results and find websites to pitch.

These filters are a bully starting point:

• Domain Rating: 30+. This weeds retired ace debased authorization websites.
• Website traffic: 5000+. This weeds retired websites with small oregon nary traffic.
• Published: Last 90 days. This weeds retired websites that haven’t published contented recently, which whitethorn beryllium unresponsive to pitches.

You’ll besides privation to toggle the “One leafage per domain” container arsenic there’s nary constituent successful reaching retired to the aforesaid website aggregate times.

If determination are excessively galore websites to pitch, spell to the Websites tab to spot the apical 100 websites by traffic. Pay peculiar attraction to websites with aggregate authors, arsenic these are much apt to judge guest posts.

For example, Moz has 182 pages astir SEO by 28 antithetic authors, truthful chances are immoderate of those are impermanent bloggers.

Podcast interviews are wherever you’re featured arsenic an adept connected a podcast and asked questions by the host.

Each 1 volition lone instrumentality astir an hr of your time, and if you take them wisely, backlinks are beauteous overmuch guaranteed. This is due to the fact that astir podcasts person occurrence pages connected their website, which astir ever nexus to the guest’s website and societal profiles.

How to do it

You archetypal request to find podcasts to pitch, which you tin bash by searching Google for apical manufacture podcasts. Most of the results volition beryllium listicles, and Google besides tends to amusement a podcasts carousel successful the hunt results.

Before pitching, cheque the podcast’s episodes pages to marque definite they nexus to their guests.

If you spot a prolific podcast interviewee (like our precise ain Tim Soulo) portion browsing, paste their homepage into Ahrefs’ Site Explorer, take the “Exact URL” hunt mode, caput to the Backlinks report, filter for results with “episode” successful the referring leafage title, and sift done the results for applicable podcasts to pitch.

You tin beryllium definite that immoderate podcasts you observe utilizing this method nexus to their guests.

Unlinked mentions are erstwhile radical mention your marque (or thing related to your brand) online without linking to your website.

They’re low-hanging effect successful nexus gathering due to the fact that you’re already halfway there. The idiosyncratic is already acquainted with your marque truthful asking them to adhd a nexus to the notation is often capable to triumph the link.

How to do it

To find unlinked mentions, hunt for your marque successful Content Explorer and adhd -site:yourwebsite.com

to exclude results from your site.

Next, usage the “highlight unlinked domains” diagnostic to item pages from websites that haven’t linked to you, past export the results (make definite to tick the “Only pages with highlighted domains” box).

Sift done the results successful Excel oregon Google Sheets and scope retired wherever it makes sense.

Recommended reading: A Simple Guide to Turning (Unlinked) Brand Mentions into Links

A nexus spread investigation reveals the websites linking to aggregate competitors, but not you. It’s often casual to replicate these links due to the fact that if someone’s linking to aggregate competitors, it mightiness marque consciousness for them to nexus to you too.

How to do it

To tally a nexus spread analysis, plug your homepage into Site Explorer (use the “Exact URL” mode), spell to the Link Intersect report, and adhd a fewer competing homepages successful the bare fields (set these to “URL” mode too).

Look done the results for perchance replicable links.

For example, the website beneath links to 2 of our competitors. Looking astatine the links, we spot that they’re some acknowledgment to podcast interviews.

Given that this big has interviewed 2 of our competitors, they mightiness beryllium funny successful interviewing us too.

Stockist links travel from companies whose products you banal and sell. These links are casual to get if you banal products from companies that database stockists connected their websites.

How to do it

To find applicable stockists pages, find the websites of each the companies whose products you stock, past tally this Google hunt for each of them: site:brand.com intitle:"stockists" OR intitle:"where to buy". You should spot it successful the hunt results if they person a stockist page.

Here’s what that leafage looks like:

Then it’s simply a lawsuit of reaching retired and asking them to add you.

Organizations, communities, and clubs that you’re already a portion of are arguably the lowest-hanging effect successful nexus building. This is due to the fact that they often person squad oregon advisory committee pages wherever they’ll happily notation and nexus to you if you ask.

How to do it

To find opportunities, marque a database of each organizations, communities, and clubs you’re a portion of. This tin beryllium thing from a schoolhouse genitor advisory committee to a section foundation to a instrumentality association.

Next, find their websites and tally this Google hunt for each one: site:theirwebsite.com intitle:team OR advisory.

It should popular up if they person a applicable page.

Reach retired and petition a nexus wherever it makes sense.

Link roundups are curated lists of the champion caller contented successful an industry, usually from the past week oregon month. The authors of these posts are ever connected the lookout for worthy contented to diagnostic successful their adjacent roundup, truthful they’re an casual mode to physique links to caller content.

How to do it

To find roundup posts, hunt Google for your taxable followed by intitle:2022 intitle:"roundup" OR intitle:"round up".

As there’s nary constituent successful pitching discontinued roundups, filter for hunt results from the past 3 months (Tools > Any clip > Custom scope > prime the past 3 months connected the calendar).

Finally, cheque retired the roundups and transportation applicable ones.

Internal backlinks are links from different pages connected the aforesaid website. Many SEOs neglect interior links, which is simply a large mistake due to the fact that they’re a almighty mode to funnel ‘authority’ to the pages that request it. You besides person afloat power implicit them—unlike outer backlinks.

How to do it

To find pages that would payment astir from a boost, look for those that fertile successful positions 2–4 for their people keyword. You tin bash this successful Ahrefs’ Site Explorer. Just plug successful your site, spell to the Organic Keywords report, and filter by position.

Next, spell to your task successful Site Audit, click the Link Opportunities report, paste your page’s URL into the hunt box, and power the dropdown to “Target page.”

You should present spot applicable places connected your tract to adhd interior links to your page.

Recommended reading: Internal Links for SEO: An Actionable Guide

Final thoughts

Most of these tactics aren’t caller oregon exciting, but they work—and that’s what counts. Just don’t effort to bash them each astatine once. Start with one, larn from it, cleanable your approach, and physique from there. Give maine a outcry on Twitter if you person immoderate questions.