The fastest way to get backlinks is to build something other sites have a reason to cite, then make sure the right people see it: original data, a genuinely better resource, or a tool that saves someone time. Tactically, that means a small stack of repeatable plays: digital PR and data studies, broken-link reclamation, strategic guest contributions, and relationship-led outreach. Below we walk through how to get backlinks that survive a core update, how to judge a link before you chase it, and which “tactics” we tell clients to stop paying for.
How To Get Backlinks
Getting backlinks is the process of earning incoming hyperlinks from other websites (through link-worthy content, outreach, and digital PR) that pass authority and referral traffic to your pages.
What “good” actually means now
Links still count. Google’s own documentation says it uses links as a signal when judging how relevant a page is, and to find new pages to crawl. What changed is how much it throws away. Since its December 2022 link spam update, Google has used its SpamBrain system to detect sites that buy links and sites that exist to sell them, and to neutralize those links. A link from a private blog network or a $40 Fiverr package is now most likely worth nothing, and at worst it is evidence against you.
Four properties separate a link worth chasing from a link worth ignoring:
- Authority of the linking domain: is this a site search engines already trust in your space? Third-party scores such as Ahrefs’ Domain Rating are useful as a rough guide. Google uses none of them, and its own trust signals are not public (see TrustRank).
- Topical relevance: a link from a site in your niche carries far more weight than a high-authority link from an unrelated one, and it is the hardest property to fake.
- Placement and visibility: an editorial link inside the body of an article beats a link buried in a footer, sidebar, or author bio that no human will ever click.
- Anchor text: natural, varied anchor text signals an earned link; over-optimized exact-match anchors at scale signal manipulation and invite a Google penalty.
We tell clients this constantly: one editorial link from a relevant authority outperforms 50 directory submissions. Stop counting links. Start weighing them.
The plays we actually run
There’s no shortage of “101 link building tactics” listicles. In practice, a handful of plays produce almost all the durable links. Here’s our working stack, roughly in order of ROI.
1. Digital PR and original data
The most reliable way to earn links at scale is to publish something journalists and bloggers need to cite: original research, a survey, a proprietary dataset, an industry benchmark. Reporters link to data sources by reflex. One well-pitched study can earn dozens of editorial links from domains you could never buy your way onto, and those links keep working for years. This is the backbone of any serious link-building program.
2. Linkable assets
Adjacent to data: build reference-grade assets people want to cite without being asked. Free tools, calculators, definitive guides, original frameworks, well-designed visualizations. These are link bait in the good sense: they earn links passively because they’re genuinely the best resource on the topic. Build it once, promote it deliberately, and it keeps accruing links.
3. Broken-link building
Find dead links on relevant, authoritative pages, then offer your equivalent resource as the replacement. It works because you’re solving a real problem for the site owner: a broken link hurts their UX and crawlability. Our full method lives in broken-link building; the same skills also help you find and fix broken links on your own site.
4. Strategic guest contributions
Guest posting still works if you target genuinely relevant, edited publications and bring something worth reading. What died was the spammy version: Google’s spam policies name “large-scale article marketing or guest posting campaigns with keyword-rich anchor text links” as a link scheme. A thoughtful contributed article on a respected industry site earns a contextual link and brand exposure at once.
5. Relationship-led outreach
Most of the above depends on outreach, and outreach is a relationship game. Warm contacts, podcast appearances, expert roundups, co-created content, and genuine engagement with the people in your niche usually convert far better than cold templated email. Slow, unglamorous, and the most defensible link source there is.
6. Unlinked mention reclamation
If people already mention your brand without linking, that’s the lowest-effort win on the board. Monitor for mentions, reach out, ask for the link; the relationship and the context already exist.
What to stop paying for
Some “tactics” are net-negative. We’ve audited too many sites carrying penalties from exactly this list:
| Tactic | Verdict | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Original data / digital PR | Do | Earns editorial links at scale; compounds for years |
| Linkable tools & guides | Do | Passive links from being the best resource |
| Broken-link & guest (relevant sites) | Do | Contextual, earned, defensible |
| Bulk directory submissions | Skip | Near-zero value; can look manipulative |
| Comment/forum link drops | Skip | Usually nofollow or ugc, ignored, and spammy |
| PBNs & link networks | Avoid | Classic black-hat; penalty risk |
| Buying links that pass PageRank | Avoid | Violates Google’s spam policies; algorithmic and manual risk |
The honest middle ground is forums and communities: genuinely helpful answers that link to your content only when it solves the question. These links are usually tagged nofollow or ugc, and that’s fine: they drive qualified referral traffic and put your asset in front of the exact people who might link to it editorially later. The same logic applies to UGC links from social and community platforms.
How to find link prospects
You can’t out-create the link gap on instinct alone. The repeatable loop:
- Reverse-engineer competitors. Pull the backlink profiles of pages outranking you. Every link they have that you don’t is a prospect, and the patterns reveal what your niche actually links to.
- Map the asset to the audience. For each linkable asset, list who has a reason to cite it: journalists, niche bloggers, resource-page curators, course creators.
- Personalize the pitch. One specific, relevant reason this person should care beats any template. Reference their work; make the link the obvious answer to a problem they have.
- Track and follow up. A polite second email often gets the reply the first one did not. A lightweight tracker beats a CRM you’ll abandon.
Pair this with a deliberate content distribution habit, and links start arriving before you even ask, because the right people have already seen the work. One note on link types: a followed link (one with no rel qualifier) can pass ranking value. Nofollow, sponsored and ugc links are hints Google may or may not count, and all of them can still drive traffic and discovery. A healthy profile has both kinds.
When backlinks become a business problem
A new site with nothing worth citing does not need a link builder yet. Fix the pages first. If the pages ranking for your terms carry a few dozen referring domains, an afternoon of competitor research and a handful of pitches will tell you more than any vendor.
It is worth paying for help when the money and the results have drifted apart: a monthly link package with no ranking movement, links pointing at pages that never convert, a manual action for unnatural links in Search Console, or a competitor whose profile outreach alone cannot match. On a fractional SEO engagement, the off-page work is agreed with you on either tier, and any link-building spend sits on top of the fee, so you always see what the links cost. Gyfted reached 126,824 Google clicks in its best month on $7k of backlinks in total.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long does it take to get backlinks to affect rankings?
Earning quality links takes weeks to months; digital PR campaigns and outreach don’t pay off overnight. Once links land, search engines need to crawl and reassess the page, so movement typically shows over weeks. Treat link building as a compounding investment: the durable wins arrive on a quarter-by-quarter horizon.
Should I buy backlinks to rank faster?
No. Buying links that pass PageRank violates Google’s spam policies. Since the 2022 link spam update, Google aims to neutralize the bought links it detects, so you risk paying for links that count for nothing, with a manual action as the downside. Invest the same budget in original data, linkable assets, and outreach. It’s slower, and those links survive core updates.
How many backlinks do I need to rank on the first page?
There’s no magic number, and it varies enormously by query. In our Keyword Difficulty study, the median top 10 page had 22 referring domains for “magnesium benefits” and 375 for “marketing automation”, two keywords in the same KD band. Study the backlink profiles of pages already ranking for your target query, and match their quality and topical fit before you worry about their tally.
Do nofollow links help SEO at all?
Yes, indirectly. Nofollow, UGC, and sponsored links are hints that generally pass little or no ranking value, but they drive qualified referral traffic, aid discovery, and put your content in front of people who may link to it editorially later. A natural profile has both kinds.
What’s the best backlink strategy for a small business?
Start with one genuinely linkable asset (a local data study, a free tool, or the definitive guide in your niche), then run targeted outreach to relevant sites and reclaim unlinked brand mentions. Skip directories and link-buying entirely. For most small businesses, 10 relevant editorial links beat 1,000 purchased ones.