Your website's authority and rankings might be greatly enhanced if you use the right backlinking strategy. Regardless of your industry, we'll go through 10 ways in this post to get quality backlinks.
1. Linkable Assets
This link-building strategy entails:
- Making excellent pages that will inevitably get quality backlinks.
- Introducing them to relevant publications.
If done right, it's a scalable way to get quality backlinks for your website.
However, keep in mind that you'll have to provide content that other websites wish to link to. Typical illustrations include:
- Data-driven studies
- Infographics and visuals
- In-depth, long-form guides
It could come naturally for people to credit you as a source if you provide a resource that is comprehensive, interesting, and accurate.
The fact that these links are placed naturally, as Google prefers, is the finest part.
Let's use our blog post about the top 100 sites visited as a case study:
We initially conducted keyword research to choose a high-volume keyword before writing this post. “Most visited websites” have a 13.0K global search volume and a 5.4K U.S. search volume.
The goal was to design something that journalists and bloggers could use and link to in their articles. To do this, we included relevant data from our tools and created a post that would serve as a useful resource for a variety of industries.
Here’s the section on Education:
To sum up, we created a resource that is often updated, visually simple to understand, and applicable to a wide range of industries.
As a consequence, we received approximately 9.5K backlinks from over 1.1K referring sites for our blog post.
Backlinks from Time, Glamour, HubSpot, and other publications are included.
Read our digital PR guide to learn more about this strategy.
2. Resource Page Link Building
The practice of “resource page link building” is among the easiest and most efficient ways to get quality backlinks.
Curated lists of links make up resource pages (i.e., resources).
Almost any topic you can imagine has a resource page.
Like:
- Resources for learning SEO
- Information for dog trainers
- Sites for career planning
As an example, look at the career planning resource from the list above.
The resource page looks like this: Links to other websites that assist people in making career plans for various industries are abundant on it.
Filling out this form is all that is required to have your website listed on this page:
You might get a valuable backlink with only five minutes of effort.
By examining the pages that currently link to your rivals, you might discover further potential for resource pages.
Here's how you use the Semrush Backlink Analytics Tool to do that
Click “Analyze” after entering the competitor's URL that you want to review.
On the top navigation bar, navigate to the “Backlinks” tab to continue.
This will offer you a complete list of backlinks as well as an overview of the different types of links that a site is receiving.
Next, use the word “resource” to filter the URL column. You will get a list of pages that link to your rival and include the word “resource” in the title or URL if you do this:
In other words, it's a list of resource pages that already link to a site in your industry (your competitor).
This implies that they are willing to link to your site as well.
Review the results to determine if there is a page on your site that might complement one of these resource pages. If you don't already have a relevant page, you can always start one.
The last step is to browse the resource pages and either submit your resource using their forms or contact the site owners personally.
3. Broken Link Building
Broken link building is the process of finding broken links on pages within your specialty and contacting webmasters with your own resources to replace them.
Here's an example of a page with the 404 error: If a user clicks on a broken link, they may get the following “Not Found” error:
Not only is this a lousy user experience, but it also makes the site owner look awful.
Broken link building is a low-effort tactic that results in a win-win situation: the site owner fixes a broken link, and you get a backlink.
Here's how to locate broken links and contact site owners to request a replacement:
To begin, go to Backlink Analytics. Enter a domain relating to your specialty and then choose the “Indexed Pages” tab.
For example, if your business is in the personal finance industry, you may look at nerdwallet.com.
Then, in the top left, check the “Broken Pages” box.
This will show any broken pages on the site.
You may find out what sites are linking to these broken pages by clicking the hyperlinked numbers in the “Backlinks” column.
Look for any broken pages that are related to topics for which you already have content (or could create content about).
The fourth example on this list was a page discussing the average household credit card debt. There are 1,573 backlinks to it. Let's run it from there.
In this scenario, click the number of backlinks (1,573 in this case).
You will be taken to a list of all domains that link to the broken page.
If necessary, sift through your results using the filters (for example, type your desired keyword into the “Filter by title or URL” area at the top right of the above picture).
To find the page URL, look at the “Anchor and Target URL” column. As well as the anchor text used by the sites to link to the broken page.
Once you've identified a few solid opportunities, such as the one described above:
- Make a replacement page for your site.
- Contact the owners of sites that are linking to the old page and offer your page as an alternate destination.
4. The Skyscraper Technique
The Skyscraper Technique entails creating backlinks by following this tried-and-true formula:
- Identifying successful content that has received several links
- better content creation.
- promoting such content to individuals who connected with the original.
In other words, make excellent content and show it to people who will be interested in it.
What makes the skyscraper technique so effective?
People are naturally drawn to the best of the best.
As a result, the goal is to become the tallest “skyscraper” in your area. Your content should be of such high quality that people will want to link to it over other possibilities.
Create the best piece of content on the web for your chosen topic to perfect the skyscraper technique.
Go all-in on things like:
- Uniqueness
- Original visuals
- Comprehensiveness
Let's look at several examples that use the skyscraper technique. We'll start with Backlinko's full list of SEO tools:
You won't find a more thorough list of SEO tool reviews than this one, which is why it's so linkable.
It also includes a filterable table of contents, allowing users to find precisely what they're looking for inside the list.
While more isn't always better, it may be if all of the content is useful and covers the topic thoroughly.
Are you ready to put the Skyscraper Technique to the test?
Begin by conducting competitor research.
Your goal is to find prominent sites in your niche and figure out which of their pages has the most backlinks.
Backlink Analytics may help you research a competitor in your niche. As an example, consider Crate & Barrel.
Navigate to the “Backlinks” report, as shown below.
Scroll down to discover where they are obtaining backlinks, the authority scores (overall quality) of those pages, and more.
Specifically, look at:
- What do they have in common?
- What pages are getting the most backlinks?
If you wish to start your research by topic, you may also do this step on Google.
Search for a topic within your niche that interests you. Then, look at the pages that appear on page one.
Enter individual pages into Backlink Analytics in the same way we did for Crate & Barrel above for more information:
Make sure you look at more than simply traffic and backlinks.
Editorially review the pages to identify content, images, and other components that might be improved on your own page.
Create your own page to compete with the pages you identified throughout your research after you've collected enough material.
Consider that simply rewording or adding more graphics to a piece that is performing well will most likely not work.
Instead:
Put your own twist on the topic by changing the viewpoint, structure, images, and so on.
When writing (or upgrading) a page using the Skyscraper Technique, your goal should be to make your page:
- Better designed
- Better organized
- More up-to-date
- More comprehensive
Now that your page has been updated, look for prospects who might be interested in linking to it.
The goal is to reach out to people who already link to similar content. You'll provide them with a more complete alternative to link to.
Return to Backlink Analytics and reach a page you wish to compete with to find people to contact.
Return to the “Backlinks” report and examine which pages link to the competition.
You can check which pages link to your competitor's page, as well as other information (like what anchor text they use), in this section.
This step should be repeated until you have a list of prospective link-building opportunities. However, since this is a continuous process, you can always go back and add more.
Here's a template to help you reach out:
Keep in mind that the goal here is to prioritize quality over quantity. So, even if you just receive 10 or 15 links, they may have a significant influence if they come from relevant, reputable sites.
If you've put in the work and built a solid page, it should be a no-brainer for people to link to it.
Pro tip: Using the Link Building Tool, you can keep your outreach activities organized.
5. Help a Reporter Out (HARO)
HARO is a website that offers some great opportunities to earn press links.
Help a Reporter Out, or HARO links journalists with sources. If a journalist decides to cite your content, they may also provide you with a hyperlink.
This is how it works:
You will receive emails three times every business day after signing up.
They will look at the following zestard.com example:
In this example, the journalist is searching for tips on how to make a property look more attractive. They provide requirements so that sources know precisely what to send.
You may also choose which industries you want to subscribe to. So, if you signed up to receive inquiries from the interior design industry, you would have received this advice.
Visit Best Life Online's live page for a variety of tips with quotations attributed to different sources. Backlinks are another term for this.
The best aspect of this tactic is that if you set up your HARA account properly, you won't have to do any labor.
Respond to relevant pitch requests. (Don't forget to provide a link to your website and any further information requested by the writer.)
Journalists in all industries need quotations and sources to back up their articles. They must specify where they obtained specific information to correctly reference a source.
So, if you notice a request that is relevant to what you do, respond to it, and you can become a source for an article. (To earn it another way, get a backlink.)
Be as thorough as possible, and only respond to topics and requests on which you are an expert.
You will not be successful with every pitch. However, if you respond wisely, you may build some authority backlinks.
6. Link Gap Analysis
Conducting a link gap analysis—finding sites that link to your competitors but not to you—is one of the quickest ways to uncover backlink possibilities (yet).
If a website has connected to more than one of your competitors, they are likely to link to yours as well.
To make this procedure more simple, use the Backlink Gap tool.
Begin by inputting your domain as well as up to four competitors.
In all, you may enter up to five domains. When you enter them, click “Find prospects“, and you'll see the domains (and pages) that link to one or more of your competitors.
The main screen will look like this:
On the left, you can see which referring domains link to the domains you choose to evaluate.
Click the arrow symbol next to the number in the competitor's column to see which pages are linked to their sites:
If you click on this arrow in the realtor.com column, you'll find links to the two nj.gov pages that link to them, as well as the authority score of those pages.
Every page will not be a perfect match. (You may come across some spammy backlinks).
So, take the time to visit the pages that generate backlinks to your competitors to evaluate whether they are worth pursuing.
When you find a page that you want to link to, you can start outreach right from the Backlink Gap tool.
At the top of the page, click the “+ Start outreach” button.
This will open a window that enables you to send prospects directly to the Link Building Tool, where you can manage outreach and send emails directly from Semrush.
7. Provide Testimonials
Customers often rely on testimonials and reviews to make purchasing choices.
But did you know that you can also use testimonials to leverage backlinks to your website?
This is how it works:
- Create a blog post that showcases your favorite products or services.
- Then, tell the proprietors of the sites you've mentioned.
They may share your material on social media or link to it.
Alternatively, if a site allows users to submit reviews, that's a quick and simple way to get started.
Here's an example of a testimonials page from HubSpot. If you click the “Learn more” buttons, you'll be brought to the sites that have awarded or mentioned HubSpot:
Companies may also email their testimonials to Semrush's Success Stories page:
We've shared success stories from a variety of Semrush users and linked to their websites on this page:
This is a win-win process. We may share Semrush success stories with our users. And if we highlight a business, they get a backlink.
Here's how you can begin:
Begin by posting a testimonial or case study on your website highlighting a tool, service, etc. (Of course, it should be relevant to your business and a tool you employ.)
For example, we wrote a blog on some of our top free and paid SEO tools. We listed over 50 tools that we use and like, as well as a link to each of them.
Remember that you should not develop useless content to get links. You should ensure that your content is useful to your audience.
The search volume for “free SEO tools” is 4,400.
As a result, we picked a term that people in our industry were interested in. Then I took advantage of the opportunity to share some testimonials about tools that we use and like.
As of this writing, this page has 2K backlinks from 423 referring domains.
It might be mutually advantageous if you write a detailed, instructive piece that also showcases tools you use and like. The owners of the tools you mention may share their experiences, which may resonate with others in your community or niche.
8. Supplier Links
If you sell other people's products, you may be missing out on a great opportunity to gain backlinks to your site.
Many manufacturers and suppliers feature “where to purchase” pages on their websites, such as this example from a bicycle manufacturer.
Each of them is a store that offers that specific brand of bike. The supplier is pleased to link to these shops from its website since it draws attention to their goods (win-win).
This link-building tactic is straightforward.
Make a list of all of your suppliers first.
Then, go to each website and see which ones have pages that link to their stores.
Look for a button or link that says “retailers” or “dealers”:
Find a page where your site isn't listed.
Contact your company's contacts and inquire about getting your website listed and linked.
9. Business Association Links
If you are a member of a business association, you may have an easy opportunity to earn a backlink.
Business associations are groups that bring together enterprises, typically in a specific industry (like a local Chamber of Commerce group).
To begin, either join a local business association or visit the website of the one you already belong to.
Then, on their site, look for a “members” page. This page will typically take the form of a member directory, as in the following example from the Long Beach Chamber of Commerce:
If you're a member but don't see yourself listed, reach out to us and we'll tell you how to be included.
Here's another example from the Downtown Naperville Business Directory for businesses in downtown Naperville, Illinois. It includes a directory with links to its members:
If you aren't a member and believe you might benefit from what they have to offer, join now. Then follow the link.
10. Listicle Link Building
Listicles are articles that are presented in the form of a list. They may vary depending on your industry and cover topics such as:
- Top 20 [products]
- Top 10 [topic] blogs
- Best [business type] in [city]
This is how the search results for “best vegetarian recipes” look:
All of the results are listicles.
The idea is to find listicles that do not mention your site. Here's how to find these pages so you can reach them and pitch your business:
Try looking for “things to do in [your city],” “top restaurants in [your city],” and so on if you operate a local business.
You may also use Google search operators (commands that narrow down your search) to find listicles in your industry that do not include your site.
To exclude terms from your search that you don't want to appear, use the minus symbol (-). It would be the name of your business in this scenario.
Assume you own Quartino Ristorante, a Chicago-area Italian restaurant.
Search Google for “top restaurants in Chicago — Quintino Restaurant” to find listicles that don't (yet) include your company.
There are no results that include the term “Quartino Ristorante.”
Examine the first page of results and make a note of any listicles you wish to feature on your site.
Pro tip: You may also find this information with our Surround Sound tool. Enter your keywords to find where your brand should be referenced but isn't.
Assume we want Eater Chicago's position on the first page to feature our fictional business.
Do some research to find the best way to reach the site's owner. In this instance, Eater Chicago offers a contact page where you may explain why you're writing:
If you think you'd have a better chance of messaging them on social media, you may also click the social media links in their navigation bar.
Eater Chicago has a sizable following, so it's not a perfect strategy. However, it might be an excellent opportunity to reach out in a more personal way.
Next Steps
As you may have seen, several of these link building tactics include contacting website owners and requesting backlinks.
It takes a lot of effort. Create a free Semrush account and try our Link Building Tool to remain organized.
It enables you to:
- Find excellent backlinking chances.
- Connect your email account to the tool to reach out to backlink prospects directly.
- Keep a track of your progress and results.
Good luck, and happy link building!
