8 Effective Backlinking Strategies in 2024
Backlinks are a cornerstone of SEO success. Not only do they boost your website’s authority, but they also play a crucial role in increasing organic traffic and improving search rankings. However, as search engine algorithms evolve, so do backlinking strategies. In this guide, we’ll cover eight tried-and-true strategies for building high-quality backlinks that follow modern SEO best practices.
Whether you're new to SEO or a seasoned pro looking to fine-tune your backlinking strategy, these methods will help you gain valuable, sustainable links.
1. Guest Posting: Position Yourself as an Expert
Guest posting remains one of the most effective ways to build backlinks and establish authority within your niche. By writing high-quality content for authoritative websites, you gain backlinks and reach new audiences. Here’s how you can find guest post opportunities:
Search for “[Your Niche] + submit a guest post”
“[Your Niche] + write for us”
“[Your Niche] + accepting guest posts”
Be sure to prioritize websites with strong domain authority and an engaged readership. The content you contribute should be well-researched, relevant, and add value to the host site’s audience. Low-quality guest posts can hurt your site’s credibility, so always aim for the best quality possible.
Pro Tip: Instead of generic pitches, tailor your outreach to highlight how your content aligns with the site’s goals and audience. Personalization makes a significant difference in acceptance rates.
2. Geo-Relevant Backlinks: Boost Local SEO
If you’re running a local business or targeting a specific region, earning backlinks from geographically relevant sources can give your local SEO efforts a serious boost. To find opportunities, use these search queries:
Inurl “city name”
Intitle “city name”
Look for local businesses, non-profits, or community events that offer sponsorship opportunities. In exchange for your support, you can request a backlink. Not only does this improve your local SEO rankings, but it also positions your brand within the community.
Pro Tip: Local newspapers, blogs, and directories often provide excellent backlink opportunities. Make sure to maintain relationships with these local entities as they can lead to long-term collaborations.
3. Sponsored Posts: Leverage Niche Sponsorships for Authority
Sponsorships are another way to earn backlinks, especially when you want to target niche-specific sites. Search for sponsorship opportunities that align with your industry using these queries:
Inurl “city name”
Intitle “city name”
You can also reach out directly to niche blogs or events that fit your audience. While these backlinks are often paid, they’re valuable for brand exposure and gaining high-authority links within your field.
4. Infographics: Use Visual Content to Attract Links
Infographics are an excellent content asset for attracting backlinks. They are easy to share and help explain complex ideas in a digestible way. To attract backlinks, create high-quality, informative infographics related to your niche, and share them with relevant websites, blogs, or even local media outlets.
Once you’ve created your infographic, send it to local websites and industry blogs with a polite email, offering the visual content in exchange for a backlink.
Pro Tip: Make your infographics data-driven, visually appealing, and relevant to your audience. Tools like Canva or Piktochart can help you design engaging infographics, even if you're not a professional designer.
5. Forum Link Building: Engage in Niche Communities
Forums may seem like an outdated SEO tactic, but they can still provide valuable backlinks if done correctly. The key is to engage with forums that are highly relevant to your niche. Use these search queries:
Forum + [Your Niche]
[Your Niche] + Discussion Board
[Your Niche] inurl:/forums
[Your Niche] "Powered by vBulletin"
Contribute valuable insights, build trust within the community, and naturally introduce your website when relevant. Never spam links, as this can lead to penalties from search engines.
6. Resource Pages: Earn Links From Curated Lists
Many websites maintain resource pages—lists of useful links and content within specific niches. These pages are excellent for backlinking because they’re designed to link to high-quality resources. To find them, use queries like:
"[Your Niche] + inurl”
"[Your Niche] + helpful resources"
"[Your Niche] + useful links"
Reach out to site owners and suggest your content as a valuable addition to their resource page. As long as your content is relevant, well-researched, and high-quality, you have a good chance of earning a backlink.
7. Broken Link Building: Turn 404’s Into SEO Wins
Broken link building involves finding broken links on relevant websites and offering your content as a replacement. This strategy benefits both parties—the website owner fixes a dead link, and you get a backlink.
To start, find relevant resource pages or blogs using queries like:
"[Your Niche] + inurl"
"[Your Niche] + helpful resources"
Use a tool like Check My Links which is a Google Chrome Extension or Ahrefs to identify broken links on the page, then reach out to the site owner with your content as a replacement.
Pro Tip: When contacting website owners, make your outreach polite and to the point. Highlight how your content adds value to their page.
8. Skyscraper Technique: Build Better Content to Earn More Backlinks
The Skyscraper Technique involves finding content in your niche with lots of backlinks, improving upon it, and then reaching out to those linking to the original content. Here’s how to execute it:
Find content with lots of backlinks: Use tools like Ahrefs or SEMrush to identify popular content in your niche.
Create a superior version: Add more up-to-date information, better visuals, or additional resources to make your content the best available.
Reach out to those linking to the original content: Let them know you’ve created a more comprehensive version and ask if they would consider linking to your content instead.
Pro Tip: The more unique and valuable your improvements, the more likely it is that sites will switch their links to your content.
Final Thoughts
Building high-quality backlinks is essential for improving your website’s search engine rankings, but it takes time, strategy, and a focus on providing value. These eight backlinking strategies—ranging from guest posting to the Skyscraper Technique—will help you build a stronger backlink profile that boosts your SEO in 2024 and beyond.
Focus on creating valuable, trustworthy content that earns links naturally, and always adhere to Google’s EEAT guidelines to ensure your backlinking strategy is effective and sustainable.
