Link building is an important part of SEO for building authority, driving referral traffic, and now also improving your AI visibility.
But there are many different ways to build links, and not all of them have the same potential impact on your site’s authority. This guide will explain what link building is, what makes a link worth pursuing, and the two categories of link building tactics you should consider using.
Most teams don’t realize they need two types of link building
You can think of modern link building as being split into two categories of tactics based on what they produce for your brand:
- Link producers: This type of link building is more accessible, can generate a high volume of links, and is where most site owners start. The links can be valuable, and the tactics are generally worth keeping as part of your ongoing strategy as you build authority.
- Association producers: This type of link building is more effort-intensive, but the tactics produce the kind of brand association that search engines and AI systems use when deciding which brands to rank, mention, and cite. They also tend to produce more links from higher authority sites.
|
Category |
Tactics |
Benefits |
Drawbacks |
|
Link producers |
– Email outreach – Reclaiming lost links – Analyzing competitor links – Getting listed on resource pages – Broken link building |
– Accessible for beginners – Can generate a high volume of links – Fairly easy to scale |
– Hard to get links from high-authority sites |
|
Association producers |
– Creating linkable assets – Digital PR – Becoming a source – Guest blogging – Getting links from partners |
– Can yield many high-authority links – Builds brand association |
– Time- and effort-intensive – Takes a long time to see results – May require specialist staff and/or extra budget |
Most new link building programs focus almost entirely on the link producers type. These links are typically easier and less time-intensive to build. But these links don’t often lead to strong brand associations. They instead focus on just getting hyperlinks to your content, with less focus on the context of the individual links.
The tactics that fall under the association producers category are still focused on getting links, but the link’s (or mention’s) placement and context also matter. These links require more investment, but they often build more authority and greater visibility returns in the process.
What is link building in SEO?
Link building is the process of getting other websites to link to yours, which can improve your visibility in traditional search results and in AI-generated answers.
How link building helps search engine visibility
Search engines like Google see backlinks as signals of authority.
When credible sites link to your content, it signals to search engines that your site is also credible and worth showing in search results.
How link building helps AI visibility
AI systems don’t have a link-based ranking system like Google’s that we know of, but they do look at which brands appear consistently in credible and contextually relevant content.
However, AI systems often rely on indexes from search engines like Google and Bing. So there’s likely an indirect effect at play, where increasing your authority in search engines can also increase your authority in AI systems.
Our study with Growth Advisor Kevin Indig found that backlink-related factors (like link quality) influence AI visibility. This illustrates how link building can help improve both your search engine and AI visibility.
What affects a backlink’s value?
Not all backlinks have the same impact on SEO. Some backlinks may have no effect at all, and links obtained through spammy tactics (sometimes called toxic backlinks) can be harmful.
Here are the primary factors that influence a backlink’s value:
Authority
Links from authoritative sites usually have more SEO impact.
For example, a backlink from a well-known site like bbc.co.uk will probably affect your SEO more than one from an unknown blog that was just launched yesterday.
Authoritative websites are typically those that:
- Have a diverse range of websites linking to them
- Drive a reasonable amount of organic traffic
- Publish high-quality content
- Have a clear topical focus
- Provide a good user experience
Sites that share many or all of these traits are more likely to affect your site’s visibility if they link to you.
Gauge any website’s authority with Semrush’s Authority Score metric. It’s measured on a 100-point scale and factors in:
- Link power: Quality and quantity of a site’s backlinks
- Organic traffic: Estimated monthly unpaid visits from search engines
- Natural profile: How spam-free a site’s backlink profile seems
Earning links from less authoritative sites is fine because a balanced backlink profile includes both high- and low-authority sites. The BBC’s website has an Authority Score of 100, even though they have more links from low-authority sites and fewer from high-authority sites.
See the Authority Score of any website with our free website authority checker.
Relevance
Backlinks carry more weight when they come from sites in your niche, because having those sites linking to you implies you’re respected by experts in your field.
Relevance also matters at the content level. A link in a paragraph that’s directly about your topic is worth more than one in a section that’s not related to your business.
For example, if you sell basketball shoes, consider three hypothetical backlinks:
- Backlink 1 is from a gardening website in a blog post about plants. The backlink likely has minimal value because the site and topic are irrelevant.
- Backlink 2 isfrom a sports blog in a post about cardio exercises. This backlink offers some value, since it’s at least in your niche.
- Backlink 3 is from a sports blog’s basketball shoe buying guide in a paragraph describing your product as the “best basketball shoes.” This is a high-value backlink, since the site, the page, and the link are all directly relevant.
Link placement
Links placed more prominently on a page can have greater value.
Google’s “reasonable surfer model” (described in this patent) considers how likely users are to click a link based on its location.
We can’t say with confidence that Google is actually using this patent. We also don’t know if this plays a part for AI systems. But the logic of the patent suggests that links in sidebars or footers often have less impact than those in the main body content. Generally, an earlier placement in the main content is best.
Anchor text
Backlinks with descriptive anchor text (the clickable text) can help search systems understand what the linked page is about.
For example, anchor text like “basketball shoes” is more useful than “click here.” (This is true for both users and search engines.)
Anchor text should read naturally. You generally won’t be able to control the use of anchor text in natural backlinks to your site. But over-optimized anchor text can signal spammy link building and lead to a penalty that hurts your rankings.
Nofollow, sponsored, and UGC attributes
Some links contain a nofollow attribute (or other attribute) that tells search engines not to pass ranking signals.
In HTML, a link with the nofollow attribute (a “nofollow link”) typically looks like this:
<a href="https://example.com" rel="nofollow">Anchor Text</a>
Backlinks without these attributes are often called “follow” or “dofollow” links.
The three main attributes you’ll encounter are:
- rel=”nofollow”: Used when a publisher doesn’t want to pass an endorsement
- rel=”sponsored”: Used for paid links
- rel=”ugc”: Used for user-generated content like forum posts and comments
Google treats these attributes as hints, meaning its ranking systems may still factor these links in.
And our backlinks study showed that nofollow links have almost the same impact on AI visibility as standard follow links. Meaning link placement and context likely matter more than whether the link is nofollow.
Co-citations and co-occurrences
Co-citations and co-occurences are signals related to what your site is linked or mentioned alongside, and both can impact the value of that link or mention.
Co-citations are when your brand is linked or mentioned alongside other trusted names in your space.
For example, if you sell project management software and your product appears in the same article as monday.com, Asana, and ClickUp, that association tells search and AI systems what category you’re in and who your competitors are.
Co-occurrences are when terms related to your business appear consistently alongside your brand name across the web (or alongside links to your content).
If content that mentions or links to your project management tool also tends to mention “workflow automation,” “kanban boards,” and “team collaboration,” search systems can gain a clearer picture of what your brand does and when it’s relevant.
Getting links in relevant, quality content will typically build co-citations and co-occurences naturally over time.
How to build links (and how not to)
Below are the four most common ways to build links:
|
Method |
Process |
Should you do it? |
|
Earn links |
Publishing original content that other website owners cite without being asked |
Yes, this is the most sustainable approach and the kind that builds most authority in search engines and AI systems |
|
Ask for links |
Reaching out to a site that mentions your brand but hasn’t linked to you |
Yes, when your content genuinely adds value for their readers |
|
Add links |
Submitting your business to an industry directory or building out social profiles |
Yes, it’s a legitimate way to establish a basic web presence for new sites. It’s less effective as a long-term strategy. |
|
Buy links |
Paying a site directly to include a link to your page |
No, this violates Google’s spam guidelines and risks a penalty. You can pay an agency or freelancer to run your link building campaigns but not the site hosting the link. |
Which link building tactics actually work?
All of the below tactics work well for building backlinks to your website.
The first five link building tactics are link producers. They have the potential to generate a lot of links as you scale them, and are the ideal starting points for new sites.
The last five tactics are association producers. These require more investment, but they typically earn placements in authoritative websites, and can have a bigger impact on your search engine and AI visibility.
1. Conduct email outreach
Email outreach is the process of contacting site owners, editors, or content teams to request a link.
Many link building campaigns rely on cold email, which is when you reach out to someone with whom you have no prior relationship. This can work, but you’re often competing with many other site owners using the same tactic.
So, it’s much better to build some sort of relationship first. You can do this by:
- Sharing or commenting on their articles and social posts
- Referencing and linking to their work in something you publish and letting them know
- Replying to their newsletter or responding to something they’ve written
Do this consistently over time. It won’t guarantee that you’ll build a relationship that’ll lead to a link, but it can make it more likely.
Once you’ve built up a relationship with the link prospect, send a pitch email that:
- References something specific about their content
- Explains clearly why your piece would benefit their readers
- Asks them to link to a particular piece in a specific place within their content
For more on how to pitch, see our guide to link building outreach.
2. Reclaim lost backlinks
Recovering backlinks that you lost (such as if the linking site updated the content, deleted the page, or redirected the page) is often easier than building new links.
To find lost links, use Semrush’s Backlink Audit tool. Run an audit for your domain and go to the “Lost & Found” tab. This report shows how many referring domains have been acquired, broken, or lost over the past 30, 60, or 90 days.
To find lost backlinks, scroll down and click on the “Lost” tab at the top of the table. To prioritize, filter the list to show links with high Authority Scores (above 40 is a good starting point).
Investigate why each backlink disappeared. If the page still exists and is relevant, email the site owner and ask them to restore the link.
Not every lost link is worth the effort. Focus on links from authoritative and relevant domains.
3. Analyze and recreate competitor backlinks
Look at where your competitors get links from to learn what content attracts links in your niche and to see which sites are already willing to link to businesses like yours.
The goal isn’t to copy your competitors’ links exactly. Many of their backlink placements won’t be available to you. For example, if the link came from a relationship with a partner you don’t have.
Instead of copying, the aim is to find inspiration for similar links you could build to your own site.
Use Semrush’s Backlinks tool to look at which pages on a competitor’s site have the most backlinks. Enter a competitor’s domain and go to the “Indexed Pages” report to see their pages sorted by the number of referring domains pointing to each page.
Look for patterns in the pages that attract the most links. Are they all on a similar topic? Do they use similar formats? Do they include free tools? The answers to these questions can indicate what you’d need to create to build similar links.
If multiple competitors have links from the same domains, those domains may be more likely to link to you.
Find domains that link to multiple rivals with Semrush’s Backlink Gap tool. Add your domain and up to four competitors’ domains, then click “Find prospects.”
The “Best” tab is selected by default and shows domains that link to all your competitors but not to you.
The column under each competitor’s domain shows how many backlinks come to that domain from the website in the “Referring domain” column. Click the arrow to see details about the backlinks any rival gets from a particular domain, including the anchor text and target URL.
Visit each referring domain to understand if that website would be a good one for your site to get a link from. Then look at the pages on your rivals’ sites that the domain links to, so you can understand what kind of content you may need to produce to get that link (or a similar one).
4. Get listed on resource pages
Getting links from resource pages that curate links to useful content in a specific niche (e.g., being featured in a tool listicle) can help you gain backlinks that are particularly relevant to your brand.
Being featured on resource pages also builds co-citations, since you’ll be linked alongside other sites in your industry.
Here’s an example of a resource page about digital marketing links, which links to various digital marketing tools:
To find relevant resource pages use Google search operators like:
- [your topic] + inurl:resources
- [your topic] + “helpful resources”
- [your topic] + “useful links”
If you sell email marketing software, for example, you could search “‘email marketing’ inurl:resources.”
Prioritize pages that are actively maintained and link to genuinely useful content. Then, check whether your content would fit alongside what’s already listed. If it links to guides, lead with a well-researched guide rather than a product page.
Reach out to the page owner with a short, specific pitch that describes what your resource is, why it fits their audience, and where on the page it belongs. The more specific you are about the fit, the better your chances of receiving a link.
5. Do broken link building
Use broken link building to find links on other sites that point to pages that no longer exist, then suggest your content as a replacement.
Site owners generally want to fix broken links to provide a better user experience, and you get a link opportunity. So, it’s a win for both parties.
Use Semrush’s Backlinks tool to find a competitor’s broken pages. Enter a competitor’s domain, then go to the “Indexed Pages” report and check the box next to “Broken Pages.”
You’ll see a list of broken pages on the competitor’s site sorted by the number of “Domains” (how many different sites link to them).
Look for broken pages that you have a good alternative for by visiting each URL. Then, click the number in the “Backlinks” column to see the page’s backlinks you may be able to inherit.
Click the icon alongside the URL to view a backlink in context and see if it’ll be a good fit for your proposed link.
If the site is a good candidate, send them an email with the page on your site that you want them to replace the broken link with.
6. Create linkable assets
Creating linkable assets helps you earn links long after you publish and also frames you as an authoritative source for search engines and AI systems.
A linkable asset is content that attracts backlinks naturally, like tools, data studies, or in-depth guides. Linkable assets give other site owners something concrete to reference that they can’t find anywhere else.
Common formats for linkable assets include:
- Tools and calculators
- In-depth guides
- Visual assets
An example of a page that does all three is thecalculatorsite.com’s compound interest calculator.
It combines a helpful tool with an ultimate guide to compound interest, along with eye-catching visuals.
The page has generated 3.3K backlinks from 1.1K domains.
7. Leverage digital PR
Digital PR focuses on gaining online coverage in high-authority places like industry publications, news sites, etc., through interesting stories.
The coverage you get with digital PR is the kind of content AI systems often retrieve when answering questions about your category or comparing options in your space. This means it builds traditional link equity (to help with SEO) and brand association (to improve both SEO and AI optimization) at the same time. And you don’t even have to get a link to see benefits.
Campaigns that earn coverage tend to have original research, an interesting take on the news, or a creative concept that generates interest on its own.
An example of digital PR in action is Writerbuddy’s AI industry analysis. It put together data and infographics about the 50 most-visited AI tools, along with a detailed guide going over the findings.
The campaign generated links from high-authority sites like Forbes and CNBC.
For more on running your own campaigns, check out our full guide to digital PR.
8. Become a source
Becoming a source for journalists and content creators who need expert input can earn links and brand mentions in the resulting articles.
There are various platforms you can use to find opportunities. Popular ones include Featured and Help a Reporter Out (HARO).
You can also search “#JournoRequest” on X to find similar opportunities from journalists looking for sources.
A quote or reference in an editorial article can place your brand in credible, relevant content. This can yield co-citations and co-occurences that make it easier for search engines and AI systems to understand what your brand is all about — even if there’s no link.
Note that this tactic is competitive and time-intensive. Journalists receive a lot of pitches, and response rates can be low, especially when you’re starting out. If you can dedicate someone to pitching journalists and creators regularly, it can produce a high number of quality links and mentions over time.
9. Do guest blogging
Guest blogging for another publication places your brand in front of a relevant audience and may earn you a link from a site with real authority.
To find the right publications to guest post on, look at where your competitors have published guest content and use that to identify sites that may be worth reaching out to. The same caveat applies here as with competitor backlinks: Don’t try to write the same article for the same publication.
If your competitor just published a guest post on a specific topic, pitch a related but distinct angle. Or a post on a different topic. The site probably won’t publish your content if they already have a similar piece on that topic from a competitor.
For example, Replay Listings is an apartment rental agency in New York. If you were competing with them, you could search for “‘replay listings’ + ‘contributor’” or “‘replay listings’ + ‘guest post.’” This would reveal guest posts from the company’s founder on sites like Entrepreneur and Forbes.
In this case, some of these guest posts are centered around the founder’s journey. You could pitch your own founder journey story to these sites. Or you could pitch them ideas about things you’ve learned since starting your business.
Since Entrepreneur and Forbes are business-focused sites, pitching a story about your experience running a business is probably going to be more appealing to their audience than one about real estate specifically.
If your competitors haven’t contributed to other websites, use these search operators to find sites in your niche that accept contributions:
- [your industry] + “contribute”
- [your industry] + “guest post”
- [your industry] + “guest blog”
- [your industry] + “write for us”
Editors at authoritative publications get a lot of generic pitches. So, craft a strong pitch that stands out by specifying exactly what you’d write about, why it fits their audience, and what perspective you bring that their existing content doesn’t cover.
10. Get links from partners
Links from businesses you already have a relationship with can be fairly easy to get.
While links from partner directories are unlikely to pass much authority for search engine rankings, they can lead to co-citations that signal to search engines and AI systems what category you operate in and who your peers are.
Technology partners, resellers, agencies you work with, and industry organizations you’re affiliated with often have partner pages or resource sections where a link to your site would fit naturally. Find these opportunities by mapping out your existing relationships and checking whether those sites link to partners.
Here’s an example of a partner directory that includes short descriptions of the site’s partners, with links to each website.
How to track your link building efforts
Perform regular link building audits to track new, lost, and potentially harmful backlinks.
Semrush’s Backlink Audit tool can do this automatically. First, go to the tool’s settings and select “Recrawl schedule.”
Choose a frequency, then, click “Update.”
You’ll then receive emails summarizing your new audit data based on your specified cadence.
In the “Overview” tab, you can also monitor your site’s Authority Score. Progress may be gradual, but steady improvements in AS often reflect meaningful link building success.
Start building quality links today
Link building is important for growing your website’s visibility in both search engines and AI systems.
Some link building tactics are best for building links and mentions fairly quickly and/or at scale. Others require more effort but can build stronger associations around your brand to give search engines and AI tools more context about what you do.
Whether you’re building your site’s first links or running your 10th campaign, Semrush’s SEO Toolkit can help you find opportunities, analyze competitors, and track your link building efforts. Try it for free today.
