How to get strong backlinks: 7 approaches that work today
Practical ways to earn strong backlinks from real sites: content worth citing, original data, existing relationships, guest posts and links in published articles, with what each one takes.
What makes a backlink strong?
A strong link brings three things together: a site with real readers in your field and country, a context that discusses your subject, and a target page worth visiting. Metrics in measuring tools help you compare, but they don’t make a link strong on their own.
Google’s SEO Starter Guide notes that the vast majority of new pages it finds every day are found through links, so a link from a place people actually visit works for you twice: it sends a reader today and helps Google find and understand you. If you haven’t read about the criteria in detail yet, start with the backlink quality checklist.
1. Make something worth citing
Thorough guides that answer your audience’s questions, small calculators and tools, up-to-date reference lists. These get mentioned and linked because they save writers the effort of explaining. Ask yourself: which page do writers in my field wish already existed?
Example: a sports equipment shop publishes a guide to choosing running shoes by foot type, with a clear size chart, and bloggers and coaches link to it whenever they write about running. The link comes because the page is useful, not because you asked for it.
2. Publish original data
Journalists and writers are always looking for a number to quote. A small survey of your customers, an analysis of prices in your market or a statistic from your own business data gives them a reason to link to you as the source.
Make the figures clear and easy to quote, and explain honestly how you gathered them. Data about local markets such as Kuwait, Jeddah or Casablanca is often scarce in Arabic, which in itself is an opportunity for whoever publishes it first.
3. Use the relationships you already have
Your suppliers, partners and the organisations you work with may have “our partners”, “our clients” or case study pages. Professional associations, chambers of commerce and events you take part in are natural sources of links, because they reflect a real relationship.
Ask simply and clearly, and make it easy: a short description of your company, its logo and the right page to link to. If the mention comes with a paid sponsorship, marking the link sponsored is in line with Google’s guidance.
4. A guest article on a site in your field
Choose a site your audience reads and pitch a subject that adds something for its readers rather than repeating what it has published. A good article gives useful information and places the link where the reader actually needs it, with natural text that describes the target page.
You can contact publishers directly, or use the marketplace to see available sites, publishing terms, link type and price in one place. The guest posting guide walks through choosing the site and writing the article.
5. A link inside a published article
Some publishers add a link to an older indexed article that already gets visits. Pick an article close to your subject, and make sure the sentence carrying the link serves the reader and doesn’t feel forced.
It is faster than writing a new article, but its value depends entirely on how relevant the article is and on the link staying in place. Confirm it after it is added with the backlink checker, and check again a few months later.
6. Turn mentions into links
Look for articles that mention your company or product without a link: search Google for your brand name in quotes while excluding your own site, as in "your brand" -site:yoursite.com. Then write to the author politely and suggest adding the link so their readers can reach you easily.
They already mentioned you, so the request is small and reasonable. The same goes for pages linking to a page you deleted: redirect the old address to the closest replacement so neither the link nor the reader is lost.
7. Be present where your customers look
Your Business Profile on Google, which shows in Search and Maps, your brand’s accounts on the main platforms, and well-known directories in your field. These links won’t lift your rankings by themselves, but they confirm you exist and help people find you.
Start early, because they are free and quick. You’ll find platforms worth joining, each with instructions, in the free backlinks list; if your business is local, check how you appear in your city with the local search checker.
What to avoid
Bulk link packages, private blog networks, excessive link exchanges and software that posts links automatically. All of them appear in Google’s link spam policies, and more to the point, they cost money that has no effect. We set out what is safe and what is risky in types of backlinks.
A good plan doesn’t look exciting: a few suitable links each month, content that keeps improving, and calm measurement of what works. Over time that builds a kind of trust cheap packages can’t. For a short answer on whether it is all worth it, read are backlinks still worth it?
Sources & further reading
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