The Best Link Building Strategies Experts Recommend Using in 2023

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The Best Link Building Strategies Experts Recommend Using in 2023
07 November 2022
Link building is a vital part of the SEO process. And just as with any other SEO technic, it changes all the time. Strategies and technics that worked a couple of years ago, even a year ago might no longer be beneficial. They can even harm your website if they are considered spammy by Google.

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It’s really important to keep your knowledge up to date and follow the best practices of link building to be on the good side with Google.  But, no solution fits all. Link building tactics will depend on your industry, company size, and capabilities, so you need to find the best strategy for yourself.

According to Ahref’s study around 67% of websites has no referring domains.

It seems like most of the website owners are not engaged in any kind of link building activities. So why should you care about it? Maybe it’s just a waste of time?

In one of our real-life example articles, Kasia proved that it’s not true at all. Thanks to link building tactics she managed to greatly increase her client’s visibility and traffic.

Find out more in this article – Does Link Building Increase Organic Traffic? The Importance of Link Building Proved

Ahref found a correlation between search traffic and the number of referring domains as well. From their study, they concluded that the more backlinks the greater traffic to the website.

Are you convinced that link building strategy is something you definitely need in 2023?

If yes, keep reading to find out what is the best way to get those backlinks!

Choosing the best link building strategy for 2023 is a challenging task. There are plenty of possibilities and options to choose from.

We asked link-building experts for their recommendations to make the decision process easier.

Keep reading to find out, what link building strategies are the best to use in 2023 according to specialists!

Guest Posting

If you ever heard about link building, chances are you’ve heard about gusset posting. Maybe you get dozens of emails every day offering you a guest post or paid guest posting services?

Well, no wonder, guest posting is proven to be one of the best methods to acquire valuable links ( not the paid services though with “many valuable sites” – we do not recommend those). It’s also a great way to show your expertise and build a brand image.

Find out what experts have to say about guest posting as a link building method:

Expert Comment

I recommend using guest posting to build backlinks, but not in the way that most people think. Instead of just reaching out and asking if I can write a guest post for a website, I have built a large network of sites that I write for. Because of that, I can offer sites that I write for backlinks in return for publishing my content. The backlinks that I give them come from other sites that I guest post for. This creates a web of natural backlinks instead of direct link exchanges that are against Google’s policies.

Jordan Fulmer Momentum Property Solutions
Jordan Fulmer
Owner of Momentum Property Solutions
Expert Comment

Guest blogging is a good way to get quality backlinks and show that you know a lot about a certain topic, I strongly suggest that you use it. This is a widely used tactic for boosting traffic and search engine results. Find blogs and news sites that are related to your field, popular with the people you want to reach, and willing to post your content in exchange for a backlink. Get your foot in the door by making contact with magazines in your field of expertise.

Sandra Rios Buzz Agency
Sandra Rios
Co-Owner and Director of Client Services at Buzz Agency
Expert Comment

Guest posting is still an effective way to build links, but it’s important to do it right. Make sure you’re only guest posting on reputable sites and create truly original content that will add value to the site you’re posting on.

Linda Chavez Seniors Life Insurance Finder
Linda Chavez
Founder & CEO atSeniors Life Insurance Finder
Expert Comment

I still think Guest Posting is the bread and butter of legit link building, but I put a twist on it! So in guest blogging or guest posting, you write a niche-relevant article for another site with your link on it. As simple as that. However, here’s my tea. EVERYONE is doing Google Search Operator – by looking for websites that 100% accept Guest Blogs through keywords such as “Write for Us”. Indeed, these websites get tons of guest post requests daily! However, it is better not to use them, as by 2023, they will have evolved into link-building machines that Google’s algorithm can already detect – especially if most of their content is paid or sponsored.

Ron Evan Thrive Agency
Ron Evan
Link Building Manager at Thrive Agency

This method requires using tools that will help you find broken links. Simply put the URL of the domain you’re interested in getting a link from and look for errors. Once you find a broken link, choose suitable content and create a new one to replace it. All you have to do is contact the website owner or SEO team and offer a replacement.

Sounds like it’s a time-consuming and difficult process. Find out why experts recommend this method nonetheless:

Expert Comment

When examining resource sites, you may find that some of the connections are broken. This indicates that the page is damaged. This is an amazing opportunity. Make a note of any broken links on the links page of your spreadsheet. When contacting the curator, inform them of the broken links. Provide them with alternate links for broken ones, including your resource guide. Due to the fact that you are also supporting curators in fixing technical faults on their sites, you can anticipate an increase in both response and link placement rates when applying the broken link development strategy.

Josh Pelletier BarBend
Josh Pelletier
Chief Marketing Officer at BarBend
Expert Comment

Broken Link Building is a great way to not only build links but also to improve the user experience on your website. Find broken links on other websites and offer them the opportunity to replace the link with a link to your website.

Linda Chavez Seniors Life Insurance Finder
Linda Chavez
Founder & CEO at Seniors Life Insurance Finder
Expert Comment

With broken link building, you find broken external links on top-performing websites in your preferred industry, let the site owner know about this, and then offer up a content replacement. Once again, you can see here that this form of link building presents a win for both parties. You point out a broken link on a site (nobody wants broken links) and offer a solution (your content) that works both for the site owner (a good resource) and you (a quality backlink). You can refer to LSEO’s guide on broken backlink building to go more in-depth on this subject, but basically, you would use the Site Explorer tool in Ahrefs to find broken pages on other websites that still have backlinks pointing to them. Then, you do your outreach to try to get these links for your own content.

Bianca Trembly The Best of Calgary
Bianca Trembly
CEO of The Best of Calgary
Expert Comment

In 2022, we’ve leveraged several tactics known to most link builders, such as reclaiming links and broken link building. We’ve found the most success by aligning our value proposition with improving a prospect’s page and sharing exactly how it benefits their audience more than what’s already mentioned. That said, I think most link building strategies can do well next year through smart prospecting and effective outreach (i.e., showing how your content or tool will help).

Vinnie Wong Ahrefs
Vinnie Wong
Outreach Manager at Ahrefs

Sometimes broken links are one of your own. It’s important to monitor your backlinks as you don’t want to lose something you earned with a lot of effort. If you happen to realize that one ( hopefully not more) a link is gone, make sure to reclaim it.

What’s the best way to do it? Check out these tips:

Expert Comment

This tried-and-true method of link development comes highly recommended by me because restoring broken links is typically simpler than developing brand-new ones. There was probably a good reason why the linking page removed the connection. Maybe the content was updated, and your link was removed along with it. If this turns out to be the case, you’ll need to decide if the new content has a good place for the link. If this is the case, you should contact them and gently ask them to add the attribution link.

Frederic Linfjärd Planday
Frederic Linfjärd
Director of Growth Marketing at Planday
Expert Comment

A good strategy for 2023 would be to maintain backlinks by regularly running an SEO audit and checking if everything works as it should. When you’ve found an expired link, simply contact the website and offer a new URL to fix this little issue.

Natalia Brzezinska PhotoAiD
Natalia Brzezinska
Marketing & Outreach Manager at PhotoAiD
Expert Comment

Once you’ve got links back to your site through guest posting or any of the other methods, you should know that they don’t always last forever. All that hard work you do to get even one single link could be a waste (temporarily) when you remove pages or otherwise change things on your website that makes the link obsolete. Link reclamation, then, is partly about going out and getting those links back by presenting webmasters with updated URLs.The other part of link reclamation is finding unlinked mentions of your brand across the Internet and getting them to be linked back to you.

Bianca Trembly The Best of Calgary
Bianca Trembly
CEO of The Best of Calgary
Expert Comment

You should utilize this time-tested approach to link development because, as you experiment with various link-building tactics, monitoring and analyzing the backlinks you earn will ensure that they remain functional. If you don’t monitor your inbound links, you won’t have a clear picture of why your site’s organic traffic is dropping. The actions of other websites and blogs that link to yours are beyond your control. If you try to access the URL after some time has passed, you may receive a 404 Not Found message. Keeping an eye on your inbound links is a certain approach to maintaining the longevity of your link-building strategy.

You can monitor the growth or decline in your website’s backlink activity with the help of tools like SEMRush. You can also submit the incoming links and monitor their health to fix any that expire.

Bram Jansen VPNAlert
Bram Jansen
Co-Founder of VPNAlert
Expert Comment
Link recovery can also involve getting backlinks from websites that mention your product, brand or any content, but do not link to your site. This is a great way to get links from sites that already consider you an expert in your field or recommend your product. All you have to do is request a link from them and you’re good to go.
Kasia Śliwa Delante
Kasia Śliwa
Off-Site SEO Specialist at Delante

Digital PR

Another strategy experts recommend using in 2023 is digital PR. Establishing contact with journalists in your industry is a great way to secure backlinks to your website.

Are you curious how to do it? Use these tips to get the best out of digital PR:

Expert Comment

When it comes to SEO, digital PR is all about securing links through public relations strategies. Making assets that can be linked to and then advertising them to appropriate journalists and media will increase the likelihood that they will write about and link to your content. But in order to succeed in digital PR, you need to have interesting assets that journalists will want to connect to in order to increase the article’s editorial value.

Daniel Foley SEO
Daniel Foley
SEO Consultant at Daniel Foley SEO
Expert Comment

I recommend using digital PR because it is the most effective method of link building. It provides you with the best links with the greatest SEO impact and the type of links that competitors cannot replicate in a matter of days. Depending on the industry, it can sometimes be combined effectively with other strategies such as interviews with various department heads, which is also PR.

Leslie Gilmour BeFound
Leslie Gilmour
CEO at BeFound
Expert Comment

In 2023, I’d recommend everyone leveraging HARO and Digital PR to build the links. Backlinks built using these two methods are natural and have been officially approved by Googlers and so carry no risk of a penalty.

Add to it, HARO and Digital PR links not only pass on the all-important link juice, but they also improve the E-A-T score of the domain as well as the author.

Aquif Shaikh Blogging Ocean
Aquif Shaikh
Founder of Blogging Ocean

Check Your Competition

Checking where your competition got their backlinks from is a great way to find potential linking opportunities. This will save you loads of time you’d have to spend on scanning the web looking for websites willing to link to you.

Expert Comment

Check your competition backlinks using tools like Ahrefs, and analyze the linking website and content where the link was placed. Can you do something similar, or even better? Once you have great content ready, present your case and ask for a link.

If you can determine who is linking to your rival, you will have a significant advantage, in my opinion. Backlinks from competitors almost always show on sites that are relevant or associated with your niche. Therefore, you know that they will benefit your SEO. This may be a physically demanding task. However, there are both paid and unpaid services that can help you analyze the backlink networks of your competitors. Frequently, these systems conduct a domain audit and generate a backlink profile that includes the number of backlinks, the proportion of do-follow backlinks, and historical data.

Josh Pelletier BarBend
Josh Pelletier
Chief Marketing Officer at BarBend
Expert Comment
Link gap analysis – Content gap analysis is a way to analyze your competitors’ content and find opportunities to create content that will rank well and attract links. The process involves looking at competitors’ content, targeted guest post pages and even your own site to identify content gaps that are missing.
Kasia Śliwa Delante
Kasia Śliwa
Off-Site SEO Specialist at Delante

HARO

HARO ( Help A Reporter Out) is a great tool to acquire valuable links using your expertise. Publishers look for comments from industry experts to mention them in their content.

This way of obtaining backlinks is very natural and thus a really great link building method.

It’s not the easiest one, loads of experts respond to queries, so need to be quick and offer a really interesting, in-depth comment.

Expert Comment

Responding to HARO requests is an excellent link-building tactic since it enables you to create relevant, high-quality connections to your website while also giving other websites useful content. By granting these requests, you can establish connections with bloggers and journalists who may later be interested in linking to your website or sharing your work. Furthermore, by continuously offering insightful comments, you may position yourself as an authority in your industry and raise the profile of your business online.

Anthony Mixides Bond Media
Anthony Mixides
Managing Director at Bond Media
Expert Comment

We have started doing PR, responding to journalistic requests on the number of subjects that we are able to speak on. We have only been doing this proactively for a month, probably less, and have managed to get three links published, two with backlinks, the other did raise brand awareness though. These sites combined get monthly traffic of 9.8 million. We also have numerous other articles waiting to be published.

Lucy Hurst Sherbet Donkey Media
Lucy Hurst
Managing Director at Sherbet Donkey Media

Create Great Content

Quality and valuable content is a must-have these days, especially as Google Helpful Content Update rolled out just a couple of weeks ago.

Experts believe that by creating great content you will attract people who will want to share it with others. Create high-quality, engaging content that will generate interest and backlinks.

Keep reading to find out how exactly can you use this method:

Expert Comment

One link-building technique I would like to implement in 2023 is to generate passive links with a link magnet post. My goal is to get a few link-worthy articles that cover topics that writers often mention to the top page of Google. That way, when they write about those topics and want to link to an authoritative source, they will find my article.

Jordan Fulmer Momentum Property Solutions
Jordan Fulmer
Owner of Momentum Property Solutions
Expert Comment

The greatest way to develop backlinks in a Google-friendly way is to write fantastic content and continuously upload it to your website, so I advise you to use this tried and true strategy of link building. Your content ought to be relevant to your sector and useful to the reader. Not only will readers of your blog be more likely to share and link to your posts, but search engines will take notice of the quality of the material your business is dishing out. This will enhance the likelihood that search engines like Google will boost your organic ranking since they will recognize your site as having credible information.

James Rehm Skuuudle
James Rehm
Chief Operating Officer at Skuuudle
Expert Comment

We’re going to shift away from directories and more traditional old-school building methods and focus more on acquiring natural links that others can share. That means creating content such as how-to guides and calculators that have a high shareability and acquire good quality links.

Paula Glynn Pixelstorm
Paula Glynn
Director of Search Marketing & Digital Strategy at Pixelstorm
Expert Comment

For 2023, I would suggest thinking out of the box when it comes to link building. People are now very much switched on with the world of SEO and links, so making it less obvious or more creative will certainly help. I recommend creating different content and more niche information, which is something we’re also doing for our clients in the hope to get more successful link-building in 2023.

This content could include video marketing, career guides, tutorials, presentations, and genuinely more interesting pieces which move away from the standard blog article.

Annie Everill Imaginaire
Annie Everill
Digital Marketing Executive at Imaginaire
Expert Comment

I would recommend using strategies that are more “white hat” and organic, such as creating valuable content that people will want to share and link to naturally. You can also try reaching out to influencers in your industry and collaborating with them to create content or promote your brand. And finally, make use of social media platforms to build relationships with potential customers and followers.

Oskar Nowik Epson Now
Oskar Nowik
Head of SEO at Epson Now

Create Referential Content

While creating valuable content you can focus not only on the topic but also on the form. Long-form guides full of expert insights, relevant statistics, valuable resources, templates, and other useful materials will attract people who are looking for a good source of knowledge.

Have the needs of your audience in mind and supply them with educational content that will help them understand the topic in-depth.

Expert Comment

To implement this method, you must first match your topics with audiences that can be reached through links. A linkable audience is a collection of curators who have decided to provide links to useful academic (or other types of) materials.

Developing the actual content is the next step in establishing backlinks to your resource page. To be most useful to its intended readers, the content should take the form of a comprehensive long-form guide to the subject area. If you want to enhance the number of links that will eventually go to your site throughout the content marketing process, it is best to make your resource guide more thorough than other content assets in its category.

Daniel Foley SEO
Daniel Foley
SEO Consultant at Daniel Foley SEO
Expert Comment

I recommend this tried-and-true link-building method because if you give your audience the information they need, they are more likely to see you as a reliable source. Offering curated lists of resources, shareable templates, or other free resources on your website is a great way to show that you care about your target audience while also helping them out. You can get backlinks to your site and demonstrate your expertise by linking to blog posts on other sites that provide these resource lists or tools.

Andrew Dale CloudTech24
Andrew Dale
Technical Director at CloudTech24
Expert Comment

Resource page link-building is a scalable and successful link-building technique. The first step is to match your themes with audiences who can be addressed to. Linkable audiences are collections of curators who want to link to suggested educational resources. Some linkable audiences include parents, teachers, and job searchers. The next step is to create content for the page. To give its intended audience the finest knowledge, the article must be an industry manual. The greatest way to maximize the possibility of link placements is to make your resource guide more thorough than other content assets with the comparable subject matter.

Michael Koh PropNex
Michael Koh
Associate Marketing Director at PropNex

Local businesses need backlinks too. You can acquire local links by establishing connections with other businesses in your area that are not your direct competitors.

We created a whole article on local link building, so if its something you want to concentrate on, be sure to check it out – Local Link Building – How to Get Links for Local Business

Expert Comment

If you own a small business and want to rank for industry-related keywords in your area, then you should implement this time-tested link-building strategy. For an SEO strategy, local links are easy to find but challenging to replicate. One method of local link building is to compile a list of the top local businesses that are not in direct competition with your own and write a blog post about it. In helping these small businesses get more exposure online, you’re engaging in a form of link bait. This will bring in new customers for them. In exchange for gaining new readers and visitors to your site, you provide them permission to promote your material across their networks.

Mike Owens
Digital Marketing & Growth Director at Web Hosting Advices

Social Media Engagement

Although links from social media will not contribute to your website’s rating directly, they are still valuable. Use social media to show your best pieces, and engage with others and their content to build reputation and connections.

This way you can count on others to spread your content across the Internet increasing your brand recognition and attracting links from reputable websites that might discover you through social media channels.

Expert Comment

Social media engagement is another effective strategy to use for building links. By interacting with others in your niche and sharing their content, you’re able to gain traffic and shares. Try using tools like Hootsuite to manage social channels and automate some posts.

Rajesh Namase TechRT
Rajesh Namase
Co-Founder at TechRT

Podcasts are extremely popular these days. Not only are true crime and lifestyle topics on the rise, but business-related channels are also getting a piece of cake.

If you don’t want to start your own channel, the good news is you don’t have to. Plenty of podcasters look for experts to feature in their episodes so start looking for one that will suit your business and industry best.

If you have the ambition to become one of the podcasters (look out for the competition – it’s immense) you can invite other guests too. They’ll gladly link to your website when they announce their participation in one of your episodes.

Expert Comment

Podcasting is a great way to engage with your audience and build links at the same time. When recording your podcast, try to cover a variety of topics and talk about things relevant to your audience. After you finish recording, upload your episodes to iTunes and other podcast-hosting sites.

Rajesh Namase TechRT
Rajesh Namase
Co-Founder at TechRT
Expert Comment

I think a very underrated link building strategy is participating in podcasts and holding online webinars with specialists. It does take a lot of time, but it’s an excellent way to organically attract backlinks.

Tomáš Novák MarketingMiner
Tomáš Novák
Chief Marketing Officer at MarketingMiner

Connect with Industry Experts

Earning backlinks from experts within your industry not only will help to increase your domain rating but will also help establish your reputation.

Look for experts that are not your direct competition and start networking. You can create a long-lasting relationship that will bring great benefits. Making an effort and dedicating your time to establishing those relationships will really pay off in the long run.

Expert Comment

Engaging with others in your business through networking opportunities, events, or social media can help expose your website and content to additional individuals who may link back to you. Consider joining some pertinent Facebook Groups, for instance, and engaging in chats, participating in discussions, and sharing important links. Don’t go overboard because doing so could (accurately!) make you seem spammy. Sharing information that you believe will benefit the local population is the main objective here. If you’re lucky, they might wish to connect with you.

Paul Somerville Electric Scooter Guide
Paul Somerville
Editor-in-Chief at Electric Scooter Guide
Expert Comment

My advice would be to focus on finding businesses in your niche that are not your direct competitors. There are lots of collab opportunities starting from promoting joint content efforts and ending (but not being limited to) with exchanging excitement/mentions among other websites.

Barbara Sawala Uploadcare
Barbara Sawala
Online Visibility Builder at Uploadcare
Expert Comment

Building relationships with industry influencers and reaching out to them for collaborations or mentions will also be a successful link-building strategy in 2023. In my experience, making genuine connections with individuals in your industry will lead to opportunities for backlinks and partnerships.

Sinoun Chea ShiftWeb
Sinoun Chea
CEO & Founder at ShiftWeb

All the methods mentioned in this article are great ways to acquire and attract backlinks to your website. As you can see from the chart below, guest posting is the most popular method among experts when it comes to building links.

link building strategy 2023 graph

Does this mean you should drop everything and concentrate solely on guest posting?

Well, not exactly. A great link building strategy requires combining different methods and efforts to see the best results. Remember that quality is more important than quantity!

Expert Comment
In 2023, you should definitely focus on quality rather than quantity and make sure to diversify your locations. Ideally, combine several methods that best fit your business to create an effective strategy.
Kasia Śliwa Delante
Kasia Śliwa
Off-Site SEO Specialist at Delante

Choose a few of the methods mentioned in this article and create a combination that best suits you, your business, your industry, and your team’s capabilities. You can also turn to link building experts who will create a comprehensive strategy and even carry out the link building for you.

Link building services are a great solution for business owners who don’t have the time or resources to build links themselves. Try it out and see your website grow!

Author
Author
Ania Żur

Junior Marketing Specialist

Absolwentka Studiów Dalekowschodnich i Zarządzania Reklamą i Mediami na Uniwersytecie Jagiellońskim. Do Delante dołączyła w 2021 roku, gdzie rozwija się jako Junior Marketing Specialist. W wolnym czasie udziela korepetycji z języka japońskiego, dużo czyta i podróżuje po świecie. Interesuje się content marketingiem, japońską kulturą i sztuką oraz geopolityką.

Author
Author
Ania Żur

Junior Marketing Specialist

Absolwentka Studiów Dalekowschodnich i Zarządzania Reklamą i Mediami na Uniwersytecie Jagiellońskim. Do Delante dołączyła w 2021 roku, gdzie rozwija się jako Junior Marketing Specialist. W wolnym czasie udziela korepetycji z języka japońskiego, dużo czyta i podróżuje po świecie. Interesuje się content marketingiem, japońską kulturą i sztuką oraz geopolityką.

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