Link Building: Where to Start, Sorted by What You Need
Link building is getting other sites to link to yours. Find the pages that already rank for your topic, ask the people who run them for a mention, and plan for a third of replies to ask for money.
New to it: start with how to build backlinks.
When we asked site owners for a link, 32.9% of reply threads ended with a request for payment, 14.7% with a no and 16.9% with a yes.
The rest: 11.9% wanted more information, 5.9% wanted a swap or other terms.
MentionAgent link-building outreach, threads started 20 August to 20 October 2026. Method under the table.
Start here
- How to build backlinks: the methods step by step, including for a new website.
- Link building checklist: the same work as a list you can tick off.
- How long link building takes and what backlinks cost: set both before you spend anything.
- Content vs backlinks and SEO without link building: check that links are your bottleneck at all.
Need software for the content side first? salefa.st is a good starting point for finding tools that fit your workflow.
What site owners reply
Most of the work is answering replies. This is where our link-building threads ended, and the guide for each answer.
| Latest reply | Share of threads | Guide |
|---|---|---|
| Asks to be paid | 32.9% | When a blogger asks for money |
| Says yes | 16.9% | Tracking the link once it is live |
| Says no | 14.7% | |
| Wants more information first | 11.9% | Link building outreach |
| Wants a swap or other terms | 5.9% | Responding to link exchange requests |
| Other (pointed elsewhere, general) | 17.7% |
Method: the latest classified reply in each thread from MentionAgent link-building workspaces, threads started 20 August to 20 October 2026. The payment label exists from 19 August, so older threads are left out. Spam and off-topic replies are excluded. A thread that opened with a question and ended in a yes counts as a yes.
Pick a tactic
- Guest posting: write for another site. Start from 222 sites with a live submission page or the search operators that find more.
- Listicle outreach: get added to a best-of list that already ranks.
- Link insertion outreach: ask for a link in a post that already exists.
- Unlinked brand mentions and link reclamation: links you have nearly earned already.
- Broken link building: offer your page in place of a dead link.
- PR link building and news website backlinks: links that come with coverage.
- Link exchanges: what the platforms offer and where Google draws the line. Groups compared in link building communities and Slack communities.
- Directories: which still pass a link, plus software listing sites.
The labels you will see on vendor pages, defined: white hat, editorial, contextual and natural link building.
Find who to pitch
Link prospecting tools build the list, finding a website's publisher tells you who decides, and email finders get the address.
Ready-made lists, each checked on the day it was published:
- Write for us pages: beauty, fitness, automotive, plumbing, roofing, logistics, hiking, camping, golf, architecture, property management, hunting, insurance, landscaping, solar, dental, chiropractic, med spa, childcare.
- Niche blogs: travel, trout fishing, deer hunting, equine, horse training, German shepherds, cats, homesteading, irrigation, junk removal, estheticians, natural hair, eyewear, embroidery, cross stitch, macrame, bath bombs, Waldorf.
- City bloggers: Miami moms, Orlando moms, Las Vegas moms, Nashville travel, Charleston fashion.
Run the outreach
- Link building outreach: who to email, what to send and what comes back.
- Email templates for the first message, and collaborating with bloggers for the brand side of the same ask.
- Software: link building tools, blogger outreach tools, outreach tools and AI link building tools. AI backlink outreach shows what an agent does all day.
Buy or hire
Price it first with what backlinks cost and what high DR backlinks cost, then compare link building packages, monthly retainers, niche edit pricing and link building agencies. Agencies reselling to clients should read white label link building and white label guest posting. Before you sign, link building scams lists the red flags, and cold outreach agency separates the two businesses that share the name.
Vendor reviews: FATJOE, The HOTH, Rhino Rank, LinksThatRank, Stellar SEO, Page One Power, Linkifi, LinkBuilder.io, Authority Builders, Vefogix, Accessily.
By business and market
- B2B SaaS, law firms, healthcare, affiliate sites, online stores and mobile apps.
- Ecommerce: ecommerce guest posting sites. For Shopify stores that would rather hand this off, ECORN Agency runs ecommerce link building as a service.
- Markets: Australia, the UK, Finland and Poland.
- AI search: link building for GEO covers getting named on the pages AI engines cite.
Keep the links
- Backlink management and sustainable link building: check that links stay live and keep counting.
- Backlink audit, disavowing backlinks and the unnatural links warning: for a profile that needs cleaning.
- Do nofollow links help? Check any page with the nofollow link checker.
- Do outbound links help SEO? What linking out from your own pages does, and when to tag it.
What to avoid
Buying backlinks is the big one. Google's spam policies list "Buying or selling links for ranking purposes" as link spam. Web 2.0 backlinks and ranking guarantees are the other two to read about before anyone sells you one.
Frequently asked questions
What is link building?
Link building is getting other websites to link to yours. Search engines read those links as a sign that other people find your pages worth pointing to.
Is buying backlinks against Google's rules?
Yes. Google's spam policies list "Buying or selling links for ranking purposes" as link spam, and say sites that break the policies "may rank lower in results or not appear in results at all".
How often do site owners ask to be paid for a link?
Often. In MentionAgent's link-building outreach from 20 August to 20 October 2026, 32.9% of reply threads ended with the site owner asking for payment.
How many backlinks do I need?
It depends on the pages already ranking for your search. Compare their referring domains with yours rather than aiming for a fixed number.