Ecommerce link building places backlinks on the pages that sell: category, collection and product URLs, plus the buying guides that feed them. We build guest posts and niche edits by hand on niche-relevant sites, report every live URL with its traffic and index status, and replace any link Google has not indexed within 30 days. Store packages start at $149.
- Links aimed at category pages
- Live reporting sheet
- 30-day index guarantee
What is ecommerce link building?
Ecommerce link building is the work of earning or placing backlinks that point to an online store’s category, product and buying-guide pages. It differs from blog link building in its targets: the pages that sell, not the articles that inform.
A backlink is a hyperlink on another website that points to your store. A referring domain is a website that holds at least one such link. Google reads backlinks as one signal of which pages other sites trust. A blog earns links to articles because articles are what it publishes. A store sells from category and product pages, which few sites link to on their own, so ecommerce link building directs links to those pages on purpose.
Which store pages need backlinks?
Category pages need the most backlinks, because they target the broad commercial searches that bring buyers to a store. Buying guides need links next, because they pass authority to categories. Product pages need few direct links. The homepage collects branded links naturally.
A category page lists a group of products, such as “trail running shoes”. Shopify calls it a collection and serves it at /collections/<handle>; WooCommerce serves it at /product-category/<slug>/. A product page sells one item, at /products/<handle> on Shopify and /product/<slug>/ on WooCommerce. A buying guide is an article that compares products and links to the categories that stock them.
| Page type | Role | Best link type | Anchor type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Category or collection | Targets broad commercial searches | Guest posts and niche edits in relevant articles | Descriptive category phrase |
| Buying guide | Earns links and passes them to categories through internal links | Guest posts that cite the guide | Topic phrase or guide title |
| Product | Targets one item and its model name | Niche edits in reviews of that product | Product name |
| Homepage | Collects branded and press links | Supplier and press links | Brand name or bare URL |
Internal links carry authority from a linked buying guide to the categories it mentions. That makes a well-linked guide the cheapest route to a strong category page.
Which backlinks work for an online store?
Three backlink types work for online stores: guest posts on niche blogs linking to categories or guides, niche edits inside existing gift guides and reviews, and supplier links from brands the store already sells. All three place the link inside relevant body text.
- Guest posts are new articles written for a niche blog with your link in the body. They add new referring domains on DA 30+, DA 50+ or DA 60+ sites, delivered in 5, 10 or 15 days. These contextual guest placements suit category pages and buying guides.
- Niche edits insert your link into an article that Google has already indexed, such as a gift guide or a product roundup. They sit on DA 30+, DA 40+ or DA 50+ sites, delivered in 7, 12 or 20 days. Order them as Niche Edits / Link Insertions for product and category targets.
- Supplier links come from the brands you stock. Many manufacturers publish a “where to buy” or stockist page, and a request from an existing retailer is often enough to be listed there.
Every guest post and niche edit appears in a live reporting sheet with its URL, Domain Authority, Domain Rating, organic traffic and index status.
Can you send free products in exchange for links?
No, not for links that pass ranking credit. Google’s spam policies list sending someone a free product in exchange for a review that includes a link as link spam. A product review link marked rel="sponsored" or rel="nofollow" stays within the policy.
The sponsored and nofollow attributes tell Google not to pass ranking credit through a link. Product seeding still earns reviews, social posts and branded searches, which have value of their own. It does not earn link authority unless the reviewer links without being asked as a condition of the product. Source: Google Search Central, Spam policies for Google web search, link spam section.
What ecommerce link building strategies work at scale?
Five strategies scale for stores: niche edits into ranking gift guides, guest posts that target category pages, supplier and stockist links, reclaimed links from discontinued products, and data assets built from store sales trends. Each one targets a page that sells.
- Insert category links into gift guides and “best of” roundups that already receive organic traffic.
- Publish guest posts on niche blogs that cite a category as the place to compare options.
- Request listings on the stockist pages of every brand in your catalog.
- Reclaim links pointing at products you retired by redirecting those URLs to live categories.
- Release data from your own sales, such as the best-selling sizes or colors by season, as a page other sites cite.
Advanced ecommerce link building combines the first and fourth: competitors’ retired product URLs that still hold links are prospects for a request to link to your live equivalent instead.
What anchor text mix suits a store?
A store’s anchor text mix leans on its brand name and bare URL, uses descriptive category phrases for a smaller share, and keeps exact-match commercial anchors such as “buy running shoes” rare. The bands below are our working heuristic, not a Google threshold.
Anchor text is the clickable text of a link. Google’s spam policies name keyword-rich anchors in paid articles and guest posts as a link spam pattern, so commercial anchors are the share to keep smallest.
- Branded and bare-URL anchors: at least half of all links.
- Descriptive category phrases: up to about a third.
- Exact-match commercial anchors: under one link in ten.
What happens to backlinks when a product goes out of stock?
Backlinks to a deleted product page stop working when the URL returns a 404 error. Keep the page live with alternatives for temporary stock gaps, and redirect it with a 301 to the closest category when the product is gone for good.
A 404 status tells Google the page no longer exists, and a link to a missing page passes nothing. A 301 status is a permanent redirect that sends visitors and links to a new URL. Three options cover every case:
- Keep the URL live with a back-in-stock notice and links to similar products when the gap is temporary.
- Redirect the URL with a 301 to the replacement model when one exists.
- Redirect the URL with a 301 to the closest category when no replacement exists.
How much does ecommerce link building cost?
Ecommerce link building here costs the same as any order: guest posts from $149 and niche edits from $179, in USD. Price depends on link count and domain authority band, not on the number of products the store sells.
- Guest posts: from $149, 25 to 50 links per package
- Niche edits: from $179, 5 to 25 links per package
Every tier, with its link count and delivery time, is listed under package pricing. The 7-day money-back guarantee refunds in full when work has not started, or nothing is delivered, within 7 days of confirmed payment.
How do you order links for a store?
Ordering links for a store takes four steps: choose the store page and link type, enter the target URLs and anchor phrases, pay by your preferred method, and open the live reporting sheet. The sheet arrives when work starts, within 24 hours of confirmed payment.
- Choose the store page to link and the link type in the selector above.
- Enter the category, guide or product URLs and the anchor phrases you want.
- Pay by PayPal, Wise, Payoneer, card or bank transfer.
- Open the live reporting sheet we send when work starts, within 24 hours of confirmed payment.
We decline orders for stores selling illegal, fraudulent, gambling or adult products.
Related: package pricing for stores.