How to Get Backlinks: 8 Methods Ranked by Risk

There are eight ways to get a backlink: create a linkable asset, pitch a guest post, replace a broken link, respond to journalist requests, request a link insertion, list the site in a vetted directory, buy a placement, or trade links. This page orders them by control and policy exposure and gives the steps for each.

How do you get backlinks?

You get backlinks by earning them with content, requesting them through outreach, or buying placements on independent sites. Eight methods cover nearly every link a site collects, and each follows its own short procedure with its own level of effort and policy exposure.

Publish a linkable asset and let editors cite it.
Pitch a guest article to a relevant publication.
Find a dead link on a relevant page and offer your page as the replacement.
Answer a journalist’s request with a quotable expert response.
Ask an editor to add a link to an existing, relevant article.
Submit the site to vetted, curated directories.
Buy a disclosed placement from a seller that names the host.
Trade links with another site owner.

The list follows the order of this page. The fundamentals behind all eight, including what a backlink is and how it passes context, sit in the guide to backlink fundamentals.

How do you earn backlinks with content?

You earn backlinks with content by publishing something other sites choose to cite: original data, a free calculator or a reference guide. The editor decides to link, so no placement is arranged, and no payment or return link is involved.

Three asset formats attract citations repeatedly: a dataset with a clear methodology, a working tool that answers one task, and a definitive guide that organizes a topic more clearly than existing pages. The guide to assets that earn links covers how to choose and promote each format. Articles written for the site follow the same logic; a team that wants the written pieces produced for it can review SEO Article Writing.

How does outreach produce backlinks?

Outreach produces backlinks by pitching a specific editor or site owner with a specific offer: an article, a replacement link, or an expert quote. Every outreach method follows the same four steps: prospect, pitch, place, verify. Verification confirms the live URL, the attribute and the index status.

Guest posting offers a new article to a relevant publication in exchange for a contextual link.
Broken link building finds a dead outbound link on a relevant page and offers your page as the substitute, as covered under broken link outreach.
Blogger outreach pitches an independent writer for a mention or a review; the blogger outreach service runs that process end to end.
Journalist-request responses supply a quote on a deadline. HARO (Help a Reporter Out) is a journalist-query service that Cision closed as Connectively in December 2024 and Featured.com relaunched in April 2025; the same tactic also runs through other journalist-request platforms and direct pitching, the work digital PR campaigns follow.
Link insertion asks an editor to add a link to an existing article that already covers the topic.

Prospecting decides the yield. The guide to prospecting for links sets the qualification criteria, and the collection of outreach pitch examples shows the wording that gets a reply.

What are the free ways to get backlinks?

The free ways to get backlinks are directory listings, business profiles, unlinked brand mentions, journalist-request responses and community participation. They cost time, not money, and many carry nofollow or ugc attributes, so their value lies in traffic, discovery and profile variety.

Each free source differs in the link attribute it applies and the work it takes. Profile and community links carry NoFollow or UGC attributes, so they add referral traffic and brand discovery more than ranking credit. Unlinked mentions convert into links with one polite email. The guide to free sources compared ranks each source by effort and link attribute.

Which backlink methods carry policy risk?

Buying placements without disclosure, link exchanges, private blog networks and automated link creation carry policy risk; content, outreach and disclosed placements do not. Google’s link spam policy sorts methods by intent and pattern, so disclosure matters as much as the method.

Method	Who controls the link	Policy exposure
Linkable asset	The citing editor	None
Guest post, outreach	The host editor	Low when anchors vary and content is original
Disclosed paid placement	The seller and host	Low with a sponsored attribute where required
Link exchange	Both site owners	Named in Google’s spam policy when excessive
Private blog network	The network operator	Against Google’s guidelines
Automated link creation	Software	Named in Google’s spam policy

The trade-off between speed and exposure is explained in the guide on manual versus automated production, and the guide to whether swaps are safe judges the trading method in detail.

How do you choose a backlink method?

Choose a backlink method by matching four inputs: the site’s age, the budget, the timeline and the exposure the owner accepts. New sites need foundation links; established sites need volume and variety. Budget and timeline then narrow the shortlist to one or two methods.

New site with no budget: free sources and one linkable asset.
Service business with a budget and a short timeline: outreach placements and paid editorial links.
Content site with a research capacity: linkable assets and journalist responses.
Any site: vary the anchors across methods, as set out in the guide to anchor text distribution.

Whatever method you choose, record each link’s live URL, anchor and index status. A buyer who wants the work done and verified can order any of the placement types above from Backlink Agency.