How do I get backlinks?

Backlinks are earned, not bought. The most effective strategies, ranked by effort-to-value ratio:

1) Create linkable assets — original research, tools, calculators, and comprehensive guides that other sites want to reference. A data study that reveals industry benchmarks gets cited repeatedly. An interactive tool (ROI calculator, audit checker) earns links from resource pages.

2) Guest posting — write genuinely useful articles for industry publications. Don't write promotional fluff — write the kind of article you'd want to read. Include a natural link to your relevant content. Target 2-4 guest posts per month.

3) Broken link building — find broken links on authority sites in your niche, create equivalent content, then email the site owner suggesting your replacement. Tools: Ahrefs Broken Links report or Screaming Frog.

4) Digital PR — publish original research and pitch it to journalists. A survey of 500 professionals in your industry generates press coverage with backlinks.

5) Resource page outreach — find "best resources" pages in your niche and suggest your content for inclusion. These pages exist specifically to link to useful resources.

What doesn't work: buying links (Google penalizes), link exchanges ("I link to you, you link to me"), PBNs (private blog networks — Google detects these), and automated link building tools.

Target: 4-8 quality backlinks per month from unique domains with DA 30+. That's realistic with 3-4 hours of outreach per week.