If you’ve spent any time reading about SEO, you’ve probably come across the word “backlinks.” It gets thrown around a lot, usually alongside advice like “you just need more backlinks” with no real explanation of what that actually means or how you’re supposed to get them.
So let’s fix that.
This guide covers what backlinks are, why Google cares about them, and the practical ways you can get backlinks for your business without resorting to shady tactics or spending a fortune.
What are backlinks? – By an expert digital marketing company
A backlink is a link from someone else’s website to yours.
That’s it.
If a local newspaper writes about your business and includes a link to your site, that’s a backlink. If a blogger mentions your product and links to your page, that’s a backlink too.
Google treats these links like votes of confidence.
The logic is straightforward: if other websites are willing to point their visitors towards your content, your content is probably worth showing in search engine results. The more high-quality links pointing to your site, the more Google trusts you. The higher you rank, the more organic traffic your site will receive.
This concept goes all the way back to Google’s early days and a system called PageRank, which literally counted links to determine how authoritative a page was.
Search engine ranking algorithms have evolved massively since then, but links remain one of the strongest ranking signals Google uses.
Not all backlinks are equal to SEO
Before you go hunting for backlink opportunities, it’s worth understanding that Google doesn’t just count links. It weighs them.
Relevance
A link from a site that’s related to your industry carries more weight than a random one. If you run a web design business and a well-known tech blog links to you, Google sees that as a strong, relevant endorsement. A link from a recipe site? Not as much.
Authority
Links from established, trusted websites matter more than links from brand new or low-quality sites.
A mention on the BBC or a respected industry professional will move the needle far more than a link buried in a random blog comment. And lot of links from spammy backlink websites? They might even move your page in the opposite direction.
SEO tools measure authority using metrics like Domain Authority (Moz) or Domain Rating (Ahrefs), which score websites based on the strength of their backlink profiles.
Placement
A link placed naturally within the body of an article (a contextual link) is worth more than one stuffed in a footer, sidebar, or author bio.
Google is smart. It can read where the link sits, giving more credit to links that appear within the actual content.
Dofollow vs nofollow
Most links are “dofollow” by default, meaning they pass link equity (sometimes called “link juice”) to your site. Some websites add a “nofollow” attribute to their links, which tells Google not to pass ranking power.
Ways to build backlinks: strategies that actually work
There are dozens of link building tactics out there, and not all of them are worth your time. So let’s cut through the noise and help you build high-quality backlinks to your website.
Create content that people want to link to
This is the foundation of everything else on this list.
Website owners link to content that teaches them something, gives them data they can reference, and solves a problem they’ve been searching for.
The types of content that attract the most backlinks tend to be:
- Original research and data. If you can publish a survey, a case study, or an analysis that nobody else has done, other sites will reference it and link back to the source.
- In-depth guides. Detailed, well-structured guides on a specific topic become the go-to resource that people bookmark and reference in their own content.
- Free tools and calculators. If you can build something genuinely useful, people will link to it because it helps their readers.
- Infographics and visual content. Data presented visually gets shared more than plain text.
The common thread here is value.
If your content is better or more useful than what’s already ranking, other people in your space will eventually find it and link to it. It’s not fast, but it compounds over time.
Guest posting to get backlinks
It’s one of the oldest link building strategies around and it still works.
Guest posting means writing an article for someone else’s website, usually with a link back to your own site in the content or your bio.
The key is targeting relevant, quality sites in your industry.
To find guest posting opportunities, try searching Google for phrases like:
- “write for us” + your industry
- “guest post” + your niche
- “contributor guidelines” + your topic
When you pitch, make it personal.
Reference a specific article on their site, explain why your topic would interest their readers, and add value. Give them a couple of headline options. The sites worth getting links from receive dozens of generic pitches every week, so make sure you stand out.
Broken link building
Websites link to other websites all the time, and sometimes those linked-to pages get deleted, moved, or broken. This leaves 404 error pages. It’s bad for them and an opportunity for you.
Tools like Ahrefs, Semrush, and even free browser extensions like Check My Links can help you find broken links on sites you’d like to get links from.
Find the broken link, write a piece of content that covers the same topic as the broken link, and email the site owner to suggest your content as a replacement.
Journalist outreach
HARO (Help a Reporter Out), now called Connectively, is a platform where journalists post requests for expert sources. You sign up, monitor the requests, and respond to any that match your expertise. If a journalist picks your quote, you typically get a link back to your site from whatever publication they write for.
Response rates can be low. But even one quality link can help boost your site.
You can also reach out to journalists directly on LinkedIn or X if you spot them working on a story related to your business.
Reclaim unlinked brand mentions
If your business has any kind of online presence, people might be mentioning your name without a link.
You can use tools like Semrush’s Brand Monitoring and Google Alerts to see when your brand gets mentioned online. Simply send the mentioner a polite email to link to the site, and they should be happy to link to your website.
Don’t worry about rejection. The conversion rate is typically high because they are already happy to talk about you online.
Competitor backlink analysis
Your competitors are already ranking, which means they already have backlinks.
Ahrefs and Semrush let you investigate your competitor’s backlinks to help build your own.
This isn’t about copying. It’s about understanding what’s already working in your space and making sure you’re not missing obvious opportunities.
Local directories and citations
For small businesses in the UK, local directories are low-hanging fruit.
These aren’t the most powerful links individually, but they build a solid foundation for your backlink profile.
Best of all, they’re typically free.
Make sure your name, address, and phone number (NAP) are consistent across every listing. Inconsistencies confuse Google and can actually hurt your local rankings.
Build relationships, not just links
The most effective link builders aren’t the ones sending a thousand cold emails a day.
Connect with bloggers, journalists, and business owners in your space on LinkedIn or at industry events. Share their content. Comment on their posts with something genuinely useful.
When you eventually ask for a link, it won’t feel like a cold pitch because they already know who you are.
What to avoid: backlink strategy mistakes
Google has spent years cracking down on manipulative tactics, and getting caught can tank your rankings overnight. Bad backlink strategies are a common SEO mistake.
Buying links
Paying for backlinks violates Google’s spam policies.
Some sites sell links openly, and you’ll find plenty of agencies offering “100 backlinks for £50” packages. Don’t risk it. These are almost always from low-quality, spammy sites.
Google’s algorithms are increasingly good at spotting paid link patterns, and the penalty can mean your site disappears from search results entirely.
Link farms and PBNs
Private Blog Networks (PBNs) are collections of websites created specifically to link to a target site. They might have looked legitimate five years ago, but Google identifies and devalues them regularly now.
Irrelevant or low-quality links
A thousand links from unrelated, low-authority sites won’t help you rank.
If you find spammy links pointing to your site that you didn’t build, you can use Google’s Disavow Tool through Google Search Console to tell Google to ignore them.
How many backlinks do you actually need?
This is the question everyone asks, and the (annoyingly) honest answer is: it depends.
It depends on your industry, your competition, the keywords you’re targeting, and the quality of the links you’re building.
For a local business targeting location-specific keywords with moderate competition, you might start seeing results with 20 to 50 quality backlinks from relevant sites. For a national keyword in a competitive space like finance or insurance, you could need hundreds.
But it really isn’t about how many links you have, but how many good links. Focus on quality first, and let the numbers build naturally over time.
Link building isn’t fast. It takes time.
It can take three to six months for backlinks to show proper improvements in your rankings.
Anybody who promises instant results is a red flag.
Backlinks and the future of search
With AI tools and AI overviews, some people are asking if backlinks still matter. They do.
AI systems pull information from sources they consider authoritative, and they determine authority in much the same way Google does: by looking at which sites other trusted sources reference and link to.
Earning quality backlinks doesn’t just help your Google rankings anymore. It trains AI systems to recognise your brand as a credible source of information on your topic, which means you’re more likely to be cited in AI-generated answers too.
This is making quality backlinks more important than ever for SEO strategies.
Build backlinks with Soapbox Digital Media
Backlinks aren’t a mystery, and you don’t need a massive budget to start building them.
Begin with the basics: get your business listed in quality directories, create content worth linking to, and reach out when you spot opportunities. The links will come, and so will the rankings.
If you’d rather hand the link building and SEO strategies over to someone who does this every day, experienced and reputable SEO agencies help. Our SEO team builds backlinks for businesses across Glasgow and beyond as part of our monthly SEO packages.
Get in touch with our friendly team on 0141 429 1356, and we’ll talk you through our processes in a free consultation!
