How to Find Strong Backlinks for Your Website

Building quality backlinks is essential for SEO success, but finding the right opportunities can be challenging. This guide shows you legitimate, proven strategies to earn strong dofollow backlinks that actually improve your rankings.

By SEOrobin • March 2026 • 6 min read

Backlinks. Backlinks. Backlinks. Do-follow? No-follow? All of the above!

Backlinks remain one of the most powerful ranking factors in Google's algorithm. But not all backlinks are created equal, and for new or struggling websites, earning quality links feels impossible when competing against established sites with hundreds of existing backlinks.

The good news: you don't need hundreds of backlinks to see results. A handful of strong, relevant links from authoritative sites can dramatically improve your rankings and organic traffic. The key is knowing where to find these opportunities and how to earn them legitimately.

What Makes a Strong Backlink?

Before hunting for backlinks, understand what you're looking for. Strong backlinks share these characteristics:

Relevance – Links from sites in your industry or niche carry more weight than random links from unrelated sites
Authority – Links from established websites with their own strong backlink profiles pass more value
Dofollow status – Only dofollow links pass SEO value; nofollow links don't help rankings (though they can drive traffic)
Editorial placement – Links within main content are more valuable than sidebar or footer links
Natural anchor text – Branded or natural anchor text is safer than exact-match keyword anchors

One high-quality backlink matching these criteria is worth more than dozens of low-quality directory listings or forum signatures.

Strategy 1: Create Linkable Assets

The foundation of any successful link building campaign is having something worth linking to. Linkable assets are pieces of content so valuable that other sites naturally want to reference them.

What Works as Linkable Assets:

Original research and data – Conduct surveys, analyze data, or compile industry statistics
Comprehensive guides – Create the definitive resource on a specific topic in your niche
Free tools and calculators – Build something genuinely useful that solves a problem
Visual content – Infographics, charts, and data visualizations attract links when they present information clearly
Expert insights – Interview industry experts or share unique first-hand experience

For example, SEOrobin's Google Algorithm Updates tracker serves as a linkable asset because it provides timely, useful information that other SEO sites want to reference.

Pro Tip: Use SEOrobin's Content Analyzer to ensure your linkable assets are well-structured, comprehensive, and optimized for both users and search engines.

Strategy 2: Resource Page Outreach

Many websites maintain resource pages listing helpful tools, guides, and links for their audience. These pages exist specifically to link out to valuable content, making them perfect targets for new sites.

How to Find Resource Pages:

Search Google using these queries (replace "your topic" with your niche):

"your topic" + "helpful resources"
"your topic" + "useful links"
"your topic" + "recommended tools"
intitle:"resources" + "your topic"

Once you find relevant resource pages, craft personalized outreach emails. Don't use generic templates. Explain why your content deserves a spot on their list and how it benefits their readers.

Strategy 3: Broken Link Building

Broken link building is one of the most effective strategies for new sites because you're offering genuine value by helping webmasters fix broken links on their sites.

The Process:

Find relevant websites in your niche using tools like Ahrefs or free tools like Dead Link Checker
Identify broken outbound links on their resource pages or blog posts
Create content that covers the same topic as the broken link (or find existing content on your site that matches)
Email the webmaster pointing out the broken link and suggesting your content as a replacement

This works because you're solving a problem for them. Broken links hurt user experience and SEO, so webmasters are often happy to fix them with your suggested replacement.

Strategy 4: Guest Posting (Done Right)

Guest posting gets a bad reputation because of spam, but when done properly, it remains one of the most effective link building strategies. The key is focusing on quality over quantity.

Finding Guest Post Opportunities:

Search: "your topic" + "write for us"
Search: "your topic" + "guest post guidelines"
Search: "your topic" + "contribute"
Look at where your competitors have published guest posts

Target smaller, niche blogs first. They're more likely to accept pitches from unknown writers. A link from a smaller, highly relevant site is more valuable than spam links from large, irrelevant publications.

Pitching Best Practices:

Read the site thoroughly before pitching. Understand their audience and content style. Propose specific, valuable topics that haven't been covered recently on their blog. Show that you're familiar with their content by referencing specific articles they've published.

Include writing samples and explain your expertise. Make it easy for editors to say yes by doing the work for them.

Strategy 5: Digital PR and Journalist Outreach

Journalists and bloggers are constantly looking for expert sources, data, and stories. Position yourself as a resource and you can earn high-authority backlinks from news sites and industry publications.

Where to Find Opportunities:

HARO (Help a Reporter Out) – Journalists post queries seeking expert sources; respond with valuable insights
Terkel – Similar to HARO, connects experts with content creators
Twitter/X – Follow journalists in your niche; many post source requests publicly
Featured – Platform connecting experts with journalists

Respond quickly with genuinely helpful, quotable insights. Include your credentials and a link to your site. Even if only 10% of your responses get published, those are typically high-authority backlinks from news sites and industry publications.

Strategy 6: Competitor Backlink Analysis

Your competitors already did the work of finding link opportunities in your niche. Analyze their backlink profiles to discover sites that might link to you too.

The Process:

Identify your main competitors (sites ranking for keywords you target)
Use SEOrobin's Backlink Helper or tools like Moz Link Explorer to analyze their backlinks
Filter for high-quality dofollow links from relevant sites
Identify patterns: Are they getting links from resource pages? Guest posts? Industry directories?
Replicate their successful strategies for your own site

If a site linked to your competitor's guide on a topic, they might link to your guide too, especially if yours is more comprehensive or provides a different angle.

Analyze Your Backlink Profile

Track your backlink growth and identify opportunities with SEOrobin's Backlink Helper. See which strategies are working and where to focus your efforts.

Strategy 7: Community Engagement

Building relationships within your niche community naturally leads to backlink opportunities. Participate genuinely in industry forums, Facebook groups, Reddit communities, and LinkedIn discussions.

Don't spam links. Instead, provide valuable insights and become known as a helpful expert. When people know and trust you, they're more likely to naturally reference and link to your content.

Where to Engage:

Reddit – Subreddits related to your niche; helpful comments occasionally include links to your content when genuinely relevant
Quora – Answer questions thoroughly; include links only when they add value
Industry forums – Niche-specific discussion boards where experts gather
LinkedIn – Share insights in industry groups; connections may reference your content

The key is patience and authenticity. Community-earned links come from being genuinely helpful, not from link dropping.

What to Avoid

Some tactics seem tempting but will hurt you long-term:

Buying backlinks – Google penalizes paid link schemes; not worth the risk
Link exchanges – Excessive reciprocal linking looks unnatural
Low-quality directories – Most provide little to no value and some are considered spam
Blog comment spam – Nofollow links that waste your time and annoy site owners
Link farms and PBNs – Google detects these and will penalize your site

Focus on earning links naturally through value. It takes longer, but the results are sustainable and safe.

Tracking Your Progress

Monitor your backlink growth using tools like Google Search Console, which shows new links Google discovers. Track your domain authority over time and correlate backlink acquisition with ranking improvements.

Set realistic expectations. Building 5-10 quality backlinks per month is excellent progress for a new site. Focus on quality over quantity, and results will compound over time.

Remember: Link building is a marathon, not a sprint. The most successful SEO strategies combine great content creation with consistent, ethical outreach. Build relationships, provide genuine value, and the backlinks will follow.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a dofollow backlink?

A dofollow backlink is a link that passes SEO value (link equity) from one website to another. Unlike nofollow links, dofollow links tell search engines to count the link as a vote of confidence, helping improve your search rankings. By default, most links are dofollow unless explicitly marked with a rel="nofollow" attribute.

How many backlinks do I need to rank?

There's no magic number. Quality matters far more than quantity. One backlink from a highly authoritative, relevant site can be worth more than 100 links from low-quality directories. For competitive keywords, you might need dozens of quality backlinks. For long-tail keywords with low competition, even 5-10 good backlinks can help you rank well.

Should I buy backlinks?

No. Buying backlinks violates Google's Webmaster Guidelines and can result in manual penalties that devastate your rankings. Google has sophisticated algorithms to detect paid link schemes. Focus on earning links naturally through quality content and legitimate outreach. The short-term gain isn't worth the long-term risk.

How long does it take to build backlinks?

Building quality backlinks takes time. Expect 2-4 weeks for your first earned links from outreach campaigns. Guest posts can take 4-8 weeks from pitch to publication. Natural editorial links from great content can take months to accumulate. Plan for a 3-6 month timeline to build a meaningful backlink profile for a new site.

What makes a backlink high quality?

High-quality backlinks come from authoritative websites in your niche, have relevant anchor text, are placed within editorial content (not sidebars or footers), come from pages with their own backlinks, and are dofollow. The linking site should have real traffic and a clean link profile without spammy patterns.

Can I get backlinks without creating content?

It's extremely difficult. Most legitimate link building strategies require valuable content as the foundation. You need something worth linking to, whether that's an in-depth guide, original research, a useful tool, or expert insights. Focus on creating linkable assets first, then promote them to earn backlinks.