Free Backlinks: Building Links Without Paying for Them

The first version of this blog post on the topic of “Free Backlinks” went online back in 2015 and hasn't been updated since. Accordingly, this information had become quite “dusty.” We want to shed new light on the topic of free backlinks and hereby bring this “blog corpse” from our SEO blog up to date.

Now we'll show you how, even today, you can still get good links for free without having to buy backlinks.

The Problem with the Topic of “Free Backlinks”

When you look at the top 10 on Google for the topic “Free Backlinks,” one thing quickly becomes clear: “free” doesn't only mean that the Backlink shouldn't cost any money, but also that the work involved in building it should be kept as low as possible … and that's exactly the problem!

The free backlinks that don't take much work are often pure junk.

Which backlinks are those?

Free Backlink Types That Are 99.9% Not Worth the Effort

Backlinks that aren't worth the effort include, among others:

• Web directories
• Online libraries
• Social bookmarks
• Blog comments
• Press directories
• and much more

Google hasn't trusted these types of links for a long time. Links from such platforms therefore bring very little to nothing for your rankings, and you can throw them straight in the trash.

Exception – Local SEO: Things look a bit different with business directories, such as meinestadt.de. A link from such sites can be very useful in terms of local SEO for companies in the region.

• stadtbranchenbuch.com
• dastelefonbuch.de
• meinestadt.de
• gelbeseiten-de
• business.google.com

A good list of additional business directories is available here: https://whitespark.ca/top-local-citation-sources-by-country/germany/.

Review platforms like Trustpilot or ProvenExpert offer a free basic profile and usually place a clickable link to your own website. For service providers, agencies, and SaaS providers, this is one of the most underestimated sources of free backlinks – and at the same time a trust signal that potential customers see directly.

Free Backlinks That Involve a Lot of Work but Are Really Strong

Invest a lot of effort in your content and you can do really good link building:

Interviews / Egobaits

Conducting interviews with far-reaching experts can definitely earn you some backlinks. These experts often link to their own interview on their blog or on a kind of overview page – by the way, we do that too. Here's an example from my list of all interviews, talks, etc.: References Fabian Auler.

Guest Posts

Google supposedly doesn't like backlinks from guest posts. In our experience, however, they are worth quite a bit when the guest article is truly high-quality and was published on a far-reaching website. Of course, you should keep your hands off bought guest articles with poor content, because that's exactly the kind of thing Google definitely doesn't like. The search engine will always try to ignore such links.

But if you write a truly outstanding guest article, you can use it to demonstrate your expertise. Especially in niche areas (YMYL) that Google checks with the E-E-A-T filter, this is a strong way to show Google that you really know your stuff and are an expert in the field – and can rightly be called an expert in your niche.

The best way to land guest articles is networking – online as well as offline – with other experts in your niche. Simply writing in an email “Hey, I want to publish a guest article on your site now” won't work. Exchange ideas with others and put the networking mindset front and center. Offer your help, invite other experts for an interview, report positively about them, and people will appreciate you back accordingly ;-).

Link Lists

Search other websites for link lists that thematically match your website. Once you've found a suitable link list, you should ask the operator whether your page can be included too. Many operators only add high-quality content to their link lists – so only ask for a link if you have correspondingly high-quality content to offer.

The higher the quality of the texts, the greater your chances of being included.

To find such lists, you can simply enter the following into Google:

• keyword + inurl:links
• keyword + inurl:useful links
• keyword + inurl:linklist
• keyword + inurl:links keyword

But be careful: only add yourself to link lists from sites that are truly high-quality! If a link list consists of toxic link targets or you have to pay for the link list, you should avoid it.

When building free backlinks, it's worth distinguishing between DoFollow and NoFollow links: DoFollow links pass on link power and directly affect rankings, whereas NoFollow links officially don't. Nevertheless, NoFollow links from strong sources – such as Wikipedia or large news portals – are valuable because they ensure a natural link profile and can bring organic traffic.

Linkbaits / Digital PR

With regular digital PR campaigns, you can collect links excellently. The biggest challenge here is delivering truly high-quality content that others actually link to. Take a look at our example in the following video or check out our blog article about Linkbaits.

The tips described above are only a small excerpt of everywhere you can find free backlinks. Be creative with your link building and always try to generate backlinks for your website from different sources. The more work you invest in building backlinks, the stronger the links you'll end up with. Save yourself the effort of building simple links, such as in web directories – those have been obsolete for years.

In addition to classic link sources, social media profiles also help build a clean brand presence: profiles on LinkedIn, YouTube, Instagram, or TikTok don't set strong DoFollow links, but they signal to Google that a brand is present and real across platforms. This strengthens trust in the domain overall.

You'll learn more about getting high-quality links (free) in this video: