15 Unusual Link-Building Tactics Your Competitors (Probably) Don't Know

Everyone does it, but hardly anyone talks about it.

That's the perceived truth about link building.

Backlinks are still an important ranking factor, but tips on how to build them successfully these days, or even creative tactics for it, are hard to come by.

In this post, I therefore want to introduce you to some unusual link-building tactics.

Link-Building Tip No. 1

Buy backlinks …

Okay, okay, that was of course just a joke.

Before we start with the actual link-building tactics, here are a few warnings up front: We see these mistakes as a link-building agency with many new clients again and again, and we advise everyone against stepping into these pitfalls.

Warnings

• “Unusual” link-building methods mean that not every tactic works equally well for every website. Experiment a lot here to see what works for you and what doesn't.
• The methods presented here are especially suited for building your first links in a targeted way.
• Never overdo it! Excessive building of backlinks can be penalized by Google (always avoid link spam).
• The link sources should always vary, as should the anchor texts of the links.
• Never just exploit other people for a link. Many notice this quickly, and then you've ruined yourself or your client's name. Do you want that? So treat everyone with respect!

Link Building via Textbroker, Content.de, etc.

On text marketplaces like Textbroker, you sign up as a contractor (writer) and look for briefings that thematically match your website and where the client wants sources as evidence for their writing assignment.

This is your chance: If you have suitable information on your website, you should include it in the text … and then hope that the client is satisfied with it and publishes the text on their website with a source/link to your website ;-)

Publish Images on Unsplash & Co.

On platforms like Unsplash, Pexels, Pixabay, etc., you register as a user and upload topic-specific photos there (in good quality, of course).

Then it's time to wait: The goal is for as many webmasters as possible to download your images and link to them on their websites. As soon as the first webmasters use your images, you write to them and ask for a link to your website as the source/author.

Thanks to reverse Google image search, that's no problem. Exactly how this works is explained here in the video:

Your Competitors … Part 1

Always keep an eye on your competitors. They, too, are constantly building new backlinks. A simple, free method is to google in forums for competitors of yours. If a competitor is discussed or linked in a thread, it's often quite easy to get a link to your website as well.

Thanks to Google, searching for the relevant forums is quite fast:

• “your competitor + inurl:forum”
• “your competitor + intext:forum”

Your Competitors … Part 2

And on with the competitors: With Google Alerts, you can also monitor your competitors for free.

Where are they mentioned? Where do they get new backlinks from?

With Google Alerts, you'll be informed about this quickly and can also become active here and write to the linking pages to start a collaboration as well.

Contact with journalists is worth its weight in gold in link building. If they link to your competition, the chances aren't bad that you can get a link too.

HARO

Do you know “HARO”?

Help a reporter out is a rather old-school tactic that can still work, but is quite time-consuming. On responsesource.com journalists look for help with their research and for experts who can assist them on a particular topic.

Here's your chance: If you can help an editor within your subject area, the link surely isn't far off. ;-)

Create Pure Guide Websites

Formerly also called satellite sites – these were websites that served solely to link to and strengthen the money or client website. But the mistake was always made here of producing only low content without any added value. Such satellite sites were then massively pushed with spam links … Luckily, those days are over!

But you can use the tactic and build a really high-quality website that puts users and valuable content first. With such websites, it's much easier to earn backlinks.

And here's how it works:

Choose a topic that interests a broad audience, e.g. smoke detectors. Every apartment and every house has to be equipped with so-called smoke detectors. They save lives! However, the density of information about them on the web is quite thin (you should always check this before creating content and choosing a topic). Create a website with really good content that explains everything in detail, and then write to fire departments, authorities, and city websites and ask for a link.

You can also search directly for websites that maintain link lists (this should increase the chances of getting a link). Important: Your website shouldn't reveal any profit intentions, otherwise cities, associations, etc. are rather reluctant to link.

As soon as this website has gathered enough backlinks, you can link your project or the money site on your purely informational website and receive correspondingly high-quality backlinks.

Offer Student Discounts

Offering discounts for students can help you get backlinks from universities. There are some universities that publish discounts for students on their website and link to them accordingly. For example, on Uni.at the discount page lists not only shops but also small local businesses and links to them accordingly. Google naturally helps with the research here (–> intext:student discounts + inurl:uni).

Here, too: Always be honest and don't offer fake discounts just to get a link! The SEO scene still has a bad reputation in places and doesn't need to be dragged through the mud by such trickery.

Offer Student Jobs

Most universities have a job board on their website where companies can upload their job postings. The procedure varies from university to university, and each has different requirements. Some universities offer company profiles on which the company can be linked and open jobs can also be advertised. Many of them only allow PDFs. So upload your job postings in the appropriate format and link your company.

Please stay honest here too: Don't upload any fakes or engage in link spam!

Write Testimonials

Do you hire freelancers and/or other companies, e.g. a copywriting agency? Check their website to see whether they publish testimonials from their clients. If those are also linked, that's your chance to get a backlink too. Offer your contractors a testimonial from you, and you can get a link here as well.

Publish an E-Book

Create an e-book! Yes, even today this is still a suitable means of giving good content additional value by generating backlinks with it.

You can find examples here: https://mangools.com/blog/seo-ebooks/.

But don't hide the e-book behind a paywall; instead, try to spread it. This way, you can build backlinks in a targeted manner in forums, blogs, etc. Depending on the niche, there are even web directories for e-books, such as www.omlia.de.

Start Collaborations

Building backlinks together – but how? For example, start a podcast together with your industry colleagues.

Here's how I did it: Together with Pascal Horn, we launched the SEO 418 Teapodcast (https://teapodcast.de/) back then and regularly produced content and invited guests here. Through this, we were able to build some backlinks and strengthen our own websites.

Mention Companies: “In the Press”

Some companies link their mentions as a kind of reputation proof on their “In the Press” page.

To find such companies in your niche, you simply enter

intext:“in the press” + your keyword

or

inurl:press + your keyword

.

But be careful: Just because your niche site staubsauger-roboter-jetzt-aber-günstig24.de once writes a positive report about the company Bosch, Bosch won't now link to you in their “In the Press” section. It has to fit, and your website has to offer considerable added value out there.

Interviews / Interview Series

Link building with the help of interviews works similarly to the previous tip, but here you invite guests from your niche and interview them. Many “thought leaders” have all their interviews linked on their “About me” page as a kind of reputation proof.

But please don't invite anyone just to get a backlink later on – dishonest behavior comes to light sooner or later.

Publish Studies

Unique data, new findings, or the like can also be wonderfully published as a study. A survey is likewise possible in order to publish unique content.

We did something similar with our survey on the topic “Do You Buy Backlinks?”: https://www.farbentour.de/umfrageergebnis-backlinks-kaufen/.

We received backlinks here as well, and I was invited to a podcast about it. An action like this generates attention quite quickly.

Why Attention Is So Important:

Attention is the most important currency in the (marketing) world. Only those who are visible can be linked (voluntarily) by others. Those who get no attention and are invisible won't be linked either! If you want to get backlinks long-term and be successful in the long run, you should rely on sustainable strategies. So here's one last tip now…

Publish a Book with a Publisher

We published a book with Springer Gabler Verlag on the topic of Content Distribution – that was really a lot of work, but the effort paid off. Thanks to this book, we gained a lot of attention and were able to get corresponding backlinks. This way, our agency was linked on various websites through the book, there were giveaways, we were interviewed about it, students linked to us in their bachelor's/master's theses, we got an Amazon author profile, and much more.

Think of a topic that goes down well with publishers and call them up to present your topic. Important: The topic has to be new and unusual. Publishers are always looking for new authors – but don't really expect to make money from it. You write the book primarily to generate attention among your target audience!

Conclusion

Many of the methods mentioned above help you get your first easy links. But don't forget: These days, it simply isn't only about links anymore. Especially links that can be created with little effort no longer have any significance.

It's about Google recognizing you and your company as an entity and classifying you as important accordingly. That's what brings you the desired success in the long term! And only through attention-grabbing actions can you build really strong links in a natural way.

-Fabian