Backlink Strategies for 2026: 11 Methods Compared by Effort, Cost and Risk

Quick quiz

How should you get links from other websites?

Question 1 of 425%

Does your site already have useful content?

Very littleSome good pagesLots of articles and guides

Most pages never earn a single link. Ahrefs' search traffic study (December 2023, about 14 billion pages) found that 96.55% of pages get no traffic from Google, and it names the lack of backlinks as one of the three main causes. Good backlink strategies fix that by turning link building from a series of random requests into a repeatable system. This guide compares 11 methods by effort, cost, speed and risk, shows which mix fits which type of site, and ends with a 90-day plan. For a quick list of tactics, see our guide on how to get backlinks; this page focuses on choosing and combining them.

What is a backlink strategy?

A backlink strategy answers three questions: which pages need links, which methods will earn them, and how much time or money each month goes into it. A tactic is one action (sending a guest post pitch); a strategy is the selection, order and rhythm of tactics over several months.

Every method falls into one of three families:

• Earned links: you publish something worth citing (data, a tool, a guide) and people link without being asked.
• Requested links: you contact a site owner with a useful reason to link (a broken link to replace, an unlinked mention, an expert quote).
• Relationship links: links that follow from a real connection (a supplier, a partner, a local association, an integration).

Google's spam policies draw the line clearly: link spam is "creating links to or from a site primarily for the purpose of manipulating search rankings". A sound strategy stays inside the three families above and never pays for a followed link.

Which backlink strategies work in 2026?

The 11 methods below are ranked from the most scalable to the most situational. All of them comply with Google's rules when done as described.

1. Publish original data (linkable assets)

Surveys, benchmarks, price indexes and yearly studies are the assets journalists and bloggers cite most, because they need a number and a source. Backlinko's analysis of 912 million blog posts (2019) found that 94% of posts get no external links at all, and that long-form content over 3,000 words earns 77.2% more referring domains than content under 1,000 words. Data studies sit at the top of that long, link-worthy end.

2. Run digital PR campaigns

Digital PR pitches a story to journalists: a data angle, a reaction to news, an expert comment. One article in a national outlet can be syndicated by dozens of regional sites. It needs a newsworthy hook, a short press list and fast replies to journalist requests.

3. Write guest posts for relevant sites

Guest posting still works when the host site has a real audience in your niche and the article is genuinely useful. Google's spam policies target "large-scale article marketing or guest posting campaigns with keyword-rich anchor text links", so keep volume modest, anchors natural and topics close to your expertise.

4. Turn unlinked brand mentions into links

Sites that already name your brand, product or founder without linking are the warmest prospects you have. Search for your brand name, list the mentions without a link and ask politely for one. Our guide to unlinked brand mentions covers the search operators and a message template.

5. Replace broken links (broken link building)

Find pages in your niche that link to a dead resource, check that you have an equivalent or better page, and suggest it as a replacement. A free broken link checker scans a resource page in seconds. The pitch works because you are fixing a problem for the site owner.

6. Reclaim lost links

Links disappear when you delete or move a page without a redirect, when a site redesigns, or when an editor removes a reference. Export the URLs on your site that return a 404 and still have backlinks, then add a 301 redirect to the closest live page. This is the fastest win in most audits because the links already exist.

7. Copy the best links of your competitors

A backlink gap analysis lists the sites that link to two or three competitors but not to you: directories, resource pages, comparison articles, podcasts. Tools like SEO Competitor Spy show who ranks and who gets cited in your space, and the big suites (Semrush, Ahrefs, Majestic) list their referring domains.

8. Get listed on resource pages and "best of" lists

Curated lists ("best tools for X", "useful resources for Y") are built to link out. Search for intitle:resources or "best [category]" with your topic, check that the page is maintained, and send a short note explaining why your page deserves a place.

9. Use partners, suppliers and customers

Manufacturers list their resellers, software tools list their integrations, event organizers list their sponsors and speakers. These links come from real relationships, so they are both safe and relevant. Make a list of every company you already work with and check whether they have a partner, client or integration page.

10. Earn local links

For a business that serves a city or region, the best links are local: chambers of commerce, local press, associations, schools, sponsored events, neighboring businesses. Our guide to local link building details these sources and how they support the map pack.

11. Contribute expert input (quotes, podcasts, interviews)

Journalist request platforms, podcasts and expert roundups need people with real experience. A precise quote with a number or an example gets picked up; a generic one does not. Each appearance usually comes with a link to your site or your bio page.

Backlink strategies compared: effort, cost and risk

The table below gives our estimates for a small to mid-sized site. Effort covers research, content and outreach; risk refers to Google's link spam policies when the method is done as described above.

The pattern is clear: the cheapest and fastest wins (reclamation, unlinked mentions, partners) come from links you already deserve, while the most powerful links (data, digital PR) take the most work.

Which link building tactics should you avoid?

Google lists the practices it treats as link spam. The ones still sold as "strategies" today:

• Buying or selling followed links, including paid posts and advertorials whose links pass ranking credit. Our page on buying backlinks explains the rules and the safer options.
• Trading links at scale ("link to me and I'll link to you"), which Google calls excessive when it becomes a system.
• Private blog networks: sites created only to link to a money site.
• Low-quality directories and bookmark sites, widget links and sitewide footer links distributed across many sites.
• Forum and comment links with optimized anchors in the post or the signature.

Paid placements are allowed when the link is qualified. Google's link best practices say: "If you were paid in some way for the link, qualify these links with sponsored or nofollow." Such links can bring traffic and visibility, but not ranking credit.

How do you choose the right mix for your site?

No site needs all 11 methods. Pick two or three that match your assets and your market, then add one more once the first ones run smoothly.

Two rules apply to every mix. First, relevance beats authority: a link from a smaller site in your niche helps more than a link from a large site with no topical connection. Second, keep the anchor text varied and natural, as described in the warning above.

How do you build a 90-day backlink plan?

1. Weeks 1 - 2, audit. Run a backlink audit: count your referring domains, spot lost links, list the pages that deserve links and the ones that already have them.
2. Weeks 2 - 3, quick wins. Redirect 404 pages that still have backlinks, ask for links on unlinked mentions, and contact partners and suppliers.
3. Weeks 3 - 6, one linkable asset. Publish one data study, free tool or reference guide on a topic your prospects search for.
4. Weeks 6 - 12, outreach. Promote the asset through broken link building, resource pages, guest posts or digital PR, with a fixed weekly number of personalized messages.
5. Every month, measure. Track new referring domains, lost links, the rankings of the linked pages and the share of natural anchors.

Expect results on rankings in months rather than weeks: Google needs to crawl the linking pages, and one link rarely moves a competitive keyword alone. Consistency matters more than any single campaign.

Do backlink strategies help with visibility in the AIs?

Yes, indirectly. ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and Claude draw on web pages that are well ranked, frequently cited and mentioned by trusted sources. The strategies that earn editorial links (data, digital PR, expert input, presence in "best of" lists) also create the brand mentions that these assistants pick up, linked or not. Our study of the platforms the AIs cite most shows which types of sites appear most often in their answers, which is a good list of targets for outreach.

To see whether your link building changes anything in AI answers, track the questions your buyers ask with AI mention tracking and watch which competitors are cited in your place.

Sorank, our product, also handles part of the link work for you: it obtains natural backlinks automatically from the sites of its 5,000+ users, alongside keyword research and articles written for Google and the AIs. You keep your own outreach for the high-value methods above.

Conclusion

The best backlink strategy is a short list of methods that suit your site, run every month: quick wins first, one linkable asset, then steady outreach, with natural anchors and no paid followed links. Measure referring domains and rankings monthly and drop what does not produce. To combine that work with content and AI visibility in one tool, see the Sorank plans, from $49 per month on annual billing with a 3-day free trial and a 90-day money-back guarantee.