How Can I Get Backlinks for Free?

Backlinks are one of the most important factors for search engine rankings. The more high-quality backlinks your website has, the higher the chances of ranking on Google’s first page. However, getting backlinks—especially for free—can be challenging if you don’t know where to start.

In this article, we’ll explore how you can get backlinks for free, without needing to spend hundreds or thousands of dollars on SEO tools or paid link placements. We’ll also discuss how you can scale your link-building efforts with the help of blogger outreach services if you’re looking for niche-specific backlinks.

1. Leverage HARO (Help a Reporter Out)

HARO is a free platform that connects journalists with expert sources. When a journalist needs a quote or an expert opinion, they post queries on HARO. If your pitch gets accepted, they’ll include your quote along with a backlink to your site.

Tips:

2. Guest Posting on Niche Blogs

Guest posting is a win-win: you provide high-quality content for another website, and in return, you get a backlink. Many blogs accept guest posts in exchange for a do-follow backlink in the author bio or within the content.

How to Find Guest Post Opportunities:

To acquire niche-specific backlinks at scale, you can also avail blogger outreach services from Digital Nomadians, who specialize in building backlinks across multiple industries including SaaS, cannabis, automotive, and more.

3. Claim Unlinked Brand Mentions

Sometimes other blogs or news outlets mention your brand or website without linking back to you. These are goldmines! You can reach out to the website and politely ask them to turn your brand mention into a clickable link.

Tools to Use:

4. Publish High-Quality Infographics

Infographics are still a great linkable asset. When you create a visually engaging infographic and embed a “share this” code with a backlink, other sites that reuse it will often credit you with a backlink.

Steps:

  1. Create an infographic using Canva or Piktochart
  2. Submit it to infographic submission sites like Visual.ly, Infographic Journal, and others
  3. Outreach to niche bloggers who might want to embed it in their posts

5. Be Active on Forums and Communities

While most backlinks from forums are no-follow, they still hold value when it comes to traffic, brand exposure, and building authority. If done right, some forums even offer do-follow links.

Forums to Consider:

Just make sure your contributions are authentic and not spammy.

6. Use Skyscraper Technique

This involves finding high-performing content in your niche, creating something even better, and reaching out to sites that have linked to the original piece to let them know about your improved version.

Steps:

  1. Find a high-ranking article in your niche
  2. Create a better, more detailed version
  3. Use tools like Ahrefs (or free trials) to find who linked to the original post
  4. Reach out to them with your improved resource

7. List Your Website in Free Directories

Online business directories and local citation sites offer easy, free backlinks. While many of these are no-follow, they still help build trust and domain authority.

Examples:

Make sure to maintain consistency in your business name, address, and phone number (NAP) across all listings.

8. Write Testimonials for Other Businesses

Companies love displaying testimonials on their websites. When you write a testimonial for a product or service you’ve used, there’s a good chance they’ll link back to your website as a thank-you.

Reach out to businesses you’ve genuinely interacted with, especially those in your niche. A backlink from a business website can carry a lot of weight.

9. Use Internal Linking Strategically

Okay, this isn’t a “backlink” in the traditional sense—but internal links can boost the authority of other pages on your site, reduce bounce rate, and enhance user experience. Plus, if someone copies your content (yes, it happens!), they may carry your internal links with them—giving you unexpected backlinks.

10. Collaborate with Micro-Influencers and Bloggers

Influencer marketing doesn’t always require a budget. Micro-influencers, especially those in your niche, may be open to collaborations in exchange for content, cross-promotion, or affiliate partnerships.

If you’re looking to streamline this process, Digital Nomadians offers customized blogger outreach services that help you land contextually relevant, niche-specific backlinks on real websites. This allows you to focus on your core business while professionals take care of building authority for your site.

Final Thoughts

Getting backlinks for free is absolutely possible, but it requires time, effort, and consistency. Start by building relationships in your niche, creating high-quality content, and leveraging platforms like HARO, forums, and directories.

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