SEO is a harsh, never-ending road. The Internet is a ruthlessly competitive space. The moment you relax is the moment some other website swoops in to steal your rankings and traffic. And you have no choice but to do the same to others. You know you’ve become good at it when your site:

  • Looks great on all devices
  • Works like a charm
  • Loads quickly
  • Ranks high for your major keywords
  • Is well-known on the Internet
  • Has lots of backlinks

You can’t go wrong with the technical side of SEO. Unless you are lazy, this part is fully in your control. Now, the other factors in the list above make up a different story. Off-page SEO will require you to involve outside forces and get approval from people. That’s every bit as tough as it sounds, and then some more.

Fortunately, a lot of off-page SEO is centered around the same task: building links to your site.

And that’s the purpose of this guide.

Here you will find 20 Tactics Used by Experts to Build Links in 2019: tactics that work, tactics that you can and should use for your own site. What are they?

Let’s start with some of the easiest ones.

1. Turning broken links into your backlinks

Have you ever visited a site and noticed a broken link on one of their pages? If the circumstances are right, the next time that happens could be a link building opportunity for you.

Here’s how you know the stars can be aligned in your favor:

  • It’s a site in the same niche as yours;
  • The page’s content is related to what you have on your site (even on just one of your own pages);
  • The broken link is used to point to a resource that’s similar to something you have on your own site.

The page on the other side of that link might not exist anymore for any number of reasons; the why doesn’t matter. You are lucky to have found that broken link because the site owner might soon decide to have no link at all in that place. Be sure to act quickly!

Send a message to the site owner and explain the situation. If you say your site has content that fits what that broken link describes, the owner might very well agree your content is a worthy replacement. You’ll score a link and make a new friend!

2. Turning unlinked mentions into backlinks

This tactic is similar to the previous one and a bit easier, too. Instead of broken links, you comb through other resources for mentions of your site – specifically those that are just plain text without a link. As specific words are much easier to find on the Internet than specific links, you can use this link building method with just Google and nothing else. Of course, specialized tools will make this job even more of a breeze.

Track linked and unlinked mentions with WebCEO's Web Buzz Monitoring tool.

Like our Web Buzz Monitoring tool, for example.

Once you’ve found an unlinked mention, the next step is the same as with broken links: reaching out to the person who can put a link there.

3. Guest posting

Someone has a blog, but is temporarily too busy to write a new post? That’s where you come in.

Of course, there can be other situations when people can agree to accept an article from you. Maybe you have a really good topic idea. Maybe they are in a writing slump. As long as your content contribution is really valuable to them, they won’t mind putting a link to your site on theirs in return.

4. Infographics

Visual information tends to be more interesting than plain text. That’s why infographics keep standing the test of time and don’t go out of trend. And, of course, they attract plenty of links when used wisely.

Create an infographic that looks fantastic and has lots of useful information. Submit it to content directories which accept infographics and offer it to sites that might be interested in it, too. You’ll have greater chances of hearing “yes” if your infographic can positively impact those sites’ reputations – for example, by having well-researched, hard-to-collect information that will make anyone who posts it look like an expert.

5. Viral content

You can make amazing content, but predicting whether or not it will spread across the Internet like wildfire is a completely different matter. It’s easier when you are already a popular brand. Not everyone is, so what kinds of content can give you an edge?

To name but a few:

  • Hilarious
  • Controversial
  • Sensational
  • Interactive (like games)
  • Shocking

Just remember the rule about not making people regret they shared your content. They should be glad instead, even if it’s at your expense.

6. Participate in group projects for links

If a single guest blogger deserves credit for a post they wrote, the same is obviously true for larger projects with more people. When the final product (whatever it may be) is released, everyone involved can expect accolades. Why not accolades in the form of backlinks?

So if you’ve got skills that could be useful and you have your sights on a team who might need help with something, this might be your chance. Do the job they give you and ask for a link in exchange.

7. Speak at events, meetups, conferences

If you host an event yourself, you are guaranteed to get backlinks from interested parties. If you aren’t the host, you can be one of the speakers instead – it’s just as good for the purpose of link building.

It’s the same as participating in group projects. The only difference is that you will be more visible to the crowd. No pressure!

8. Interviews

Taking or giving interviews – either is fine when your goal is earning links. It may at first be easier to interview someone, since you probably aren’t famous enough yet for others to care what you have to say (but this can change quickly). Find someone who has an interesting story to tell  and whose opinion your audience would like to hear.

Once your interview is ready, you probably won’t even have to ask the other party for a backlink. Remind them to share it in their social media as well.

9. Comment on blogs and forums

This is the low-hanging fruit of link building, but it still has its uses. A well-chosen blog or a forum can connect you to your target audience better than a million posts in social media. Be careful not to come off as a shameless self-promoting spammer, though, or you’ll lose any links you make there.

This tactic can be especially good for local businesses. Users would rather dig through a hundred forum posts than a hundred Google search results.

10. Simply ask someone you know

Or you could just rely on the old proverb: “a friend in need is a friend indeed”. Got any friends or acquaintances who own websites, too? Will backlinks from those websites be good for you? Then it won’t hurt to ask. I’m sure you’d help your friends if they asked you.

This tactic is only as good as your ability to make friends, as are many things in the world. SEO can be one of those things, too.

Want the rest of the tactics, numbers 11 to 20? Of course you do. All you need to do is sign here and transfer to us the rights of ownership of your soul… What do you mean, we don’t do that anymore? Then how are we supposed to take over the world!? Oh well. It seems like the new protocol is signing up and getting the guide for free. Then you’ll get all 20 link building tactics at once. Neat-o!

Sign up and download your link building guide!