Exploring Link Building Strategies: A Comprehensive Guide to Different Types of Link Building Techniques

Want to learn the different types of backlinks (not internal links) to boost your money site rankings on search engines? I compiled the top 15 in this piece.

15 Different Types of Links — And How to Build Them

Dofollow & Nofollow Links

In my previous article about why link building matters, I explained that bots follow backlinks from one web page to another to index them.

In the process, authority votes (also called link juice or equity) are passed down from other websites to your own website.

However, you can instruct bots to send or withhold juice from one page to another. Hence, the dofollow and nofollow links.  

Which of the two links sends or withholds juice?

• Dofollow links allow link equity to flow through to your site.

Example:

Also read: Maximizing SEO Potential with Do-Follow Links

• On the other hand, nofollow links cut off the flow. A nofollow attribute tells search engines not to pass down the juice.

Example:

So, maybe nofollow backlinks are BAD for SEO?

No. You'll still benefit from the traffic of the linking sites. In my opinion, that still helps the end goal of SEO: visibility and sales.

How can you tell if a backlink is dofollow or nofollow?

Note: "dofollow" and "nofollow" are more about link attributes than types. In other words, a guest post link can be a dofollow or "nofollow."

1. Manually:

• Right-click on an HTML link > inspect
• Does the “a href” tag have a “rel” attribute?
• If not, that's likely a dofollow link.
• On the other hand, if the "rel" attribute is "nofollow," that is a nofollow link.

1. Use a tool:

• Install the Strike Out Nofollow Links extension

Example of the extension in action:

• Alternatively, you can use Ahrefs Free Backlink Checker to get a quick ratio of dofollow to nofollow backlinks pointing to your site.

Pro tip: don't restrict your backlink strategy to only dofollow links. Add nofollow backlinks.

Directory Links

Like the name, directory links are backlinks you place on directories — or review sites. It is similar to what local SEO darlings call citations.

Note: there are different ways to build directory backlinks. Here are some:

📌 For a start, you can list your business in a local niche directory. For example, say you’re a wedding photographer in   Myrtle Beach, you can do this:

• Go to Google, type into the search bar
• Pick 2 - 3 directories based on their traffic > Submit your business

Pro tip: you can see the traffic right in the search results for free with the Surfer Keyword extension.

Also, you can list your business on popular directories Yelp, ChamberofCommerce, and TripAdvisor.

📌 Create a Google Business Profile

The directory link aside, a Google Business Profile listing will boost your local SEO rankings. Plus, it is free.

📌 Alternatively, create your own directory

• Hire web designers to create a web listing - not on the same domain as your site
• Pitch the idea to other businesses and have them list their website. Convince them to spread the news to friends and partners.  
• Of course, include a backlink to your business.
  

Other tags that you might find are "rel sponsored" or "rel ugc." The former is a variant of nofollow. On the other hand, the UGC (user generated content) attribute has no impact on search engines.

HARO Links

HARO (Help A Reporter Out) is a platform where bloggers and journalists seek expert quotes to make a piece of content stand out. The source (you) will then get a backlink.

Hence, HARO links.

Unfortunately, HARO links, while free, are unpredictable. How so?

• There is no assurance that a journalist will pick your quote
• Even when your answers/quotes get the nod, you can't tell when the backlink will be active
• Eventually, when the backlink is live, it'll likely be sent to your homepage

If you’re okay with such grounds, get HARO links. They are earned and completely safe.

Check out this short guide on how to build HARO links

• Sign up as a source on HARO
• Scroll to the preferences and pick niches related to your business

• Look out for 3 emails (morning, afternoon, and evening) from HARO daily

Open the email > select any of the queries > send your quote

Similar platforms like HARO to build safe, quality links:   Featured (formerly Terkel) and SourceBottle

PR Links

These backlinks types are similar to HARO links since you’re getting the backlinks from journalists in a Google-approved manner. The only difference is that there is more assurance with PR backlink building.

Otherwise, PR Pros like SpinePR can't assure businesses of backlinks from top new sites like Business Insider or The Jerusalem Post.

Summarily, PR links are built off years of cordial relationships with journalists. More importantly, the backlinks are from known authority sites.

How can you build the said relationship?

• Draw a list of your target news sites or media houses
• Follow their journalists on platforms like Muck Rack, LinkedIn, and X (formerly Twitter); build a relationship with them
• Stay alert for journalists’ requests; use hashtags like #journorequest
• Or pitch your newsworthy story to the journalists

Summarily, adopt the best practices of PR pros. About that, read Muck Rack’s State of PR, 2024.

Social Media Links

These link building types involve adding your website's link on Facebook, LinkedIn, or X. But the how is more critical. Otherwise, the backlink will have little to no effect on your sales or traffic.

So, how should you go about social media links?

• Provide links to your website in your profile.
• Add links to your posts — of course, only after you have educated readers on the benefits of clicking your links.
• Join niche and marketplace groups and add your links in weekly submissions posts.
  

At Legiit Facebook Group, for example, there is the "roundup post." (If selected) Legiit will include backlinks to your services in her weekly emails. That will eventually lead to sales.

Related reading: Advertising on the Legiit Facebook Group

Forum Links

These types of links are similar to social media links. The difference is that forum backlinks are more robust and have more equity.

But while you’re at it, prioritize niche forums. Here is why:

The beauty of forum links is not exactly in the backlink but in the audience. The "more" niched-down they are, the "higher" your chances of clicks and conversions.

Furthermore, selling to forums by just posting links won’t work. If it works everywhere, I doubt it will on platforms like Quora and Reddit.

So, what should you do?

• Build trust and authority with insightful blog comments, informational posts, and answers. Then, you can upsell your services with links — only when necessary.

Summarily, forum backlink building is a long game. Building authority takes time but is beneficial.

Fortunately, you can outsource the manual process to experts.

Web 2.0 Links

These types of links are often confused with forum links. But they are not the same. While both form the basis of pillow link building, web 2.0 backlinks work differently. How so?

Web 2.0s are subdomains built off the authority of popular, high-traffic blogging platforms like WordPress and Blogspot. While their authority score (especially for page authority) will start from zero, they climb up relatively fast.

That said, how can you build non-spammy web 2.0 backlinks?

• First, create the web 2.0s
• Create a couple web 2.0s at WordPress and Blogspot
• Hire writers on Legiit to write quality, short (400 words) content for the subdomains or DIY
• Insert your backlinks in the post > publish
  

Also read: How To Hire a Ghostwriter

Guest Post Links

Guest blogging is one of the oldest and natural link building methods. To date, it is still relevant.

But make sure you only guest blog on niche-relevant sites. Otherwise, your backlinks might come off as spammy.

More importantly, write high-quality posts.

How do you find niche-relevant sites to make your guest post backlinks OG links?

📌 Start with your favorite blogs and blog posts

• Check the names of the authors manually on the blog. Alternatively, you can use Google; type into the search bar like this:

• Install the GetProspect extension
• Type the author names into LinkedIn search > pick one > GetProspect will extract the email address.

• Send a message to the email address; ask politely if guest posting is available on their blogs and how.

📌 Find sites actively accepting guest posts in your niche

If the previous process is time-wasting for you, skip to blogs that make it public that they accept guest posts. Here is how:

• Ask colleagues in your industry
• Google search

> Make sure the particular website has a balanced mix of outbound links and external links.

FYI: Legiit accepts guest post submissions. Read the requirements.

Curated Links

These types of links are also called “niche edits” and “link inserts." They work similarly to guest blogging but are better. How?  

Niche edits are backlinks placed on aged, already-indexed, ranking articles.

In essence, the equity from these backlinks is assured, unlike in guest blogging. More importantly, you don't have to write anything from scratch.

Note: site owners might add a sentence or more to accommodate your anchor. This might cost you extra.

So, how can you find quality curated links?

📌 Manually:

1. Use the "favorite blog" method from the "guest post link" strategy and tweak it like this:

• Ask if the blog offers link insertion services outrightly
• Alternatively, ask if there is an opening for sponsored posts and how much. Regardless of the reply, say you can't afford the quote. But you'll pay a fraction of the cost for link insertions.

1. Use Ahrefs Content Explorer

• Go to Ahrefs Content Explorer > type your topic > in content > search

• Pitch link inserts to the owner of the sites in the results.

Pro tip: send your pitches from a personal email to avoid backlash against trolling.

📌 Use niche edits builders

Broken Links

According to AIRA’s State of Link Building, 2024, Broken link building (BLB) is in the top 5 backlink building techniques. The reason is straightforward:

BLB offers value before backlinks. You fix a user experience for your target site. In turn, you’ll get a backlink.

So, how is all this done?

📌 Find the broken links first. Here is how:

You can install the Check My Links extension to unearth broken links on resource pages or directories. While this method is free, it is inaccurate.

So, I'll recommend that you use Ahrefs Content Explorer instead. But the subscription is expensive.

• Go to Ahrefs Content Explorer > type your topic (choose a broad topic) > in title
• Change the "live and broken" tag to "only broken."
• Add “referring domain — from 20” filter. This ensures with work a broken link that web pages are already linking to

📌 Create a replacement page

While at it, ensure your statistics are as recent as possible.

📌 Manual Outreach

Reach out to the referring pages to the broken links. Pitch your replacement page.

You can adopt this sample pitch:

Hi [name],

I saw your post: [title]. I enjoyed every bit of it. [Mention the interesting part]

BTW, I saw that you linked to this article: [title of broken page]. I checked, but the destination page was broken.

If you'd like to update your article and fix the issue, I have a similar post (on the subject) with updated reports and quotes.

You can take a look here [link to your replacement page].

Let me know if this is helpful

[Your name]

Editorial Links

These are natural links. The idea is that other sites will naturally link to your page if you create skyscraper content. But that is too broad.

The steps below are more actionable:

• Create high-value, quality content — such as resource & statistics pages and long-form guides
• Don’t wait for site owners to reach out; launch outreach campaigns
  

Infographic Links

These types of links are inbound links embedded in infographics. KISSMetrics used this strategy to earn $1M worth of traffic. So, it works.

So, how can you build infographic links?

• Research the trending topic in your niche — use Ahrefs Content Explorer
• Update the information
• Go to Canva > search for infographic templates

• Outreach

Free-tool Links

These types of links work similarly to infographic links. Look for a common problem in your niche. Create a tool to solve. Launch an outreach campaign to get views on the tool.

In time, other websites will link to your free tool.

Unlinked Mention

This strategy works if you have used all the methods listed so far. By now, you should have some authority in your niche.

So, other websites are linking to your site. But some might forget to include a backlink. This method only reminds them.

Note: while unlinked mentions yield manufactured links, they are completely safe to use.

How does this strategy work?

• Register an account with BrandMentions.
• Input your keyword > unlinked

• Reach out to authors of the posts; politely ask for a backlink

Tiered Links

Tiered link building is a multi-level technique. It encompasses all the 14 strategies discussed so far.

Here is a quick preview of how it works:

• "Tier 1 links" are backlinks from authority sites — via guest blogs, niche edits, editorial links, etc.
• "Tier 2 links" send link juice to the guest blogs — via web 2.0 backlinks
• "Tier 3 links" add to the effectiveness of "tier 2 links" — via blog comments, user-generated links, forum, and social media backlinks
  

Note: the example above is only a rough sketch. It can even be more complex, and the strategies can be interchanged. A web 2.0 backlink can also be a tier 1 link.

Either way, this type of link is most effective with an excellent on-page SEO.

Verdict: What Type of Links Are the Best for Search Engines?

There is no one best backlink strategy.

Use all the different link types together to get the most results from your campaigns. Ensure they are good links though.

Last note: while focusing on backlinks, don't forget that internal and external links are equally important for search engine optimization.