Of the many SEO strategies that online marketers implement, building links is considered one of the most essential.
Some even say it's non-negotiable.
If you want a web page to rank on search engines, you'll need external links to point to it. Not only does link building help build credibility, but it also gets pages to rank for target keywords.
In this post, you'll find everything you need about link building. This includes the steps to get started with link building for SEO.
How does link building help SEO? You'll find the answer to that question in this post as well.
Also, you're provided with a list of tools that make it easier to build quality links.
What Is Link Building and How Does It Work for SEO?

First, what is link building for SEO? What is a link builder to begin with?
For those new to search engine optimization, link building is the process of getting third-party web pages to link back to your own.
Whenever you see a link on a website that redirects users to another site, that's a backlink. You aim to get as many quality backlinks to your pages as possible.
And while sites can link back to you organically, the use of link building strategies speeds up the process and gives you some control over link quality.
But why go through all this trouble? How does link building help with SEO?
Simply put:
Google and other search engines look at backlinks to determine if a website deserves to rank for certain keywords.
Receiving lots of backlinks from sites with high domain authority, like news organizations and educational institutions, tells Google that your pages are valuable. So when users search for information related to your content, search engines will prioritize your pages over other websites.
Other factors affect page rankings, but external links play a big role.
To be clear:
Linking pages that share the same domain name isn't link building. That's called internal linking. This is a completely different strategy that's worth looking into.
How to Build High-Quality Links
In this section, you're going to find popular link building strategies and tips on how to build links from scratch.
The good news is that having a website link back to you isn't as difficult as some make it out to be. However, the whole process will require you to research and build assets worth linking to.
Identify Link Prospects
As with all link building campaigns, you'd want to start by identifying sites that could give you the best return on investment.
Seasoned marketers will tell you that getting backlinks from low-quality sites will do you more harm than good. For instance, you risk disappearing from search results if you generate links from adult and gambling sites.
That's why you only want to work with credible sites.
How do you know which websites will get you high-quality backlinks?
Some tools score the quality of websites based on their performance. Some of the more popular metrics that link builders refer to are Domain Authority (DA) and Domain Rating (DR). You only want to work on sites with a DA or DR score of 40 or higher.

You can look for sites or blogs in your niche and expand your search. Check their DA/DR and place sites that qualify on a list for future reference.
Alternatively, you can use SEO tools to analyze competitor backlinks. This method will give you a list of sites that have links pointing to sites that outrank you in search results.
The beauty of this link building strategy is that you're getting sites with some interest in your niche since they're linking to a similar site. That means they could be open to giving you backlinks.
Be sure to work with sites that truly generate organic traffic.
Create Linkable Assets
After doing your research and creating a list, you should have an idea of what type of content your target websites publish. Use this to your advantage.
Create content assets on your site that attract links and publishers gravitate toward. Think about topics that would interest them. And make sure it contains information that would make your pages worth linking to.
Site owners will give you high-quality inbound links if you have linkable assets.
What are some examples of link-worthy content?

Case studies are a good example. Websites always link to them because their users want to see real-world data they could learn from. Infographics are just as popular since they make digesting complex facts and statistics easier.
Tutorials are a safe bet. Sites often link to resources that could help their readers perform specific tasks. They also cite original research in articles and blog posts.
Interviews make significant assets too. If you could interview a prominent member of your target site's community, there's a good chance that your post will get the attention of external websites.
Basically, you want to publish relevant and reliable content. That's how you get more backlinks and rank in Google search results.
Perform Blogger Outreach
Having the right content can help you get more backlinks. But if you want to take a more proactive approach to link building, you should dive headfirst into one of the most common link building strategies — blogger outreach.
Blogger outreach refers to contacting site owners and convincing them to give you backlinks.
And how do you convince other websites to link back to you?
Well, there are several ways.
Guest Blogging
Guest blogging is where you reach out to bloggers and offer to publish content for them. This arrangement benefits them because they get free content to provide their readers. Conversely, you get to add an anchor text that points back to your domain.
Sites that accept guest posts usually have guidelines, though. Make sure they accept do-follow links before making your pitch.
Broken Link Building
This form of link building will have you looking for pages that have links that no longer work for whatever reason. Broken links are bad for SEO, so sites are willing to replace them. You aim to have them replace the broken link with a comparable page from your site.
You reach out to webmasters once you have a page that can replace the broken link.
Unlinked Mentions
When you find pages in your target website that mention your brand or website not linking to you, ask them nicely if they could do so.
Mention that adding your link could add more context to their posts which would ultimately help their readers.
Resource Page Link Building
Some sites have curated lists of tools and resources to help readers achieve their goals. If you find pages relevant to your industry, contact webmasters about possibly adding your pages to their lists.
Hire Link Builders from Legiit
You're probably starting to realize just how laborious link building work can be — and it is, if we're being honest.
Finding potential sites to work with, creating content, and emailing webmasters can take a lot of time. And if you're too busy running a business or doing other tasks, implementing a link building strategy might not be high on your to-do list.
If that is the case, you may want to hire a freelancer to build links for you.
Finding an expert in link building techniques isn't hard at all. There are many to choose from on platforms like Legiit.

While there's nothing wrong with doing it yourself, hiring freelancers saves you from the headaches of inexperience.
For instance:
Do you know how to avoid spammy link building techniques? How do you find broken hyperlinks for link reclamation? What anchor texts would be most beneficial to you?
Great freelance link builders know the answers to these questions and more. After assessing your site, they should be able to tell you which strategies are best for your business.
Here are a few names to help you build and run a backlink campaign.
- Neha (BradyBear) — Neha's $200 Basic package gets you over 700 diversified backlinks alongside other perks. At $300, you can expect to get more than 1,000.
- Rank Rancher — With 24 orders completed at a 100% on-time delivery rate, Rank Rancher is one of the most trustworthy link builders on Legiit.
- Aaron (SerpAbove) — Aaron is your guy if you focus on guest blogging. He can work on as many as 20 guest posts for just $300.
- GranKing — GranKing is one of the most experienced link builders on Legiit. Currently, he has over 2,000 completed orders and very happy clients.
- Rank Jacker — Hire Rank Jacker if you want high-quality backlinks at a fraction of what link building services typically go for.
Monitoring Link Building Campaign Success
The real work starts after you get your backlinks. You must continuously monitor your progress to see if your link building tactics are effective.
After weeks of your links going live, check Google and see if you're now ranking for your target keywords. If you're not, you may need to recalibrate your strategy.
You should also check every blog post you wrote for guest posting. The webmaster might have removed your link at some point.
Are you experiencing a bump in organic traffic? That's a good sign. You could be gaining traffic from people who click on your links. You can check with an analytics tool to confirm your traffic sources.
Speaking of analytics tools, you should have one by this point.
Google Search Console is what most marketers use to monitor their campaigns because it's free. But also consider using rank tracking tools like True Ranker to help you monitor your keyword rankings over time.

If you're unsure how to measure your success, you can take cues from your competitors.
Check how they're doing. How many backlinks do they get? What's their site traffic like? How many guest posts are they on? What anchor texts do they use?
Answering these questions could give you an idea of how well you're doing.
Link Building Tools to Use
Anyone who's going to do broken link building or any of the strategies mentioned above to rank higher on search engines will need tools. SEO tools, to be more specific.
Here's a list of marketers' most-used third-party tools to get their links on other sites.
Ahrefs

Ahrefs is an all-in-one SEO tool that's trusted by thousands of online marketers around the world. It has a lot of tools that can make link building more efficient, no matter your skill level.
The Site Explorer feature makes quick work of researching competitor backlinks by showing you its DR. Keywords Explorer tells you the best terms to target. Rank Tracker helps you monitor your progress. Content Explorer finds link opportunities for you.
Semrush

Semrush is a similar service to Ahrefs that offers comparable features. You can do keyword research with it. Finding competitors and analyzing their SEO strategies is a breeze. You can track your rankings with its built-in rank tracker.
It also has a feature specifically for link builders.
Other features that might interest you include market analysis, content optimization, competitor PR monitoring, and social media management.
Postaga

Postaga is a service that enables you to send cold emails to potential backlink sources. As you may imagine, link building will require you to engage in many email conversations. Having a tool to help you manage your outreach will keep your sanity in check.
Not only will this tool help you find link building opportunities, but it can also find the contact information you need and send emails automatically for you.
Frequently Asked Questions
Here's a recap of everything you've read so far.
SEO Basics: What Is Link Building?
Link building is the process of acquiring backlinks from third-party sites. You do this to rank higher on search engines for your target keywords.
This requires you to implement tactics designed to persuade webmasters to add your links to their pages, like guest blogging and link replacement.
What Does Link Building Do for SEO?
Link building is responsible for ranking sites higher on search results.
Google uses its algorithm to match user queries to relevant pages. That algorithm takes it as a good sign when other websites link a page, especially those with high domain authority.
Is Link Building an SEO Tool?
Link building is a strategy used by online marketers to rank higher on search engines. To perform at an efficient level, marketers use SEO tools like Ahrefs, Semrush, and Postaga.
You will also need analytics tools if you want to monitor your progress.
Conclusion
Hopefully, this post helped you learn link building — or at least the basics of it. The process of creating SEO links gets more complex the more you dive into the world of website link building.
However, this article should be enough to get you started with search engine optimization link building.
If you need help, remember that you can seek help from backlink experts to get you on the right path.