How to Get High Quality Backlinks (7 Top Strategies)

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Building high-quality backlinks is one of the most important aspects of SEO. Backlinks act as votes of confidence from other websites, signaling to search engines that your content is valuable and authoritative. The more quality backlinks you have pointing to your site, the higher your pages will rank in the search results.

However, not all backlinks are created equal. Low-quality or spammy links can actually hurt your rankings. That's why it's critical to focus on building links from reputable, relevant websites in your industry.

Here are 7 proven strategies to help you get more high-quality backlinks in 2024:

1. Become a Source For Reporters and Bloggers

One of the best ways to land high-quality backlinks from authoritative news sites and blogs is to position yourself as a source for reporters and bloggers in your industry. You can do this by signing up for free services like Help a Reporter Out (HARO), Featured and Qwoted.

These platforms connect journalists and bloggers with expert sources. Reporters submit queries on topics they are writing about, and sources (like you) can pitch them with quotes, insights, data, etc. If the journalist uses your pitch, they will often link back to your website.

To maximize your chances of success with this strategy:

Respond to queries as quickly as possible, ideally within an hour or two

Provide unique, non-obvious insights that aren't just regurgitating what's already been published

Include your credentials to boost your authority

Develop relationships with journalists who quote you and look for future opportunities to help them

2. Publish "Skyscraper" Content

The Skyscraper Technique, popularized by Brian Dean of Backlinko, is a link building strategy that involves:

Finding existing content with lots of backlinks

Creating something even better

Promoting it to the right people

The key is to take what's already popular and make it even better - longer, more up-to-date, better designed, more comprehensive. By publishing the best resource on the topic, you naturally attract links.

For example, let's say you find a list of "50 Healthy Snack Ideas" that has attracted a lot of links. You could publish a list of "150 Healthy Snack Ideas", with better images, more details, and the latest nutritional information. Then reach out to everyone linking to the original article, let them know about your upgraded content, and suggest they link to you instead.

3. Build Links From Outdated Resources

As time passes, some resources inevitably become outdated, get moved, or disappear from the web entirely. But they often still have many sites linking to them.

You can find these outdated resources using search operators like:

keyword + "no longer updated"

keyword + "this page has been removed"

keyword + "this website is no longer available"

Then check if the outdated page has any inbound links using a tool like Ahrefs. If so, you have an opportunity to create a newer, better piece of content on that topic and reach out to all the sites linking to the old resource to earn links.

4. Use Content Formats Proven To Generate Links

Certain types of content are natural link magnets. By strategically using these formats, you can increase the "linkability" of your content. Some of the most effective content types for link building are:

Original research and data. Bloggers and journalists are always looking for new stats, charts, and data points to reference and link to.

Definitive guides and tutorials. In-depth, step-by-step guides tend to attract a lot of links, especially for "how to" queries.

Infographics and other visual assets. Infographics get shared and linked to frequently. Consider turning your best content into embeddable images and videos.

List posts and resource lists. Listicles and curated resource lists provide a lot of value and often pick up links, like "Best X in [current year]" type posts.

Free tools. Interactive tools, widgets, and calculators that are relevant to your industry can generate a steady stream of links over time.

5. Publish Ultimate Guides

Publishing comprehensive, definitive guides on important topics in your industry is one of the most reliable ways to attract links. By creating an ultimate resource that covers a topic from A to Z, you give other sites in your niche a reason to link to you.

These guides should be several thousand words long, well-structured, and full of actionable insights. You can include things like:

Step-by-step instructions

Screenshots and examples

Case studies

Expert quotes and insights

Downloadable templates and checklists

Essentially, your goal should be to create a "hub" of information on the topic that is more useful than anything else currently published.

6. Use Branded Strategies and Techniques

Another way to attract links is to develop your own branded strategy, technique, or concept and promote it heavily. By coining a memorable name for your approach, you increase the odds that bloggers and journalists will mention it and link back to you.

Some examples of branded strategies that have worked well for link building:

The Skyscraper Technique by Brian Dean

The Briefcase Technique by Ramit Sethi

The Poster Boy Formula by Sujan Patel

The Content Relaunch Strategy by Andy Crestodina

The key is to create something unique and valuable, give it a catchy name, and then spread the word. You can publish a definitive guide on your site explaining the technique, and then promote it via guest posts, interviews, webinars, and more.

7. Authority Resource Pages

Resource pages are pages that curate and link out to useful resources on a given topic. For example, a site about pets might have resource pages on the best dog food brands, training tips, pet-friendly hotels, etc.

You can find relevant resource pages by searching Google with queries like:

"keyword" + inurl:resources

"keyword" + "helpful resources"

"keyword" + "useful links"

Then check the page's authority using an SEO tool like Ahrefs or Moz. If the page has a high Domain Authority (DA), reach out to the site owner, compliment their resource page, and suggest your content as a useful addition.

Bonus Strategy #1: Turn Brand Mentions Into Quality Backlinks

Bloggers and journalists may sometimes mention your brand without linking to your site. You can find these unlinked brand mentions using a tool like Google Alerts or Ahrefs Alerts.

When you find an unlinked mention, send a friendly email thanking the author for mentioning you and politely asking if they could add a link back to your site. Many will be happy to update their article with your link.

Bonus Strategy #2: Send "Feeler" Emails

Before investing a lot of time into creating a piece of content for link building, it's a good idea to send out a few "feeler" emails to gauge interest. Reach out to bloggers and site owners in your niche, let them know about the awesome resource you're planning to create, and ask if they would be interested in seeing it when it's ready.

If you get positive replies, then you know the content idea has link potential. If not, you can either tweak the idea or move on to something else.

What Do You Think?

Building high-quality backlinks is a long-term process that requires strategic planning, quality content, and persistent outreach. By using the tactics above and always focusing on providing value, you can steadily grow your site's backlink profile and authority.

Now I'd love to hear from you. Which of these link building strategies do you plan to try first? Do you have any other favorite techniques that I didn't mention? Let me know in the comments below!