Keeping up with SEO, for many, has become almost an impossible task. Google rolls out updates. Rankings change overnight. And all your effort starts to feel like guesswork.
But here’s the thing: while SEO evolves, one thing stays steady, the power of high-quality backlinks.
When trusted websites link to yours, it’s a digital vote of confidence. And Google listens. In fact, according to a study by Backlinko, the page one of Google search results typically has 3.8x more backlinks than lower-ranked pages.
Still, getting those links isn’t easy. But it’s not impossible either.
Whether you’re optimizing for search, social, or AI, let’s uncover 13 smart, ethical, and even aggressive link building strategies that can help you get found.
Do Backlinks Still Matter in 2025?
You may have the most helpful content in your industry, but if no one is linking to it, Google might never notice it. And your target audience definitely won’t find it.
That’s the simple truth, because even in 2025, backlinks are still one of the clearest signals to search engines that your content is credible.
Here’s why it matters more than ever:
Search engines work based on a trust system. They don’t care much what your website says about itself. Rather, they value how other sources see it (backlinks).
A 2024 study by Ahrefs found that over 90% of all web pages get zero organic traffic. Zero. And one of the likely reasons? They don’t have any backlinks. On the flip side, pages with even a handful of quality links consistently:
- Rank higher
- Get crawled and indexed faster
- Attract more relevant and qualified visitors
But it doesn’t end there. Today’s backlinks also have an indirect influence on AI-powered search and overviews.
Officially launched in the USA on May 14, 2024, Google AI overviews work via a process called “query fan-out” (other LLM search models use a similar technique), where search draws results from multiple relevant sources into a single comprehensive overview for easy access.
While AI Overviews don’t directly rely on backlinks, the searches are still powered by the traditional search systems, which do. What this means essentially is that if your site has a strong backlink profile, it’s likely to rank high in search results, which increases the chances of AI picking and using your content in its result overviews.
Please note that these must be real links from trustworthy websites, such as:
- Blogs in your industry
- Local news publications
- Niche directories that get actual traffic
- Expert roundups
- Interview placements
- Mentions in long-form content
This is the kind of backlinks creation that builds long-term SEO value and earns Google trust.
What is a High Quality Backlink?
This might seem like a simple question, but it’s not. There’s no one single definition for what a high-quality backlink is. Rather, it’s characterized by a combination of factors working together:
- It comes from a reputable, authoritative site
- It’s relevant to your content
- It’s placed contextually within relevant content
- It uses natural (non-spammy) anchor text
- It’s a “dofollow” link
- It’s from a site with real traffic
- It drives real traffic to your site
Each one of these factors is as important as the next. And thanks to updates like the 2024 Link Spam Update and improvements to its AI-powered spam detection, Google has gotten better at judging link quality.
Bottom line? One single mention on a reputable site carries more weight than dozens of low-tier links from shady directories or low-quality PBNs (private blog networks).
13 Proven Strategies for Getting High-Quality Backlinks in 2025
Despite all the updates and changes, there are link-building techniques that still work today, that’s if you do them right. Below are what we recommend, based on what’s working now.
1. Guest Blogging
Guest blogging remains one of the oldest, simplest, and most effective methods of getting high quality backlinks. You write a quality piece for another website in your niche and include a link back to your own website. They publish it. You gain exposure and a high-quality backlink.
But how do you find guest posting opportunities?
Simple really. Start with Google. Try search queries like:
- Your topic + intitle: “write for us”
- “Guest blog” + your niche
- “Submit a guest post” + your industry
The results from these queries will show sites actively accepting contributions. Another smart move is to spy on your competitors using tools like Ahrefs’ Link Intersect and SEMrush Backlink Gap. If a blog has accepted a guest post from someone in your space, there’s a good chance they’ll accept yours too.
You can also use platforms like Featured.com and Submit.co to submit bylined articles to thousands of publications, establishing your credibility.
That said, the quality of your guest post matters; Google frowns on poor content, and rightly so. Your content should offer real insight, value, or a fresh perspective, and not just be an excuse to drop a link.
2. Reclaim Lost or Unlinked Mentions
Sometimes, your brand gets mentioned but not linked. That’s actually good news, as it means the person mentioning you knows about your brand. Now you just need to ask them to turn that mention into a clickable link.
To locate unlinked mentions, use tools like:
Search for instances where your brand, product, or name is mentioned. Then send them a polite email asking them to add a link to your site. In most cases, they’ll agree.
Here’s an example of a nice little email you can send:
“Hi [Name], thanks for the mention in [Webpage]. I noticed that there wasn’t a link to our site. Would you mind adding it in case readers want more context? Thanks again.”
You should also think about monitoring lost links. These are backlinks that you once had but have disappeared. You can use Ahrefs’ Backlinks Report to track this.
There are usually four reasons for lost/ missing links:
- The linking page was deleted
- Your link was removed from the linking page by the author
- The linking page was redirected
- Your link was removed during a content update
In the first case, there’s not much you can do unless the deletion was accidental. In the other cases, review your content to see if the link still fits. If it does, reach out to ask if it can be re-inserted.
3. Broken Link Building
This is an incredibly effective approach for getting aggressive tier 1 backlinks, especially from older, well-established sites.
Here’s how it works:
- Identify websites in your niche with outdated or dead links. You can use tools like Ahrefs, Sitebulb, or Screaming Frog to find these broken outbound links.
- See what the original content looked like using the Wayback Machine or cached pages.
- Create similar but better content on your own website.
- Contact the site owner about the broken link and offer your superior content as a replacement.
Most website owners will appreciate this as it helps improve their user experience and SEO.
4. Skyscraper Technique
Skyscraping content, Brian Dean’s famous technique, remains a great way to generate aggressive tier 1 backlinks in 2025.
The idea is quite simple: look for content in your space that already performs well. It has lots of backlinks, shares, and engagement. Then create something that’s at least 10x better. Make it more insightful, clearer, updated, and visually appealing.
A successful skyscraper content should be:
- Updated wth the latest stats and facts
- Evergreen
- More visual (think: infographics, videos, carousels)
- Visually interactive (think: polls, quizzes, FAQs, etc.)
- Comprehensive and in-depth
- Include expert quotes, relevant stats, and case studies
Once your content is live, reach out to the same websites that linked to the original and show them your improved version. You should also consider sharing it with influencers, bloggers, and communities in your niche.
5. Turn Brand Mentions into Backlinks
Just like unlinked mentions, you want to turn brand mentions into quality backlinks.
The good news is that it’s a quick and easy process.
Use a social listening or mention-tracking tool like BrandMentions, Mention.com, Brand24, or Google Alerts to get notified whenever someone mentions your brand. They’ve mentioned you already, so they likely see you in a good light.
The next step is to send a friendly email asking them to turn the mention into a link.
6. Steal Links from Your Competitors
If you’ve ever come across a just-there article that outranks your brilliant post and has loads of backlinks, it’s your opportunity to steal some of that attention.
Use tools like Ahrefs, SEMrush, or Ubersuggest to audit your competitors’ backlinks. Look for:
- Pages linking to them that could as easily link to you
- Blogs or news site that features your competitors
- Outdated or thin content that you can improve on
Now reach out to those sources with your fresher, better, and more insightful content. Many will be happy to switch or include your link alongside.
7. Repurpose Content
You don’t always need new content to create great links. Sometimes, repurposing what you already have and redistributing it is enough.
You can take your best-performing blog posts and turn them into:
- A YouTube video
- A LinkedIn post
- A thread on X or Threads
- A SlideShare presentation
- An infographic
- A downloadable PDF
Each new format opens the door to new backlink opportunities as well as helps you get your content in front of new audiences.
8. Social Media Presence
Even though most social media links are “nofollow”, meaning that they don’t pass direct SEO juice, your presence on social media platforms is still useful for visibility, reach, and backlinks creation.
Here’s why:
- Social media can boost the initial visibility of your content.
- They attract journalists, bloggers, and webmasters who can give you follow links.
- They build your brand authority over time, making future outreach more effective.
On Facebook, for example, you can:
- Add your website URL in your profile’s ‘About’ tab
- Include URLs in bios, posts, and pages
- Insert links to your content when discussing in communities or DMs
It doesn’t stop at Facebook either. LinkedIn, Twitter (now X), Instagram, and even YouTube all provide creative ways to link back to your content. This indirect, aggressive link building strategy pays off over time.
9. Blogger Outreach
It’s impossible to talk about link building without mentioning outreach. Why? Because no matter how good your content is, if the right people don’t see it, it won’t matter.
So, what can you do?
- Identify people who’ve linked to similar content or mentioned relevant keywords.
- Study how they write, their content format, and their audience.
- Draft a short, tailored pitch that shows why and how your pitch adds value to their readers.
This doesn’t have to be about blog posts always. You can also promote tools, resources, products, events, and anything that’s useful and shareable.
10. HARO and Digital PR Platforms
Digital PR is one of the most effective ways of getting high quality backlinks from media sites in 2025, and HARO (Help A Reporter Out) is a good place to start.
HARO is basically an online platform where reporters and journalists can connect with bloggers, content creators, and more.
When you sign up as a source, you’ll receive requests from journalists looking for expert quotes or stories in a particular niche. If your work is selected, your name and often your website get published on high-authority platforms like Inc., Forbes, or The Economic Times.
In addition to HARO, here are some other platforms you can use for this approach:
- Featured.com [formerly Terkel IO]
- Help a B2B Writer
- Qwoted.com
11. Get Listed on Authority Resource Pages
Authority resource pages are one of the most underrated ways of getting high quality backlinks, and they work very well in 2025.
These pages are usually titled “Helpful Resources,” “Further Reading,” or “Tools We Recommend,” and you’ll find them on websites associated with:
- Universities
- Government organizations
- NGOs and think tanks
- Industry-specific portals
You can find these authoritative resources by Googling:
- “helpful resources” + your topic
- “useful links” + inurl:resources
- “recommended tools” + your niche
Once you find a platform you like, reach out with a short pitch that:
- Introduces your content
- Explains why it would help their audience
Be sure to keep things short, simple, and respectful.
If you’re lucky enough to get listed in these pages, they can be great targets for strategic backlinks.
12. Use Already Proven Content Formats
Backlinko did a study in 2019 (which still holds true in 2025) that found that a lot of content, in fact, 94% gets zero external links. To create content that falls in the other 6%, you should stick to formats that have already proven to be successful.
Content formats to consider include:
- Original research and data analysis
- How-to guides and tutorials
- Listicles
- Case studies
- Infographics
- Expert roundups
- Whitepapers
- Downloadable PDFs
The beauty of this strategy is that it gives you an edge, especially if you’re targeting aggressive tier 1 backlinks from top blogs, media sites, and trade journals.
13. Artificial Intelligence
As artificial intelligence becomes increasingly popular, it’s important to pay attention to how it can help in link building and outreach. For example, AI can help find link prospects, identify the most linkable content type, and automate outreach.
You can also use it to predict the content that’s likely to earn more backlinks based on topic trends, search behavior, and engagements.
Some of the AI-powered tools already doing this type of work in 2025 include Postaga, Respona, and BacklinkGPT.
Backlink Building Mistakes to Avoid in 2025
| 1. Buying Links from Shady Vendors 2. Overusing Exact-Match Anchors 3. Choosing Quantity Over Quality | 4. Ignoring Technical SEO 5. Let Old Backlinks Decay |
It’s not enough to know what to do when it comes to link building. Knowing what to avoid is also crucial. So, let’s look at some of the don’ts of link building in 2025.
1. Buying Links from Shady Vendors
Backlinks are hard to build, so it’s understandable that you want to buy from vendors promising “1,000 high DA links in 24 hours”. But the truth is that these links almost always come from PBNs, spammy directories, and fishy websites. Buying links this way could lead to penalties that take years to recover from.
2. Overusing Exact-Match Anchors
While it’s okay to want to rank for your target keyword, stuffing it repeatedly into your anchor text, especially in an unnatural way, is a big, bold red flag.
Instead, use a natural mix of anchor types:
- Branded (e.g., “Justwords”)
- Generic (e.g., “click here”)
- Partial (e.g., “strategies for getting high quality backlinks”)
- URL-based (e.g., “justwords.in/seo”)
Google values context, so varying your anchor text will focus on relevance and help you avoid keyword stuffing.
3. Choosing Quantity Over Quality
You don’t need backlinks in the thousands. You just need the right ones.
A single link from a trusted domain in your space is far more valuable than hundreds of low-authority ones from all over the place. If you place yourself in the role of a reader and decide you cannot click on a link, then you should not use it in your Search Engine Optimisation either.
4. Ignoring Technical SEO
All the backlinks in the world will not matter if your website is not technically sound.
Slow load times, broken pages, and poor UX will ruin your chances of ranking, no matter how many backlinks you’ve earned. So, before you scale your backlinks outreach, make sure your site is solid in technical SEO.
5. Let Old Backlinks Decay
Backlinks creation is a never-ending process. You’ll lose links over time, maybe when the site removes them, the page gets deleted, or something else goes wrong.
It might be tempting to just let these things happen, but it’s never a good idea to let your hard-earned links disappear without trying to reclaim them. We’ve talked about reclaiming lost and unmentioned links, and the same strategy works here.
Keeping your backlink profile in top shape is just as important as building new ones.
FAQs
Can You Buy Quality Backlinks?
Technically, yes, you can, but this can be a risky move. Google frowns on paid links and can penalize your site if you’re caught. While this may look like a good shortcut, it’s actually safer to earn links naturally through smart outreach and great content.
What is a Good Amount of Backlinks?
The truth is that there’s no good or bad number of backlinks to earn. What matters more is link relevancy, quality, and diversity., It’s better to have just a dozen links that meet these criteria than a thousand spammy ones.
What is a Toxic Backlink?
This is a link that comes from spammy, disreputable sources, such as shady directories or low-quality PBNs (private blog networks). These types of links can hurt your rankings, especially if you have lots of them pointing to your domain.
Can You Rank High Without Backlinks?
Yes, it’s possible to rank without backlinks, but this happens mostly with local SEO and low competition keywords. For competitive terms, backlinks are still essential for ranking in 2025.
What Pages Should You Backlink To?
To make the most of your backlink strategy, focus on your pillar content, as well as product and services pages. You should also link back to helpful content on your blog.
Conclusion: Start Getting Quality Backlinks the Right Way
In 2025, the brands winning the SEO game are not the ones with the most backlinks. No. They are the ones with the most relevant, the most trusted, and the most natural. In this race, you don’t want to be left behind.
Hopefully, this guide has covered everything you need to get backlinks creation right. You may also want to check out our Aggressive Link Building Strategies to see how we approach things hands-on.
And if you’ve got questions or just need a little help getting started, reach out to our team here at Justwords.
We’re always happy to help.
