7 Link Building Strategies That Still Work in 2025 (And 3 You Should Abandon)

Link building in 2025 looks nothing like it did five years ago. The tactics that worked in 2020—guest posting on any site that would take you, directory submissions, link exchanges—are not just ineffective anymore. They’re actively harmful.

I’ve managed link building campaigns for over 40 clients in the past two years. Here’s what’s actually working.

What Changed (And Why It Matters)

Google’s algorithm updates have fundamentally shifted how links impact rankings:

• Helpful Content Update: Penalizes sites with unnatural link profiles
• Spam Updates: Targets manipulative link schemes more aggressively
• Core Updates: Prioritize link quality over quantity more than ever

The result? You need fewer, better links. And getting those links requires actual value creation, not just outreach templates.

Strategies That Still Work

1. Digital PR (The Only Scalable White-Hat Method)

This is the closest thing to a “magic bullet” in modern link building. Digital PR means creating newsworthy content that journalists actually want to cover.

What works:

• Original research and data studies
• Industry surveys with compelling findings
• Expert commentary on trending topics
• Controversial but defensible takes on industry issues

Real example from my work: One client in the software space published original research on remote work productivity. We sent it to 50 journalists covering workplace trends. Result: 23 backlinks from sites with DA 60+, including Forbes and Inc.

Time investment: High upfront (creating the research), low ongoing Link quality: Exceptional (DR 70-90 typical) Scalability: Medium (can repeat quarterly)

2. Broken Link Building (With a Twist)

Classic broken link building—finding dead links and suggesting your content as a replacement—still works. But the old spray-and-pray approach doesn’t.

The twist: Target recently dead links (within the past 3-6 months) on high-authority sites in your niche.

Why it works better:

• Webmasters care more about fixing recent breaks
• Less competition than older broken links
• Higher response rates (typically 8-12% vs 2-3% for old breaks)

Tools I use:

• Ahrefs (Best 404 Inlinks report)
• Screaming Frog (for crawling competitor sites)

Real numbers:

• 100 outreach emails → 8-12 responses → 3-5 actual links
• Average DA of acquired links: 55-70
• Time per campaign: 6-8 hours

3. Resource Page Link Building (If You’re Actually Resourceful)

Resource pages exist on almost every university, government, and industry association site. They’re goldmines for high-quality, editorially-given links.

The catch: Your content needs to actually be resource-worthy. A 500-word blog post won’t cut it.

What works:

• Comprehensive guides (3,000+ words)
• Interactive tools and calculators
• Curated lists of industry resources
• Original templates and frameworks

Search operators I use:

• "your keyword" + "helpful resources"
• intitle:"resources" + "your industry"
• inurl:links + "your topic"

Conversion rate: About 5-7% response rate on cold outreach Link quality: Very high (edu and gov domains common)

4. Newsjacking (With Genuine Expertise)

When something breaks in your industry, be the expert journalists quote.

How to do it right:

1. Set up Google Alerts for trending topics in your niche
2. Respond to journalist requests on platforms like HARO and Qwoted
3. Provide genuinely useful commentary (not self-promotion)
4. Follow up within hours, not days

What I’ve learned:

• Response time matters more than perfect pitches
• Journalists want specific data points and examples
• Building relationships beats one-off pitches

Real example: When Google announced a major algorithm update, I sent expert commentary to 15 journalists within 2 hours. Got quoted in 4 major publications, each with a link to my client’s site.

5. Collaborative Content (The Relationship Multiplier)

Create content featuring other experts in your industry. They’ll share it, link to it, and often become long-term collaborators.

Formats that work:

• Expert roundups (ask 10-20 experts one question each)
• Co-authored guides (split the work, double the promotion)
• Interview series (video or written)
• Industry predictions posts

Why it works:

• Natural incentive to share and link
• Builds genuine relationships
• Creates content with automatic social proof

Average links per piece: 8-15 from featured experts Secondary benefit: Social shares and traffic from experts’ audiences

6. Competitor Backlink Replication

Find where your competitors are getting links, and get the same links.

Process:

1. Analyze top 3 competitors in Ahrefs/SEMrush
2. Export their backlink profiles
3. Filter for achievable links (exclude press releases, paid placements, etc.)
4. Identify common link sources
5. Create better content and reach out

Reality check:

• You won’t replicate 100% of competitor links
• Aim for 20-30% success rate
• Focus on links you can realistically get

Tools: Ahrefs, SEMrush, Majestic

7. Unlinked Brand Mentions

People mention your brand/company/product without linking. Those are low-hanging fruit.

How to find them:

• Google: "your brand name" -site:yoursite.com
• Brand monitoring tools (Mention, Brand24, Ahrefs Alerts)

Outreach template that works:

“Hey [name], saw you mentioned [brand] in your article on [topic]. Thanks! Just a heads up—the mention isn’t linked. Would you mind adding a link so readers can learn more? Here’s the URL: [link]”

Success rate: 30-40% (highest of any outreach method) Why it works: They already mentioned you; you’re just asking for a link

Tactics You Should Abandon

❌ 1. Guest Posting on Random Blogs

Guest posting for links is dead—unless you’re targeting truly authoritative sites in your niche.

Why it doesn’t work anymore:

• Most “guest post” sites are low-quality link farms
• Google recognizes and devalues these link patterns
• Time investment rarely justifies the minimal SEO benefit

Exception: Guest posting on sites where your actual target audience hangs out. Do it for traffic and brand awareness, not links.

❌ 2. Web 2.0 and Directory Links

If you’re still building links from Medium, WordPress.com, or random directories, stop.

These links:

• Provide zero ranking benefit
• Can actually trigger spam filters
• Waste time you could spend on real link building

❌ 3. Link Exchanges and Reciprocal Linking

“I’ll link to you if you link to me” worked in 2010. In 2025, it’s a red flag.

Why it fails:

• Google’s algorithm easily detects reciprocal patterns
• Devalues or penalizes both sites
• Looks obviously manipulative

Smarter alternative: Build relationships where links happen naturally over time through genuine collaboration

Measuring Link Building Success

Don’t just count links. Track these metrics:

Quality indicators:

• Domain Rating/Authority of linking sites
• Relevance to your niche
• Actual referral traffic from links
• Link placement (in-content vs sidebar/footer)

Business impact:

• Organic traffic growth
• Keyword ranking improvements
• Conversion from organic traffic
• Revenue attributed to organic search

My benchmark numbers:

• Good campaign: 5-10 high-quality links per month
• Excellent campaign: 10-20+ high-quality links per month
• High-quality = DR 50+, relevant niche, in-content placement

The Mindset Shift That Changes Everything

Stop thinking about link building as a separate SEO tactic. Start thinking about it as a byproduct of creating genuinely valuable content and building real relationships.

The best links I’ve ever acquired came from:

• Creating something so useful people naturally want to reference it
• Building relationships with journalists and industry peers
• Being helpful without expecting anything in return

That’s not scalable in the traditional sense. But it’s sustainable, white-hat, and the only approach that consistently works in 2025’s SEO landscape.

Your Action Plan

This week:

1. Audit your current backlink profile (remove toxic links)
2. Identify one competitor’s best backlinks to replicate
3. Set up Google Alerts for trending topics in your niche

This month:

1. Create one piece of truly link-worthy content
2. Run one broken link building campaign
3. Claim 5 unlinked brand mentions

This quarter:

1. Publish original research or data
2. Build relationships with 3-5 industry journalists
3. Create one collaborative content piece

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Building a link profile that drives sustainable organic growth? I specialize in white-hat link building strategies that focus on quality over quantity. Let’s build your backlink strategy.