15 Ethical Link Building Strategies to Earn Quality Backlinks

Link builders and link building service providers fall into two categories. Those who employ ethical link building strategies (so-called white hat link building). And those who try to manipulate PageRank by using black hat link building tactics.

The white-hat SEOs earn «safe» links that help sites rank higher in search engine results pages (SERP) and contribute to further sites' growth. «Black-hat» SEOs build spammy links to increase search rankings in the short term, but these tactics are usually reversed in the long run.

In this piece, we’ll break down the 15 ethical link building techniques and briefly cover black-hat tactics to avoid. Follow our recommendations and build links that move the needle.

Let’s get started!

What is Ethical Link Building?

Ethical link building considers all the «white hat» link building techniques that SEO pros can use to get backlinks. This means building links by strictly following Google’s guidelines and providing value to readers. And not using any controversial tactics (aka black hat or gray hat methods) that could damage a website’s search engine rankings and reputation.

Deborah Norton, Founder at Bravo! Interactive media also reminds us to stick to white hat link building tactics:

»The best links to acquire are organic in nature and are such a good fit that they are a Win-Win for both parties.»

With this rule in mind, let’s learn the 15 effective ethical link building tactics that help sites conquer search results.

Strategy #1: Build Relationships with Webmasters

We at DigitalOlympus believe and advocate this tactic over everything else. Building relationships with webmasters is one of the best ways to get links by going 100% white hat for any niche and company size.

«What does it look like in practice?» you may ask.

Here are the four approaches for building relationships within your industry:

• Leverage link building and niche-specific communities (e.g., cold outreach, B2B marketers, travel bloggers, etc.). It seems that every industry has its community nowadays on Slack, LinkedIn, Discord, Facebook, or Telegram. Here’s your go-to plan:
  • Become a member of a closed community.
  • Analyze its members to find prospects for link exchange (it's better to start with active members as they’re likely interested in collaboration).
  • Engage with selected people (likes, comments, etc.).
  • Offer to collaborate via DM.
• Check out your social connections. It’s easier to start building links with someone you’ve known for some time. It may be your 1st and 2nd connections and followers on LinkedIn. With already connected people you can both discuss link opportunities right off the bat or ask them to introduce you to their circle (aka 2nd connections).
• Craft hyper-personalized outreach. Going the extra mile and showing webmasters/editors that you do care about their outlets and potential collaboration is always great for cultivating prolific relationships.
• Engage with prospects on social media to get on their radar and offer link collaboration with time.

Building relationships takes time, but the investment pays off in spades. This is especially true for enterprise link building.

Here, it’s important to note that some industries have an easier time building connections with webmasters than others. Debra Mastaler shared her opinion with us on relationship-based link building:

»Competitive areas like insurance, mortgages, and education don’t care about creating relationships with you, they don’t have to or don’t have the time to invest. This is especially true with B2C based sites, sites and/or media outlets in these niches are overwhelmed with requests, sometimes being first to respond is all you need.

Sites in the B2B space trying to build links may have an easier time of it however. Here, who you know usually trumps what you have to offer.» — Debra Mastaler, link building expert, Founder at De9eR Media.

Strategy #2: Conduct Original Research

Another great strategy to earn links without stepping into the «dark path» is to conduct original research. Unique content usually attracts lots of attention from the industry. When done right, original research lures journalists, editors, and bloggers to refer back to your post.

Here’s a breakdown of how to create enticing original research and get people to link back to it:

1. Understand what data people look for and what is already on the market. Use Ahrefs and Google. Look for keywords related to your services plus words like stats, statistics, facts, trend report. For example, project management statistics, best time to post on social media, etc.
2. Ask peers on LinkedIn and your colleagues what they would like to learn about considering the data you own.
3. Find journalists and bloggers who cover similar topics. Make sure your research has linkable potential (i.e., there are content creators who would benefit from your data and rely on it when creating content pieces).
4. Organize research in an easy-to-digest format. List key findings on top of the article. Create charts and visuals for each hot finding so that content creators can pick up one single stat. See an example of well-structured research.
5. Get thought leaders to quote some of your findings to boost your study’s reach and engagement. Why do they think the results showed an X trend? Embed answers contextually throughout the research.
6. Design distribution strategy: social media, email marketing, get your sales team to spread the news across prospects. Ask your peers to share the study and send it to journalists as a data source they can rely on in upcoming stories.

Following this strategy, you’re likely to create amazing research that will become your linkable assets.