Published by NewsPR Today | June 2025
Truly advanced link building isn’t about endlessly begging for links. It’s about creating something so valuable, interesting, or newsworthy that attracting links becomes the natural outcome. The goal is to have media outlets, industry blogs, and niche experts want to link to you.
Of course, you might need to do some outreach to get the ball rolling—to fan the flames, so to speak. But the core strategy is to create a “linkable asset” that does the heavy lifting for you.
With a dose of creativity and a hands-on, strategic approach, this is entirely achievable. The ideas below are tested methods, adapted to protect client specifics, that can be molded to fit nearly any industry, from e-commerce and lead generation to apps and publishing.
This is all about execution. If you try to cut corners with generic templates and mass email blasts, you will fail.
But first, a quick warning. We never recommend these tactics to clients. They either don’t work, or they work just long enough for you to get caught and penalized, forcing you to clean up a mess.
Tactics to Avoid:
- Guest posting only for a backlink (it’s perfectly fine for brand building and customer acquisition).
- Scholarship and grant schemes.
- Spammy forum or comment links.
- Creating social media profiles just to drop a link.
- “Parasite SEO” where you create backlinks for yourself on other platforms. This can drive traffic but won’t pass authority to your main site.
- Obvious link schemes: PBNs, link farms, or reciprocal link exchanges.
- Paying for links on “high DA” sites that also link out to spammy niches like payday loans or gambling.
Now, let’s get into what works.
Create a Campaign People Can’t Stop Talking About
Think about a deep-seated desire your audience has that connects directly to what you sell. Or, consider a problem they face that your team has the unique ability to solve.
A classic example is a travel company offering to pay someone to travel the world and document their experience. This is more than just a content generation scheme. The blog posts themselves lose some value once the trip is over and the traveler moves on. If they’ve built a following, that audience might leave with them.
So, why is this a brilliant link-building play?
It’s a story. And stories are what journalists and bloggers share. It taps directly into powerful human emotions: aspiration, wanderlust, and even a little bit of envy. The chance to get paid to live out a dream is an irresistible narrative.
Media outlets are highly likely to cover the campaign, but you need to get it in front of them. Here’s how:
- Announce the opportunity to your existing email and SMS lists.
- Run targeted social media ads, creating specific ad sets for people who work in media or are industry bloggers.
- Sponsor a booth at a relevant trade show (like TBEX for travel bloggers) and promote the job opportunities there.
- List it on major job boards and see if the unique nature of the role generates organic shares.
Once you see a channel generating buzz, double down on it. You’re looking for that spark of virality. The only catch is that this is a one-shot campaign, so you’ll need to develop new ideas later. The good news? The lessons learned will make your next campaign even better.
Related Article: Demystifying SEO: How to Win at Google in the Modern Age
Turn Your Physical Space into a Local Link Magnet
If you’re a local business, you can generate a steady stream of high-quality local backlinks by hosting educational or community-focused events. The key is to make it an ongoing series—weekly, monthly, or quarterly—so the links remain relevant and new ones keep popping up.
This strategy works for anyone with a physical location, from retail shops and medical spas to churches and storage facilities.
Example 1: A medical practice could host a monthly workshop teaching parents how to administer emergency allergy injections or manage a child’s diabetes care. This is a vital community service that pediatricians’ offices and local parenting blogs would be happy to link to.
Example 2: Any business with a slow night and extra space can become a community hub. Host a weekly knitting circle for seniors, a study group for local teens, or a support group meeting. Doing good for the community is inherently newsworthy and makes for a fantastic “feel-good” story pitch to local media.
Example 3: Organize recurring pop-up events. Invite local artisans, bakers, or animal adoption agencies to use your space for a day. These partners will promote the event to their audiences, driving social signals and foot traffic. Your business becomes known as a center for community discovery, earning citations from local “what’s happening” guides.
A slow night or some unused space is a golden opportunity for backlinks.
Activate Your Sponsorships
You should never sponsor an event just for the backlink. But a sponsorship, done right, can be a link-building goldmine. The goal is to create an experience so memorable or an initiative so unique that people can’t help but talk about you.
This works for everyone, from global SaaS companies to local veterinary practices.
Example 1: Every city has quirky local events. Here in DC, we have an annual Chihuahua race. Instead of just putting your logo on a banner, sponsor a few of the dogs and dress them in hilarious costumes with your URL on them. Everyone takes pictures of cute dogs in costumes, and your URL travels with every photo shared online. The same logic applies to sponsoring a drag queen in a local parade—give her a branded sash and make her the star.
Example 2: At a conference, don’t just have a boring booth. Be the booth everyone talks about. Bring in a minor celebrity for photos, set up a retro arcade, or offer IV hydration drips for hungover attendees. The IV drip is genius—it gives you a captive audience of potential customers for 20 minutes and gets your booth mentioned in every conference roundup.
Symbiotic Linking: Get Featured Where Your Customers Already Are
This tactic is a must for brick-and-mortar businesses but can work for others, too. Think about your customer’s entire journey, not just their direct interaction with you.
For instance, if you’re a restaurant in Washington, DC, you know people going to the Kennedy Centre for a show will probably want dinner beforehand. They’ll search for “restaurants near Kennedy Centre.”
The top results will include the theatre’s website, local tourism guides, and directories. Getting your restaurant listed on the theatre’s “Nearby Dining” page is a perfect backlink. It’s highly relevant, drives actual customers through your door, and helps grow your business.
Expand this thinking. Look at convention centers, annual festivals, and major events in your city. There are fan sites, trade publications, and association websites all creating resource guides for these events. Get on their radar and get listed.
Final Thoughts
The ultimate aim of modern link building is to create systems that attract links organically, reducing your reliance on manual outreach while scaling your acquisition of quality links.
When executed well, these techniques create a snowball effect. You build enough authority to become a recognized name in your space. Once that happens, your rankings stabilize, and you’ll find that the best links start coming to you naturally, without you even having to ask.
