How to Build Backlinks: 9 Methods Ranked by Effort, Cost and Risk

Last updated: September 2026.

How to build backlinks comes down to nine methods, and they differ sharply in effort, cost and risk. Start with free, low-risk work like unlinked mentions and broken links, add digital PR or original data when you can afford the effort, and treat paid placements as the riskiest option, not the default.

Quick Takeaways

The nine methods below are ordered from safest and cheapest to riskiest. Effort rises as you go down the list, except for the last method, which is easy but carries the most risk.
In Ahrefs’ study of 75,000 brands, branded web mentions correlated with AI Overview visibility at 0.664, while backlinks correlated at 0.218. Links still matter for rankings, but mentions matter more for AI answers.
Muck Rack’s May 2026 analysis of more than 25 million AI citations found that earned media supplied 84% of them and paid or advertorial content supplied 0.3%.
In one 2026 survey of 518 SEO professionals, the average acceptable price for one high-quality backlink was $508.95.
Google’s spam policies treat buying links for ranking purposes as link spam. Links qualified with nofollow or sponsored are not a violation.

How do you build backlinks for SEO in 2026?

You build backlinks by getting relevant sites to link to pages worth linking to. Ahrefs groups the ways of doing that into four buckets: adding links yourself, asking for them, buying them, and earning them.

Most guides list tactics and stop there. Semrush’s guide gives ten tactics with pitch templates. Ahrefs’ beginner guide explains the four buckets and what makes a link valuable, then declines to cover buying at all. Neither tells you which method to pick for your budget, your time and your risk tolerance. That choice is the hard part, so this guide is built around it.

One note on the ratings below. Effort and risk are our editorial judgment, based on the sources cited. They are not measured results. Where a real number exists, it is cited.

Do backlinks still help with AI search?

Yes, but they are not the strongest signal. Two studies point the same way.

Ahrefs analyzed 75,000 brands and compared search factors against how often each brand appeared in Google AI Overviews. Branded web mentions correlated at 0.664, branded anchors at 0.527, and the number of backlinks at 0.218. Ahrefs is clear that correlation is not causation, and the study covered brands with a Domain Rating above 40, so it says little about small sites.

Muck Rack’s What Is AI Reading? findings, third edition, May 2026, looked at more than 25 million links cited by ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini across 17 industries. Earned media made up 84% of citations and journalism alone made up 27%. Paid and advertorial content made up 0.3%.

For context, 73.2% of the SEO professionals in Editorial.Link’s 2026 survey said they believe backlinks affect the chance of appearing in AI search results. That is a belief, not a measurement.

What this means in practice: build links that also produce mentions. A link inside an editorial page that names your brand and explains what you do does two jobs. A bare link in a footer or a paid slot does one, at best.

The 9 methods at a glance

#	Method	Effort	Cash cost	Risk
1	Unlinked brand mentions	Low	Free	Low
2	Broken backlink reclamation	Low	Free to low	Low
3	Partnerships and podcasts	Medium	Free	Low
4	Resource pages and roundups	Medium	Free	Low
5	Competitor backlink replication	Medium	Tool subscription	Low
6	Guest posts	Medium to high	Free if earned, paid if not	Medium
7	Journalist requests and digital PR	High	Time, or a campaign budget	Low
8	Linkable assets (original data, tools)	High	Medium to high	Low
9	Link insertions (paid)	Low	Paid	High

How to build backlinks manually: the 9 methods, ranked

1. Turn unlinked brand mentions into links

Effort: Low. Cost: Free. Risk: Low.

Someone already wrote about you and skipped the link. Search your brand name with your own domain excluded, open the pages that mention you, and email the author with the exact URL you would like linked. Semrush suggests using the same email to fix vague wording about what you do, since a clearer description helps readers and AI systems understand the brand. Start with pages that still get traffic. Old news archives rarely change anything.

2. Reclaim broken backlinks

Effort: Low. Cost: Free to low. Risk: Low.

If a site links to a page of yours that now returns a 404 error, that link is sending readers and value nowhere. Find the dead URLs in a backlink tool, then either redirect the old address to the closest live page or ask the linking site to update the link. A redirect can recover some of that value with no outreach at all.

3. Use partnerships and podcasts

Effort: Medium. Cost: Free. Risk: Low.

Your clients, vendors, integration partners and communities already know you. Ask for a customer story, a partner page, an integration listing or a podcast guest spot. Semrush notes that these convert better than cold outreach because the relationship already exists, and that podcasts with published show notes or transcripts turn a spoken mention into text that search engines and AI tools can read. Do not make link swaps a habit. Google lists excessive link exchanges as link spam.

4. Get onto resource pages and roundups

Effort: Medium. Cost: Free. Risk: Low.

Many sites keep curated lists of tools, guides and providers. Search your topic with terms like “resources” or “recommended tools,” check that the page is updated and its links work, and suggest yours with one sentence on why it fits. This only works if you have something worth listing. Semrush points out that roundups and comparison pages already link to several vendors in a category, which makes them likelier targets than a page that links to nobody.

5. Replicate competitor backlinks

Effort: Medium. Cost: Tool subscription. Risk: Low.

If a site links to two of your competitors, it may link to you. Compare your backlink profile against three to five competitors in a backlink gap tool and look for shared sources such as roundups, interviews and directories. Ahrefs suggests starting with sites that link to competitors’ homepages, since those mention the brand as a whole. In the Editorial.Link survey, 66.6% of respondents said finding unique opportunities beats copying competitors, so treat this as a floor, not a plan.

6. Write guest posts for relevance, not for links

Effort: Medium to high. Cost: Free if earned, paid if not. Risk: Medium.

Writing for a relevant publication puts your expertise in front of its audience, and a contextual link earns its place when it helps the reader. Pitch two or three specific ideas, not a general offer to write. Ahrefs suggests finding topics that competing blogs rank for and the target blog has not covered.

The risk rises when the post is paid for or carries keyword-heavy anchors. Google’s spam policies list links with optimized anchor text in guest posts distributed on other sites as an example of link spam. Sentiment is also cooling: in the Editorial.Link survey, only 16% picked guest posting as the most effective tactic, and 23.0% named its declining effectiveness as a challenge.

7. Respond to journalist requests and do digital PR

Effort: High. Cost: Time, or a campaign budget. Risk: Low.

Answer reporter queries on platforms like HARO, Qwoted and Featured with a specific stat, example or opinion, or build a small campaign around your own data. In the Editorial.Link survey, 48.6% of respondents picked digital PR as the most effective link building tactic, ahead of guest posting at 16% and linkable assets at 12%. That is opinion, but it fits Muck Rack’s finding that earned media supplies most AI citations. Semrush advises replying within two to four hours and answering exactly the question asked. Speed and specificity decide who gets quoted.

8. Create linkable assets

Effort: High. Cost: Medium to high. Risk: Low.

A linkable asset is a page other people cite: an industry survey, a study of your own data, a free calculator. Ahrefs reports that its ranking-time study earned almost 3,000 backlinks from about 1,700 sites, and Semrush reports that its AI search traffic study has drawn more than 9K backlinks from over 1.3K domains. Those are large-brand results and a smaller company should expect less. The format still keeps earning after the outreach stops. It also needs promotion, since Ahrefs points out that people cannot link to something they do not know exists.

9. Build backlinks using link insertion (paid placements)

Effort: Low for you. Cost: Paid. Risk: High.

A link insertion means paying to have your link added to an article that is already published. It is the fastest way to add a link and the riskiest method on this list.

Google’s spam policies treat buying or selling links for ranking purposes as link spam. The same policy says buying and selling links is a normal part of advertising on the web and is not a violation when the links are qualified with a nofollow or sponsored attribute. So the trade is plain. An untagged paid link is the kind Google says it treats as spam. A tagged one is within the rules, but you should not count on it to pass ranking credit.

On AI citations, Muck Rack’s dataset put paid and advertorial content at 0.3% of citations. We did not find a study that isolates link insertions specifically, so how much they help in AI answers is unknown.

The market does not match the policy. In the Editorial.Link survey, 91.9% of respondents believe their competitors buy links and 56.0% doubt Google reliably discounts them. Both figures are opinions, and neither changes what the policy says. If you use link insertions anyway, vet every site with the checklist below, keep volume small, and never build your whole profile on them.

How much does it cost to build backlinks?

Free methods cost time, and paid methods cost money that is rising. The best current numbers come from Editorial.Link’s 2026 survey of 518 SEO professionals (44.4% agency, 29.9% in-house, 24.9% freelancers, mostly from Europe and the US):

Per link: the average acceptable price for one high-quality backlink was $508.95, from 412 respondents.
Monthly budget: the average minimum budget needed to compete in highly competitive niches was $8,406, from about 75% of respondents. Answers ranged from $4,000 to $150,000.
Share of SEO spend: agencies put 32.1% of their SEO budget into link building on average, and in-house teams put in 36.03%.
Direction: 80.9% expect link building to get more expensive over the next two to three years, and 75.1% named the cost of premium backlinks as their biggest challenge.

Outreach has its own cost in time. Ahrefs’ guide describes getting five links from a hundred outreach emails as a result to be proud of. Budget for a low hit rate, and build relationships before you ask.

Which method should you use first?

Your situation	Start with
Brand new site, no budget	Methods 1 to 3, plus the basic profile and directory listings Ahrefs calls foundational links
A few hours a week, no budget	Methods 4 and 5
You have unique data or customers with stories	Methods 8 and 7
Competitive niche with real budget	Methods 7 and 8, with method 5 to see the gap
Need links fast and accept the risk	Method 9, in small volume, with every site vetted

How do you build high quality backlinks?

Pick the site before you pitch it. The Editorial.Link survey asked SEO professionals what they treat as red flags when judging a site for link placement:

Spammy outbound links: 89.0%
Low-quality content: 86.3%
Poor domain authority metrics: 72.2%
Low topical relevance: 67.2%
Declining organic traffic: 63.9%

Add two checks of your own. Would the page make sense to a reader with no interest in SEO? Does the link sit inside the content, where Ahrefs says links get the most attention, or in a sidebar or footer?

How do you build backlinks naturally and safely?

Follow the rules Google publishes and keep the profile varied.

Qualify paid links. If money, goods or services changed hands, the link should carry a nofollow or sponsored attribute.
Avoid link schemes. Google’s list includes excessive link exchanges, automated link creation, and low-quality directory or bookmark links.
Let the author choose the anchor text. Ahrefs advises against trying to control it, because a pattern of exact-match anchors invites suspicion.
Mix your sources. Seobility notes that a profile made only of links from top sites looks less natural than one with a range of source types.
Test small first. Semrush suggests picking one method and trying it five to ten times before scaling.

How to build backlinks for a new website

Start with the basics, then move to relationships. Ahrefs recommends a few dozen foundational links for a brand-new site: social profiles, business directories and review listings where it is natural for your business to appear. They carry little weight alone, but they cover the ground every real business covers. After that, use methods 3 and 4, which depend on relationships and a page worth listing, not on existing authority.

How long does it take to see results?

Most practitioners expect results within a few months. In the Editorial.Link survey, 57.1% expected results within one to three months, 33.0% within three to six months, 6.0% in under one month, and 3.9% after more than six months. Quick wins like unlinked mentions and broken links can land in days. Assets and PR compound more slowly.

Frequently Asked Questions

How can beginners build backlinks?

Start with the free, low-risk methods: convert unlinked mentions, fix broken backlinks, and ask partners for a listing. Add foundational profile and directory links if the site is new. Pick one method, try it five to ten times, and adjust before you scale.

Is buying backlinks against Google’s rules?

Google’s spam policies list buying or selling links for ranking purposes as link spam. They also say such links are not a violation when qualified with a nofollow or sponsored attribute. In short, undisclosed paid links that pass ranking credit are the problem.

Do nofollow links help?

It depends on what you mean by help. In the Editorial.Link survey, 78.8% of respondents believe nofollow links affect rankings. Ahrefs notes that Google has treated nofollow as a hint since 2019, but that a nofollow link most likely does not pass a full vote. A nofollow link from a relevant, trafficked page can still send readers and produce a brand mention.

Can you rank on Google without backlinks?

Sometimes. In the same survey, 64.9% said a site can rank high without them, and the authors noted this tends to happen for low-competition keywords in niche sectors. In competitive topics, links remain one of the clearest ways to separate similar pages.

How do you build backlinks for free?

Use methods 1 to 4. Unlinked mentions, broken link fixes, partner listings and resource page pitches cost only time. Free tools such as Google Alerts help you spot new mentions. Expect a low reply rate and plan for it.

Sources

Want editorial placements on relevant sites, with every link listed in a report you can check yourself? Talk to Yaaply.