What is SaaS link building in a nutshell? Link building is the process of getting other websites to link to your webpage(s). Even though you’ve probably heard “link building is dead” dozens of times, a short history lesson is the main counterclaim.
In fact, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, the founders of Google, were PhD students inspired by academic citation analysis, created the PageRank algorithm [1], which took into account both the number of links to a page and the number of links from each linking page.
The PageRank algorithm was the foundation of the Google we know today, so backlinks aren’t going anywhere. However, the strategies and methods of acquiring backlinks have definitely evolved in the twenty-plus years of Google.
Is link building still relevant in 2024? Now you know the answer. In this article, we will outline the best SaaS link building strategies, common mistakes and metrics you need to track, so you can get your link juice flowing.
11 Link Building Strategies To Try For Your SaaS
I’ve worked with dozens of companies on their off-page SEO for B2B SaaS. Most recently, we have delivered 47 backlinks for LLumin and increased their DA by 14 points (in three months). We’ve outlined the whole process, strategies, and results for them in this case study.
Before we start link building, we always check other websites’ DA, DR, previous external links, anchors, and content. Our intention behind this research is to ensure that the quality of their website, links, and content matches our expectations. These websites also have to have a relevant audience that would have an intent to click on the link.
Poor link building can cause more damage than no link building, therefore we ensure to prioritize quality over quantity. Does link building still work? Yes, if done right.
In this article, we share our proven strategies for SaaS link building clients, with examples and best practices. Here are the 11 best link building strategies for your SaaS:
1. Guest Posting
Our number one strategy that we implement for every client is guest posting, and it turns out it is the most used link building strategy for many SaaS marketers [2]. Guest posts are articles you post on other websites to educate and inform their audience about a relevant topic. The website, in return, inserts a link to your website.
When is guest posting effective?
- There is a warmed up audience that visits and clicks on the webpage of that website.
- They have a similar target audience who might be interested in your SaaS
- The guest post contextually firsts the blog, and the link is inserted properly
- The guest post is original and brings value to the reader
Here is an example of a guest post we did for MDR, where we carefully selected the topic and inserted the link naturally. In six days, the article got 103K clicks and 3.400K impressions.
Our strategy was to use natural implementations to fit the client’s business goals, market, and ICP, on sites with enough authority that a discernible difference will be made from the backlink.
We strategically placed backlinks on business websites, tech sites, but also sites of specific industries where LLumin’s CMMS+ solutions would be most useful, such as construction sites.
2. Link Insertion
Link insertion is a strategy of adding links to already existing published web pages. To get your link inserted in a web page you need to contact the website owner and provide reasons why they would benefit from your backlink.
When you have a network of partners willing to do an A-B-C exchange with relevant websites, you can easily acquire relevant and high-quality links. But building your own partner network takes time, so if you aren’t willing to pass this over to a link building agency that will boost you SaaS ROI , equip yourself with patience and outreach strategies.
Make sure to work only with trusted partners whose website metrics meet your standards, and never accept links from dead blogs or link farms.
Also, focus on having great anchor texts. We at NUOPTIMA include branded anchors in our strategy as well as linking brand and product anchors — building anchors by combining the brand name and product keywords. We also provided commercial anchors in different variations and built authority by linking informational anchors.
This way, we positioned our clients as a reliable source of information within their niche, highlighting them as knowledgeable and a reputable authority.
Here is an article on how to choose an SEO company if you don’t want to try link building on your own.
3. Product Embeds/Integrations/Free Tools
Speaking of giving value to the audience, there is no better way to do it than with product embeds, integrations or free tools. With this strategy, you will not only get numerous backlink opportunities, but the target audience will most likely try your tool because there is no or low commitment.
Integrations
Integrations are a great way to earn a backlink on multiple web pages. By integrating your tool with other non-competitive tools in the same niche, you will boost your backlink profile and conversion rates. Integrations attract users who need multiple tools to work smoothly at the same time.
If you want to integrate with some other SaaS, make sure to get a backlink from their help center article, homepage, an in-product.
Product Embeds
A very easy way to get a relevant backlink and potential leads is by indirectly showing how your product works. Email automation software are a prime example of getting backlinks by embedding the link to their software into clients’ emails. In that way, they will attract people who like how their tool looks, meaning a high conversion rate.
Free Tools/Trial
Last but not least, SaaS giants like Ahrefs and Semrush have doubled down on their backlink profiles when they introduced some free tools and trials. In that way, every article that uses their tools to explain something will gladly link to it.
And the audience is much more likely to try something free than paid, making this a solid link building strategy.
4. Broken links
If your website has been up and running for some time, or you’ve done some backlinking in the past, you should definitely revisit your backlink profile. Broken links are a goldmine opportunity for link building because you can replace 404 erros with new valid links.
This will ensure your backlink profile is always optimized with fresh links. However, if you want to go a step further, you can make a list of relevant websites that link to your competitors.
Check their backlink profile; big websites surely have some broken links that should be replaced. Google views broken links as a sign of poor website performance and user experience, and by explaining that to the website owners, you can propose a link insertion instead. This strategy does require a bit more research and effort on your end, but it has proven to be successful not only when it comes to link building but also in partner relationships.
5. Brand Mentions
Again, if you are not a new website, and you want to tick off “low-hanging fruit” from your link-building opportunities, then make sure to track brand mentions. Around 90% of websites mention a brand without linking to it or use your image without linking the source. These are valuable opportunities you don’t want to miss.
You can use brand tracking tools (Semrush has one in their app center, for example) to monitor and find websites where your brand is mentioned but not linked. Once you have a list of those websites, you can do outreach and ask for a link.
As for images, you can do a reverse Google search to find if someone has used your image and not included you as a source.
6. Digital PR (Press releases)
If you want a more direct strategy that will ensure you get a backlink, you can try digital PR. The goal of digital PR is to secure links from high-authority websites like Forbes, Entrepreneur, TechCrunch, etc.
These websites allow press releases that are interesting to their readers. Therefore, make sure their readers are aligned with your target audience.
To pitch a press release to these websites, you need to have an interesting story or news about your SaaS. The press release needs to follow their editorial and link building guidelines. Reach out to a SaaS PR agency if you don’t want to bother with that.
7. Linkable Assets
Another organic link building strategy that Google will absolutely reward are linkable assets. Linkable assets are pieces of content you create and post on your website that can serve as references to many other websites. These linkable assets are:
- Infographics
- Case studies
- Reports
- Statistics
- Glossary pages
- Expert roundups
By creating these pieces of content that will be useful for a wider audience, a lot of blog posts will gladly link to you. However, these linkable assets need to be high quality with precise data, expert opinions or examples.
One recent example is the State of Link Building Report [2], published by Editorial Link. They’ve managed to secure more than 600 backlinks in 30 days by publishing relevant and useful data.
8. Testimonials/ Reviews
Reviews are not only great for authority and brand awareness, but they can be a source of baclink as well. Make sure your software is present on major and niche review sites, such as:
- SofrwareAdvice
- G2
- Capterra
These websites not only have great metrics and authority in the eyes of Google, but customers searching for specific tools to solve their problems will easily land on your website. Just make sure your product info is up to date, and you share the review link with your happy customers regularly.
Apart from official review sites, make sure to check if individuals have reviewed your SaaS on their channels.
You need to ensure that there is a link anywhere your products are mentioned. If there are no reviews of your tool, you can reach out to influencers or creators that have a relevant target audience and ask for a review of your tool with a backlink.
You can offer them unlimited access or an extended free trial as a token of goodwill.
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9. Social media
A great way to promote your SaaS product and insert your backlink in the right place is by solving a dilemma or suggesting a solution on social media. For example, you can search “ best email marketing tool” on Quora and check if people are leaving their reviews.
You can leave a comment with your opinion or point of view and include a backlink to your website.
10. Interviews/Podcasts
Guest posts are slowly but surely evolving into more lively and engaging content, such as interviews and podcasts. There are many SaaS podcasts that talk about startups, ideas or successful strategies.
As a guest, you will promote your SaaS and get a backlink in the description, such as “the show notes”. These backlinks are highly relevant because the target audience has already got to know you and your brand, and those who click on the link are most likely to become paying customers.
11. HARO/Featured etc
Our last strategy, which has proved to work very well, is providing answers that will be published on other websites. Since EEAT has taken over the SEO world, most blogs want to have expert opinions in their articles. This is a great opportunity for a link building campaign because you can get a link to your website by simply answering a relevant question.
On a website such as Featured, you can find a list of relevant questions and answers and provide your bio and backlink to your website.
4 Common Link Building Mistakes You Should Avoid
Link building mistakes are costly in the sense that Google can lower your rankings and remove your site from its index if they see unnatural and spammy links. How do you know if you are in the “red zone”? Well, if it feels unnatural to you, search engines will definitely notice it.
Let’s look at some common mistakes you should avoid when it comes to link building techniques.
1. Don’t Use Link Farms
Link farms are “fake” websites and blogs created with the sole purpose of building links and boosting their rankings. It is not difficult to spot a link farm since they all have:
- Low-quality or AI content
- Poor design & stock images
- High number of links
- Repetitive anchor texts
- Irrelevant or unrelated content
Even though you need to check the DA and DR of a website, keep in mind that some SEO metrics may be false or inflated, so make sure to double-check and take the tool’s metrics with a dose of doubt.
2. Avoid AI Content for Guest Posts
Many business owners want to speed up the link building process, but that can only be done to some extent. When it comes to link building and content, and search engine optimization in general quality should always outweigh quantity since Google itself doesn’t link unnatural and unhelpful content & links.
With the rise of AI tools in 2024, many writers have leaned on ChatGPT or similar tools for content creation. Even though it may have passed at first, now it is clearly detectible with a bare eye.
As for guest posts, if you try sending in an AI-written piece of content, most editors won’t accept it. Therefore, you will not only be rejected for that content piece but you won’t be considered for future ones. Partnerships are key in the online world, so trading quantity over quality can hurt you in the long run.
Even if the AI content gets published, readers won’t find it interesting or useful if it is not edited properly. The chances of someone reading a raw AI piece and clicking on the link in a poorly optimized anchor are very low.
3. Don’t Overuse A-B link exchanges
An A — B change (website A links to website B & vice versa) is considered an unnatural link pattern because there is a low chance that it would occur organically. There are some cases where these exchanges make sense, but don’t overuse it.
Instead, you can focus on A–B–C exchanges that promote organic link building. These exchanges occur naturally or through link insertion with a network of partners.
4. Watch Out For Keyword stuffing/Out of Context Anchors
Keyword stuffing means excessively using one keyword or keyword variations. This tactic is considered spammy and can negatively impact a website’s search engine rankings.
An example I see often is when there are multiple similar words in one paragraph or multiple links with the same anchor texts.
Another thing is when the anchor is inserted in such a way that it doesn’t naturally flow when you read a sentence. You (and Google) can clearly see that the point of the sentence is not to give value and additional information to the reader but to have a link.
Another malpractice is when the anchor text and the URL slug aren’t connected. Very often, the link leads to the homepage, which isn’t contextually relevant to the first website.
4 Metrics to Track Your Link Building Performance
Expert link builders need to prove that their link building efforts produced a change and improvement on the website. When SaaS companies do multiple digital marketing campaigns, the results can easily be bundled up or lost. Check out our article on enterprise saas seo.
Here is how to precisely measure the impact of your link building strategy:
1. Domain Authority & Ranking
DA is a metric that predicts how likely a website is to rank in SERPs. It is a good north star to reach since a website’s DR starts from 0 and increases if link building strategies are effective.
You can check your website’s DA with Moz’s free tool, and keep track if the number increases after you’ve implemented the link building strategy (not right away, but check the score every month).
As for DR, it is calculated based on the number of linking websites, the number of backlinks, and whether they are do-follow links. You can check it on Ahrefs and follow it regularly to track how your backlink profile is extending.
2. Website Traffic
After implementing your link building strategies, you should track if there is an increase in website traffic. You can monitor that in your Google Search Console by selecting the pages you’ve inserted as links. These pages should have an increase in traffic from the websites they’ve been linked to.
Make a sheet with columns such as:
- Clicks before link building
- Clicks after link building
- Impressions before link building
- Impressions after link building
3. Number of Backlinks
If your website has been running for a while, it may become difficult to track all the links. In Ahrefs’s backlinks section, you can have a clear overview of who and how websites link to your page.
You can detect spammy links or anchors and URLs, so you can optimize your strategy after this data. Make sure to keep track of the organic links and spammy links so you don’t end up violating Google’s policies.
Make sure all links are relevant, not inserted without context, not overstuffed with keywords, or inserted on link farms. Also, monitor the anchors to see which ones perform best.
4. Leads Captured
Finally, the end goal of every marketing strategy is to bring in customers. You can measure how many of your customers come from other websites linking to you and how many of them convert. In GA4, you can create events to track conversion, customer demographics and behavior.
Use UTM parameters to track links from external sources. Just create a trackable URL using the Google Campaign URL Builder and add the UTM parameters. This allows you to specify conditions about the link and track its performance.
Navigate to Reports > Acquisition > Traffic Acquisition to see which channels bring in the most leads. This helps you understand the % of customers your link building activities bring in.
Conclusion
High-quality backlinks boost your search engine rankings, drive targeted traffic to your website, and establish credibility and authority in the industry.
By implementing effective techniques like guest posting, broken link building, or digital PR, you can slowly but surely improve your DA and DR. Just don’t overdo it because, as we mentioned, keeping in line with Google’s guidelines is a slippery slope.
But, with the guidance of a SaaS link building agency, you don’t need to worry about the best strategies, algorithm changes and fluctuations. We managed to achieve a 54.3703% increase in organic traffic and boosted their DA from 26 to 40 in three months, for a recent client.
Start building your backlink strategy today with NUOPTIMA. Book a call with our experts.
FAQ
Yes, every SEO expert and the leaked Google documentation verifies that link building is a ranking factor. That doesn’t exclude the fact that websites with no or few links can rank highly; it is just one of the many factors Google considers.
Some black hat techniques, such as extensive A–B linking, linking to spammy websites, domain abuse, bought links, etc, can be considered illegal, aka Google penalizes them. However, some strategies are considered organic link building, such as guest posts, proper link insertion, review site links, etc.
To find a good link-building opportunity, you need to look for websites that have target audiences similar to yours but aren’t your competitors. Make a list of these websites and highlight the ones with a good DA, DR, and good placement of external links. Finally, reach out to them with guest post ideas that could benefit both them and you.
The best link building techniques are the ones that don’t feel like inserted links when someone looks at them. They contextually fit the sentence and bring extra value to the reader. You can achieve this with well-thought-out link insertions, guest posts, review sites, etc.
