How to Build High Quality Backlinks (2025)

Wondering why your site’s not ranking or showing up in large language model (LLM) results, even though your content is solid?

The answer might be backlinks. Specifically, the lack of high-quality ones.

Tools like ChatGPT and Google’s AI Overviews are starting to summarize answers without always linking to a source. That means fewer clicks, more brand mentions, and a big shift in how SEOs need to think about authority.

It’s important to remember, though, quality backlinks are still one of the strongest signals of trust and relevance even as search evolves. They play a key role in how Google evaluates which brands earn visibility and can increase the chances of a source being cited or surfaced in AI-generated answers.

If you want to show up in AI Overviews, earn brand mentions, or rank higher in organic search, you need a solid backlink strategy: one that’s built on quality, not shortcuts.

Let’s break down what that looks like in 2025, and exactly how to do it.

Key Takeaways

High-quality backlinks still matter, even in an AI-driven search world. One link from a trusted, relevant source beats 100 weak ones. Quantity and quality both have a place in your strategy, but quality should lead. You can earn strong links through content, partnerships, and digital PR. Smart SEO means earning links by adding value, not tricking Google.

Why Building Backlinks Is Important

Backlinks are votes of confidence for your site. Each tells Google, “Hey, this content’s worth checking out!”

Sites with more (and better) backlinks tend to rank higher. In fact, a study from last year noted that over 96% of websites ranking in Google’s top 10 positions had more than 1,000 backlinks from unique domains.

But—and this is a big one—not all backlinks are created equal.

Low-quality links from shady sites can hurt your content more than help. What you want are editorial, relevant, and trusted backlinks that align with your content and brand. These quality links can:

Drive referral traffic Build brand visibility and trust Boost your domain authority

With that in mind, how do you know the difference between a high-quality backlink and a poor one? 

What Makes A Quality Backlink?

High-quality backlinks check three boxes:

Relevance: The linking site is topically related to yours. Backlinks from respected tech blogs to your AI tool are good as gold. Authority: The linking domain has strong credibility and trust. Think of industry publications, .edu sites, or even top-ranking competitors. Natural placement: You’ve earned this link editorially. No one paid for it or jammed it into a comment thread.

As Alex Horowitz, Digital PR Specialist at NP Digital, explains: “A good backlink comes from a site with solid domain authority (DA 35+), consistent organic traffic of at least 1,000 visitors a month, and content that’s trustworthy and relevant to the client. A poor backlink opportunity usually is on sites with little to no traffic, low authority, or content that feels spammy or off-topic. If the link won’t add value for readers or align naturally with the brand, it’s likely not worth pursuing.”

There are other bonus factors to consider, too. Keyword-rich anchor text, used sparingly, can help. So does placement high in the page’s content. The signals are even better if the page linking to you has strong traffic or links.

Getting these links takes work, but the payoff lasts for a long time.

The Quality vs Quantity Backlink Debate

How many backlinks do you need?  This is a common question, and the answer is every SEO’s favorite:

“It depends.”

Do you need hundreds of backlinks? Not really.

Would you like to earn hundreds of great backlinks? Absolutely.

Quality and quantity both matter, but quality always wins. Quantity helps build a diverse link profile, especially from mid-tier, niche, or enthusiast sites. Quality delivers the real authority, trust, and rankings boost.

The problem is when people and marketers chase quantity for the sake of it by buying links, trading links, or spamming blog comments. That behavior isn’t just unsustainable, it’s unwelcome. It’ll tank your reputation among those sites you want cachet from and won’t help your rankings long-term.

Tips to Build Quality Backlinks

We know backlinks matter. We know good backlinks matter. How do we get them?

Never fear. These 14 tried-and-true strategies can help you earn high-quality backlinks in 2025 and beyond.

1. Emphasize What Benefits the Site Gets

Asking specific sites to link to you can work, but it requires being strategic. When reaching out, make it about them, not you. Instead of asking, “Can you link to my blog post?” you might try a message like, 

“Your readers might find this guide helpful. It includes a breakdown that expands on your section about [topic].”

Show them the value their audience will get. If it plugs into content already performing well for them, even better.

2. Write Relevant and Competitive Content

People don’t link to average content. They link to the best. That means standing out among the crowded pack. What does that look like?

Go deep. Cover the topic more thoroughly than your competitors. Add visuals, statistics, and original research. Include expert quotes or insights. Match search intent. Don’t write a blog post when searchers want a product comparison.

No matter what you create, ensure your content reflects E-E-A-T: experience, expertise, authority, and trustworthiness.

You should be able to find several ways to make your content stand apart from the existing results, whether that’s creating a more in-depth and actionable article or citing research no one else has. 

That’s the exact approach my digital marketing agency used to get 20 top-tier media links like CNBC and Retail Wire for one of our clients in the personal finance industry. 

We created a data-driven asset that resonated with a large audience and was different from anything else out there. This allowed us to pitch to dozens of relevant media outlets that were more than happy to give us a link in return for a good story.

3. Prove Your Site Is Legitimate

Getting links is a lot easier if your website positions you as a professional, trustworthy, and legitimate organization.

There are several elements that signify trust, and I recommend including as many of them as possible:

HTTPS certification (as well as other certificates) A branded domain High-quality web design Links to your social profiles Contact information, including the address of your company  E-E-A-T signals like an about page, editorial standards, and author bios.

You can see I’ve got almost all of these elements in place in my website’s footer:

4. Make Your Pitches Short

Want to increase the response rate of your pitches? Practice brevity to make it easy for recipients to understand your pitch. 

Take a look at an example of a pitch:

There are many single lines, and it’s easy to find and click on the links. The email is to the point, and there’s no question what it’s about.

Here’s my advice for making your pitches concise and clear:

Keep paragraphs to two sentences or fewer Write no more than five sentences Use bullet points and bold font to make it easy for readers to spot the key points State what you are asking for clearly 

5. Leverage Digital PR

Digital PR (DPR) may initially feel like a focus on building a personal brand, but that’s not the real focus. Instead, consider creating newsworthy stories for journalists, bloggers, and industry outlets to cover and link to.

This matters because PR campaigns can often land backlinks from the highest-authority sites; places like Forbes, TechCrunch, or industry trade publications are significant wins. Those links carry way more weight than dozens of smaller blogs.

Here’s how to use it:

Data-driven stories: Package up survey results or industry insights. Journalists love citing fresh numbers. Expert commentary: Offer quick takes on trending news. Tools like HARO or Qwoted connect you with reporters in real time. Unique hooks: Tie your brand to bigger conversations. For example, a fintech startup might publish a “State of Student Debt in 2025” report.

High-quality backlinks come when your story provides genuine value to readers and publishers. A strong DPR campaign earns more than mentions. You get citations that boost rankings.

6. Do an Original Study

Original research is often a backlink magnet. Why? Because everyone needs data to support their content, and they’d rather cite your study than come up with their own.

You don’t need to be a research firm to pull this off, though. Here’s how:

Run a survey with your customers or audience. Use public datasets and analyze them in a new way. Combine anonymized data from your own tools (if applicable).

For example, look at my agency’s route when building links for a logistics client. We used multiple, varying datasets to see how different roadside restaurants in America compared to one another for truck drivers and roadtrippers.

The trick is to tell a compelling story with your data, the kind journalists will want to write about. In our case, every driver wants to know the best place to stop, and the geo-specific nature of the report meant local news outlets could report on truck stops in their state. 

As a result, we garnered over 1,400 shares, likes, and comments across social media, a massive amount for such a niche industry. We also won a host of new rankings like “best truck stop food”.

7. Create an Infographic or Original Image

Infographics aren’t dead. They’re just evolved. In 2025, they’re bite-sized knowledge hubs that provide real value to readers.

These visuals are often easier to share, embed, and link to than walls of text. A great infographic travels across social media and blogs and can even get picked up by news outlets.

Here’s how to do it right:

Use tools like Canva or Venngage to create professional designs. Focus on one core statistic, process, or concept. Don’t cram everything in. Include embed codes so other sites can easily share and link back.

Look at this infographic example from Venngage that talks about the psychological impact of font choices on audiences. It’s a pretty robust dive into the typography of several popular Netflix shows and how title choices can play with mood and genre:

Source: Venngage

8. Write Testimonials for Other Websites

This one’s simple, but it works. Companies love showcasing happy customers. When they feature your testimonial on their site, they usually link back to you. Here’s how to make it happen:

Reach out to SaaS tools, agencies, or vendors you use. Offer a detailed testimonial that highlights specific results. Make sure to include your full name, role, and website.

See examples below from MarketHire:

These links aren’t just filler. They come from trusted, established brands that want to show off real customer success. That credibility makes them high-value backlinks, and all you did was share your experience.

9. Link Externally and Then Reach Out

Linking out to other sites doesn’t mean you’re giving away visibility. The trick is to follow through. Here’s how this works:

Write a blog post and naturally link to a relevant site, tool, or expert. Reach out to the site or personality and tell them they’ve been included. Start a conversation. Eventually, they may return the favor with a backlink.

You can strengthen this strategy with your own internal linking. Google sees that your page is well-connected both internally and externally, boosting your crawlability and authority.

This is not an overnight backlink hack. Instead, it’s a trust-building move that snowballs into collaborations, mentions, and citations from quality sites.

10. Comment on Other Relevant Blog and Social Posts

Comments on blogs and social media posts are a great way to build relationships with people in your industry and occasionally snag yourself a backlink.

But before you start passionately commenting on posts and throwing out backlinks everywhere, let me explain something.

You might occasionally have an opportunity to include a backlink in your comment. However, the comment should primarily focus on building a mutual relationship with the author:

If you don’t know what to say, make the author’s day. If you want to share a bit more, you can add some meaningful insight into the topic at hand. If you want to craft a comment that merits a response from the author and helps build the relationship, add your own commentary to the discussion.

Here’s an example from Leanne Wong on how a comment can start a conversation that might lead to a backlink:

Source: Leanne Wong

Whatever you do, add value with your comment. The more value you can add, the stronger your relationship will become— and that’s a recipe for a future backlink if ever I saw one.

11. Align Social Signals

If you’re serious about building out your link building strategy and rising through the ranks, then aligning social signals is a must.

Social signals communicate to search engines how active and updated your website is. The more active your website, the better your rankings. You’ll notice I link to all of my social profiles in the footer of this website and keep them all updated:

You may not have the time to leverage every single social platform. In that case, choose one or two that you can keep up with, and post at least once a day on the platforms you’ve chosen.

Check that all of the information on your social profiles matches the information on your website. The company name, address, and phone number need to be aligned to communicate to search engines that your website is up to date.

This is a simple but effective way to build your rankings with very little extra work.

12. Find What’s Newsworthy

Timing is everything. If you can tie your content to breaking stories or trends, you can increase your odds of earning backlinks from journalists and bloggers covering it. Seek out opportunities in the following spots:

Google Trends: See what’s gaining traction right now. BuzzSumo: Track topics being shared most in your niche. Exploding Topics: Spot up-and-coming trends before they blow up.

Picture this: Google rolls out a major algorithm update, and an SEO agency could publish a quick analysis within 24 hours. Journalists writing about the update may cite that content, earning authoritative backlinks.

Prefer a real life example?

My agency used this tactic to get backlinks from sites like The New York Times and The Atlantic for our client in the entertainment industry. Competitor research told us that a rival website had a lot of high authority backlinks to a page where fans could watch a trending television show from our client. But the link sent users to a broken page. 

Our strategy was simple. We contacted every linking publisher and asked them to swap the broken link for our client’s, letting fans actually watch the show.

13. Find Brand Mentions

People may already be talking about your brand but not linking to it. That’s low-hanging fruit.

Use tools like Mention, BuzzSumo, or Ahrefs Alerts to track unlinked mentions. Then reach out:

“Hey [Name], thanks for mentioning us in your piece on [Topic]. Would you mind adding a link so readers can easily find the resource?”

These links are easy wins. The writer already trusts you enough to mention your brand—now you’re just helping readers (and your SEO) with a clickable source.

14. Look At Competitor Backlink Profiles

Your competitors’ backlinks are a roadmap for your strategy. If it’s working for them, it could work for you. But how do you start and what should you look for?

Use Ubersuggest, Ahrefs, or Semrush to pull competitor backlink reports. Examine their homepage links, most-linked blogs, and referral domains. Identify patterns: Are they earning links from industry directories? Guest posts? Data-driven reports?

Once you know what they’re doing, ask the big question:

Can I create something better?

If your competitor earned a link for “2024 Social media Trends,” why not publish a deeper “2025 Social media Playbook?” Provide more value. Pitch it to the same sites.

Competitor backlinks are more than insights. Use them as valuable opportunities for growth and wins.

Writing the Pitch to Get Your Backlink

Your content or idea may be strong, but the pitch determines whether you actually earn that backlink.

Today’s editors, journalists, and site owners are bombarded with outreach. Generic templates don’t cut it. A valuable pitch is:

Short and personal: Under 100 words, customized for the recipient. Value-driven: Show how your resource improves their article or helps their readers. Clear: Include the exact link and context—don’t make them dig. Credible: Reference your expertise, unique data, or why you’re a trusted source. Timely: Tie your pitch to something current—like a trending topic or recent update.

Here’s an example of a pitch that works in 2025:

Hi [Name], I really enjoyed your recent piece on [Topic]. I noticed you mentioned [related stat], and we just released a new study with fresh data on this in 2025. I thought it might add value for your readers. Here’s the link: [URL]. Would you consider including it?

This kind of outreach blends relevance, authority, and timeliness: the same qualities that make backlinks valuable in the first place.

FAQs

How to get quality backlinks?

How many high quality backlinks do I need?

What is a high quality backlink?

How can I leverage social media to build backlinks?

Is it okay to pay for backlinks?

How do I approach website owners to request backlinks ethically?

How can I identify websites that are relevant and authoritative for link building?

Conclusion on How to Get Backlinks

If you focus on creating content worth linking to and getting it in front of the right people, you’ll earn links that matter. These links improve rankings, boost traffic, and build long-term authority.

Want help building your backlink strategy? Check out how NP Digital can support your SEO goals. And if you’re new to this, view your backlinks today with our free backlink checker.