Safe tactics, in order of effort
| Tactic | Effort | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Business profiles and directories | Low | Google, Bing, LinkedIn, industry directories; fill them fully and consistently |
| Client and partner mentions | Low | A ‘website by’ credit or a partner page with a natural link |
| Helpful tools and calculators | Medium | People link to free tools that solve a task |
| Original data and studies | High | Surveys or anonymised findings earn citations from media and blogs |
| Guest articles | Medium | Write genuinely useful pieces for relevant publications |
| Digital PR and expert quotes | Medium | Respond to journalist requests with real expertise |
| Local press and sponsorships | Medium | Community events, charities, associations |
Tactics to avoid
- Buying links or link packages
- Private blog networks
- Comment and forum spam
- Excessive exact-match anchor text
- Link exchanges at scale
- Hacked or irrelevant sites
Google’s spam policies target link schemes; recovering from a penalty takes far longer than building links properly.
A simple 90-day plan
- Days 1–14: complete all business profiles with identical details.
- Days 15–45: get 5–10 genuine client or partner mentions.
- Days 46–75: publish one useful tool or data page worth linking to.
- Days 76–90: pitch 5–10 relevant publications with a specific idea.
- Track new referring domains and the pages they link to.
What a good backlink looks like
- Relevant to your topic or location
- From a real site with real visitors
- Placed in editorial content, not in a footer farm
- Links to a page that deserves it
Get backlink support SEO from $300/month
Plans from $300 per month include detailed SEO, backlink creation and ad campaign running.
Frequently asked questions
How many backlinks does a new site need?
Quality beats quantity. A few dozen relevant links from real sites can matter more than hundreds of low-quality ones, depending on your niche’s competition.
Are directory links worth it?
A handful of reputable, relevant directories help with trust and citations. Mass submissions do not.
Does AWI Digital build backlinks?
Yes. Backlink creation is included in our SEO plans from $300 per month, using safe tactics only.
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