Building backlinks is like weight training.
Sure, you can buy all the equipment and start doing it from home. But where do you begin? How do you know if you're using the right techniques, or if there's a better way?
The better option is to go with a professional instructor at the gym (or at the very least, on YouTube!).
Consider this post your link building instructor:
Instead of churning out content and seeing what sticks, go directly to these 18 best sites for backlinks to start ramping up your rankings and traffic.
(Plus, make sure you stick around for a bonus tip at the end to uncover a goldmine of never-ending new link building opportunities.)
Ready, set, go!
1. HARO
Site URL: https://www.helpareporter.com
Backlink Type: Followed/nofollow
HARO (Help A Reporter Out) is one of the most popular and highly-trafficked journalistic platforms, and it's easy to find opportunities for followed backlinks here.
This is a great site for backlinks if you can set aside enough time (and a team, hopefully) to respond to queries with valuable quotes. One-liners aren't good enough here, of course.
I have my own experiences with HARO, which you can read about here. In my case (and not only mine), it wasn't super successful due to the lack of time and energy I could devote to the task.
But despite the little results for me, the followed links I managed to build through HARO were all high quality and improved my search engine rankings—so I'd still recommend it!
To get backlinks from HARO, sign up for an account as a Source and opt to get daily emails delivered to your inbox.
Every day you can pick the most relevant queries and respond directly through email. The trick is to select queries that you know will give you a backlink if approved (and even better, a followed backlink), so go for blogs and websites over print magazines and anonymous publications.
When a journalist or blogger approves and publishes your contribution, you'll be rewarded with a backlink!
2. SourceBottle
Site URL: https://www.sourcebottle.com
Backlink Type: Followed
This is a journalistic service like HARO: You get free publicity by responding to media queries from bloggers, journalists and writers.
SourceBottle is mainly targeted at writers and sources who are based in Australia and New Zealand, as well as the U.S. and Canada, although I've never had a single issue with using it from Italy.
If you're located elsewhere, you might need to pick a random country from the list, but you'll have to be specific in your query forms to let the writer know that you come from another country.
Like with HARO, you can sign up to SourceBottle to get query emails delivered to your inbox every day.
Or, you can browse queries directly on the site. Just go to Be A Source in the top navigation menu and click on "browse free publicity opportunities by topic" at the top of the page to be taken to the current listings.
Then choose the industries that are relevant to you and start browsing the many possibilities!
3. Business 2 Community (B2C)
Site URL: https://www.business2community.com
Backlink Type: Followed
This is a content-based community for business resources like posts, case studies, interviews and white papers.
Here you can contribute as a blogger by writing posts or syndicating your blog, or you can upload your white papers and webcasts through the Advertising program.
The best way to get a backlink from Business 2 Community is to become a contributor to post and syndicate your blog.
Make sure to follow their Contributor Guidelines to get your content approved (they have a strict policy regarding CTAs in the content, for example).
Also, if you have case studies and white papers, you can follow these instructions to promote them on B2C and get backlinks from the site and from anyone else who finds and links to them.
4. BizSugar
Site URL: https://share.bizsugar.com
Backlink Type: Followed
BizSugar is a platform for sharing and syndicating content. In this case, the platform is specific to the small business niche.
This is a moderated community so only high-quality content gets approved and published.
What you should do is spend some time familiarizing yourself with the platform first, then sign up and start sharing and syndicating.
If you run a small business or work solo, the main BizSugar site is a mastermind community for small business owners that's worth considering as well. In addition to helping with future backlinks from relationships, hanging out virtually with fellow professionals is always enriching.
5. Feedly
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Site URL: https://feedly.com
Backlink Type: Followed
Feedly is a news and content aggregation platform that uses your site's RSS feed to create a "feed" of your site's content. The service is available for free, but they also have a paid option with additional benefits.
Getting started is really easy, you just need to ensure that your blog has a working RSS feed and then submit it as a source on Feedly.
6. Pen.io
Site URL: http://pen.io
Backlink Type: Followed
This is a very simple service that allows you to publish a self-contained website.
You know, a one-page, standalone site that can also be published anonymously if you want (all that Pen.io requires to create a page is a name and password).
And you can add backlinks to it! So it's a good option for creating announcements, freebies and landing pages that are separated from your website, or for promoting a giveaway or contest.
You can use this simple platform to do that, and generate backlinks from the platform itself.
The only downside of using Pen.io is that it uses HTTP without an SSL certificate, so it may not give you as much SEO strength as you wish (HTTPS is a lightweight ranking signal).
7. "Write for Us" Sites (Guest Posting)
Site URL: The URL of the blog(s) where you decide to guest post
Backlink Type: Followed/Nofollow
Guest posting is simple. You search Google for sites in your niche that welcome guest contributions, and study them to find out if they allow followed backlinks.
Restrict the search by adding your niche to the search term, such as "write for us" content marketing.
Make a list of the best sites you want to guest post for, then reach out to them and pitch (or submit on-spec) quality content tailored to their blog readers.
You can add any number of backlinks that the website owner will allow you to add. Sometimes it's one link in the author bio; other bloggers will allow one or two relevant links in the body of the post as well.
Make sure you study the blog carefully for content, audience and tone before pitching!
8. Resource Pages
Site URL: The URL of the site(s) where you decide to add your resource
Backlink Type: Followed/nofollow
There are sites out there that collect helpful resources on specific pages, that you can find with search terms like "helpful resources" [your niche].
One example is the breastfeeding and parenting resource page that I've added to my motherhood blog:
These listings are editorial and high quality, which makes for some good backlinks!
Once you've located the resource pages on relevant sites that you could be a good fit for, use these link building outreach techniques to request inclusion in the resource page.
For example, if you have a website that sells medical supplies and you've found a relevant pharma advice website with a resource page for medical supplies, you can definitely send the request.
9. DeviantArt
Site URL: https://www.deviantart.com
Backlink Type: Nofollow
As a DeviantArt user of over a decade, I can tell you that the platform used to allow followed links in journal entries until circa 2011.
But, then it changed the system and made all external links open via redirect of the form https://www.deviantart.com/users/outgoing?https://example.com.
That means that you can no longer leverage DeviantArt to get quality SEO backlinks, but you can still definitely get some quality traffic from this site—and paid commissions if you're an artist—especially if you spend time to build your community and keep the engagement personal and constant.
10. Tumblr
Site URL: https://www.tumblr.com
Backlink Type: Nofollow
Like DeviantArt, outgoing Tumblr links are all redirects since 2016, but the platform remains a great resource for nofollow backlinks, traffic and community building.
11. LinkedIn
Site URL: https://www.linkedin.com
Backlink Type: Nofollow
All backlinks from LinkedIn posts are nofollow, so unfortunately you won't get an SEO boost from them.
But the LinkedIn community is strong, and you can use it to put your content and website in front of many eyes—especially if you also leverage LinkedIn Groups.
My advice is to use LinkedIn posts for syndicating content that you've created for discussion and conversion (the CTA at the end of the post is a critical asset).
Also, encourage discussion in the comments under the post (all the more important if comments on your website are disabled).
12. Medium
Site URL: https://medium.com
Backlink Type: Nofollow
We all know Medium, the content platform that you can access from LinkedIn, Twitter and Google.
It’s a cool place where you can write new content, syndicate existing content or create discussion—and add backlinks to any content that you publish there.
If your content is good, readers from the community will be triggered to click on your link and find out more about you!
13. Quora
Site URL: https://quora.com
Backlink Type: Nofollow
This is the site where anyone can ask questions and anyone else can answer them.
It's also a very good platform for developing authority because you can become a helpful resource, and if you also add backlinks to your site in your responses, people will know where to find you.
So, learn to write Quora responses like a pro! See Neil Patel for a good example:
Neil's answer is truly an original article, with an introduction, several sections and a conclusion. Kudos!
Overall, Quora is great for traffic and authority and I myself am looking forward to using it more, because it's totally worth the time.
14. SoundCloud
Site URL: https://soundcloud.com
Backlink Type: Nofollow
Consider starting a podcast, or joining one that gives backlinks in the episode description.
SoundCloud backlinks work with redirects but even with that, they can drive lots of relevant traffic.
15. Blog Comments
Site URL: The URL of the blog(s) where you decide to comment on
Backlink Type: Nofollow
Blog comments aren't new when it comes to SEO techniques, and it’s very rare that blog comments give out followed backlinks anymore.
(Because, you know, spam.)
But it's always great to create engagement and authority, and trigger more opportunities for links and business relationships.
For example, if your comments are helpful and valuable enough, someone—even the website owner—might reach out to invite you to guest post on the blog!
You never know. So it's all worth the effort.
The Best Sites for Backlinks Are Where Your Audience Is
People who are already interested in your niche won't be as skeptical as other website owners when it comes to linking back to your content.
I mean, they frequent the web for the same reason as you: to learn more about the subjects they're most interested in.
So, the best sites for backlinks are where your audience is—whether that audience is target readers, fellow professionals, clients, or a mix of those categories.
The sites listed in this post are meant to give you a starting point to find opportunities for backlinks, but every opportunity will have to be carefully pondered:
Is this where your audience can find you?
Because, of course, SEO per-se is meaningless if it doesn't bring you new readers, new subscribers, new clients.
So build links wisely, slowly and with genuine care for each other's content.
