12 Ways to Build Backlinks Without Guest Posting in 2022

Using guest posts for link-building comes with a lot of downsides.

For starters, it’s not very scalable. For every 1-2 backlinks you want to build, you need a fully fleshed-out blog post.

Not to mention, it’s also more time-consuming. Not only does it take a while for the post to be written and edited, but then the guest posting website might also end up taking days or even weeks to publish the post.

Looking for a more scalable way to build links to your website?

We’ve got your back!

In this article, we’ll teach you 12 ways to build backlinks without guest posting in 2022.

12 Ways to Build Backlinks Without Guest Posting

#1. Focus on Niche Edits

Niche edit link-building is a link-building tactic where you reach out to bloggers or website owners and ask them to include a backlink to your site in one of their existing blog posts.

Niche edits are a lot more effective than guest posts because they are:

• Scalable. You don’t need to create a fresh new blog post for every backlink you want to create.
• Easy to implement for the site owner. Guest posts need to be uploaded on WordPress, optimized for SEO, formatted, and so on, all of which can take time for the website owner.
• Potentially more effective. With guest posts, you’re publishing a fresh new page with no authority. With niche edits, you’re inserting a link into an already existing post (which has more authority and is likely to drive better results).

As for how niche edit link-building works, the process is rather straightforward:

First things first, you need to define your prospecting process. Decide on what kind of blog posts you want your niche edits to be placed in.

For example, if your website is about wedding planning, you’d want to place links in posts about:

• Wedding planning tips
• Wedding planning checklist
• Wedding planning guide

And so on. 

You’ll then want to look up these topics on Google and extract the blog posts that rank for these (or similar) keywords.

Finally, you should extract the contact information of the bloggers, reach out to them, and offer something in exchange for a niche edit backlink.

#2. Create Long-Form, Authoritative Content

Link-building is so much easier when you have valuable SEO content that people just want to link to.

If, for example, your blog post is about the “Top 5 Benefits of SEO,” chances are the post won’t be much of a link magnet.

The topic is very basic and has been covered again and again by thousands of bloggers, media publishers, and SEO experts.

Rather, you want to go for something like this: “101 Most Important SEO Tips for 2022.”

This post, on the other hand, is a lot more likely to get you backlinks for two reasons:

• It’s long-form and comprehensive, and as such, delivers a lot more value.
• It’s timely, including the most important tips for 2022 (as opposed to some tips that might be outdated).

#3. Publish Statistics Articles

When a blogger wants to include quality sources or data in their articles, they typically look up the following types of keywords on Google:

• [topic] statistics
• [topic] trends
• [topic] data

From there, they skim through a couple of articles, pick out the one with the most interesting data, and cite it (meaning, they link to it) from their latest blog post.

The website that published such an article basically just got a free backlink with 0 outreach effort required!

You’re probably already on to what we’re implying here.

To drive backlinks on autopilot for your website, you can create articles aimed at similar topics. If your statistics article is longer or better than what’s already ranking, chances are it’s going to get you some quality links!

#4. Try HARO

HARO, or Help a Reporter Out, is a marketplace that matches journalists with sources.

A journalist submits a query with details on what type of sources/information they’re looking for and sources reach out to them with a pitch on how they can contribute to the story.

Using HARO for link-building without guest posting is relatively straightforward.

Simply sign up, monitor the daily emails, and whenever a source request pops up on a topic that you’re an expert in, reach out with a pitch!

More often than not, the journalists will link back to your website in the article as a “thank you” for the expert insight.

#5. Do Competitor Backlink Outreach

If a website links to your competitor, chances are they will also be willing to link to you.

So, run competitor websites through Ahrefs or SEMrush and you’ll get a complete list of all the websites that link to each competitor:

Extract all this data and find contacts of the bloggers who linked to your competitors.

Then, reach out to them and offer something in exchange for them doing the same for you. Some things you could try here are:

• Explaining how your site/product/post is different/better than your competitors. E.g. “I saw you talked about [product] in your blog post. We also have a similar product but [differences]. Would you be interested in covering our product too? We’d be happy to send a free sample.”
• Offer a backlink for them in exchange. E.g. “If you’re willing to link to us too, we can get you a free backlink from a guest post we’re doing next week.”
• Offer to pay for the link. E.g. “We’re willing to offer you X USD in exchange for a link back to our site.”

#6. Get Featured in Media

This one’s a bit tough, but when it works, it works extremely well.

Here’s what you need to do:

Compile original research about a topic in your niche and create an interesting report, infographic, or website about it.

Then, reach out to journalists who’ve covered similar topics in the past and pitch your brand-new resource.

Check out this article on link bait examples to get inspired on what kind of resources you can potentially create.

#7. Create Roundup Posts

This one’s a very simple way to get a lot of backlinks without any guest posting.

Come up with a topic for a roundup post in your niche. For example, since we’re in the SEO niche, we could do a roundup topic like “10 Up and Coming SEO Influencers in 2022.”

After creating the post, reach out to whoever you featured and let them know that you talked about them/linked to their site.

Then, ask them to help you promote the article by sharing it on their social or linking to it in their latest blog post. Even if only a handful of people go through with this, you still managed to nail two-four backlinks all with a single blog post on your own site.

#8. Negotiate Link Exchanges

Link exchange is a great way to build backlinks without guest posting.

It’s something you can genuinely offer other website owners that are going to be valuable both for you and them – a boost in your rankings!

There is, however, some risk associated with this, as Google considers link exchanges to be against their webmaster guidelines:

So, how can you do link exchanges without risking getting penalized?

Fortunately, there IS a way!

If you’re more risk-averse, you can do an ABC link exchange. Instead of directly exchanging links with a website, you get a third website involved in the exchange:

• Site A links to Site B
• Site B links to Site C
• Site C links to Site A

This way, there’s no trace of any link exchange having happened!

#9. Promote Your Blog Content (And Build Links Organically)

Most SEOs, after publishing a new article, simply move on to writing the next one.

This is definitely a missed opportunity – you want to try to get your content in front of as many people as possible. After all, the more readers you get, the more likely it is that someone likes the article, and links to it from their website.

So, when publishing a particularly interesting article on your blog, follow our content promotion process:

• Repost it on your social media profiles (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn)
• Share it on your personal profile (if you have friends who blog about your niche)
• Submit it on different social media platforms (HackerNews, Reddit, Pinterest, etc.)
• Reach out to your email subscribers letting them know about the new article
• Promote the post in different Facebook groups in your niche

#10. Use HARO for Roundup Posts

Here’s an interesting way you can use HARO as a “journalist.”

When creating your next round-up post, instead of looking for people to feature online, simply submit a query on HARO.

For example, if your topic is about “10 Most Common SEO Mistakes,” you can make a query asking for sources on what THEY think the most common mistakes are.

Then, pick out the most interesting answers for your article and, after publishing the post, ask the sources to help you promote it by linking to it from their own website.

#11. Create Useful Web Resources

One of the most effective ways to build backlinks without guest posting is to create resources that people are simply guaranteed to link to.

One amazing example of this is HubSpot’s website grader.

HubSpot created a simple tool that gives you a grade on how well your website performs in terms of speed, SEO, mobile-friendliness, and security.

As you can see below, the tool got them a ton of organic backlinks that they didn’t need to even lift a finger for.

Some other types of useful web resources you could create are:

• Online calculator (e.g. “calory calculator”)
• Information hubs (e.g. a page with hundreds of recipes)
• Checklists
• Free web apps

#12. Give Testimonials

This one’s a must-try if you’ve got some authority or expertise in your niche.

You can offer different websites/businesses a free testimonial for their product if they include a link back to your site within the testimonial.

E.g. if you’re a fitness influencer, for example, you can offer a testimonial to a website that creates weight-lifting equipment.

This one’s a win-win for both parties. The website gets a testimonial, and you get a free backlink!

Conclusion

And that’s about it with our list of the 12 best link-building tactics without guest posting.

Now, all you have to do is implement the techniques we covered in this article, and you’ll be well on your way to building authoritative links to your website!