The State of Link Building in 2025
Link building remains one of the top three ranking factors. That hasn't changed. What has changed is how you need to approach it. The spray-and-pray days of mass guest posting and directory submissions are over. Today's link building is about earning coverage, building relationships, and creating content so good that people can't help but reference it.
Digital PR: The Highest-ROI Strategy
Digital PR is, hands down, the most effective link building approach we've tested at RankX. Here's why: a single well-executed data study can generate 50-200 high-authority backlinks from news sites, industry publications, and blogs — all in a matter of weeks.
How It Works
- Create original research: Survey your audience, analyze proprietary data, or compile public data in a unique way
- Package it for journalists: Write a clear press release with the most newsworthy findings upfront
- Outreach to relevant media: Target journalists who cover your industry, using personalized pitches
- Create shareable assets: Infographics, interactive tools, and data visualizations increase link potential
One of our clients in the fintech space conducted a study on financial literacy across US states. It earned 147 backlinks from sites including Business Insider, CNBC, and Forbes — all within 60 days.
Broken Link Building at Scale
This strategy involves finding broken links on relevant websites and offering your content as a replacement. It works because you're solving a problem for the webmaster.
- Use Ahrefs' broken link checker to find broken outbound links on authoritative pages in your niche
- Create content that matches (or improves upon) what the broken link originally pointed to
- Reach out to the webmaster with a friendly email pointing out the broken link and suggesting your content
- Success rate: 5-15% response rate, with 3-8% conversion to actual links
Resource Page Link Building
Many websites maintain curated resource pages — lists of the best tools, guides, or references in their field. Getting included on these pages provides valuable, contextually relevant backlinks.
- Search for: "best [topic] resources" OR "[topic] + useful links" OR "recommended [topic] tools"
- Evaluate whether your content genuinely deserves to be included
- Reach out with a concise email explaining why your resource adds value to their page
Content That Naturally Attracts Links
The best link building doesn't feel like link building. These content formats consistently earn links organically:
- Original research and data studies: Nothing gets cited more than unique data
- Comprehensive guides: The definitive resource on a topic becomes the default link target
- Free tools and calculators: Interactive tools earn links for years. An ROI calculator or industry benchmark tool can generate hundreds of links.
- Expert roundups done right: Not the generic "50 experts share their thoughts" format. Instead, interview 3-5 genuine experts with deep, original insights.
- Contrarian perspectives: Well-argued positions that challenge conventional wisdom generate discussion and links
What to Avoid
These tactics will hurt more than they help:
- Paid links: Google is increasingly good at detecting paid link schemes. The short-term gain isn't worth the risk.
- PBNs (Private Blog Networks): Still used, still risky, and increasingly ineffective as Google's detection improves
- Mass guest posting: Low-quality guest posts on irrelevant sites do nothing for your rankings and can trigger penalties
- Link exchanges: "I'll link to you if you link to me" is a well-known manipulation signal
- Automated outreach tools: Mass-templated emails have near-zero success rates and damage your brand
Measuring Link Building Success
- Referring domains (not just links): 50 links from 50 different domains beats 50 links from 1 domain
- Domain authority of linking sites: Quality over quantity, always
- Relevance: A DR 40 link from a highly relevant industry site often outperforms a DR 80 link from an unrelated site
- Organic traffic impact: Ultimately, links should translate to ranking improvements and traffic growth
- Cost per link: Track the total investment (staff time, content creation, tools) divided by links earned