A backlink is a link from another website to yours. A trade publication might cite your research, a supplier might include your business in a directory, or a customer might recommend your guide. Each creates a path for someone to discover what you offer.
For a growing business, start with the reader on the other end of that path. Would they find the destination useful? That question makes a better starting point than a target number of links.
Understand the three kinds of links
Internal links connect pages within your website. Outbound links take your readers to another website. Backlinks are the links other websites send to you. You control the first two; another publisher decides whether to give you the third.
Imagine a furniture maker publishing a guide to caring for solid oak. A home renovation magazine might link to that guide from an article about choosing materials. The subject, the reader, and the destination fit together. A link buried in an unrelated list offers a much less convincing reader journey.
Give people a useful destination
Before contacting publishers, choose a page you would be comfortable recommending yourself. It should answer a specific question, load correctly, and make its evidence easy to inspect. An original comparison, clear instructions, or a well explained calculation can give an editor a reason to cite it.
A homepage is useful when someone is recommending your business. A detailed resource is often a better destination when someone is supporting a particular point. Match the destination to the reason for the link.
Start with relationships that already exist
- Check whether relevant trade associations maintain accurate member listings.
- Offer genuine project details to partners who publish customer stories, with permission from everyone involved.
- Make original resources easy for journalists and subject specialists to find.
- Review existing mentions of your business and correct inaccurate contact or website details.
These are opportunities to improve useful references, not instructions to demand links. Keep the publisher free to decide what belongs on their page.
Set expectations before spending
Links alone cannot promise a search position. If your important pages are confusing or unavailable, work on those problems alongside any promotion. Avoid offers that guarantee rankings through bulk link placements; Google identifies links created primarily to manipulate rankings as link spam.
For a practical next step, choose one resource and write down three audiences who would use it. Then check the backlink quality checklist before approaching a publisher.
Further reading: Google’s link spam policies.