Essay · Long read, about 30 to 40 minutes

Link Building for SEO: The Beginner's Guide

Tim Soulo · Ahrefs Free Beginner

This is the honest starting point when you have zero links and nobody knows you yet. Tim Soulo walks through a phased approach: grab the easy foundational links (social profiles, directories), then build something genuinely worth linking to, then earn links through real relationships rather than cold begging. It is blunt that if your page is not useful, no tactic will save it, which is exactly the reality check a first-time founder needs.

  • Start with foundational links (social profiles, business listings), then move to earning links, in that order, not the reverse.
  • People link to pages that are interesting or useful, so the real work is making something worth citing before you do any outreach.
  • Relationships beat volume: a warm connection to an industry site converts far better than mass cold email.
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The question it answers

  1. How do I get backlinks when nobody has heard of my startup yet?

Read with it

  1. When nobody has heard of you, a real quote in a journalist's story is one of the few ways to earn a genuine press link from a... HARO (helpareporter.com) Tool · Ongoing (daily email queries you respond to) Help a Reporter Out (HARO) Featured.com
  2. The most durable way to get links without an audience is to build something people actually want to cite, and this article... Search Engine Journal Article · Medium read, about 15 minutes A Guide To Linkable Assets For Effective Link Building Kevin Rowe
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