A link building strategy is a written plan that decides which pages on your site need links, how many and what kind they need, which tactics you'll use to get them, how much time and money you'll spend each month, and how you'll know it's working. The short version of a good one: start from the pages that matter to the business, measure the link gap against the pages outranking them, close that gap with a sustainable mix of tactics, and review every quarter.
Most link building fails not because the tactics are wrong but because there's no strategy behind them — a guest post here, a PR push there, links pointed at whatever page was convenient, and no way to tell what moved the needle. A strategy turns a list of tactics into a system.
Below is a nine-step framework, a worked example for a fictional site, and a copy-paste template you can fill in today.
What is a link building strategy?
Definition
A link building strategy is a plan that connects business goals to specific target pages, defines the links those pages need relative to competitors, and sets the tactics, cadence, budget and KPIs used to acquire and evaluate those links over time.
Here's the whole framework on one page:
| Step | Question it answers | Output |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Goals | What should links achieve for the business? | One or two measurable goals |
| 2. Target pages | Which pages must rank? | A short list of priority URLs |
| 3. Competitive gap | How far behind are those pages? | A referring-domain gap per page |
| 4. Tactic mix | How will we get the links? | Three or four tactics with roles |
| 5. Anchors and link types | What should the links look like? | Anchor and placement rules |
| 6. Cadence | How fast? | A monthly target you can sustain |
| 7. Budget | What will it cost in time and money? | A monthly budget |
| 8. KPIs | How do we know it's working? | Leading and lagging metrics |
| 9. Quarterly review | What do we change? | Keep, cut or double down decisions |
Step 1: Set goals tied to the business
"Get more backlinks" isn't a goal. Links are a means to an end, so start with the end. Good link building goals point at a business result and a specific set of pages:
- Revenue pages. "Get our three main service pages into the top five for their core terms within two quarters."
- Category growth. "Grow organic traffic to our five priority categories."
- New site foundations. "Build enough relevant referring domains that new content starts ranking." See link building for new websites for this case.
- Authority and brand. "Earn coverage from the publications our buyers read."
Pick one or two. A strategy with five goals ends up serving none of them.
Step 2: Choose target pages
This is the step most strategies skip, and the one that matters most. Links help the page they point to most, and that value spreads through your site via internal links. So you need two lists:
| Page list | What goes on it | How it gets links |
|---|---|---|
| Money pages | Service, product, category or sign-up pages that drive revenue | Some direct links; most value via internal links |
| Linkable pages | Guides, tools, data, templates and research people want to cite | Direct outreach, PR and editorial links |
Rules for choosing money pages:
- Close to ranking beats far from ranking. A page sitting in positions 6–20 often responds to links faster than one on page five.
- Content first. If the page doesn't fully answer the search intent, links won't save it. Fix the page before you build links to it.
- Keep the list short. Three to ten priority pages is plenty for most sites. Spreading effort across fifty pages dilutes it.
- Map every linkable page to a money page. Each guide or tool should internally link to one priority page. Our internal linking guide covers how.
Step 3: Size the competitive gap
For each target page, look at the pages ranking in the top five for its main keyword — those are your real competitors, whether or not they're business rivals. Then compare:
- Referring domains to the ranking page (not the whole site)
- Referring domains to the ranking site overall
- How relevant those links are to the topic
- What kinds of links they are: editorial, resource pages, guest posts, PR, directories
Worked example
A fictional invoicing app, tallyroom.example, wants its "free invoice template" page to rank. It sits at position 11 with 12 referring domains. The five pages above it have 30, 40, 48, 52 and 65 referring domains — a median of 48. So the rough gap is about 36 relevant referring domains. That's not a precise target (quality and relevance matter as much as count), but it tells the team this is a six-to-twelve month project, not a two-week one.
Use the median, not the leader
Step 4: Choose your tactic mix
No single tactic covers everything. Good strategies combine three or four, each with a clear role. Here's how the common options compare:
| Tactic | Role in the mix | Time to first links | Scales? | Main risk |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Relationship links (partners, suppliers) | Quick, relevant wins | Days–weeks | No — finite | Running out |
| Link reclamation | Recover value you already earned | Days–weeks | Limited | Few opportunities on new sites |
| Linkable assets + outreach | Earned links to citable pages | Weeks–months | Yes | Asset doesn't land |
| Digital PR | High-authority editorial links | Weeks–months | Partly | Unpredictable hit rate |
| Guest posting | Relevant contextual links | Weeks | Yes, slowly | Spam at scale; paid posts |
| Broken link building | Targeted links to replacement content | Weeks | Moderately | Low reply rates |
| Resource page outreach | Links from curated lists | Weeks | Moderately | Pages with low value |
| Link community (e.g. HrefClub) | Steady niche placements | Days–weeks | Yes | Not a substitute for earned links |
| Bought links | — | Fast | Yes | Violates Google's spam policies if links pass ranking credit |
Strategy by site stage
| Site stage | Suggested mix |
|---|---|
| New site (under a year) | Relationship links, a couple of guest posts, one linkable asset, steady community placements |
| Growing site | Two assets a quarter with outreach, broken link building, reclamation, steady placements |
| Established site | Digital PR and data assets, reclamation at scale, targeted links to money pages |
For descriptions of every tactic, see how to get backlinks. For the PR and asset side, see digital PR and linkable assets.
Step 5: Plan anchors and link types
Decide in advance what your links should look like, so a busy month doesn't turn into a pile of exact-match anchors pointed at one page. Write down a few rules:
- Anchor mix. Most links should use your brand, the URL, the page title or a natural description. Keep exact-match keyword anchors rare, especially on money pages. Our anchor text guide has a starting-point distribution.
- Placement. Aim for in-content links on relevant pages. Footer, sidebar and sitewide links shouldn't be part of the plan.
- Follow status. Expect some links — PR coverage, gifted reviews, sponsorships — to be nofollow or sponsored. That's normal.
- Relevance floor. Define what "relevant" means for you, such as same niche, adjacent niche or same audience, and don't go below it.
Step 6: Set a cadence
Pick a monthly target you can keep for at least two quarters. Using the worked example: a gap of about 36 referring domains at six new relevant domains a month means roughly six months to close it.
Steady cadence
- Easier to vet every link
- Easier to keep anchors natural
- Clearer cause and effect when rankings move
- Fits a fixed budget
Bursty cadence
- Rushed vetting and lower quality
- Anchor patterns cluster
- Hard to tell which links worked
- Budget spikes then nothing
Google has never published a safe links-per-month figure, so don't obsess over speed. Spikes of manipulative-looking links are the problem, not growth itself. See link velocity for more.
Step 7: Set a budget
Your budget has two parts, and most plans forget the first:
Monthly budget =
(hours per month × value of an hour)
+ content and asset costs
+ tools
+ placements or community membership
+ freelance or agency helpCommonly quoted market prices help you sanity-check the money side: guest posts on mid-authority sites typically run $100–$500+, niche edits roughly $50–$300+, and agency retainers roughly $1,000–$10,000+ a month. HrefClub plans run from $39 a month (6 credits) to $299 a month (80 credits), with link costs from 1 credit (any authority) to 8 credits (60+ authority). Our link building cost calculator compares options for your numbers, and how much backlinks cost explains the market in detail.
Paid links and Google's policies
rel="sponsored" or rel="nofollow". Budget for things that produce editorial or relevant links, not for followed links you buy outright.Step 8: Define KPIs
Link building effects are delayed, so you need metrics that move this month (leading) and metrics that prove value over a quarter (lagging):
| KPI | Type | How often | Where to get it |
|---|---|---|---|
| New referring domains to target pages | Leading | Monthly | Search Console, a backlink index, your link log |
| Links live vs lost | Leading | Monthly | Your link log, a link checker |
| Outreach reply and success rate | Leading | Monthly | Outreach tracker |
| Share of in-content, relevant links | Quality | Quarterly | Your link log |
| Rankings for target keywords | Lagging | Monthly, judged quarterly | Rank tracker or Search Console |
| Organic clicks to target pages | Lagging | Quarterly | Search Console |
| Conversions from organic and referral | Business | Quarterly | Analytics |
Avoid vanity metrics: total backlinks (inflated by sitewide links), third-party authority scores on their own, and emails sent. For a refresher on timelines, see how long backlinks take to work.
Step 9: Review every quarter
- 1
Score each target page
Referring domains gained, ranking movement, organic clicks. Did pages close the gap you measured in Step 3? - 2
Score each tactic
Links earned per hour and per dollar, link quality, survival rate. Rank the tactics from best to worst. - 3
Check link health
Lost links, links changed to nofollow, anchors drifting toward exact match. Reclaim what you can. - 4
Cut, keep or double down
Drop the weakest tactic, move its budget to the strongest, and test one new tactic if you have capacity. - 5
Refresh the target list
Pages that reached their goal move to maintenance; new priority pages take their place.
Link building strategy template
Copy this into a doc and fill it in. One page is enough; a strategy nobody reads isn't a strategy.
LINK BUILDING STRATEGY — [Site] — [Quarter / Year]
1. GOALS (max 2)
- [e.g. Top 5 for "free invoice template" by end of Q2]
- [business metric it supports, e.g. free sign-ups from organic]
2. TARGET PAGES
Money pages: [URL] — [main keyword] — [current position]
Linkable pages: [URL] — [which money page it links to]
3. COMPETITIVE GAP (per money page)
Top-5 median referring domains: [n] Ours: [n] Gap: [n]
Link types they have: [editorial / resource / guest / PR / directories]
Replicable opportunities: [list or link to sheet]
4. TACTIC MIX (3–4)
[Tactic] — role: [quick wins / earned authority / steady flow] — target: [n links/month]
5. ANCHOR & LINK RULES
Anchors: mostly brand, URL, title, descriptive; exact match rare
Placement: in-content, relevant pages only
Relevance floor: [same niche / adjacent / same audience]
6. CADENCE
Target: [n] new relevant referring domains per month
7. BUDGET (monthly)
Hours: [n] × [$/hour] Content: [$] Tools: [$]
Placements / community: [$] Freelance / agency: [$] Total: [$]
8. KPIs
Leading: new RDs to target pages, links live vs lost, reply rate
Lagging: rankings, organic clicks, conversions
9. REVIEW DATE: [date] Owner: [name]Fill in Step 3 first if you can — the gap usually decides how realistic your goals, cadence and budget are. Then revisit the whole page at every quarterly review.