How to Get Blog Backlinks (Even With Zero Authority)
Everyone says you need blog backlinks, but no one explains how a new website with zero authority can earn backlinks without a big budget. Without backlinks on Google, it can feel like your website is fighting an uphill battle because no one has noticed it in this competitive market.
But the good news is that a brand-new website can earn backlinks by pursuing the right opportunities.
So where should you start? Should you reach out for guest posting, write interactive email templates, analyze competitors, or submit your website to directories?.
This guide helps you find relevant sites for backlink opportunities, so you can earn backlinks with zero domain authority through partnerships, guest posting, broken link building, and creating worthy linkable content.
Explain SEO Backlinks: Why Do New Blogs Need Them?
Backlinks play a vital role in SEO because they help search engines understand how websites connect. They foster trust when one website links to another, signalling that the content is worthy and authoritative.
For example:
A marketing website linked my SEO automation article; this means they gave me a backlink because this helps them provide additional value to their readers with reliable, relevant context while signalling to search engines that my content is trustworthy.
These backlinks bring referral traffic, authority, strengthen your website’s credibility, and support your SEO efforts. For new blogs, earning high-authority backlinks from relevant sites is an important part of building online visibility
What are backlinks, and how do they work?
Imagine that a marketing site points to your SEO strategies article. This link is a backlink. A few related terms will give you insight into assessing link opportunities:
Referring domains: Your blog’s unique referring domains (websites).
Anchor text: Words of a hyperlink that are hyperlinked.
Contextual links: Links in context of related content.
Editorial links: Links that are added by the publishers because they think your resource is valuable.
If you’re new to SEO, this guide on automated link building helps you understand where you can automate and what still needs a human touch.
Backlinks can also have different link attributes. If there are no qualifying attributes, the links are called standard links, or dofollow links; if there are none, it’s `rel=”nofollow”`. If it’s a paid link, it should have `rel=” sponsored”` added.
Google discovers pages and the relationship between them through links. But quality and relevance are more important than the quantity of links.
When it comes to building backlinks, does the domain authority matter?
No, you don’t need high Domain Authority (DA) to acquire backlinks. DA is a third-party score developed by Moz, and DR is a third-party score developed by Ahrefs.
Instead, assess websites based on their content, quality, target audience, and actual referral value. For instance, a small gardening publication with a low domain authority that is directly related to your gardening blog may be more relevant than a big site in another industry.
The top Google search result has 3.8 times more backlinks than the second-to-last results. This shows a connection between backlinks and ranking, but it doesn’t mean more backlinks always lead to a higher ranking.
How to Make Backlinks for Blog Websites Without Existing Authority?
Start with backlink opportunities that don’t require a well-known reputation before sending cold emails. You can also use relevant business profiles, niche directories, and existing business relationships to establish a starting base of backlinks for free.
Start With Free Business Profiles and Niche Directories
A simple way of discovering initial backlink opportunities is by using web directories and professional profiles, which are online directories that are obtained through legitimate means. Depending on your website and business, you should think about:
Industry directories: Locate known directories in your niche.
Professional associations: See if any professional associations include a membership or resource listing.
Google Business Profile: If a business has a local presence, they can create a profile to boost visibility in the community.
Complete appropriate professional profiles with website links: Creator profiles.
Community groups: research community-based business contacts and industry associations that have membership directories.
But don’t list your website in all these directories. Assess each opportunity before enrollment.
Question: Does the directory relate to my niche? Are they truly visitors or fake visitors? Does the listing go through a review or a curation? Does it feature legitimate businesses and useful resources?
Don’t submit your website to poor directories just to acquire backlinks. A few appropriate links are better than hundreds of unrelated links.
Utilize partners, suppliers, and existing relationships to earn backlinks.
You can also use your current networking relationships to find backlink opportunities. Think about reaching out to clients, coworkers, suppliers, colleagues, and others who are familiar with your work.
For instance, if you have your own blog about digital marketing and regularly partner with a small marketing agency. The agency has a resources page with recommended SEO guides. If a relevant article is of benefit to readers, you can recommend one of your articles to be included.
Likewise, a supplier may have an advertisement on their partner page, or a podcast host may link to your web page when promoting you on their podcast.
Useful hint: List 10 jobs that are already known. Review their site for partner pages, resources, interviews, and contributor profiles. Only link to sites that have a valid need to cite your site.
How to Earn Backlinks With Zero Domain Authority Through Outreach?
After you know what relationships you already have and what listings are already in place, begin reaching out to site owners and editors who have a vested interest in the site. Blogger outreach can benefit new websites by providing valuable material, advice, or resources—no domain name needed, just a good reason for another publisher to mention your work.
How to Discover Guest Posting Sites in Your Niche
Guest posting is about writing an original article on another website, typically with the intention of receiving some credit from the host website or, if applicable, an editorial link. Start by looking for publications with an existing audience.
Look for opportunities using these Google search operators:
“write for us” + your niche
“guest post guidelines” + your niche
“contribute an article” + your niche
“become a contributor” + your niche
For instance, a new SEO blogger can look into marketing publications that are looking for bloggers. After identifying possible websites, screen before pitching:
- Analyze niche relevance: Ensure that the niche is relevant for the website you’re considering.
- Check out the latest articles: Check for regular updates and quality content.
- Check on guest contributions: Check if external writers are welcome or not.
- Assess audience engagement: Assess if readers engage with articles and share helpful resources.
- Check outbound links: Check that the links are not overstuffed with promotional links but are instead where they belong, in the content itself.
- Check DA and DR: These should be additional points, not the only ones used to accept a prospect.
Focus on sites with relevant audiences and quality editorial content rather than metrics like page ranking.
How to Craft a Guest Post Pitch that Works
Once you’ve found appropriate publications, send a personalized email to the editor or website owner. Don’t use ‘generic’ requests for a backlink. Instead, show you have done research on their site and have something worth publishing.
Guest Post Outreach Template:
Subject: Proposal to Contribute a Unique SEO-Optimized Article
Hey Dear,
I hope you’re well.
I’d like to propose contributing a unique, SEO-friendly article to your website. It’s designed to engage your readers and enhance your site’s visibility and authority on search engines.
Please let me know if this aligns with your goals. I’d be happy to share the article or discuss further details.
Looking forward to your response!
Best regards,
Make each pitch personal, follow the publication’s guidelines, and provide original information. Keep in mind that what you should be looking to do is give the reader of another website something of value—it’s not about building a sure link that contains your keywords.
Respond to Journalists and Industry Experts
Another strategy for obtaining editorial backlinks is to provide valuable knowledge to journalists and industry publications. Journalists often seek quotes, data, and expert insights to support their stories.
You can find journalist-requested sites like Featured and other niche media opportunities. Track and answer pertinent requests in a concise, original, and evidence-based manner.
For instance, a blogger with SEO experience might give a journalist writing about small business SEO a few specific recommendations based on their own experience, examples, or research.
600 out of 1,000 links in your research PDF were from HARO/Featured requests. This suggests journalist outreach may be worthwhile, but cite the original study and verify the statistic before publication.
The trick is to act promptly: don’t send generic promotional pitches; answer the journalist’s question with relevant expertise.
Find Free Backlinks Through Resource Pages and Broken Links
If you don’t have a website, you can build backlinks through resource pages and broken link building. Either is a matter of identifying a publisher that already links to external resources, either suggesting something useful to their readers or finding one that does.
How to get backlinks from resource pages or pages that provide useful information.
Resource pages are website pages that gather helpful articles, tools, guides, and external references on a specific subject. For instance, a digital marketing website could have a page that offers beneficial SEO guides for novices.
These opportunities are available by searching using Google search operators like:
text
“helpful resources” + your niche
“recommended websites” + your niche
“useful links” + your niche
“best resources for” + your topic
After you have identified the website(s) you may wish to consider, follow these steps:
- Check relevance: Ensure the resource page addresses issues of your blog.
- Review existing links: Check what types of articles and websites they suggest.
- Identify content gaps: Find useful information that isn’t already included.
- Match your content: Select an article that will satisfy that need rather than promote a page that has nothing to do with it.
- Make contact with the publisher: Inform the publisher about the value you think your resource can bring and ask them to consider accepting your submission.
In this instance, if the marketing resource page mentions SEO for beginners but has no information on technical SEO, you can recommend your in-depth technical SEO tutorial.
Identify Broken Links and suggest your content.
Broken link building means locating links that no longer work on other websites relevant to your content and suggesting your content as a replacement. It helps publishers repair old resources and gives your blog a chance at a backlink.
The secret to it is…:
- Identify pages outlining resources and competitor articles.
- Check their outbound links using Ahrefs and/or a browser link-checker.
- Find URLs that are returning errors (including 404 pages).
- Investigate if the unavailable resource previously covered anything.
- Recommend an article that you already know which has the same aim.
Send an easy, concise email to the owner of the website:
Hi [Name], I noticed that the resource you linked under [topic] on your page is no longer there. I recently published a guide about [related subject], which you might want to consider if you think it’s for your readers.
Keep in mind that your content should replace the original content. If you only provide a link to a different article to get a link, you aren’t offering value to the publisher or their readers.
Create Link-Worthy Content That Attracts Natural Blog Backlinks
Your website becomes easier to use for outreach when it provides something to reference. Don’t constantly ask bloggers to link to you; make things bloggers/journalists/industry professionals will want to link to.
What types of blog content get backlinks?
Certain types of content earn backlinks, which can be especially effective in generating backlinks from other websites:
Original research/surveys: Report on industry surveys or original research findings or data comparisons that others could refer to. Backlinko analysis: The 11.8 million Google search results they found that content with more statistics and in-depth topic coverage ranks better than content without statistics.
Statistics roundups: Gather industry statistics and provide links to the sources.
Templates and checklists: Use templates and checklists to facilitate readers completing specific tasks.
In-depth tutorials: Share detailed tutorials that cover complex topics with real-world examples.
Create calculus-based tools, helpful infographics, and interactive versions of resources to address common challenges.
For instance, a new SEO blog may release a free SEO keyword research checklist or a downloadable spreadsheet to help with backlink prospecting. Some bloggers might cite these resources in their workflow descriptions.
Find Content Opportunities Competitors Haven’t Covered
Use Ahrefs or Semrush to see which pages are linking to them and which sources are getting referring domains.
Search for articles that lack practical examples, original research, newer information, or downloadable resources. Then, make something more useful than just copying the same information.
The research PDF you highlighted got over 19,000 backlinks, which proves how link-worthy original data can be. Check that the backlink count and the original study are accurate before using this statistic in a published article.
The aim is to give other publishers a real incentive to cite your work.
Find Proven Opportunities with Competitor Backlink Analysis
Finding backlink opportunities doesn’t have to be done manually. The sites your competition links to have already been willing to link to content like yours. By looking at their backlink profiles, you can find other comparable sites.
Discover Websites That Link to Similar Blogs.
Try Ahrefs Site Explorer or Semrush Backlink Analytics to analyze your competitors’ backlinks.
Follow this process:
- Start by finding 2-3 blogs that are targeting the same keywords.
- Copy the link address of the competitor page.
- Paste a competitor’s domain name into Ahrefs Site Explorer or Semrush Backlink Analytics.
- Access the backlinks or referring domains report.
- Sift websites and editorial links that are relevant.
- Seek out guest articles, resource pages, interviews, and research citations.
- Narrow down opportunities that your new blog may be eligible to apply for.
Tools to explore:
- Ahrefs Site Explorer
- Semrush Backlink Analytics
How To Identify Competitor Backlink Opportunities
Avoid reaching out to all the sites that are linked to your competitor’s site.
Concentrate on prospects with real opportunities:
- Websites that produce material within your niche.
- Newest articles and resource pages.
- Publishers that provide links to several relevant resources.
- Websites with authentic content and audiences.
An opportunity to make something “new” and helpful.
For instance, let’s say someone new to SEO is getting links from different marketing blogs. Read those linking pages and find out for yourself why they mentioned the competitor, and see if there’s any other information that your guide can give that’s valuable and that they didn’t put in their guide.
This makes competitor backlink analysis a viable prospecting tool, not just a list of sites to blast your message at.
Blog backlinks checklist you can utilize whenever you build link building
You don’t need expensive SEO tools or a big marketing budget to start building backlinks. Think about opportunities that will allow you to reach websites that are relevant and will offer value to their audiences.
The first link opportunities you should try as a beginner are free.
Use this checklist to get started:
- Claim legitimate business and creator profiles that are relevant to your niche.
- Ask for proper collaborator/partner references.
- Identify mentions of the brand without the link, and politely ask for a link.
- Get published original articles about topics.
- Be a helpful source of useful, evidence-based information when asked for by journalists.
- Recommend appropriate articles on resource pages.
- Create shareable free resources, such as templates, checklists, and guides.
Create a Simple Backlink Prospecting Spreadsheet.
As opportunities start coming in, keep a spreadsheet to plan your outreach and avoid contacting the same website repeatedly.
| Column | Purpose |
| Website URL | Prospect’s domain |
| Contact name | Editor or website owner’s name |
| Niche relevance | High, medium, or low |
| DA/DR | Supporting SEO metric |
| Opportunity type | Guest post, resource page, broken link, etc. |
| Contact email | Outreach details |
| Status | Not contacted, email sent, replied, or secured |
| Backlink URL | Published page containing your link |
| Follow-up date | Date for your next action |
For the initial backlink prospects, Google Sheets will do the job. Find relevant websites, follow up on conversations, schedule follow-ups, and track obtained links for free without expensive prospecting software.
Pro tip: Start with 20-30 prospects relevant to you, and focus on the websites where your content will be most valuable. Building a large contact list isn’t as important as quality opportunities.
A Practical 60-Day Roadmap to Earn Backlinks for a New Blog
When you place these links consistently rather than on random websites, creating backlinks becomes easier. Let’s use GreenNestGuide.com, a made-up sustainable gardening blog, as an example.
The First 60 Days
Days 1-15: Foundation-building days.
- Fill in social and professional profiles.
- Identify appropriate gardening directories.
- Contact existing gardening partners.
- Look for brand mentions that aren’t linked to a specific page.
Days 16–30: Start outreach
- Find 20 blogs related to gardening.
- Make suggestions for guest articles.
- Identify garden resource pages that are appropriate.
- Answer appropriate questions from the media.
Days 46–60: Create valuable backlinks (3-6 months after launching a website).
- Create a gardening checklist to share!
- Make a seasonal planting schedule.
- Determine the top linked content of competitors.
- Recommend appropriate materials for publishers.
Day 46–60: Review and enhance
- Keep in touch with interested publishers.
- Check “newly acquired backlinks.”
- Evaluate referral traffic.
- Focus on strategies that create REAL opportunities.
Think of this as a timeline and not a promise of target backlinks. Your results will depend on content quality, outreach consistency, and the opportunities available to you.
Conclusion
You don’t need high domain authority, an established audience, or a high-cost SEO budget to earn your first quality backlinks. Use relevant directories and professional relationships, create useful resources, reach out to publishers, and use personalized outreach. Keep an eye on what you are doing and make sure that you use links that provide real value and not just going for the numbers. Today, select five relevant sites, find one specific way they could mention your content, and send your first customized outreach email. The first quality backlink begins with one useful link.
