Link Building Strategу for New Website: Step-by-Step Guide

In today’s Internet, the density, diversity and the sheer quantity of available content astounds.  As for a user, it’s impossible to cover even the best content available to you on a specific topic. As for a content creator, it becomes a task with an asterisk to find reliable ways to deliver your content to your audience. This problem is specifically acute for newly launched websites. In today’s article, we cover the strategy a SEO specialist needs to follow in order not to waste any time and jump start the site promotion campaign. 

Why Backlinks?

A couple of decades of cumulative global SEO experience shows that backlinks play one of the most important and direct roles in Google rankings. Pages with the highest number of total backlinks usually rank best in Google, according to Backlinko. No matter what else you do for SEO, you will not succeed without a solid backlink profile. At the same time, most SEO specialists confirm that building one is one of the most challenging SEO tasks.

Out of all SEO factors, backlinks have the most evident influence on your site’s visibility:

It is vital that you start working on your link building strategy as early as possible. In fact, it is recommended that you do it way before you even launch your site so as to not lose time when it goes live. 

Before you start: Optimization Your New Website

Link building is a crucial part of your SEO strategy, but its effect is very co-dependent with other SEO aspects. There are a few things you should take care of before you launch your site so that your link building efforts aren’t wasted. 

Here’s a checklist for you:

• Test your on-page SEO:

Make sure your site’s content is optimized for keywords you want to rank for, your meta tags and descriptions are all set up.

• Site UX is well-tested

All of your site has to be easily navigated, all of the content easily penetrable. It means, it has to take your user only a couple of clicks to find what they’re searching for and each potential website entry point has to have sufficient information. 

• Your website is 100% mobile-friendly

Google is using mobile-first search prioritization, so if your website doesn’t look good on a phone, it will be pessimized in search.  

• Your technical SEL is top-notch

All pages and forms load fast, you aren’t excessively using bulky images, there are no broken links and everything works as intended.

• You observe accessibility guidelines

Your website doesn’t feature any epi-triggers, is friendly for color-blind people, your images are properly attributed, etc. 

How Many Backlinks Do You Need: A Practical Guide

Before you start your link building campaign, you need to create a very solid strategy in advance. It’s important that all of your decisions are data-driven and well-informed. Even though your particular project specifics should be the decisive strategy factor, there are general guidelines you can follow. 

1. How many backlinks should I get?

When it comes to backlinks, it’s not about quantity, it’s much more about their quality. Several quality backlinks can bring you more link juice than a few hundred random forum mentions. 

2. What deadlines and milestones should I set for myself?

Flexibility is the main rule here. SEO doesn’t return immediate results, so be prepared for a marathon run rather than a sprint. A general rule here is: you should see steady, gradual growth of traffic throughout your campaign, first feasible results within a month or so and significant improvement in about half a year. 

3. How many links per month is it safe to buy?

Google clearly states that purchasing links is against its guidelines, and yet, the vast majority of SEO campaigns rely on purchased links. The safest option is to maintain a certain balance. 

• Work on your content marketing to drive organic traffic
• Use nofollow backlinks for obvious sponsorship cases
• Carefully invest in safer paid options such as guest posts
• Use techniques like skyscraper and broken link fixes

4. How to create a monthly link purchase plan?

• Months 1–3: Focus on building foundational links, such as niche directories, social profiles, and guest posts. Aim for 20–30% branded anchor text for natural growth.
• Months 4–6: Expand with higher-quality links from content marketing campaigns, resource pages, and collaborations with industry influencers.
• Months 7+: look for competitive link-building techniques like broken link building and skyscraper content outreach, continue on with influencer collab, add nofollow paid links.

An Example Case

Let’s take a look at a custom printed wallpaper store. Their foto murals are created by an artist, are unique, rather high-end, but they also have affordable options. They used to have an off-line studio and shop, but want to go online to expand their network, print and ship their products worldwide. At the same time, they don’t want to use Etsy or Amazon because they are niche, marketplaces commissions are high for smaller-scale businesses and both are geographically limited.  Let’s take a look at their link building campaign step-by-step:

1. First things first, before they start out, they have created a website, tested their mural model catalog for speed and loading, partnered with a secure payment gateway and a delivery service, optimized their site for mobile and did their market research.
2. Their most important content that drives sales is product descriptions. They made sure that descriptions are carefully optimized for important keywords, their keyword nucleus is ‘custom wallpaper’ and they have added a ton of variations, such as ‘boho custom wallpaper’, ‘shabby chic custom wallpaper’ ‘custom wallpaper murals’. Their variations encompass interior design styles they work in, potential names for their products and also include a hefty dozen of branded keywords, which will step in later. 
3. They have updated their information on Google My Business and created a variety of press releases to be sent out to different design and home improvement industry media outlets about the launch of their website and international shipping. Each would bring a valuable backlink. 
4. Before their website goes live, they have agreed on ‘early preview’ collaborations with a few home staging and interior design companies. In exchange for free product samples and custom designs for their businesses, the influencers provide detailed reviews and walkthroughs for using the wallpaper in actual designs. 
5. They have done a series of professional fotoshoot with their products for various home staging and interior projects for their future blog content and prepared several blog articles that could populate their blog from the start. 
6. They have revamped their social media accounts and advertised their launch there in advance. 
7. They have purchased a number of guest blog posts and fit them into a schedule so that links gradually appear immediately after the launch. 

After the start:

• They have followed a tight blog schedule, posting mainly How-tos, video lessons on interior design, useful tips and tricks, renovation reviews and home tours, all using their products. 
• They heavily advertised this content in their social networks where they collabed with niche influencers. This drove significant organic traffic and earned them quite a few natural backlinks.
• They have paid for a backlink on several ‘resources’ pages of significant home decor and renovation-related resources.
• They launched their guest-blogging campaign.
• Create a Pinterest board with their products in interior from where numerous users started to add these entries to their boards.
• 2-3 months after the launch, when their brand awareness and visibility grew, they have focused a little more on branded keywords in their optimization, because people started searching for their brand
• about 4-5 months after the start, they have launched a PR campaign with several leading niche designer magazines where they had paid features and nofollow backlinks which greatly increased natural traffic 
• about 6 months into their campaign, they started using broken link and skyscraper techniques
• About 6 months into their campaign, they have started carrying out monthly giveaways in exchange for detailed user reviews and backlinks

A campaign cost them around $7000 a month on average, but after 6 months they had managed to secure so many international sales, they had to open a second production and printing premises.

As their product was very unique and high-quality and their content-marketing was top-notch, they have also managed to attract a loyal following, set trends with some of their most successful designs for kids’ rooms and get invitations to feature in several designer magazines and big-scale home flipping youtube channels, earning even more natural backlinks. 

Getting Backlinks for New Website

Now let’s talk details about actual ways to get backlinks for a new site. 

Social Media

• How to? One of the more straight-forward ways to get a backlink – just agree on the terms with the account owner. 
• Paid or Free? Depends. Some accounts would post because they like you, some would ask for something in return. It could also be your own account.
• What it gives you? Depending on how big the posting account is and how loyal its following, a lot of referral traffic which in turn could produce natural backlinks.
• Do/nofollow? Neither, as Google doesn’t take social media backlinks into ranking calculation.

Google My Business

• How to? Create a GMB account for your business. Verify your business information, then add your website link to your profile.
• Paid or Free? Free. But Google has paid options using which your business will be the first to appear in a zoomed-out map.
• What it gives you? A valuable backlink from Google maps, etc. A significant trust nod from Google as well once you verify. Increasing visibility. 
• Do/nofollow? Usually no-follow, but crucial for local SEO.

Guest Posts

• How to? Spend months on blog research and outreach, crafting letters and negotiating terms. Or start immediately, delegating the automation of outreach and prospects search to Serpzilla. 

• Paid or Free? Can be free, but you may end up spending more in costs of time and effort consumed to get these free posts. And maybe pay extra to have them removed if they turn out to be not good enough. Or paid, anywhere from mere cents and up, but with you in total control, using Serpzilla. 
• What it gives you? Excellent, diverse, highly relevant backlinks which are also very safe.  
• Do/nofollow? Dofollow unless you specify otherwise. 

Crowd Marketing 

• How to? Engage in relevant forums or Q&A platforms. Provide useful answers or comments, including your link where appropriate. Avoid spamming to ensure links stay live.
• Paid or Free? Free or low-cost if outsourced to marketers.
• What it gives you? Although Google stated numerous times that the amount of authority passed through this link is negligent, it can still drive traffic and improve visibility.
• Do/nofollow? Mix of no-follow and do-follow, depending on the platform.

Directory Link Building

• How to? Submit your website to niche or general directories. Prioritize high-quality, industry-relevant directories.
• Paid or Free? Usually free or low-cost.
• What it gives you? The days when a directory link made an impact are long in the past. However, it can still be useful to create diversity in your backlink profile. 
• Do/nofollow? Often no-follow, but still valuable for local SEO and initial traffic.

Content Partnerships and Collaborations

• How to? Partner with complementary businesses to create co-branded content or resources. Ensure mutual linking agreements are clear. Have niche blogs review your products or do an unpacking, offer freebies in return.
• Paid or Free? Really a lot of options. From very effective and very expensive to totally free because they like you. The most common model is to offer a free product sample. 
• What it gives you? Good-quality backlinks but also access to an engaged audience. 
• Do/nofollow? Can be do-follow or no-follow, depending on the agreement.

Linkable Assets

• How to? Create valuable content like infographics, guides, or data studies. Promote these assets through outreach to websites and blogs in your niche. Researches, white-papers, surveys and other unique takes or sources of information have an excellent quoting power. 
• Paid or Free? Investment in content creation would be your biggest price, as a good linkable asset is usually costly. But if it gets picked up, it can go viral easily and get you a lot of free natural backlinks.
• What it gives you? Good-quality backlinks, viral potential and a large number of citations. 
• Do/nofollow? Dofollow, if your content is valuable.

PR Outreach

• How to? Write press releases or pitch newsworthy stories to journalists and industry blogs. Focus on creating real value and relevance.
• Paid or Free? Free if done manually; paid if using PR agencies or platforms.
• What it gives you? Steady traffic flow, good-quality backlink from reliable sources, depending on how popular the link donor site is – a lot of referral traffic. 
• Do/nofollow? Usually do-follow, especially in high-authority publications.

Profile Creation Sites

• How to? Sign up for popular profile creation websites and fill in your details, including your website link. Think sites like Fiverr, YouDo, ArtStation, Behance, various freelance service sites if it fits you. 
• Paid or Free? Free.
• What it gives you? You gain visibility and following. For some products and services, having profiles in niche industry aggregators is basically a must, it adds a lot of credibility and trust.  
• Do/nofollow? Typically no-follow, but good for building an initial backlink profile.

Conclusion

Link-building for a new site, when you have a zero domain authority and have literally almost no levers to use to advance, is a challenge. However, it also largely depends on your link building strategy and you still have a lot of venues available to you. Combining diverse methods—like guest posts, social media, PR outreach, and linkable assets—enables you to develop a natural and effective backlink profile. If you think of it as a continuous effort, experiment with caution and make educated decisions, and are patient to wait for results, you will see them and they will make you glad.