Link Building in 2025: 6 Tactics That Still Work (Without Getting You Penalized)

Link building gets a bad rap—and honestly, it’s deserved.

For years, the web was flooded with spammy backlinks, shady link farms, and black-hat tactics that worked… until they didn’t. Today, Google’s smarter, faster, and stricter about how it evaluates backlinks.

But here’s the good news:
Link building still works—if you do it the right way.

In this post, I’ll break down the 6 link-building tactics we still use in 2025 to grow rankings, build authority, and stay on Google’s good side.

1. Create “Citable” Content People Want to Link To

Forget long-form fluff. The content that earns links in 2025 is:

• Unique

• Data-backed

• Practical

We’ve seen the best results from:

• Original research or surveys

• Infographics with new data points

• “Ultimate guides” on trending topics

• Templates, checklists, or tools

Pro tip: Include embeddable visuals and offer copy-paste attribution code to make linking easy.

 2. Use HARO and Featured.ai to Earn Authority Mentions

Getting cited in high-authority publications (think Forbes, HubSpot, or TechCrunch) isn’t as impossible as it sounds.

We’ve used platforms like:

• HARO (Help A Reporter Out)

• Featured.ai

• Qwoted

These sites connect journalists with expert sources—and if your quote gets used, you often earn a contextual backlink from a DA70+ site.

It’s slower but incredibly powerful for long-term SEO.

🧩 3. Build Strategic Partnerships (Not Just Guest Posts)

Instead of cold-pitching dozens of blogs for guest posts, we focused on building authentic relationships with brands in adjacent niches.

Here’s how:

• Collaborated on co-branded content (ebooks, webinars)

• Swapped backlinks on contextually relevant blog posts

• Participated in expert roundups with mutual promotion

The difference?
These links are natural, relevant, and help both parties.

🧱 4. Refresh and Reclaim Broken Links

Broken link building still works—but now you have to go the extra mile.

Here’s our process:

1. Use a tool like Ahrefs or Screaming Frog to find broken outbound links on relevant blogs.

2. Create or point them to a similar (but better) piece of content on your site.

3. Email the blog owner with a polite message offering your link as a replacement.

Bonus: Look for broken links on .edu and .gov resources—they’re gold.

🔁 5. Update Outdated Content on High-Ranking Blogs

Bloggers love content… but they don’t love keeping it updated.

This is where you come in.

Search for top-performing posts in your niche that:

• Haven’t been updated in 2+ years

• Contain outdated stats or links

• Are on blogs with solid domain authority

Pitch them a full content refresh or offer a new stat/image/update in exchange for a link. We've used this approach to land links on some surprisingly big sites.

📥 6. Turn Unlinked Mentions into Links

Sometimes, people are already talking about your brand—but not linking to you.

Use tools like:

• Google Alerts

• Brand24

• Ahrefs “Unlinked Mentions” tool

When you find these mentions, reach out with a friendly message:
“Hey! Thanks for the mention—would you mind adding a link so your readers can learn more?”

It works more often than you'd think—especially with podcasts and media articles.

Avoid These in 2025:

• Mass directory submissions

• Private blog networks (PBNs)

• Random blog comments or forums

• Buying links from Fiverr-like platforms

These still happen, but they’re increasingly detectable and risky. One wrong link can kill your domain authority.

✅ Final Thoughts: Authority > Quantity

Google no longer rewards a mountain of links—it rewards quality, context, and credibility.
If you treat link building like a relationship-building strategy (not a numbers game), you’ll win in 2025 and beyond.

Start with one tactic from this list and do it consistently for 30 days. The impact on your rankings, referral traffic, and authority might just surprise you.