Key takeaways

  • Link building remains one of the most effective B2B SEO strategies – high-quality backlinks from authoritative sites strengthen rankings, credibility, and organic visibility.
  • Earned links outperform bought links every time. Focus on digital PR, thought leadership and valuable content that naturally attracts attention and citations.
  • Success requires cross-team alignment. Combine link building with PR, content marketing and ABM for maximum impact and measurable ROI.

Read the blog below to find out more.

Content:

What is link building?

Link building is the process of getting a third-party website to hyperlink to your website. Basically, it’s how search engines find your content and decide whether it deserves trust.

When a credible site links to you, it acts like a digital recommendation – the more respected that source, the more confidence Google and other search engines will have in your content.

Quality matters more than quantity. A high-value backlink comes from a domain with genuine authority and relevance to your brand. For example, a mention on an industry trade body’s site carries far more weight than hundreds of low-quality directory links.

In this blog, we’ll show you how to build those B2B backlinks, without buying your way onto Google’s naughty list.

Earned links vs. bought links: why quality matters

Let’s talk about the elephant in the inbox: buying links.

Someone’s slid into your DMs promising “high DA backlinks, quick turnaround, bulk discount.” Tempting, right?

Here’s the problem: buying backlinks isn’t a shortcut. It’s a trapdoor. Buying backlinks can risk penalties and lasting damage to your domain authority, so we highly advise you avoid this method.

There are no real shortcuts to achieving scalable, long-lasting SEO success. The brands winning at link building in 2025 are earning their links the old-fashioned way: by creating content actually worth referencing.

The table below shows why earned links outperform bought links in every meaningful way:

Factor Earned links Bought links
SEO value High – signals genuine authority and relevance Low to negative – often flagged as spam
Risk level Minimal – complies with Google guidelines High – violates guidelines, risks manual penalties
Longevity Long-term – links remain valuable over time Short-term – often removed or devalued quickly
Referral traffic quality Warm, engaged visitors from trusted sources Cold, low-intent traffic (if any)
Brand impact Builds credibility and opens future opportunities Damages reputation if discovered
Scalability Sustainable through content and relationships Expensive and unsustainable at scale

Earned links – those achieved through valuable content and genuine relationships – are far safer and far more powerful. Research studies, thought leadership, interviews and data reports all attract organic references.

According to Backlinko’s analysis of 11.8 million Google search results, the number of domains linking to a page correlates more strongly with ranking than any other fact, but only when those come from an array of authoritative sources. A single link from a high-authority, relevant site can deliver more ranking value than dozens of low-quality links combined.

Earned B2B backlinks:

  • Drive warm referral traffic and long-term trust. When readers arrive via an industry publication that already carries authority, they bring that trust to you.
  • Boost your keyword rankings – lots of good-quality links mean higher keyword rankings, which is a major boost for your overall SEO efforts
  • Boost your domain’s expertise, authority and trust (EAT) – because links act as votes of confidence, the more you have from trusted sources, the more you increase your EAT in the eyes of Google
  • Increased traffic – the more links you have out there leading back to your website, the more traffic you should get
  • More leads – a good link building strategy will give you higher levels of qualified leads because you’ll rank in Google for the keywords you’re targeting (and we’re assuming you’re targeting keywords that you know will result in qualified leads)
  • Company growth – ultimately, any and all digital marketing efforts have the long-term aim of aiding company growth. Link building is an important part of any SEO strategy and, therefore, when done correctly, should achieve all of the above, which aids company growth

With AI changing the SEO landscape, it’s important to build up slowly but gradual levels of high-quality links. A survey from this year found that two thirds (68%) of marketers believe that link building will be more important in appearing in AI search over the next two years.

Not all links are equal

Some links are “follow” links – Google crawls them, passes on authority, and boosts your ranking power.

Others are “nofollow” – they stop that authority from passing, usually marked with a little tag like rel=“nofollow” to the HTML tag.

An example would look like this:

<a href= “https://comms.thisisdefinition.com/” rel= “nofollow”>.

It seems a little unfair. After going to all the trouble of writing a kickass piece of content, passing it by the powers that be at your desired publication and seeing it published online – only to realise you got a nofollow link. What’s up with that? Well, let’s go back in time a bit.

Once upon a time SEOs abused links everywhere they could – comments, forums, sketchy blogs – so Google cracked down. They began ignoring low‑quality links and in September 2019 Google introduced two new labels:

  • rel=”sponsored” for paid links
  • rel=”ugc” for user‑generated content.

Google also said, “All the link attributes – sponsored, UGC and nofollow – are treated as hints about which links to consider or exclude within Search. We’ll use these hints – along with other signals – as a way to better understand how to appropriately analyse and use links within our systems.”

Now that nofollow links are hints, not hard stops, they’re not worthless. A relevant one on a trusted website, with good anchor text, can still help your SEO.

And remember – not all “follow” links are equal either. A single mention on a respected fintech publication will do far more for your ranking than a hundred on hobby blogs.

Fish where your audience swims. That’s how you earn trust — both from people and from Google.

How to develop a B2B backlink strategy

A backlink strategy should directly support broader business and marketing goals – whether that’s driving authority, search visibility or targeted traffic.

Roughly 61% of marketers planned to invest in link building in 2025, but the study also found that nearly 72% of link builders found digital PR to be more challenging this year compared to a year ago. B2B brands need to make sure they have the right strategy and tools to deliver a good success story.

Start by analysing your competitors using tools like Ahrefs, Moz or SEMrush to see where their backlinks come from. Patterns will emerge in which topics and outlets attract links – giving you a roadmap for your own campaigns.

Define measurable KPIs such as:

  • Growth in domain authority (DA) month over month
  • Number of new high-quality backlinks
  • Ranking or traffic improvements for key pages

A healthy backlink profile includes both follow and nofollow links. Follow links pass SEO authority; nofollow links help create a natural profile and can still send quality referral traffic.

Crucially, link building should run alongside B2B PR and content strategies. In B2B marketing, digital PR is one of the most effective ways to gain credible, earned backlinks that support Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness and Trustworthiness (E‑E‑A‑T).

When you build those EEAT signals, it helps support SEO too, and can help your business appear in AI search.

Seven proven ways to build B2B backlinks

Try these link building tips to build high-quality backlinks for your brand:

Guest posting and thought leadership

Share expertise through respected industry publications. Guest content still performs because it combines authority-building with natural link acquisition.

If you’re using journalist request services like ResponseSource or scanning #journorequest on X, remember:

  • Be first – journalists are often deluged with responses – it’s often fastest finger first
  • Be brief – it’s rare a journalist will include more than a soundbite, so don’t worry about writing more than a couple of paragraphs when supplying a comment
  • Be different – think about what every other contributor will say and then say something different
  • Be authoritative – if you can link to original research on your own website, then that increases the quality of the comment and also increases the chances of you getting a link

Before you pitch, check whether the publication typically links out. If in doubt, you can always ask when pitching your spokesperson if they’re happy to link back to the spokesperson’s website.

Digital PR campaigns

A step up from reactively responding to journalist requests is to become the source for comments and be proactively approached. The really top-tier publications work like this – national and international journalists still want to build a black book of sources they can turn to whenever they’re working on a relevant story. We surveyed 35 of them – read what journalists want here.

Partnership listings

Look at your official affiliations: associations, directories and supplier lists. Are you listed there – and linked?

These links send strong EEAT signals and help Google see you as credible.

Link reclamation

Use search operators and Google Alerts to find unlinked brand mentions or broken backlinks and politely request updates. It has a low success rate as a tactic (there’s usually a reason the link hasn’t been added in the first place) but, it’s easy to do, so keep at it!

Get editorial placement

You’ve probably got opinions worth publishing — use them.
Pitch analysis or commentary to industry sites with opinion sections, especially when news hits your space.

Keep pitches short and clear: start with the idea, not your credentials.

Awards entry and judging

Awards aren’t just ego boosts; they’re link magnets.

Even being shortlisted usually earns you a backlink and adds healthy credibility to your digital footprint.

Great content

  1. Evergreen content: long-form, practical content like how-to guides or industry reports can continue to naturally earn backlinks over time.
  2. Competitor analysis: use SEO tools to spot high-performing assets in your space and replicate success with your own unique perspective.

Consistent use of these methods builds a healthy, diversified backlink profile anchored in authority and relevance.

Fostering a sustainable approach to B2B link building

Sustainable link building is about steady, strategic growth rather than quick wins.

Focus on:

  • Aligning backlinks with target keywords for topical relevance
  • Using natural, descriptive anchor text (avoid over-optimisation)
  • Prioritising contextual links from trusted, relevant domains
  • Auditing your backlink profile to remove low‑quality or duplicate links
  • Creating alignment across PR, content and SEO teams

Internal linking matters too. A smart internal structure helps distribute link equity across your site and ensures both users and search engines can find your most valuable content.

When everything connects, backlinks become more than an SEO task, they become long‑term brand assets.

Mastering proactive link building outreach

Proactive outreach is the key to successful link building – your ability to build relationships is central to your success here.

Focus on:

  • Personalised pitches: journalists and editors can spot mass emails instantly so make sure you reference their recent work, offer interesting insights and lead with the key parts of your story.
  • Strategic follow ups: no one likes to be bothered, but sending a single follow-up can be a good way of bringing your pitch to the forefront of mind for busy journalists.
  • Building relationships: treat outreach as a long-term investment strategy. Stay in touch by sharing useful insights to journalists you’ve reached out to before. Slowly but surely, you’ll build up a wealth of contacts who trust you and will be more likely to link back to your content.
  • Aligning with your brand: in link building, some companies push out content anywhere they can, regardless of relevance. Avoid that. The strongest links come from content directly connected to your brand. Google’s algorithms assess topical relevance, so links from relevant related sites provide greater SEO value.
  • Tracking results: record who replies, where pick up goes and which campaigns performed the best. When you’ve got data, you can refine your outreach approach easier.

We put these elements into action everyday at Definition. For example, we recently secured 80 media hits for a client, with plenty of backlinks, all because we used these techniques.

Link building depends on effective communication. Successful outreach starts with personalisation. You can read our insights on what makes a great pitch and how to target industry publications on our blog.

Measuring and optimising your link building results

Measurement closes the loop on your efforts.

Here’s how you gauge what is and isn’t working:

  • Core metrics: use tools like Google Search Console, Moz, Ahrefs, or SEMrush to monitor for referring domains, backlinks and referral traffic.
  • Engagement signals: make sure to analyse time on sites, pages visited, and any assisted conversions from referral traffic.
  • Backlink profile health: have a look and review regularly to identify any trends in backlinks. You’ll be able to strengthen what is working and what issues need addressing.
  • Competitor insights: make sure you run regular competitor audits so you can see what new opportunities or shifts there are and will be in your sector.

The role of AI in link building

AI is transforming how marketers research, create and distribute content, but in link building, automation without any strategy is a fast track to spam.

Automation tools can speed up parts of the process, like analysing backlink gaps or drafting outreach emails, but there’s a clear line between efficiency and spam.

Using AI to send mass press releases (as one company got caught out doing) or generic pitches risks harming relationships and brand credibility, not to mention breaching Google’s spam policies. Ultimately, quality link building still relies on human judgement and storytelling that has humans at the heart of it.

AI is also changing how search works. With AI‑driven search results, visibility is becoming more context‑based. Getting your brand recommended or cited by large language models (LLMs) relies increasingly on authenticity, expertise and trusted signals meaning that earned, authoritative backlinks are more valuable than ever.

The takeaway from this all is that you should use AI to support your strategy (think: insights, research or ideation) but keep the creative and relational parts of link building distinctly human.

AI can analyse competitor backlink profiles, identify content gaps, draft initial templates for content and pitches. But the work that actually earns links – personalising pitches, building those relationships with journalists, creating original research etc. – must remain human-led.

Good link building takes time – but it’s worth it

B2B backlinks aren’t about chasing quick SEO wins. It’s about creating content worth referencing, building relationships that last, and earning visibility in the places that matter.

Does following these link building tips take longer than buying a bulk package of backlinks? Yes. Is it harder than blasting out generic guest posts? Absolutely. But it’s also the only approach that builds genuine credibility

When link building is done well, it proves to both people and search engines that your brand is worth trusting.

If you’re interested in learning more about link building and SEO for your business, get in touch.

Written and updated by Alisha Frost, B2B Comms Executive at Definition on 19/12/2025

FAQs

1. Why is link building important for B2B SEO?

High‑quality backlinks signal to search engines that your website is credible and authoritative. For B2B brands, this means better visibility in search results, increased referral traffic from respected industry sites, and stronger trust from both algorithms and audiences.

2. What counts as a high‑quality backlink?

A strong backlink comes from a reputable, relevant website within your sector. It should appear naturally within useful content, use descriptive (not spammy) anchor text, and originate from a domain with established authority. Links gained through earned media or trusted partners almost always outperform low‑quality directory listings or paid link placements.

3. How long does link building take to show results?

SEO gains from link building are gradual. Depending on your current domain authority and competitiveness of your keywords, you could see measurable improvements in three to six months. Sustainable growth comes from consistent, quality efforts – not quick fixes.

4. Should I buy backlinks to speed things up?

No. Purchasing backlinks violates Google’s guidelines and can lead to penalties that damage your rankings long-term. Invest in earning links instead, through PR, original research, and content that attracts organic citations. It takes longer, but the results are safer and more valuable.

5. How can I find link‑building opportunities for my B2B business?

Start with competitor and backlink analysis tools such as Ahrefs, Moz or SEMrush to identify potential publishers, directories, and industry blogs. Look for unlinked brand mentions, guest post opportunities, research collaborations, and data-led stories that journalists might want to cover. The goal is to appear wherever your target customers – or their trusted sources – spend time online.

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