SaaS Link Building Strategies
Link building is one of the most powerful and often misunderstood levers in SaaS SEO. Almost 80% of SEO professionals view link building as a crucial part of their strategy. And with the right strategy, SaaS companies can earn high-authority backlinks that drive rankings, traffic, and revenue at scale.
But unlike traditional businesses, SaaS requires a tailored approach that accounts for niche audiences, technical content, and product ecosystems. In this guide, we’ll break down what SaaS link building is, why it matters, and actionable strategies to build backlinks that actually move the needle.
What is SaaS Link Building
SaaS link building is the process of acquiring high-quality backlinks to your SaaS website from other relevant, authoritative websites. These backlinks signal to search engines that your content is trustworthy, increasing your domain authority and helping you rank higher in organic search results. Pages that rank in first position have 3.8 times more backlinks than the following ranks.
For SaaS companies, this often includes links to:
• Feature or product pages
• Comparison or “alternative to” pages
• Blog content or case studies
• Integration and partner pages
• Help docs and API documentation
Benefits of SaaS Link Building:
Here’s why SaaS link building is essential for growth:
• Supports Content Strategy: Great content without links won’t perform, link building unlocks its potential.
• Boosts Domain Authority: More quality links = stronger authority = faster content indexing.
• Improves Rankings: Backlinks are a core ranking factor in Google’s algorithm.
• Drives Referral Traffic: Strategic links from relevant publications or directories bring potential buyers.
7 Strategies for SaaS Link Building:
Here are 7 effective link building strategies tailored specifically for SaaS companies looking to boost their domain authority, rankings, and qualified traffic:
1. Digital PR for Product & Thought Leadership
Leverage product updates, funding announcements, and expert commentary to get featured in media outlets. Digital PR can drive both backlinks and brand awareness.
Tactics:
• Pitch stories to tech journalists and startup publications
• Offer expert quotes or data-backed insights
• Launch proprietary studies or surveys and promote findings
2. Guest Posting on Relevant Blogs
Write high-value content for niche SaaS, B2B, or tech blogs that includes a contextual backlink to your product or related content.
3. Create “Link-Worthy” Assets
Develop original content like:
• Research reports
• Comparison pages (“X vs Y”)
• Free tools or templates
• Integration guides
These attract natural backlinks when shared with the right audiences.
4. Target SaaS Review Sites & Directories
Get listed in review platforms and niche directories that support your category.
• G2, Capterra, TrustRadius
• Product Hunt, Betalist, Slant
• Industry-specific directories (e.g., CRM-only, DevOps tools)
5. Run Data-Driven Outreach Campaigns
Use tools like Ahrefs or Pitchbox to find broken links, unlinked brand mentions, or content gaps and pitch your SaaS content as a better resource.
6. Leverage Integration Pages
If your product integrates with others (Slack, HubSpot, Salesforce), build optimized integration pages and request reciprocal links from your partners’ integration libraries.
7. Build Relationships with Industry Communities
Engage in forums, Slack groups, and social communities (like Product Hunt, Hacker News, Indie Hackers). Organic link opportunities often arise from genuine interactions.
How to approach link building for B2B SaaS
For a SaaS B2B brand, link building should be strategic, authoritative, and deeply integrated with the customer journey and content funnel. Here’s a typical approach broken into stages:
1. Define Strategic Objectives
Before doing any outreach, clarify:
• Your primary SEO goals (rank for features, integrations, use cases)
• Target audience personas and their search intent
• Priority content types (e.g., landing pages, thought leadership, product updates)
2. Audit Existing Link Profile
Use tools like Ahrefs, Semrush, or Moz to:
• Identify your top-linked pages
• Spot low-quality/spammy links to disavow
• Find unlinked brand mentions or lost links
• Benchmark against competitors
3. Develop Linkable Content Assets
Create high-quality, non-promotional content that’s designed to earn links. This might include:
• Comparison and alternative pages (e.g., “HubSpot vs Salesforce”)
• Integration pages
• Original research reports or industry studies
• Data visualizations and statistics posts
• High-value templates or tools (ROI calculators, onboarding checklists)
4. Use Targeted Outreach & Digital PR
• Pitch linkable assets to industry publications and blogs
• Respond to HARO (Help a Reporter Out) queries for quick wins
• Share research findings or original data with journalists
• Reclaim unlinked mentions using tools like BrandMentions or Ahrefs Alerts
5. Leverage Partnerships and Ecosystems
• Exchange contextual links with technology integration partners
• Co-author guest content with agencies, platforms, or thought leaders
• Get listed in curated collections, newsletters, or resource hubs
6. Tap Into Affiliate & Review Channels
• Encourage affiliates and review sites to publish detailed content with backlinks
• Offer product walkthroughs, demos, or co-marketing incentives
7. Track, Iterate, and Scale
• Monitor link growth, referral traffic, and keyword improvements
• Double down on tactics that yield high-authority links
• Use a CRM or outreach tool to manage and scale relationships over time
This approach ensures you’re earning not just any links but the right links from relevant sources that drive real business value.
Link Building Data
- 78% of SEO professionals get “satisfying ROI” from link-building campaigns.
- Long-form content attracts 77.2% more backlinks than short content pieces.
- Websites with “active blogs” get 97% more inbound links. (BKA Content)
- Over 66% of backlinks are broken. (Ahrefs Link Rot study)
- 43 trillion: the number of backlinks that Semrush has in its database. (Semrush data)
SaaS Link Building Case Studies
At Exalt Growth, we helped two fast-growing SaaS companies Cascade and Dovetail build high-authority backlinks that accelerated their organic growth and improved search visibility across competitive, bottom-of-funnel keywords.
Cascade: From Under linked to Industry Authority
Before working with us, Cascade had strong product-market fit but limited organic authority. We built a tailored link building strategy focused on:
• Earning editorial backlinks to product and comparison pages
• Partner-based links through co-marketing and integrations
• Targeted outreach to HR, strategy, and management publications
Results
• 16x increase to referring domains in 24 months
Dovetail: Scaling Topical Authority in UX Research
Dovetail’s content team had strong TOFU assets, but rankings plateaued due to limited domain-level trust. We implemented:
• A digital PR push tied to product use cases and research data
• Backlink acquisition to help center, product, and feature pages
• Reclaimed unlinked brand mentions from UX and product design blogs
Results
• 9x increase to referring domains in 12 months
• 3x growth in organic traffic to high-converting pages
• Featured in 12+ design and research newsletters/publications
Partner and Affiliate Links in SaaS
Partnerships and affiliate programs offer a scalable way to build high-quality links.
• Partner Links: Co-marketing relationships (e.g., webinars, integrations, bundled solutions) often include backlinks on landing pages and resource hubs.
• Affiliate Links: Affiliates may drive traffic to your product in exchange for commission. While these are often tagged as nofollow, they still deliver SEO value through increased visibility and shares.
Tip: Vet affiliates and partners carefully, prioritize those with real audiences and domain relevance.
Future of Link Building in SaaS
The future of link building is evolving rapidly in response to algorithm updates, user behavior shifts, and growing emphasis on quality, trust, and context. Here’s what to expect:
1. Quality Over Quantity
Google’s algorithms (especially since Penguin and Helpful Content updates) increasingly reward fewer, high-quality and relevant links over large volumes of low-authority links. Editorial context, semantic relevance, and placement matter more than ever.
2. Brand-Driven Link Earning
The future leans toward “link earning” where strong brands and great content naturally attract links over manual outreach or link exchanges. Companies that invest in content quality, thought leadership, and digital PR will outperform link-buying schemes.
3. Topical Authority Will Be a Bigger Factor
Links from topically relevant sites (not just high-DA domains) will carry more weight. Google’s emphasis on “topic authority” means that niche publications and vertical-specific content hubs will become more valuable for link building.
4. AI-Generated Content Will Create Noise and New Standards
With the rise of AI-generated content, the web is becoming saturated. Google is likely to value original research, expert commentary, and first-hand data as top link-worthy formats. Human perspective will be a competitive edge.
5. Link Building Will Merge with Digital PR
Modern link building is increasingly blending with brand storytelling and PR. Expect to see more links coming from news coverage, thought leadership pieces, interviews, and data-driven studies shared by journalists and media outlets.
6. E-E-A-T Will Influence Link Value
Google’s growing emphasis on Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness (E-E-A-T) means links from authoritative authors and expert-written sources will carry greater value than those from anonymous or low-trust sites.
7. SaaS and Product Ecosystem Links Will Scale
In the SaaS world, product-led growth will continue to drive integration links, community forum mentions, embedded tools, and partner backlinks—often passively earned through network effects.
8. Relationship-Based Outreach Will Dominate
Link building will become less transactional and more relationship-based. The best backlinks will come from long-term collaborations, guest authoring partnerships, and content syndication with trusted brands.
9. Google Will Continue Devaluing Manipulative Tactics
Private blog networks (PBNs), spammy guest post farms, and manipulative redirects will become riskier. Clean, white-hat link building aligned with user value will be safest and most sustainable.
10. Diversified Link Profiles Will Matter More
Search engines will favor natural-looking link profiles that include a mix of homepage links, deep links to blog and feature pages, branded anchors, and non-branded variations.
In summary, the future of link building is trust-first, brand-led, and content-powered. It’s less about “gaming” algorithms and more about creating content people want to reference, share, and cite.
FAQs
How does link building affect SaaS rankings?
Link building is one of the top three Google ranking factors. For SaaS, quality backlinks from relevant, high-authority sources:
• Improve domain authority
• Help new content rank faster
• Boost visibility for competitive bottom-of-funnel keywords
• Increase trust and credibility with both users and search engines
Does link building still work?
Yes, link building is still a fundamental component of SEO in 2025. Acquiring high-quality links from reputable sources is pivotal for improving search engine rankings and driving organic traffic.
How much should I pay for link building?
The cost of link building varies widely depending on quality, industry, and outreach approach. On average:
• Editorial backlinks via manual outreach: $150–$500 per link
• High-authority niche placements: $500–$1,500+
• Digital PR campaigns (e.g., for SaaS): $2,000–$10,000/month
Avoid cheap bulk link services they often use spammy tactics that can hurt your rankings long-term. Always prioritize relevance and authority over quantity.
How do you run a link building strategy?
A successful link building strategy includes:
- Goal setting (e.g., improve rankings for product or comparison pages)
- Content creation (develop link-worthy assets like studies, guides, or tools)
- Prospect research (find relevant, high-authority sites in your niche)
- Outreach (build relationships and pitch your content)
- Link monitoring (track earned links and adjust based on performance)
Consistency, personalization, and value-driven content are key to sustainable results.
What is the difference between backlinks and link building?
• Backlinks are the actual links from one website to another. They’re a ranking factor in SEO.
• Link building is the process of actively acquiring those backlinks through outreach, content, partnerships, or PR.
In short: backlinks are the result; link building is the strategy that earns them.
What is the Semrush Link Building Tool?
The Semrush Link Building Tool helps you identify prospects, manage outreach, and track backlinks. Key features include:
• Finding backlink opportunities based on competitor research
• Sending and managing outreach emails
• Monitoring link statuses (acquired, rejected, pending)
It streamlines your entire link acquisition workflow from one platform.
Which backlinks should be avoided?
Avoid backlinks that could get your site penalized or devalued by Google, including:
• Spammy directories or blog networks (PBNs)
• Low-quality, irrelevant guest posts
• Comment or forum spam
• Link exchanges (“you link me, I’ll link you”)
• Sites flagged for malware or shady practices
Focus instead on earning links from trusted, relevant sources that align with your audience and content.
