A new website starts with zero backlinks, and that is completely normal. Every site on the internet began the same way. The challenge is earning those first links without a budget, without an audience, and without the domain authority that older sites take for granted.
The good news is that you do not need a big budget or a library of content to earn your first backlinks. You need to know where to look, what to offer, and which shortcuts to avoid.
What Are Backlinks and Why Do They Matter?
A backlink is a link from another website that points to yours. Search engines treat backlinks as recommendations. When a relevant, trusted site links to your page, Google reads that as a signal that your page is useful and worth ranking.
Backlinks also help search engines discover your pages faster. Quality matters far more than quantity. A single link from a real, relevant website is worth more than hundreds of links from random, low-quality sites. Focus on earning links that connect to pages people actually use.
A good backlink is relevant to your niche, comes from a trusted site, and sits naturally inside the main content. When you evaluate a link, ask one question: would a real person find it useful? Tools like the ones in our guide to Moz extension alternatives for SEO professionals can help you check link quality.
First, Make Sure Google Can Find Your Site
Before you chase links, check that Google can actually see your site. The most common beginner panic about backlinks is really an indexing problem. If Google has not added your pages to its index yet, no quantity of backlinks will fix that. Set up Google Search Console, submit your sitemap, and confirm that your important pages are indexed.
10 Beginner-Friendly Ways to Get Backlinks
These methods are ordered from the easiest wins to the ones that take more effort. Start at the top and work down.
1. Claim Your Business and Social Profiles
Create profiles on the platforms where your business already belongs. Google Business Profile, LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and Pinterest all let you add a link to your website. Most of these links are nofollow, so they do not pass ranking credit, but they still help people find you and give search engines a clearer picture of your brand.
2. Get Listed in Real Directories
Not all directories are spam. Industry-specific databases, local business listings, professional association directories, and your local chamber of commerce exist to help people find services. Getting listed earns you a legitimate, relevant backlink and puts your business in front of people who are already looking for what you offer.
3. Ask Your Suppliers, Partners and Clients
The people you already do business with are the easiest source of your first real backlinks. Ask your suppliers, distributors, partners, and clients if they have a “partners,” “clients,” or “where to buy” page where your site could be listed. This is a normal business request, and most partners are happy to say yes.
4. Turn Unlinked Mentions Into Links
Some sites may already mention your business without linking to it. Search for your brand name in quotation marks and note every mention without a link. Contact the site owner, thank them for the mention, and ask if they would link it to your homepage or a relevant page. These are easy wins because the site already knows who you are.
5. Answer Journalist Requests
Journalists and bloggers are always looking for quotes from real people with genuine experience. Services such as HARO, Qwoted, and SourceBottle publish daily requests from writers who need a source. Answer the requests that match your knowledge, give a short and honest quote, and include a link to your site. When your quote is used, you usually get a backlink from a reputable publication.
6. Replace Broken Links
Many websites link to pages that no longer exist. Find a page in your niche with a broken outbound link, create or identify a working page on your site that covers the same topic, then contact the site owner and suggest your page as a replacement. You are fixing their page, so the request is welcome.
7. Create Something Worth Linking To
The most durable way to earn backlinks is to publish something that other people genuinely want to reference. Original research, a useful calculator, a free template, or a detailed comparison all attract links naturally over time. For ideas on content that earns attention, see our guide to B2B content marketing trends.
8. Write Guest Posts on Relevant Sites
Guest posting means writing an article for another website in your niche in exchange for a link back to your site. Choose sites that are relevant to your topic and have real readers. Write something that is genuinely useful to their audience, not a thin sales pitch. One good guest post on a respected site is worth more than ten on low-quality blogs.
9. Give Testimonials
If you use a product or service you love, write a short testimonial for the company. Many companies publish testimonials on their website with a link back to the person or business that gave them. It costs nothing and often results in a backlink from a real, relevant business site.
10. Get Featured in Newsletters and Roundups
Many newsletters and blogs publish roundups of the best new articles on a topic. If you have published something genuinely useful, email the editor and suggest it for their next roundup. A link from a popular newsletter can send traffic as well as pass ranking value.
What to Avoid: Tactics That Can Hurt Your Site
Some popular shortcuts do more harm than good. Google’s spam policies are clear, and they apply to every site, no matter how new it is. If you want to understand the rules in detail, read Google’s spam policies directly.
How Many Backlinks Does a New Website Need?
There is no fixed number. Your competitors define the target in your niche: a local business may need only a handful of relevant links, while a competitive national keyword may need hundreds. If you are comparing SEO tools, our Semrush pricing explained guide covers what the most popular tool costs and which plan fits a new site.
How Long Does It Take to See Results?
Link building is slow, and that is normal. A new link can take around 10 weeks to show a clear effect, and brand-new sites often need longer before links move the needle. Spend your first month doing the basics well: fix your titles and descriptions, publish useful content, and list your business in the right places.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I get backlinks for free?
Yes. You can get backlinks for free by creating useful content and promoting it, claiming your business profiles, getting listed in real directories, answering journalist requests, and asking partners to link to you. None of these methods costs money, although they do take time.
How many backlinks does a new website need to rank?
There is no fixed number. A website with 10 relevant, high-quality backlinks can outrank a site with hundreds of low-quality links. What matters is the quality and relevance of the sites linking to you, and whether the pages they link to are genuinely useful.
Are backlinks still important for SEO?
Yes, backlinks are still one of the strongest ranking signals. Search engines use them to judge the authority and trustworthiness of a page. That said, links are only one factor: content quality, user experience, and technical health also matter.
Is it safe to buy backlinks?
No, buying backlinks that pass ranking credit violates Google’s spam policies. Paid links are only allowed when they carry a rel=”sponsored” or rel=”nofollow” attribute, and such links do not pass ranking value. A link scheme can lead to a manual action or a sudden loss of rankings.
How do I check which sites link to my website?
Open Google Search Console and go to the Links report. It shows the sites that link to you most often, your most linked pages, and the anchor text they use. You can also use an SEO tool such as Ahrefs, Semrush, or Moz to get more detailed data.
How long does it take for a backlink to affect rankings?
A new backlink typically takes around 10 weeks to show an obvious effect. The timing varies, but this is a useful average to plan around, because a single new link rarely produces an immediate ranking change on its own.
Conclusion
Getting backlinks for a new website is a slow, steady process, not a one-time task. Start with the easy wins in this guide, then build the habit of creating content that other people want to reference.
Avoid the shortcuts: bought links and private blog networks look tempting, but the risk is not worth it. Pick three methods from this guide and do one of them this week. If you want professional help with the technical side, our guide to affordable SEO services explains what to look for and what a fair price looks like.
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