Free Backlinks: Can You Build Links Without Spending $$$ in 2025?

According to the Authority Hackers survey of 750+, a paid link cost $83 in 2024. On average.

In practice, high-quality backlinks can cost way more, especially in competitive niches like legal services or healthcare.

It doesn't mean that you have to pay through the nose for every single link. It is possible to build links for free.

But are the free links really free?

That's the first question I answer in the article. I will also share tips on how to find free link opportunities and what link-building strategies you can use to get them.

Why Free Backlinks Aren't Really Free

Spoiler: There's no such thing as a free backlink.

Yes, it's possible to secure backlinks without paying for them.

For example, you can create linkable assets, like infographics or research reports, which attract backlinks organically.

However, creating content like this requires effort. Often substantial.

The exact costs of "free" link building are impossible to estimate accurately. They include:

Calculating the cost per "free link" is also difficult because of varying success rates. More experienced link builders have higher success rates. Some tactics offer better results than others.

8 Best Ways to Get Free Backlinks. Ranked by Difficulty.

So, what are the most effective ways to get "free" backlinks?

Let me review a list of X common link-building tactics ordered by resource-intensiveness.

1. Directory link building (2/10)

Directory link-building involves listing your business in business and niche directories.

It's a low-effort tactic.

Sure, you need to find relevant directories, and sometimes the registration or verification process isn't straightforward. But you don't have to use specialist tools, create research, or conduct outreach.

What do you get in return? It depends on the quality of the directory. High DR directory links tend to be nofollow, so effort limited SEO benefits.

But can bring valuable referral traffic to your site. That’s potential leads.

2. Link exchanges (3/10)

In link exchanges, you link to someone's page, and they link to you in return.

There are dozens of private invite-only Slack communities where partners share exchange opportunities. For example, new articles they're working on where they could insert a link.

Finding a fresh supply of new exchange partners is the main challenge, especially in niche sectors.

But not the only one.

If you're involved in ABC exchanges, for example, to avoid trouble with Google, managing the links and who owes what to whom can quickly get out of hand.

3. Reddit or Quora (5/10)

Backlinks on Q&A websites like Reddit or Quora come with the rel="UGC" attribute, so again their value comes from the exposure they give you.

Which can be massive.

It's virtually impossible to run a Google search and not find a Reddit thread on the first page.

This translates into referral traffic and customers. We recently had a client reach out. Can you guess how they heard about us? From Reddit!

The best part? The thread didn't even have a link. Just a mention.

Ignoring Reddit is practically a crime!

I gave this tactic 5 out of 10 because it doesn't require SEO tools or technical skills. Finding relevant threads is easy, too.

However, maintaining a constant presence is time-consuming. And moderators remove spammy links mercilessly.

4. Unlinked brand mentions (5/10)

An unlinked brand mention is when somebody writes about your brand, product, or service and doesn't link to you.

Unlinked mentions are valuable in their own right. They increase your brand awareness and chances of appearing in AI-powered search results. Which more and more people use to find for informational and transactional queries.

To convert them into links, you need:

The tactic is considered low-effort because it doesn't require creating new resources. Getting backlinks is also easier if somebody is already talking about your brand.

However, finding and vetting prospects and outreach are time-consuming. You also need paid tools, which work only for companies with online visibility.

5. Broken link building (6-10)

In broken link building, you look for dead links on a website, contact the webmaster, and ask them to replace them with a link to a relevant page on your website.

What if you don't have a relevant page? You have to create it, which means either spending your time or money on freelance help.

And that's on top of the prospecting and outreach process (which require tools).

All this combined makes the tactic resource-intensive.

And the return on your investment is limited.

Most of the time, the webmaster will either ignore you or remove the broken link without replacing it.

For 100 requests, you will get 2-3 links for free and maybe a few more through exchanges.

6. HARO (8/10)

HARO involves responding to journalist requests for SME input. Either on social media (#journorequest) or dedicated services like Help a B2B Writer, Qwoted, or Featured (and HARO in the past).

If it's the latter, you must pay subscription fees. That's the first reason the link wouldn't be free.

The second one? Crafting pitches requires commitment. Half-hearted efforts won't cut it through the noise—the competition is too high.

You need to respond quickly, too. Which means constantly monitoring the requests across 3-5 platforms.

And the results are still far from certain. In SEO and link-building, it's very hit-and-miss.

However, if you do get featured, it could be on a top-tier website like The New York Times.

So, totally worth the effort (and the subscription fee).

7. Guest posting (9/10)

Guest posts are articles written for other websites in which you place a link.

The tactic gets 9 out of 10 for resource-intensiveness, so high up there.

The main reasons?

Creating personalized pitches is time-consuming. You need to research their existing content and come up with new ideas or angles. And not just one. Ideally, 3-5 to maximize chances of success.

Guest posting opportunities on high-quality websites, like Backlinko, aren't available all the time, so you have to keep an eye out for them constantly.

Once your idea gets approval, you still need to write the article. That's easily 5-8 hours of work for an average 1500-word post. A reliable freelancer will charge at least $400-700 for it.

And then there's still no guarantee that it gets published. Read Irina Maltseva's LinkedIn post to see what I mean.

8. Linkable assets (up to 10/10)

Creating linkable assets is one of the best ways to acquire links.

Once you have them, they often keep attracting links for months, if not years.

And a lot of them.

For example, over 250 websites link to the Authority Hacker's link-building stat roundup.

The success is understandable. Writers need data to support their stories. And they link to their sources for credibility.

However, the effort that goes into creating them is huge.

For example, our State of Link Building report cost 5-7k and took 2+ months to complete. We didn't pay for the 170+ backlinks, but they weren't free.

That's why I would rate creating such resources 9 out of 10. Or even 10.

Not all link-bait content requires such resources, though.

Infographics are easier to create (if you already have the data), but we can see that people link to them less these days.

And if you're a SaaS company, you can offer some of your features for free. Like Ahrefs Backlink Checker or Keyword Generator.

How to Find Free Backlinks for Your Website?

Let's wrap up with three ways to find free links. Or rather opportunities to secure them.

Google search operators

If you're on a budget and don't have access to specialist SEO tools, you can find plenty of potential prospects with Google search operators.

To find websites that accept guest posts, try "write for us" + [niche] or "guest posting guidelines" + [niche].

For example, these are the websites I found with  "write for us" + saas.

Search operators can help you find more than just guest post placements. For example, directories in your niche:

Free backlink lists

Websites and SEO communities regularly publish lists of free websites where you can get links.

A simple Google search will reveal plenty of them.

Easy, right?

Not quite. Many of these are spammy pages that will bring no value whatsoever. If anything, they can hurt your reputation.

So, before you submit your link to a website, check it metrics:

• Domain strength (DR/DA/AS) 
• Traffic 
• Outbound links

Above all, pay attention to relevance and content quality.

Let me show you what I mean using this example.

Submitting the articles is easy and quick, but the editorial standards are low.

An AI-generated article will be more than enough, meaning the content is generic and not very helpful. Do you want to associate yourself with a website like this?

The site doesn't cater to any specific audience, so your links may not be relevant.

And it won't bring any referral traffic to your site because it has no organic visitors.

But, it has a fair number of backlinks and a decent DR (33), which may indicate it's part of a PBN or the webmaster is buying links.

When you dive deeper into its backlink profile, it becomes clear that the main purpose of the website is to offer links.

For example, it has a bunch of links to various underwear/lingerie websites.

I checked the websites, and they all have the same design. So, even if the website isn't a part of a PBN, it's used by one to generate links.

The exact match anchor texts are another thing that screams link spam like nothing else.

Competitor backlink analysis

Competitor analysis requires paid SEO tools to inspect competitor link profiles for opportunities.

I use Ahrefs.

The first thing I do is look at competitors' Best by links pages.

I can see where their three most linked-to resources are:

• The state of the link-building report
• A stat roundup
• A guide to improving domain authority.

Creating similar resources, just better ones would be a good start.

Let's imagine you write a more comprehensive or current statistics collection. You can look up which sites link to their article and share yours with the webmasters and editors, hoping they cite it in their article. And link to your site.

It's to choose the most relevant and valuable links I could realistically get for free.

I also use the link intersect tool to look for pages that link to competitors but not our websites.

That's how you can find niche directories and listicles that feature your competitors but not you.

Final Words

You can build backlinks without paying website owners for the placements. In fact, it's much safer and offers better long-term results. You don't risk penalties, reputation damage, or wasting money on links that disappear after a few months.

However, these links aren't free when you consider the effort, time, and tools you need to get them.

If you'd rather focus your energy on higher-value tasks, there's another option: hiring a trusted link-building service to handle it for you.

Yes, you pay for the links but not the placement but the work they do to secure them. So, it doesn't differ much from hiring an in-house link builder.

Except that an in-house hire may not have the same bandwidth, niche experience, and industry relationships. Which means lower ROI.

Want to try it? Get in touch with Editorial.Link.