How to get backlinks for a new website
A new website gets its first backlinks from places that list new things by design: startup directories, launch platforms, profiles, partners and integrations, press, and communities. Then it earns editorial links by publishing things worth citing: data, tools, templates and strong guides. Avoid buying links and mass link schemes, which Google's spam policies target.
Updated · Citable
Twelve ways to get your first links
- Startup and software directories. Many give dofollow links. See best startup directories.
- Launch platforms. Product Hunt, Show HN, Peerlist, Uneed. See Product Hunt alternatives.
- Comparison sites. AlternativeTo, SaaSHub, G2. See comparison directories.
- Company profiles. Crunchbase, LinkedIn, GitHub, X: links plus consistent facts.
- Partner and integration pages. If you integrate with a tool, ask to be listed in its marketplace or partner directory.
- Customer and "built with" pages. Tools you use often feature customers.
- Investor and accelerator portfolios.
- Press. A press release for discovery and brand presence; journalist pitching for editorial links.
- Podcasts and interviews. Show notes link to guests.
- Guest content on relevant sites, written to be useful, not to place links.
- Linkable assets. Original research, calculators, templates, free tools.
- Unlinked mentions. Ask sites that mention you to add a link.
What to avoid
Google's spam policies name buying or selling links for ranking, excessive link exchanges, large-scale guest posting campaigns with keyword-rich anchors, automated link building, and keyword-optimized anchors in distributed press releases. These can lead to links being ignored or to manual actions.
A realistic pace
In the first months, a new site might go from zero to a few dozen referring domains through listings and launches, then add editorial links slowly as content and the product attract them. Track referring domains, not raw link counts. See how to check your backlinks.
Questions people ask
How many backlinks does a new site need?
There is no fixed number. In competitive topics, compare with the referring domains of pages that rank. Relevance and quality matter more than count.
Is buying backlinks ever okay?
Paying for advertising or sponsorship is fine if the link is marked rel="sponsored". Paying for links to pass ranking value violates Google's policies.