Saas Link Building Strategies: 18 Ways to Build Quality Backlinks

Link building is crucial to improving SaaS companies’ visibility, especially in today’s competitive digital landscape. Quality backlinks act as endorsements, signaling to search engines that your software is valuable and trustworthy. Your breakdown of 18 popular SaaS Link Building Strategies is a comprehensive approach. By targeting specific pages, building relevant lists, and reaching out effectively, companies can make a strong backlink profile that drives organic traffic and enhances their authority.

1. Create link-worthy content

To succeed in SaaS link building – you need valuable content that people want to link to. Link-worthy content assets can drive your outreach efforts and increase your backlink profile. Start by picking popular topics that are gaining traction in your SaaS niche. For example, the topic “AI tools” is trending among marketers.

Use tools like Ahrefs to check whether the idea has potential – and confirm its popularity by checking Google for articles on the topic. Once you’ve identified the topic – create your asset, develop outreach plans, and watch the backlinks roll in.

2. Guest blogging

Guest posting is an effective way for SaaS companies to gain backlinks from reputable sites. This strategy involves writing articles for other websites to boost your authority and drive traffic.

How to find guest posting opportunities:

• Competitor analysis: Check where your competitors have guest posted.
• Search operators: Use phrases like “write for us” with your keywords to find sites.
• Author tracking: See where industry authors have contributed guest posts.

Once you find potential sites, reach out with content ideas. Focus on creating high-quality, relevant articles.

3. Unlinked brand mentions

An unlinked brand mention happens when a website talks about your brand but doesn’t link back to your site. While this still adds some value in terms of recognition – adding a link makes it even better for SEO.  To capitalize on this – you can track down these mentions and request the author to include a backlink. Tools like BuzzSumo can help you track mentions and find these opportunities. Set up alerts, and the tool will notify you whenever your brand is mentioned across blogs and forums. Afterward, politely request a link back to your site.

4. Competitor backlink analysis

Competitor backlink analysis isn’t exactly a SaaS link building method, but it helps you fine-tune your strategy. It involves looking at your competitor’s backlink profiles – finding out where they get their links from and replicating those strategies to improve your rankings.

How to approach:

• Analyze your competitors’ backlinks and referring domains.
• Identify link opportunities you can target for your site.
• Use this insight to improve your link-building strategy.

You can target:

• “Alternatives to” articles that mention your competitors.
• Informational content where your competitor is mentioned.
• Listicles that feature similar SaaS products but don’t include yours.

5. Niche edits

Niche edits involve adding your link to an existing – already published blog post. This lets you benefit from the SEO value the page has built over time. For example – if your SaaS tool helps teams manage projects, look for blogs with titles like “Best Project Management Tools for Remote Teams.”

Reach out to the blog owners and ask them to include your product in their article. When they do, you get a valuable, high-quality backlink. And guess what? Publishers are often open to niche edits as they add useful resources for their readers without the need to create fresh content.

6. Broken links

A broken link refers to a hyperlink that no longer leads to an active page or resource – and Google frowns upon these links from an SEO perspective. But guess what? You can still use them.

Identify websites in your niche with broken links. Then, create a relevant piece of content that fits that broken URL and offer it as a replacement. Website owners are usually grateful since you’re helping fix an issue for them.

Pro tip: Use tools like broken link checker to find broken links on competitor sites. Simply enter the URL and click on “Check Status” to see a list of broken URLs you can target.

7. CEO interviews

Websites that interview CEOs of various companies offer another great backlink opportunity. These interviews are often published as either a YouTube video or a detailed blog post – both of which can include links back to your site. You can pitch your CEO for these interviews to earn a backlink from high-authority sites. Platforms like CEO Magazine are examples of where you can find such opportunities.

8. Resource pages

Resource pages list helpful tools and content on specific topics. These pages are great for securing backlinks – especially if you offer a SaaS product or informative blog content. 

For example – if you provide project management software, search for resource pages that list the “Best Project Management Tools.” If your software adds value, the site owner might be willing to feature your link.

Pro tip: You can easily find resource pages by using search operators like intitle:{your keyword} (intitle:best OR intitle:resource OR intitle:top) to get a list of relevant resource pages for your niche.

9. Help a reporter out (HARO)

Help A Reporter Out (HARO) is an excellent resource for building backlinks for your SaaS business. HARO connects journalists with sources for their articles.

How it works:

• Sign up on HARO to receive daily emails with queries related to your industry.
• Respond to relevant queries where you can provide insights or data.
• If your contribution is useful, the journalist may feature you in their article, providing a valuable backlink to your site.

10. Podcasts

Being featured on podcasts is an excellent way to build backlinks to your website. Most podcasts today are – shared as videos on platforms like YouTube, and it’s common for the host to include a link to your site in the video’s description or title.

Podcast hosts also often publish these discussions in blog form on their websites, providing another opportunity for backlinks. Talking about your SaaS product on a podcast is often easier than writing guest posts. Plus, with podcasts growing in popularity – appearing on one can greatly expand your reach.

11. Press releases

A press release is a concise announcement that shares newsworthy information about your company. This can include – new product features, upcoming events, or significant company milestones.

How to use:

• Write a compelling press release and distribute it to news outlets that cover your industry – such as Presswire or PR.com.
• If your release captures interest – it can be picked up by news sites, generating backlinks to your website.

12. Social ads for linkable content

This technique promotes your best content to a targeted audience using paid ads. Though links from ads don’t hold much SEO value – they can help your content gain organic links if shared widely.

You can:

• Use remarketing on platforms like – Facebook, X, or LinkedIn.
• Target niche audiences on Reddit.
• Promote content that has the potential to naturally attract backlinks.

13. Forum Sites

Participating in forums is another way to build backlinks. Engage in discussions on platforms where your niche is talked about – and subtly include your backlinks when answering questions or sharing insights.

Popular platforms:

• Quora and Reddit for general discussions.
• SaaS-specific forums like SaaStock, SaaS Insider, or S11S.

14. Influencer outreach

Influencer outreach may be less common for SaaS companies, but it can still be an effective strategy.

Steps to follow:

• Identify influencers in the SaaS space who have a relevant audience.
• Offer them a subscription to your product for free or a fee in exchange for a review or mention.
• Make sure they include a link to your site in their content.

15. Product reviews

Getting product reviews is a powerful method for building links and establishing trust with potential customers.

How to approach:

• Reach out to bloggers or influencers in your niche and offer them a free trial of your software for 1-3 months.
• Request a detailed review after they’ve had time to test your product.
• Positive reviews can lead to backlinks and enhance your credibility.

16. Trend reports

Trend reports are a creative way to build backlinks for your SaaS company. By producing reports on industry trends – you can attract attention from journalists and bloggers.

Steps to follow:

• Create detailed reports that include interviews with industry leaders and relevant case studies.
• Mention notable brands in your report that could benefit from the exposure.
• Reach out to those brands – encouraging them to share your report on their platforms. This can result in backlinks as they reference your work.

17. Social media and content promotion

Promoting high-quality content on social media is a smart way to build backlinks for your SaaS product. Regularly create engaging content like – blogs, videos, infographics, or posts that resonate with your audience. Share this content across social media platforms to increase visibility. As more people engage with and share your content – you’ll have more chances to earn backlinks.

18. Reciprocal/link exchange

This strategy involves mutual linking between websites. For example:

• Website A links to Website B
• Website B links to Website C
• Website C links to Website A

While excessive link exchanges can violate Google’s guidelines – limited, strategic exchanges can be helpful, especially within relevant networks.

Common Mistakes to Avoid in SaaS Link Building

SaaS link building only works when done right. And guess what? Not everyone can do it. This is why many leading brands choose to partner with a SaaS link building agency. 

But don’t worry – we’re here to guide you through the common mistakes to avoid for the best results possible. 

• Focusing on quality over quantity – A major mistake in SaaS link building is chasing as many links as possible rather than focusing on quality. Almost 94% of link builders believe that the quality of links is more important than the number of links. A few backlinks from reputable sites can be more beneficial than many from low-authority websites. 

• Not considering your audience – It’s essential to understand what your target audience values in the SaaS space. Creating content that doesn’t resonate with them will make it harder to earn links. 

• Using automated tools excessively – While tools can help in finding link opportunities – relying too heavily on automation can backfire. Personalized outreach is often more effective than mass emails that feel generic when it comes to SaaS link building.

• Ignoring on-page SEO – Good link-building efforts can be wasted if your on-page SEO isn’t up to par. So, make sure your SaaS website is optimized with proper keywords, meta tags, and quality content to maximize the benefits of your backlinks.

• Not tracking results – Not measuring the impact of your SaaS link building efforts can lead to wasted resources. Use tools like Semrush or Ahrefs to track which links bring in traffic and improve your strategy accordingly.

How to Track and Measure the Success of SaaS Link Building

To understand how well your SaaS link building efforts are working – you need to track and measure the results. Here’s a simple guide on how to do that.

SaaS Link Building Examples (Top Brands)

Here are some standout examples of how brands cleverly use link SaaS building to grow their business. 

1. Toast’s resourceful blog content

Toast, which provides point-of-sale systems for restaurants – uses strong blogs to build links. They create detailed articles and reports, like “Restaurant Management Statistics,” that attract bloggers and journalists. This strategy has brought them over 600,000 organic clicks each month and valuable backlinks.

2. HubSpot’s industry reports

HubSpot is known for sharing important industry insights. Their reports, such as the Content & Media Strategy Report – get a lot of attention and links from various websites. They regularly release these reports, and media outlets often link to them without needing to be asked.

3. BambooHR’s guest blogging strategy

BambooHR, a provider of HR software – uses guest blogging to reach more people. They work with related companies, like CyberArk, which offers identity security. By writing guest posts for each other’s sites – they share their audiences and gain valuable backlinks.

Conclusion

Building backlinks plays a big role in helping a SaaS business grow online. By using the strategies we discussed, SaaS companies can surely improve their search rankings and bring in more customers. It might take some time and patience, but the results are worth it. With the right effort, your SaaS business can stand out, be seen by more people, and build trust in your industry.

In case you missed!

• 7 Ways to Check for Link Relevance
• Link Reclamation: How To Find and Reclaim Lost Links For SEO
• Link Bait 101: Attract Backlinks Naturally
• Tiered Link Building: Boost SEO with Strategic Link Profiles!