Free Backlinks That Are Actually Worth Having
Free backlinks worth your time, from partner pages and unlinked mentions to local citations, ranked by effort and value, plus the free links to avoid.
Free backlinks are links you earn without paying the site that hosts them. The good ones come from relationships, mentions and useful content: suppliers listing you as a stockist, journalists quoting you, or a blogger who mentioned your brand and will happily add a link if asked.
The bad ones are the "1,000 free backlinks" tools and comment-spam generators. Google's spam policies name automated link creation and optimised forum comments as link spam, and those links are worth nothing at best.
The rule is simple. Free links cost time instead of money, so spend that time on links a real person chose to give you.
Free link sources, ranked by effort and value
1. Unlinked brand mentions
If people already write about your brand without linking, asking them to add a link is the easiest free backlink there is. The writer already likes you enough to mention you, so the ask is small.
Set up alerts for your brand name, then email the author with the exact sentence and a suggested URL. Our guide to link reclamation walks through the process.
2. Partners, suppliers and customers
Businesses you already work with often have pages listing stockists, integrations, case studies or partners. A link from them is relevant, real and usually just one email away.
- Suppliers' "where to buy" or stockist pages
- Software integration and partner directories
- Testimonials you give to tools you use (many link back to the reviewer's site)
- Clients' case study or "agencies we work with" pages
3. Journalist requests and expert quotes
Journalists regularly post requests for expert comment through request platforms and on social media. Answering well and fast can earn links from news and trade sites that would be hard to reach any other way.
It's free but time-consuming, and success rates are low, so pick requests where you have a genuine angle. See HARO and journalist request links for how it works.
4. Broken link building and resource pages
Find a broken link on a relevant page, offer your content as a replacement, and the site owner gets a fix while you get a link. Broken link building takes research, but the pitch is genuinely helpful, which is why it still works.
Resource pages, the curated lists of useful links many organisations maintain, work the same way when you have something worth listing.
5. Podcasts and guest appearances
Podcast hosts need guests, and most episode pages link to the guest's site in the show notes. It costs an hour of your time and gives you an audience as well as a link. Our guide to podcast link building covers how to get booked.
6. Local citations and directories
For local businesses, consistent listings on major directories and industry bodies help customers and local SEO. Many of these links are nofollow, so their value is in visibility and consistency rather than passing authority. Start with local citations and see which directory links still carry value.
7. Content people want to cite
The most scalable free links come from content that other writers need to reference: original data, free tools, clear definitions and genuinely useful guides. It costs time to make, but once it ranks it can attract links for years without outreach.
The skyscraper technique is one structured way to do this, by improving on content that has already proven it attracts links.
Free links compared
| Source | Effort | Typically followed? | Main value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Unlinked mentions | Low | Often | Authority, from a site that already knows you |
| Partner and supplier pages | Low | Often | Relevance and trust |
| Journalist requests | High | Mixed | Authority from news and trade sites |
| Broken link building | High | Usually | Relevant editorial links |
| Podcasts | Medium | Often | Audience plus a link |
| Local citations | Low | Often nofollow | Local visibility and NAP consistency |
| Social profiles | Low | Usually nofollow | Brand presence, not rankings |
"Typically followed" is a general pattern, not a guarantee. Each site decides its own link attributes, as our guide to dofollow vs nofollow explains.
Free backlinks to avoid
| Free link offer | Why to avoid it |
|---|---|
| "Free backlink generator" tools | Automated link creation is named in Google's spam policies |
| Blog comment and forum signatures | Optimised anchors in comments are named as link spam, and these links are usually nofollow or ugc anyway |
| Link exchanges with strangers | Excessive reciprocal linking is a listed link scheme |
| Low-quality directory submissions | Named in Google's link spam examples |
| Free PBN or "link wheel" offers | Built to manipulate rankings, and often ignored by Google |
These tactics are covered in more depth in our guide to link schemes.
The short version
- The best free backlinks come from people who already know you: partners, suppliers, customers and people who mention you
- Unlinked mentions are the lowest-effort, highest-value free link source
- Journalist requests, broken link building and podcasts take time but earn strong editorial links
- Local citations and social profiles help visibility more than rankings
- Skip automated "free backlink" tools, which Google's policies call link spam
Free links are rarely enough on their own. For a full plan that combines earned and paid tactics, read how to get backlinks.