The essential link building strategy

Links are expensive as hell—both in time and money. 

When you're throwing $150–$350 per link at tactics that don't match the phase of site building you’re at, you're not just burning cash, you're delaying growth. But it's not just about money—trying to master multiple link building strategies at once means you can't excel at any of them. 

As I learned from the book Essentialism, less but better is the key. Pick one or two strategies, focus, go all in, and watch what happens.

Match your link building strategy to where you’re at

If I had to build a website from scratch, or when I’m assessing building links for a client, this is the general framework and timeline I use.

Phase 1: Under DR 40 (The foundation phase)

When you're starting out, you need raw authority from relevant sites. Period. 

Here's what works:

1. Luscious link building, i.e., guest posts/contributor slots

• Focus on sites in your DR range (10–50)

• Build relationships for recurring contributions

• Key metrics: Aim for 5–10 new referring domains per month

• Mainly build links to your homepage and maybe a few info articles
  

2. Link insertions

• Target relevant, existing content

• Focus on contextual placements

• Do NOT overoptimize anchor text

• Look for sites with solid organic traffic
  

3. HAROish link building

• Set up alerts for your core topics

• Respond quickly (within two hours ideally)

• Focus on providing specific data points/quotes

Note: Unless you have serious cash or funding, I’d skip digital PR for now. It’s expensive as hell and, more likely than not, you need to prove SEO is a solid traffic acquisition strategy before investing $5,000+ in digital PR campaigns.

Phase 2: DR 40–60 (The scaling phase)

Now we’re getting somewhere. You've got some authority, so it's time to diversify:

During this phase is when I start building data studies for passive backlink acquisition. Take that HBR link I shared earlier: My student didn't pitch anyone, they just created solid data about TikTok usage. 

You're not going to hit a home run with each and every study (not everyone will land Harvard-level links), but getting 5–20 data studies live will allow you to get the benefit of compounding in 6–12 months time. Think of it like compound interest—it starts slow but builds momentum.

Below is an example timeline of a student who went through the course. They now get 60+ links each month because of work they put in 6 months ago.

I also get more selective with guest posting during this phase. My criteria tightens up: Now I'm only targeting sites with a DR over 30 and monthly traffic of at least 5,000. No point in wasting time on low-traffic sites when you've got some authority to leverage.

This is also when digital PR starts making sense. By now you've likely seen real results from organic traffic—whether that's revenue, leads, or email signups. That makes it way easier to justify dropping $3k–$5k on a proper PR campaign.

Phase 3: DR 60+ (The authority phase)

This is where things get fun. You've built a solid foundation, so now we can get creative:

During this phase I double down on two main strategies: passive link building and digital PR. 

For passive link acquisition, I'm building data studies, calculators, and tools—anything that attracts links while I sleep. At this point, you should be able to rank for your pretty much all target keywords, and these high-quality links act as a protective moat around your site.

For digital PR, I'm running dedicated campaigns that generate serious media coverage. Again, the goal here is big links from big publications. These are the kind of white-hat links from respected brands that make your link profile look rock solid.

The goal is to have 80%–90% of your links coming from these "clean" methods. Between your passive link magnets and PR campaigns, you're building a link profile that both users and Google love.

With that solid foundation of natural links, you can now get a bit more aggressive with the remaining 10%–20%. I'm talking about sending link inserts and guest posts directly to money pages with more keyword-focused anchor text.

If 90% of your links are squeaky clean and coming from big brands naturally, you can afford to be more aggressive with that other 10%. It's all about balance.

That’s it! 

Everything outlined above shows you the exact decision-making framework I apply when I’m looking to build links for my sites or my clients.

Now don’t get me wrong; nothing in this world is black and white, and there is always nuance, but this is the best playbook I’ve created to date.

Your next steps

Reading articles and theory is cool, but you know what will actually move the needle for your business?

Action. Don't just read this.

Implement it or send it to a team member.

Here's what to do next:

1. Check your site's current DR/Traffic.

2. Match your site to the right phase:

   • DR Under 30–40: Focus on guest posts and link insertions.

   • DR 40–60: Start building data studies and consider digital PR.

   • DR 60+: Go heavy on passive acquisition and PR campaigns.

3. Look at your current link building budget and align it with your phase.

4. Audit your existing link profile—what percentage is coming from each type of link building?

5. Pick the ONE strategy from your phase that you can execute well for the next 90 days.

6. Cut or pause everything else that doesn't align with your site's current phase.

This isn't about doing more link building. It's about doing the right link building for where you're at right now.