Link Building for SaaS Startups: 10 Strategies That Actually Work (2026)

Link building for SaaS startups is not the same game as link building for an established brand. You have no domain authority, no brand recognition, and no time to waste on strategies that take six months to show results. You need backlinks that move the needle now while building a foundation that compounds over time.

For a deeper understanding of why these backlinks matter, read our what is Domain Rating guide. To check where you stand right now, use our free Domain Rating checker.

Why link building matters for SaaS startups#

SaaS is one of the most competitive spaces on the internet. Every keyword you want to rank for has established players with DR 50-80 sitting on page one. Without backlinks, you are invisible to search engines — and without search visibility, you are leaving signups on the table.

Here is the chain: backlinks drive Domain Rating, Domain Rating correlates with rankings, and rankings drive organic signups. Organic traffic is the highest-leverage acquisition channel for SaaS because it compounds. A blog post that ranks today keeps driving signups next month, next quarter, next year — with zero additional spend.

Why most early-stage founders skip link building:

• It feels like a vanity metric compared to shipping features
• The results are not immediate (except with directories)
• They do not know where to start or what actually works
• They assume it requires a big budget or a dedicated SEO hire

The reality is different. Most of the strategies in this guide cost nothing but time. And the founders who start link building early — even just submitting to directories and posting about their journey — build a compounding advantage that gets harder to replicate over time.

The SaaS-specific advantage: You have something most businesses do not — a product with data, integrations, and a technical audience that blogs, tweets, and curates. SaaS founders operate in an ecosystem where people actively share and link to tools they find useful. That makes every strategy in this guide more effective for you than it would be for, say, a local plumber.

For a broader overview of how backlinks affect your domain metrics, see our guide to increasing Domain Rating.

10 SaaS link building strategies ranked#

Before diving into each strategy, here is the overview. These are ranked by the combination of effort, impact, and practicality for an early-stage SaaS startup with limited time and budget.

Now let us break down each one.

1. Directory submissions#

Directory submissions rank first because they deliver the highest impact with the lowest effort — and for SaaS startups specifically, they are the fastest path from zero to a credible Domain Rating.

Why it works: Each directory you get listed on is a new unique referring domain. Ahrefs Domain Rating is driven primarily by the number and quality of unique referring domains. Submit to 100+ directories, and you can earn up to 100+ new referring domains — each one pushing your DR upward.

What to do: Submit your SaaS to 100-140+ curated, quality directories. These are not spammy web directories from 2008. They are startup directories, SaaS directories, product listing sites, and niche industry directories that have their own traffic and authority.

You can do this yourself by working through our startup directories list. That takes 20-40 hours of manual work — filling out forms, writing descriptions, uploading screenshots. Or you can use a directory submission service that handles it for you.

Real customer results:

These results came from RankInPublic's directory submission service. The timeline from submission to DR increase was days, not months.

Why directories are especially good for SaaS startups:

• Startup and SaaS directories are topically relevant — the links make sense to Google
• Many directories have real traffic, so you get referral visitors on top of the SEO benefit
• The DR gains from directories make every subsequent link building tactic more effective — outreach response rates improve significantly once you are above DR 15-20

2. Founder-led content#

The second-best startup link building strategy costs nothing and compounds forever: build in public.

Why it works: When you share your journey — revenue milestones, technical decisions, lessons learned, product updates — other founders, newsletters, and curators link to your posts and your product. This happens naturally because the indie hacker and SaaS community actively curates and shares this kind of content.

Where to post:

• LinkedIn: The highest-reach platform for B2B SaaS founders. A single viral post can earn dozens of backlinks from people who write about it in their own blogs and newsletters
• Twitter/X: Threads about your startup journey, technical decisions, or growth milestones get bookmarked, quoted, and linked to
• Indie Hackers: Detailed milestone posts and AMA threads attract links from the broader indie hacker ecosystem
• Reddit: Relevant subreddits like r/SaaS, r/startups, and niche communities. Focus on genuine value, not self-promotion

What to share:

• Monthly revenue and growth updates
• Technical architecture decisions and tradeoffs
• Marketing experiments and results (with real numbers)
• Product launches and feature announcements
• Honest reflections on what failed and what you learned

The compounding effect: A single build-in-public post does not do much. But six months of consistent posting builds an audience. That audience links to you in their blogs. Newsletter curators feature you. Journalists discover you. The backlinks come as a byproduct of being visible and valuable in the ecosystem.

Timeline: Expect the first organic backlinks from founder-led content within 4-8 weeks of consistent posting. The real compounding effect kicks in after 3-6 months.

Consider launching your product on platforms that give you both exposure and a backlink. RankInPublic's tournament launch is designed specifically for this.

3. Build a free tool#

Engineering as marketing is one of the most powerful SaaS link building strategies available. Build a free tool that solves a specific problem, and people will link to it forever.

Why it works: Free tools earn backlinks passively because people reference them in blog posts, resource roundups, and social media. A good free tool becomes a citation — something people link to when making a point or recommending solutions.

Examples of free tools that earn links:

• Calculators: ROI calculators, pricing calculators, savings estimators related to your niche
• Checkers and analyzers: Our Domain Rating checker is a good example — it solves a specific problem (checking your DR for free) and earns backlinks from people who reference it in SEO guides
• Generators: Template generators, name generators, policy generators
• Benchmarking tools: Tools that let users compare themselves against industry averages

How to choose what to build: Find a problem your target audience searches for that can be solved with a simple, self-contained tool. The tool should be useful on its own — not a gated teaser for your paid product. The more genuinely useful it is, the more people link to it.

The investment: Building a free tool requires engineering time, which makes it the highest-effort strategy on this list. But the return is asymmetric. A tool you build once can generate hundreds of referring domains over its lifetime with zero ongoing effort.

Timeline: 2-8 weeks to build, depending on complexity. Links start coming in within weeks of launch and promotion, then continue passively for years.

4. Digital PR and data studies#

If you have a SaaS product, you have data. And data earns links.

Why it works: Journalists, bloggers, and content creators are constantly looking for data to cite. When you publish original research or a data study, you become the primary source — and primary sources earn backlinks every time someone references the data.

What to publish:

• "State of X" reports: Aggregate anonymized data from your product to reveal industry trends. "We analyzed 10,000 customer support tickets — here is what we found."
• Benchmark reports: "Average conversion rates across 500 SaaS landing pages" or "Email open rates by industry in 2026"
• Survey results: Survey your users or your industry and publish the findings
• Product usage data: "The most common mistakes we see users make" or "Feature adoption patterns across 1,000 accounts"

How to promote it:

• Share it on social media with key findings highlighted
• Email it to journalists who cover your space
• Post it on Hacker News if the findings are genuinely novel
• Reach out to bloggers who have written about similar topics

Timeline: 2-4 weeks to produce a data study. Promotion takes another 1-2 weeks. Links accumulate over months as people discover and cite your data. Update the study annually to keep it earning links.

5. HARO and journalist platforms#

Responding to journalist queries is a proven way to earn high-authority backlinks from news sites and industry publications.

Why it works: Journalists need expert sources for their articles. When you respond with genuine expertise, you get quoted and linked to. These links often come from high-DR sites — news outlets, industry publications, and major blogs.

How it works:

1. Sign up for journalist query platforms
2. Monitor incoming queries that match your expertise
3. Respond quickly with concise, quotable insights
4. When your quote is included, you typically get a backlink to your site

The original HARO was shut down and relaunched under new ownership in 2025. It is free again and works the same way — three email digests per day with journalist queries. But HARO is not the only option. For a full breakdown of every platform available, see our HARO alternatives guide.

Tips for SaaS founders:

• Respond within the first hour — journalists pick sources on a first-come basis
• Lead with your credentials and what makes you a credible source
• Keep responses under 200 words with a clear, quotable statement
• Focus on queries in your niche — do not pitch on topics where you lack genuine expertise

Timeline: Highly variable. Some founders land a placement within the first week. Others send 50 pitches before getting picked up. Consistency matters more than any single response.

6. Guest posting#

Guest posting still works for startup link building in 2026 — when done right. The key is focusing on genuine value, not link-stuffed promotional content.

Why it works: When you write a high-quality guest post for a relevant blog, you earn a contextual backlink from within the content. If the host blog has strong DR and is topically relevant to your SaaS, that link carries significant weight.

How to find opportunities:

• Search for "[your niche] + write for us" or "[your niche] + guest post" on Google
• Identify blogs that your target audience actually reads
• Look at where your competitors have guest posted (check their backlink profile in Ahrefs)
• Reach out to SaaS blogs, marketing blogs, and industry-specific publications

What to write about:

• Topics where your product experience gives you unique insight
• Actionable how-to guides backed by your own data
• Case studies from your customers (with permission)
• Contrarian takes supported by evidence

What to avoid:

• Generic content you could find anywhere
• Posts that are thinly veiled product pitches
• Mass-produced guest posts sent to 50 blogs at once
• Sites that accept anything — low editorial standards means low link value

Timeline: Expect 1-2 weeks from pitch to publication. Plan for a 20-30% acceptance rate on cold pitches. Focus on 2-4 high-quality guest posts per month rather than 20 mediocre ones.

For a deeper look at earning editorial-quality links, see our high authority backlinks guide.

7. Unlinked mention outreach#

If anyone is already talking about your SaaS product without linking to you, that is the lowest-hanging fruit in link building.

Why it works: Someone already mentioned your brand or product in their content. They clearly know about you. Asking them to add a link is a natural, non-pushy request — and the conversion rate is high because there is no cold outreach involved. They already chose to mention you.

How to find unlinked mentions:

• Set up Google Alerts for your brand name, product name, and founder name
• Use Ahrefs Content Explorer — search for your brand and filter for pages that do not link to your domain
• Search Google for your brand in quotes and manually check which results link to you and which do not

How to reach out:

• Keep it simple: "Thanks for mentioning [Product]. Would you be open to adding a link to [URL] for your readers?"
• Do not ask for anything else — no follow, no share, no promotional exchange
• Personalize each email (reference the specific article and what they said)

Timeline: This is a quick win — you can identify mentions and send outreach emails in a single afternoon. Expect a 15-30% success rate on requests.

The caveat: This strategy only works if you have some brand awareness. If nobody is mentioning you yet, focus on strategies 1-6 first to build visibility.

8. Broken link building#

Broken link building is the strategy of finding dead links on resource pages and offering your content as a replacement.

Why it works: Webmasters do not want broken links on their sites. When you alert them to a dead link and offer a relevant replacement, you are solving their problem — which makes them more likely to link to you than a cold outreach email would.

How to do it:

1. Find resource pages in your niche (search "[your topic] + resources" or "[your topic] + useful links")
2. Use a broken link checker tool to scan those pages for dead links
3. Create content that serves as a good replacement for the dead link (or identify existing content on your site that fits)
4. Email the site owner: "I noticed [dead link] on your [page]. I have a resource that covers the same topic: [your URL]"

Tips for SaaS startups:

• Focus on resource pages related to your product category — the links need to be topically relevant
• Have your replacement content ready before outreach. Do not ask someone to link to a page that does not exist yet
• Tools like Ahrefs and Check My Links (Chrome extension) make finding broken links fast

Timeline: Time-consuming but scalable. Expect to spend 2-4 hours per successful link placement. The conversion rate is typically 5-15% on outreach emails.

9. Link intersect analysis#

Link intersect analysis answers a powerful question: which sites link to your competitors but not to you?

Why it works: If a site links to two or three of your competitors, they are clearly interested in your category. They are much more likely to link to you than a random site because they have already demonstrated interest in your niche.

How to do it:

1. Open Ahrefs Link Intersect tool
2. Enter 3-5 competitor domains
3. Set your domain as "But doesn't link to"
4. Review the list of sites that link to your competitors but not to you
5. Prioritize sites with higher DR and topical relevance
6. Reach out with a reason for them to link to you — better content, updated data, complementary product

What makes a good outreach angle:

• You have content that is more comprehensive or up-to-date than what they currently link to
• Your product serves a different use case that their audience would benefit from knowing about
• You can offer them something in return — a quote, data, or collaboration — that is genuinely valuable

Timeline: 1-2 weeks to run the analysis and begin outreach. Results trickle in over 4-8 weeks. This strategy requires a paid Ahrefs subscription (starting at $99/month), so it is better suited for startups with some budget allocated to SEO tools.

10. Integration partnerships#

If your SaaS integrates with other tools, every integration partner page is a potential backlink — and one of the most natural, relevant link types you can earn.

Why it works: "Works with" pages, integration directories, and partner listings are standard in SaaS. When your product integrates with another tool, their documentation and marketing pages often list all integrations with links. These links are contextually perfect — they come from a related SaaS product and point to a relevant integration page on your site.

How to get listed:

• Build genuine integrations with tools your customers already use
• Submit your integration to the partner's integration directory or marketplace
• Create a dedicated integration page on your site that the partner can link to
• Reach out to the partner's marketing or developer relations team to get featured

Beyond integrations:

• Technology partner pages: Many SaaS companies maintain "built with" or "powered by" pages
• Agency partner programs: If agencies recommend your tool, they often list it on their site
• Ecosystem pages: Platforms like Zapier, Make, and Notion list connected tools with backlinks

Timeline: Integration partnerships take time to establish (weeks to months), but the links are extremely durable. They stay up for as long as the integration exists, and they carry strong topical relevance signals.

Effort vs impact matrix#

Here is how the 10 strategies break down by effort and impact, organized into four quadrants to help you prioritize.

Quick wins (low effort, high impact) — start here:

• Directory submissions: Fastest path to DR growth. Days to see results. Start with a directory submission service or work through our directories list manually
• Unlinked mention outreach: If you have any brand awareness, this converts at high rates with minimal work
• Integration partnerships: Low effort if you already have integrations — just reach out and get listed

Long-term plays (high effort, high impact) — invest in these:

• Build a free tool: High upfront engineering cost, but generates links passively for years
• Digital PR and data studies: Requires meaningful data and promotion effort, but a single study can earn 20-50+ referring domains
• Link intersect analysis: Requires a paid tool and sustained outreach, but delivers highly targeted results

Steady builders (low-medium effort, medium impact) — keep these running:

• Founder-led content: Zero cost, compounds over months. Should be running constantly alongside everything else
• HARO and journalist platforms: Low effort per pitch, but requires consistency. Works well as a background activity

Use selectively (medium-high effort, variable impact):

• Guest posting: High quality guest posts work. Mass-produced ones waste your time. Be selective about where you publish
• Broken link building: Scalable but time-consuming per link. Best used in bursts when you have a content gap to fill

Link building mistakes to avoid#

1. Buying links#

Paid link placements violate Google's guidelines and carry real penalty risk. Google actively identifies paid link patterns through algorithmic detection and manual reviews. The short-term DR bump is not worth the risk of a manual action that tanks your organic traffic.

2. Ignoring relevance#

A backlink from a DR 60 cooking blog does nothing for your SaaS startup. Topical relevance matters as much as domain authority. Focus on links from sites in the SaaS, tech, startup, and business ecosystem. A DR 30 SaaS blog linking to you carries more weight than a DR 60 site in an unrelated niche.

3. Expecting overnight results (except directories)#

Most link building strategies take weeks to months to show results. The exception is directory submissions, which can move your DR within days because you are adding many referring domains at once. For everything else, set expectations at the quarterly level, not the weekly level. Track how DR is calculated to understand why.

4. Neglecting content#

Links to a site with no content are wasted. Before you invest heavily in link building, make sure you have content worth ranking — landing pages, blog posts, documentation, a free tool. The links bring authority; the content gives Google something to rank.

5. Building links without a site worth linking to#

This is different from content. Your site needs to look credible. A half-finished landing page, broken features, or an obviously template site makes outreach harder and earns fewer organic links. Invest in making your product and site genuinely good before scaling link building beyond directories.

For a comprehensive guide to safe link building practices, see our high authority backlinks guide and Backlinko's link building guide.

FAQs#

How many backlinks does a SaaS startup need to rank?#

There is no universal number. It depends entirely on your target keywords and the competition for those keywords. Check the DR and backlink profiles of the sites currently ranking for your targets. If they average DR 30 with 100 referring domains, that is your benchmark. For most new SaaS startups, getting to 50-100 unique referring domains through directories is enough to start ranking for lower-competition, long-tail keywords.

What is the fastest link building strategy for startups?#

Directory submissions. You can go from zero referring domains to 100+ in a matter of days. Real customers using RankInPublic's directory submission service have gone from DR 0 to DR 24 in days. No other strategy delivers that volume and speed.

How much should a SaaS startup budget for link building?#

You can start with zero budget. Founder-led content, HARO responses, and manual directory submissions are all free. If you want to accelerate, a directory submission service ($199-$299) and an Ahrefs subscription ($99/month for link intersect analysis) are the highest-ROI investments. Most startups do not need to spend more than $500 total to build a strong backlink foundation.

Are directory backlinks considered low quality?#

Not when they come from curated, legitimate directories with real traffic and editorial standards. A listing on a SaaS directory that reviewers and users actually visit is a genuine backlink from a relevant referring domain. The directories to avoid are mass-submission spam directories with no editorial standards and no real visitors. Quality directory submissions target the former, not the latter. For more on backlink quality, see our high authority backlinks guide.

Should I focus on link building or content first?#

Both, but content comes slightly first. You need pages worth ranking before backlinks can help you rank them. Start with a strong homepage, your core product pages, and 5-10 blog posts targeting your most important keywords. Then begin link building. In practice, most SaaS founders should start directory submissions as soon as their site is live and build content in parallel.

How do I track if link building is working?#

Track three metrics monthly: unique referring domains (in Ahrefs or our Domain Rating checker), Domain Rating, and organic traffic from Google Search Console. Referring domains is the leading indicator — it moves first. DR follows within days to weeks. Organic traffic follows within weeks to months. If referring domains are growing but traffic is flat, the issue is likely content or keyword targeting, not links.

Can link building hurt my site?#

Only if you do it wrong. Buying links, participating in link schemes, or earning links from spammy, irrelevant sites can trigger a Google manual action. Every strategy in this guide is white-hat and safe. The key principle is simple: if a link would exist naturally because your content or product deserves it, it is safe. If the link only exists because you paid for it or manipulated the system, it is risky.

How long does it take to see SEO results from link building?#

Directory submissions can move your DR within days. For organic ranking improvements, expect 4-12 weeks from the time a backlink is earned to when you see a ranking change. Google needs to crawl the linking page, discover the link, evaluate it, and recalculate rankings. For most SaaS startups starting from scratch, a reasonable timeline is: DR growth in weeks 1-4, first ranking improvements in months 2-3, and meaningful organic traffic in months 4-6.

For more link building strategies and the broader picture on building your SaaS startup's domain authority, see our guides on increasing Domain Rating, directory submission services, and startup directories.