SEO Backlinks Building Strategy in 2026

Introduction:

Today's search engine optimization has evolved, and for those of us that are lucky enough to operate within this growing and often challenging field, the keys to a successful project are all balanced on 3 pillars. These pillars have changed over the years, and with these changes have come to a new generation of specialists that have bought in and leverage the importance of link building.

• Pillar One
  Content - As the saying goes, content is king, and you can utilise your existing or new content within your SEO link building strategy to drive clicks and views organically.
• Pillar Two
  Rankbrain - Rankbrain is a search engine tool/feature/notion within Google that sees machine learning, which is one of the building blocks of artificial intelligence, interpret search queries and drive traffic to a site based on links and content.
• Pillar Three
  Links - Links have always been a key to SEO, but with recent changes to Google and other leading search engines, SEO backlinks and the ability to utilise content link building is more important than ever.

With the pillars touched on, let's jump into pillar one, content.

Content

Content is something that is often overlooked in terms of SEO and content is especially overlooked as something associated with how to get genuine backlinks. The thing is, content is king, and engaging content can attract quality link building from outside sources and can drive traffic to your site like never before. So what type of content is best to focus on?

There are a couple of schools of thought on what type of content will drive and traffic and can answer the question that many of our clients have, which is how to get high pr backlinks. We have found three types of content, in particular, have proven to attract links naturally.

1. Infographics

Infographic content is the favoured way in which to attract links, and the reason is quite simple, people love images. An image is not only easy to understand, but the human mind can process an image in a fraction of the time that it can process text. Due to this, infographics that can deliver exciting or relevant data can be the stepping stone to genuine links.

2. White Papers

Long form content is not only a great way to generate genuine interest in your site, but it can add significant value to your brand that will make competitors and partners want to link to the work you have done. White papers can be tough to write, and we would suggest engaging with a quality writer that can add a fresh perspective to an industry-wide problem. This kind of content can help in building link support, and most importantly, will start to get eyes on you and your work.

3. Videos

Who says content only needs to be on the page? Video content is not only an engaging method but has a massive potential to draw links. There is no set way to building links in video content, but the key is to speak to your audience and know what they want to see. This can be anything from behind the scenes footage at the office to some viral content shot in the local neighbourhood; it is all up to you.

Whether you are doing it through infographics, long-form content such as white papers or videos, content is a great way to build links and to generate an organic following to your social media and web presence.

Rankbrain

Rankbrain is the next generation of machine learning that Google has rolled out on its search engine platform. Built from the successes of Google Panda, Rankbrain can make educated guesses on behaviour patterns from users to determine if a link is genuine or fake. For Google and Rankbrain, the two main focuses for their algorithm seems to be dwell time and bounce rate.

These changes to Google's algorithm through Rankbrain are why many in the industry stated that link building was dead. The thing is, it isn't, but what Rankbrain has done is made certain types of link building in SEO obsolete.

First, paid link building has become a little less popular, as there is no longer a way to guarantee to get your content linked and up to the number one space. Instead, many backlink guides, including this one would suggest that you still look for links, but organically.

No longer are you looking for a prized site to link your content. Instead, it would be best if you started producing content that is worth linking to. The emphasis is now on generating quality content, and Rankbrain can tell the difference between engaging content and something that was thrown together based on the dwell time of users.

So, is the link building game dead with Rankbrain? Far from it, instead link building is a skill and a fundamental pillar in the overall SEO backlink toolbox. However, one thing to note is that today's links are without the black hat SEO backlinks that used to plague the industry before Rankbrain, and that is something that we as an industry should celebrate.

SEO Links

Many of you are reading this right now and asking a simple question, how to get backlinks how. This might seem simple, but, it is why backlinks SEO tutorials exist! However, that is for another time, and in this section, we are going to take you on a crash course to ensure you know what we mean when we say what is the SEO backlinks meaning.

The Factors to look for

When you are looking at building link support , you need to consider a few factors.

First, you need to ensure that you are looking to source from, or for a related company. If you are a fishing company, sourcing from a construction company will do nothing for the algorithm or your readers.

Secondly, you need to ensure that the link is somewhat fresh, and not from the mid-2000s.

Third, you need to look for a company or brand that has some domain authority, and ideally, a company that is on the first page of Google.

Fourth, it would be best if you looked for sites that have a quality citation flow, or the amount of influence a link could generate, and excellent trust flow which measures the quality of a link. Hint, you can use an SEO backlink checker to check the citation flow and trust flow of a possible link!

Finally, you will want to ensure that you are linking to an authentic source that will have relevance.

How to get SEO backlinks

So, you know the factors that you are looking for, and now you need to get some actual backlinks. You can try to Google SEO backlink, but you might not get what you are looking for. Instead, there are three traditional ways to get backlinks:

1. Outreach

Outreach is all about using and building a network of trusted industry partners to share links and cross-promote your content. Your network can be built through referrals, cold calls or even at industry events, but the important thing is that you create a diverse and authentic network in which you can grow and attract new genuine traffic from.

2. Sponsored Postings

Sponsored postings, otherwise known as the process to buy SEO backlinks, is a great way to build an initial audience. This can be done through larger blogs or platforms and will ensure that your content gets in front of new eyes every day. This can help some expedite the network building, but you pay for what you get, and sponsored posts can be expensive.

3. Skyscraper Technique

One of the oldest methods of link building is skyscraper technique link building. This technique requires you to find a linkable asset on the web that has started to generate some buzz. Next, you improve this product with your ideas, or make the original idea a little longer; a top 15 list can be changed to a top 20 list for instance. Finally, you reach out to your network to showcase your great content and get it linked. It is a tried and tested method but does take some skill and an existing network to gain traction.

How to check backlinks

Finally, and most important for some, is how you check backlinks. As we mentioned, some great products can complete backlink analysis in SEO right on your browser or desktop, which makes checking backlinks seamless. There are also SEO backlink building software bundles that can do the work and produce quality links for the user with a few clicks of a button. Some of our favourites include:

Ahrefs

Ahrefs is an SEO tool that has gained an excellent reputation in the SEO world. This product delivers competitive analysis, keyword research, backlink research, content research, rank tracking and more for a nominal fee. Ahrefs is the industry standard and is used by some of the largest Fortune 500 companies with great success.

Semrush

Semrush is an all-in-one marketing tool that is designed for small and medium enterprises to get the most bang for their buck. With built-in SEO tools, social media tools and more, Semrush is an excellent alternative for those looking to get a more rounded marketing tool for their business.

Final thoughts

Building a backlinks strategy in 2026 is no easy task. You need to do three things well to be successful in creating a backlink strategy.

You should find content that is worthwhile and engaging that will generate buzz and drive industry leaders to want to link to your work.

You should find a way to work with Rankbrain and link to authentic and relevant sources to score well with the crawlers and overall search engine algorithms.

Finally, you should build links with quality and positive interactions and do it all while empowered with top-notch tools that can check and research your links against 3 trillion URLs.

We live in competitive marketing space, and although there are tools to help, link building is best done by a professional. Backlinking is a skill, and although there is always more to learn, the experts at Seologist has you covered. Call us today and see how we can help your business with quality backlinking and SEO that is designed to work in today's Rankbrain empowered world.