Backlinking: Strategies to Build Authority

Introduction

In B2B, we love things we can track directly: calls, emails, meetings, opps. Backlinks? Those usually get tossed into the “marketing stuff we’ll deal with later” bucket.

That’s a mistake.

Backlinks are one of the biggest levers you have for building online authority, and in 2025, authority is exactly what your sales team needs. Around 77% of B2B buyers say they won’t talk to a salesperson until they’ve done their own research, which means your first sales conversation often happens through Google, review sites, and third‑party content, not your SDRs.

This guide breaks down backlinking from a B2B sales angle:

• Why backlinks still matter for pipeline and revenue, not just rankings
• The types of links that actually move the needle in complex B2B sales
• Practical backlink strategies your marketing and sales teams can run together
• How to build a repeatable outreach engine without burning out SDRs
• Concrete plays you can start this quarter

Grab a coffee, we’ll keep it conversational, but we’re going deep.

Why Backlinking Matters for B2B Revenue, Not Just Rankings

Backlinks in 2025: Still a Core Ranking Signal

Google has gotten a lot smarter in the last few years. Content quality and topical expertise carry more weight than ever, and links aren’t the only game in town anymore.

But they’re still very much in the game.

Analysis from First Page Sage estimates that backlinks account for about 13% of Google’s ranking algorithm in 2025, making them the third most important factor overall, down from the old days when links drove half the algorithm, but still absolutely critical for competitive terms. First Page Sage

Independent studies back that up. Backlinko’s analysis of 11.8 million Google search results found that the #1 result has 3.8x more backlinks than positions #2–#10, on average. Backlinko

So even as Google leans harder into content quality and user signals, backlinks are still one of the clearest ways to:

• Prove you’re a trusted resource in your category
• Win page-one rankings for competitive, high-intent searches
• Stay ahead of competitors who treat link building as an afterthought

Why Sales Leaders Should Care

Here’s where this stops sounding like SEO theory and starts sounding like revenue.

A few key stats:

• B2B buyers do their homework. One recent stat shows 77% of B2B purchasers won’t speak with sales until they’ve done their own research. Saleslion
• Organic search is a revenue heavyweight. B2B companies generate about 2x more revenue from organic search than any other channel, according to BrightEdge data summarized by SeoProfy. SeoProfy
• SEO traffic converts well. Across B2B sites, SEO traffic converts around 2.6%, beating paid search and several other channels. First Page Sage
• Marketers know where the ROI is. 49% of marketers say organic search is their highest-ROI channel. Taylor Scher SEO

Put those together and the picture is pretty clear:

> Backlinks → Better rankings → More in-market visitors → More demo requests and form fills → Warmer outbound conversations → Higher revenue

If your company isn’t showing up when buyers search, compare vendors, or read third‑party reviews, you’re making your SDRs fight uphill in every conversation.

The Harsh Reality: Most Content Gets Ignored

The other reason backlinking matters is that without it, your content is likely invisible.

• A 2024 roundup of SEO statistics notes that 66.31% of pages have zero backlinks, and around 91% of pages never get any organic traffic from Google. weDevs / Ahrefs
• Backlinko’s massive study of 912 million blog posts found that 94% get zero external links. Backlinko

So simply publishing blog posts isn’t a strategy. It’s overhead.

Backlinking is how you push a small number of truly great assets into the tiny sliver of content that search engines actually reward.

Backlink Fundamentals for B2B Teams

Let’s level-set on some basics so sales, marketing, and leadership are speaking the same language.

What Is a Backlink, Really?

A backlink is just another website linking to a page on your site. Simple.

What matters is who links to you, where they link, and how they link.

A high-quality B2B backlink typically has:

• Relevance, The referring site talks to a similar audience and covers related topics (e.g., a procurement blog linking to your vendor evaluation guide).
• Authority, The site has its own strong backlink profile and trust (industry media, popular SaaS blogs, respected analysts).
• Context, The link is embedded in meaningful content, not slapped in the footer or a random directory list.
• Intent, It exists because your content is genuinely useful or you’re a relevant vendor/partner, not because someone bought a link package.

Types of Links That Move the Needle in B2B

A few link types are especially powerful for complex B2B sales:

1. Editorial links from industry content

Think: a vertical SaaS blog linking to your research, an analyst quoting your data, or an industry site citing your guide. These drive both rankings and credibility with buyers.

1. Guest posts and contributed articles

Your executives or subject-matter experts (SMEs) publish content on relevant publications, with contextual links back to key pages. These are great for thought leadership and brand awareness.

1. Partner and integration listings

If you integrate with or complement other platforms, their marketplace listings, partner pages, and joint blog posts are prime backlink real estate.

1. **Customer stories and case studies (on their sites)

When a customer publishes a success story, awards announcement, or tech stack breakdown that mentions you, it’s a great chance to earn a link from a real-world proof point.

1. Review and comparison sites

Profiles on G2, Capterra, TrustRadius, etc., often include follow or nofollow links. Even if they’re not pure SEO gold, they’re key buying touchpoints B2B buyers check before calling your reps.

Links That Hurt More Than Help

Google has invested heavily in spam detection through systems like SpamBrain and its link spam updates. Inboundsys

Tactics that can backfire:

• Link farms and private blog networks (PBNs), Networks set up solely to sell links, often with low-quality content and obvious footprints.
• Mass, low-quality guest posting, 500-word fluff articles on unrelated blogs just to drop a link.
• Automated comment or forum spam**, Bots posting your URL all over the internet.

In 2024, Google representatives even downplayed backlinks as being in the top three ranking factors partly because so many people abuse them. But independent research still shows backlinks are a top-three factor when used properly. First Page Sage

The takeaway: links still matter a ton, quality, relevance, and authenticity matter more than ever.

Core Backlinking Strategies to Build Authority

Let’s move from theory to plays your team can actually run.

Strategy 1: Create True 'Link Magnet' Content

Most content doesn’t earn links. But some content is built almost specifically to attract them.

Backlinko’s 912-million-post study found that long-form content (3,000+ words) gets 77.2% more referring domain links than content under 1,000 words. Backlinko

In B2B, link magnets often look like:

• Original data and benchmark reports

Example: “2025 Enterprise Procurement Software Adoption Benchmarks” using your aggregated, anonymized customer data.

• Ultimate guides and how-to playbooks

Detailed, tactical resources that vendors, agencies, and consultants actually reference.

• Tools and calculators

ROI calculators, maturity assessments, or configurators others want to point their audience to.

• Strong opinion or frameworks

Well-argued breakdowns (e.g., “The 5-Stage RevOps Maturity Model”) that consultants and analysts adopt in their own content.

Where sales comes in:

Your reps talk to the market every day. Use their knowledge to pick topics that:

• Reflect real objections and pains (so content helps close deals)
• Match the phrases buyers use when searching
• Are interesting enough that analysts, partners, and bloggers will want to reference them

Treat your best content like product features: prioritized, designed, launched, and iterated. Then actively promote it to people who can link to it.

Strategy 2: Guest Posting and Thought Leadership

Guest posting isn’t dead, spammy guest posting is. Thoughtful contributions in front of the right audience are still powerful.

Playbook:

1. Build a list of 50-100 target publications

Industry blogs, niche newsletters, partner blogs, SaaS communities, and media your buyers already read.

1. Assign faces to your expertise

Your CMO, Head of Sales, VP Product, or key SMEs become go-to voices. Their names go on the bylines; your brand earns the authority.

1. Pitch topics that fill gaps

Instead of “Can I guest post?”, send very specific pitches: “I noticed you haven’t covered how X impacts Y in 2025, we’re seeing [insight] across 300 customers; want a data-backed piece on that?”

1. Link naturally

Include a contextual link or two to:

• Your benchmark report
• A deep-dive guide
• A relevant solution page

Where SDRs help:

This is just another form of outbound. SDRs already know how to:

• Find decision-makers (editors, site owners, community leads)
• Personalize outreach at scale
• Follow up persistently but respectfully

You can dedicate a slice of SDR time, or an outsourced SDR team, to running guest-post outreach sequences.

Strategy 3: Digital PR and 'Sales-Led PR'

Digital PR is about earning coverage and links from news sites, blogs, and podcasts by being interesting, helpful, or newsworthy.

In a B2B context, some strong PR angles:

• Data announcements

Original research, yearly reports, or insights from your platform.

• Category stories

Explaining or naming a new buying trend, pricing model, or emerging role.

• Customer and ecosystem stories

Joint wins with partners or marquee customers.

• Expert commentary

Quick responses to breaking news or regulatory shifts in your space.

Sales-led twist:

Your sales team knows which stories resonate in the field. Use them as a filter for PR ideas. If a narrative consistently moves deals forward, chances are journalists and bloggers will find it interesting too.

Then:

• Turn that narrative into a press-friendly angle.
• Pitch relevant journalists, podcasters, and niche media.
• Make sure coverage includes a link to a relevant resource or solution page.

Strategy 4: Partnership & Ecosystem Link Building

If you’re in B2B, you’re almost certainly in an ecosystem, integrations, resellers, agencies, consultants. That ecosystem is a goldmine of natural backlink opportunities.

Tactical plays:

• Integration listings

Make sure every integration partner lists you in their marketplace or partner directory, with a descriptive blurb and a link back to your integration or solutions page.

• Joint case studies and webinars

Co-create success stories and events with partners. Each partner hosts a version on their own site, both linking to each other’s key pages.

• Partner resource hubs

Many vendors maintain 'resources for customers' or 'tech stack' pages, get your product listed there with a short value prop and link.

• Agency and consultant relationships

Service providers who recommend your product often publish stack breakdowns, implementation guides, or client case studies where your link fits naturally.

This is also where sales alignment shines: AEs and partner managers already manage these relationships, it’s not hard to add “Can we also make sure we’re linked here?” to the next QBR agenda.

Strategy 5: Turn Outbound Into Authority Plays

Your outbound machine is already doing the heavy lifting of finding and contacting people. You can piggyback authority-building on top of that.

Some examples:

• Podcast and webinar booking

Have an SDR dedicated to booking your SMEs on relevant shows and webinars. Each appearance typically comes with a show-notes page linking back to your site.

• Roundups and expert quotes

Reach out to blogs and newsletters that compile expert perspectives. Offer short, sharp insights in exchange for an attribution link.

• HARO-style platforms and journalist requests

Monitor platforms where journalists and bloggers ask for expert input. Respond quickly with useful commentary and a link back to your most relevant resource.

These activities build brand, authority, and future pipeline while generating legitimate backlinks as a side effect.

Strategy 6: Fix and Optimize the Links You Already Have

Sometimes the easiest wins are hiding in your existing footprint.

Two low-friction plays:

1. Unlinked brand mentions

Use tools to find articles that mention your brand, product, or execs without linking. Reach out with a polite request to add a link so readers can easily find you.

1. Broken and outdated links

Over time, pages move or die. Identify 404ed URLs that used to have links and set up redirects to relevant current pages. Then ping site owners of high-value referring pages and offer updated content or links where needed.

This is boring work, but it’s the kind of maintenance that quietly improves your authority and user experience over time.

Building a Backlink Outreach Engine (Without Burning Out Your SDRs)

You don’t need to turn your entire SDR team into mini-SEOs. But you do need process.

Who Owns What

A simple division of labor:

• SEO/Marketing
• Own keyword strategy, technical SEO, and content creation
• Build and prioritize the link opportunity list (sites, topics, contacts)
• Provide messaging frameworks and email templates

• Sales/SDR Team
• Execute high-touch outreach to editors, podcast hosts, and partners
• Feed back intel on which stories and assets resonate
• Use authority wins (press, guest posts, awards) as social proof in sales cycles

• RevOps/Leadership
• Set joint KPIs tied to pipeline and revenue, not just link counts
• Make authority metrics part of regular GTM reviews

Outreach Workflow (Think Sales Sequence, Not One-Off Emails)

Backlink outreach should look very similar to your outbound motion:

1. Segment your link prospects

Group by type: industry blogs, media, partners, communities, etc.

1. Craft offer-first messaging

Instead of “Give us a link,” lead with value: expert commentary, exclusive data, co-marketing ideas, or helpful content tailored to their audience.

1. Use short sequences

3-5 touchpoints over 2-3 weeks: initial pitch, follow-up with a new angle, then a gentle breakup.

1. Personalize intelligently

This is where AI-powered personalization tools (like SalesHive’s eMod engine for email) shine. Reference specific articles, audience segments, or gaps you can fill.

1. Track replies and outcomes

Log link opportunities, live links, and relationship strength in your CRM or marketing project tool, just like opportunities.

Tools That Help (Without Over-Complicating It)

At minimum, you’ll want:

• An SEO platform (Ahrefs, Semrush, etc.) for:
• Competitor backlink analysis
• Finding unlinked mentions and broken links
• Tracking new referring domains

• Your existing CRM and/or sales engagement platform for:
• Managing outreach
• Logging relationships with editors and partners

• An email outreach tool for:
• Sequencing
• Personalization at scale
• A/B testing subject lines and offers

Don’t over-tool this. You’re essentially running a specialized outbound campaign aimed at influencers and publishers instead of buyers.

Metrics to Watch

To keep this tied to revenue, track both SEO and sales-adjacent metrics:

SEO / Authority:

• New referring domains per month (especially to priority pages)
• Average authority of linking sites
• Organic rankings for core revenue keywords
• Organic traffic and demo requests from SEO

Sales / Revenue:

• Pipeline and closed-won sourced from organic
• Meeting quality and win rates from organic-sourced opps
• Impact on CAC over time as organic’s share of pipeline grows

When these numbers move together, you know backlinking isn’t just building vanity metrics, it’s building your revenue engine.

Common Backlinking Pitfalls in B2B (and How to Avoid Them)

Let’s call out a few landmines.

1. Treating Backlinks as an Afterthought

If backlinks are just something your SEO person “tries to get to” when they have time, you’ll end up with a random collection of low-impact links.

Fix: Add authority targets (referring domain goals, priority pages) to your quarterly GTM planning, and assign clear owners and outreach capacity.

2. Buying Cheap Links for Fast Wins

Those DA 50+ guest post packages sound tempting. The problem is Google’s spam systems exist specifically to weed this stuff out. At best, those links are ignored. At worst, they drag you down.

Fix: Spend budget on:

• Better content (research, writing, design)
• PR and co-marketing
• SDR or outsourced outreach capacity

You’re buying relationships and distribution, not naked links.

3. Building Links to Pages That Don’t Deserve to Rank

Sometimes teams pour effort into links pointing at thin product pages or fluffy blogs. Even with links, weak content gets outcompeted.

Fix: Upgrade content quality first. Make sure pages you’re promoting:

• Are genuinely in-depth and accurate
• Reflect real expertise and experience (E-E-A-T)
• Address the searcher’s intent better than competitors

Then layer link building on top.

4. Not Involving Sales in Topic and Asset Choices

If marketing invents topics in a vacuum, you wind up with 'thought leadership' that doesn’t help close real deals, even if it does earn a few links.

Fix: Hold monthly or quarterly content councils with sales, CS, and marketing. Ask:

• What questions are stalling deals?
• What misconceptions are we fighting?
• What proof points make champions look good internally?

Those should drive your pillar content and link magnets.

5. Forgetting the Human Side of Link Outreach

Editors, bloggers, and partners are just people whose inboxes are already stuffed with bad pitches.

Fix: Make outreach feel like high-quality sales:

• Show you’ve read their work
• Explain why your idea helps their audience
• Keep it short and respectful
• Be okay with “not now” and keep relationships warm

How This Applies to Your Sales Team

Let’s bring this all the way back to SDRs, AEs, and revenue leaders.

What Backlinking Changes for Sales

When your backlink strategy is working, sales feels it in a few ways:

• More inbound, higher intent, More buyers showing up already educated, often with your brand on their shortlist.
• Stronger social proof, Reps can point to third‑party articles, comparisons, and benchmarks that validate your claims.
• Easier outbound, Prospects are more likely to respond when they’ve already seen your content or brand in the wild.

Instead of banging on cold doors, your reps are stepping into conversations where trust already exists.

Simple Plays Sales Can Run With Marketing

Here are a few concrete plays you can pilot without overhauling your org chart.

Play 1: Customer Story Link Play

1. Identify your top 20 happiest, most visible customers.
2. Ask your champion if they’d be open to:
• Publishing a joint case study on their blog, or
• Mentioning you in content about their tech stack or success.
3. Provide draft copy and visuals to make it painless.
4. Gently request a link back to your case-study or solution page.

This deepens the relationship, arms your reps with public proof, and earns high-quality links from real businesses.

Play 2: Partner Listing & Resource Play

1. Work with your partner managers to audit every integration and channel partner.
2. For each partner, ask:
• Are we listed on their site?
• Is the description accurate and compelling?
• Does it link to the right page on our site?
3. Where you’re missing or outdated, have an SDR or CSM request updates.

These are some of the easiest, most relevant links you’ll ever get, and they support both SEO and partner-sourced pipeline.

Play 3: Expert Visibility Play (Podcasts & Webinars)

1. Pick one or two execs or SMEs willing to be 'the face' of your expertise.
2. Have an SDR (or outsourced SDR team) prospect for relevant podcasts, webinars, and virtual events.
3. Pitch those SMEs as guests with concrete topic ideas.
4. Ensure each appearance links back to a relevant resource or landing page.

Now your reps have more 'as seen in' proof to reference on calls and in follow-up emails, and your site gains authoritative backlinks.

Play 4: Sales-Content Feedback Loop

1. After every lost deal or major objection, ask: could a better piece of content have helped here?
2. Feed that back into marketing’s content backlog.
3. When new assets ship, arm reps with:
• Email snippets
• One-sheeters
• Talk tracks
4. Promote those same assets externally as linkable resources.

Over time, you build a library of content that both earns backlinks and directly supports deals.

Conclusion + Next Steps

Backlinking isn’t magic. It’s just a structured way of earning trust at scale.

In a world where buyers do most of their research before talking to sales, your backlink profile is part of your sales team. It decides whether you’re even invited into the conversation.

To recap:

• Backlinks are still a top-tier ranking factor and a key driver of high-ROI organic pipeline.
• Most content gets no links and no traffic, you have to design link magnet assets on purpose.
• The best B2B links come from ecosystems: partners, customers, analysts, and industry media.
• Your sales team isn’t a bystander, they’re a critical part of deciding what to build and who to pitch.
• A light, well-structured outreach engine (often with help from outsourced SDRs) can generate authority without derailing quota.

If you want a practical next step for the next 30 days:

1. Pick 10-15 money pages that should earn most of your links.
2. Plan one flagship link magnet (data report, guide, or tool) aligned to your core offer.
3. Build a target list of 50-100 sites, partners, media, communities.
4. Assign clear owners for outreach, content, and reporting.
5. Pilot one authority-focused outbound campaign, treating editors and partners like high-value prospects.

Do that consistently for a few quarters and you’ll start to feel it: more inbound, warmer outbound, and a sales team that isn’t fighting to prove you’re legitimate in every single meeting.

And if you want help turning those plays into real meetings and relationships, that’s exactly the kind of outbound muscle a specialist B2B agency like SalesHive brings to the table.