E1160: You do not need to pay for backlinks to build authority in 2026.
I break down a viral SEO Reddit thread about how people are getting legitimate, high-quality backlinks without buying links, spamming irrelevant directories, or wasting time on tactics Google is increasingly good at ignoring.
The best part: several of the people in the thread shared specific examples, including the exact assets they created, where the links came from, and the results.
We cover:
- How one SEO used original research about hospitals to earn coverage from a major newspaper and multiple industry publications
- How to turn public data from sources like the Census into linkable studies without collecting your own data
- A home insulation campaign that used pest and population data to create a state-by-state infestation ranking and earned roughly a dozen free links
- How one person scraped thousands of businesses in different industries, published the findings, and created statistics journalists and AI systems could cite
- Why your research does not need to be complicated to become a useful link asset
- Why transparent methodology makes data studies more credible
- The difference between random directory links and legitimate foundational backlinks
- Why relevant business directories can still make sense
- How AI makes it much easier to build interactive linkable assets
- How to get backlinks from partners, vendors, customers, awards, badges, and existing business relationships
- How goodwill link building can earn links from organizations and local news publications
- Why digital PR does not necessarily require paying an agency
- How expert quote platforms can get you cited by journalists
- Why you should not automatically assume you need more backlinks just because competitors have higher authority
- Why relevance and user signals matters more than simply accumulating links
- An SEO who ranks in positions 1-5 for 200+ keywords despite never buying backlinks
- Why low-quality paid links can create problems beyond traditional Google rankings, including how AI systems evaluate suspicious or spammy mentions
Start with legitimate foundational links.
Then create things that real people, publications, businesses, and journalists genuinely have a reason to reference.
That could be:
- Original research
- Public-data studies
- Industry statistics
- Free tools
- Calculators
- Quizzes
- Awards
- Expert quotes
- Community projects
- Partnerships
- Goodwill campaigns
- Digital PR
You do not need thousands of backlinks.
You need relevant pages targeting the right searches, strong user signals, and enough legitimate authority to compete for the keywords you actually want.
⭐️ The Reddit thread - https://www.reddit.com/r/SEO/comments/1vgxe6u/how_are_you_guys_building_backlinks_after_google/
⭐️ Ep 1037 - How One Simple Website Got 384,000 Backlinks (Linkable Assets Explained) - https://youtu.be/-1Q5HHatvoc
⭐️ Ep 1155 - He Donated a Free Roof and Got Links You Can't Buy - https://youtu.be/0aZi6sdOD-M
💎 Compact Keywords - My SEO Course - Get paying customers through SEO - Clear step-by-step video breakdowns - SEO templates to be copied and adapted for your products and services: https://compactkeywords.com/
00:00 Viral Backlink Dilemma
01:09 Thread Highlights Setup
01:32 Research Gets Links
02:36 Foundational Links First
03:32 Scraped Stats as Assets
05:02 Directories and Linkable Tools
06:31 Start Close to Home
07:47 Stop Overbuying Backlinks
09:52 Authority vs User Signals
11:12 Digital PR and Link Risks
14:01 Final Thanks and Goodbye
The Edward Show. Your daily search engine optimization podcast: https://edwardsturm.com/the-edward-show/
#linkbuilding #backlinks #searchengineoptimization #seo