How to Find Link Building Opportunities

To find link building opportunities, look where a link is already half-earned: pages that mention you without linking, dead links you could replace, resource pages in your niche, sites linking to two or more competitors, search-operator results and journalist requests. Ahrefs found about 29% of pages mentioning one brand didn't link to it, so start there.

The usual situation: you've got a page worth linking to, you open a blank spreadsheet labelled "prospects", and you have no idea who to put in it. Searching your keyword and emailing the top ten results gets you ignored, because those sites have no reason to link. The sources below each come with a built-in reason.

Where do link building opportunities come from?

Good opportunities are pages where your link fixes a problem or fills a gap for the site owner. Ahrefs' guide to link prospecting (updated February 2025) groups them into competitor links, search-operator finds, unlinked mentions and broken links. Resource pages and source requests round out the list.

1. Unlinked brand mentions

Sites that already write about your brand, product or data without linking are the warmest prospects you have. Ahrefs' unlinked mentions guide narrowed 15,000+ mentions of a brand to 558 relevant pages, of which 164 (about 29%) had no link. Find yours with a Google search for your brand name in quotes minus your own domain ("yourbrand" -site:yourdomain.com), or set up a mention alert. Then send a short note asking for the link where the mention already sits. Do brand mentions help SEO? explains why the link is still worth asking for.

2. Broken links on relevant pages

When a page in your niche links to something that no longer exists, you can offer your page as the replacement. Ahrefs' broken link building guide (May 2022) cites an Aira survey of 250+ marketers ranking it the fifth most used tactic, and admits it works well only some of the time. It works best when your page genuinely covers what the dead page did. What is broken link building has the full method.

3. Resource pages

Many sites keep curated lists of tools, guides and further reading. Search for them with operators such as "your topic" intitle:resources or "your topic" "useful links". If your page would sit naturally alongside what's listed, a two-line email is enough. What is a resource page link covers which lists carry weight and which are link dumps.

4. Competitor link gaps

Sites that link to two or more of your competitors but not to you already cover your topic and link out to sites like yours. A backlink tool's link intersect or gap report lists them; manually, export each competitor's referring domains and look for overlaps. How to find where competitors get backlinks walks through it. Skip any linking site that clearly sells placements.

5. Search operators for guest posts and roundups

Operators surface sites that publicly invite contributions or link out weekly: "your topic" "write for us", "your topic" "guest post", or "your topic" "weekly roundup". Roundups are an underrated source; see what a link roundup is.

6. Journalist and source requests

Writers on news and trade sites post requests for expert input every day. Answering quickly and specifically earns quoted links you couldn't get by pitching. The HARO alternatives lists where those requests appear now.

How to judge whether an opportunity is worth pursuing

An opportunity is worth pursuing when the linking page is relevant, gets real traffic and would place your link in its content. Ahrefs suggests starting thresholds around DR 40 to 80 and 1,000+ monthly organic visits for competitive prospecting, and looser floors (DR 5+, 20+ visits) for broken link building, where relevance matters more than size.

Quick checks for every row in your list:

Topic: would a reader of that page plausibly want your page next?
Traffic: does the site have organic visitors, or only outbound links?
Placement: would the link sit in the body of an article, not a sitewide footer?
Selling signals: "sponsored post" price lists or dozens of unrelated outbound links mean it's a link seller.

How to find qualified link swap partners has a longer vetting checklist.

How many opportunities do you need?

Plan for many more prospects than the links you want, because most outreach goes unanswered. Backlinko's outreach study of 12 million emails found an 8.5% response rate. If you want 5 links and roughly a third of replies say yes, that's about 15 replies, so around 175 prospects. Warm sources such as unlinked mentions convert far better than cold lists, which is why they come first.

If finding relevant sites is the hard part, another source is other site owners who also want links: on Backlinkster members are matched with relevant sites for 1-for-1 article swaps, and each swap is verified by API.

Frequently asked questions

What is the easiest link building opportunity to find?

Unlinked brand mentions, because the site already knows and writes about you. Search your brand in quotes excluding your own site, or set an alert, and ask for a link on the existing mention. Response rates are usually far higher than cold outreach.

How do I find link building opportunities for free?

Use Google search operators for resource pages, guest post pages and brand mentions, Google Search Console's links report to see who already links to you, and free backlink checkers for a limited look at competitors' links. Paid tools mainly save time at scale.

What is link prospecting?

Link prospecting is the research step of link building: building a list of sites that might link to you, with a contact and a reason for each. It comes before outreach, and the quality of the list decides most of the campaign's result. See what a link building campaign is.

Are links from competitors' backlink lists safe to pursue?

Mostly, if you vet each site. Some competitor links will be paid placements or network sites, so check traffic, relevance and selling signals before pitching. Copying a competitor's profile without checking can copy their bad links too.