10 Different Types of Effective Links in 2024

Links tend to come about naturally as a result of our outreach efforts, which is really the ideal way to build links, isn’t it?
After months of sending hundreds of outreach messages, I’ve identified 8 very valuable links that tend to result from our successes, which I’ve summarized here:
1. Author Bio Link
The author bio link is the standard link obtained from publishing content on another person’s website or blog.
In general it appears at the end of the article, after the regular body text. Here’s what it looks like:
Some notable features is that it tends to be a direct link to the home page, for the business’ name (not keyword rich).
As you can see from above, I like to include my business, blog, and Twitter handle plus a description, which I will vary up from post to post so as not to leave any kind of footprint.
2. Guest Post Link (Contextual)
Often accompanying the author bio link are some in-context links resulting from the guest post. I do quite a lot of guest posting, because I think they are effective not just for link building but also traffic and networking.
I try to make these point towards useful articles that I’ve written on the blog.
Why?
Firstly, I feel this is more useful information and comes across as less salesy.
Secondly, it allows me to vary the anchor text without looking like I’m trying to do link building for our home page.
Lastly, it spreads the link juice around the entire domain. Here’s what it might look like:
These links are quite valuable because they are in the body of the article itself.
3. Product Review Link (In Body)
These links are similar to the guest post link, but have some minor differences.
Firstly, they tend to be in the body, but also use the branded domain name since it is clearly a link to the product.
Next, the general content of the article is very product focused, as opposed to a guest post, which can really be about anything.
Here’s an example of what that looks like:
What’s interesting about this link is it can sometimes be through an affiliate link, if the person is an affiliate of your product.
Additionally, it will often appear at the very top of the article, which is quite nice from a traffic standpoint.
4. Giveaway Link
On occasion we will offer to give away our product to another blogger’s audience.
There’s a few different ways this could work, but our favorite way is to host a giveaway on our website and have the link to it.
For example, here is a giveaway we have been running in March.
Then what I might ask bloggers to do is to put it in their sidebar or in a guest post that they are publishing for me.
The real power in this link is that it converts very well as a means of getting email opt ins, and can lead to more links because there is built in shareability in a giveaway.
Pro Tip: I especially like using a promotion plugin like King Sumo as a way to get more exposure, as people are incentivized to share the giveaway.
5. Email Link
An email link is a bit different, because it doesn’t bring the same sort of authority that a contextual website link has.
But I still consider it valuable, especially from a traffic standpoint.
An optimal scenario comes about when another blogger likes something we have written, and mentions it in their newsletter.
Here’s a recent mention we got in Follow.net’s newsletter for a post we wrote called the Big List Of SEO Tools 200+
6. Resources/Tools Page
Since our product is a software, we love to get mentioned in resources pages.
These links are awesome because resource pages are some of the most trafficked pages on the entire website. This is largely due to the fact that they are generally showcased in the navigation menu, and everyone loves resources.
Like product reviews these links are often affiliate links and branded by the domain name plus a short description.
They might not have as much authority because the page usually has a lot of outgoing links, which dilutes it, but it is still a worthy endeavor.
7. Social Share Link
How can we write an article about links, without discussing the social share?
We get these frequently when we write content and promote it to individuals we think will enjoy it.
Often, I’ll ask for a Tweet if I think they are up for it!
It’s short and to the point and gives the backlink profile a nice well – rounded appearance.
8. Sidebar Link
This is quite rare, but on occasion you can find bloggers who put links in their sidebar, such as a blog roll.
Here’s an example I came across recently.
You have to really have a top notch blog or resource to pull this off, but it is pretty powerful because the link appears on every page of the website!
9. Navigation Bar Link
This is also quite rare, but on occasion a blogger will put you in their navigation bar. This is similar to the sidebar link in practice, just a different location:
I would never request this directly in my outreach as it is pretty bold, but some people take the initiative.
10. Video Link
If you have an active YouTube channel, you can definitely build links to it, particularly as part of product reviews.
Bloggers love to include additional media in their posts (infographics are another win).
Outreach Scripts
Alright, so you’re familiar with the different types of links that result from outreach – so now how to do you go about outreach?
While that is an entirely different topic, I did want to include two effective outreach templates we have been using to capture guest posting, giveaway, and product review links (and sometimes others that result naturally from communication).
Let’s start with the request to guest post:
Key Features:
Personal introduction and addresses blogger by his first name.
Builds authority by citing past published articles.
Offers incentives for accepting the proposal.
The most common thing that results from this is a guest post, though on occasion people write a product review or at least are down to share.
Next up is the resource page pitch:
Key Features:
Identifies the page that I am interested in being linked to.
Supplies the HTML so that it is easy for the blogger
Mentions the affiliate program as an incentive.
This tends to work really well if there is a good fit, because it is so easy to comply and there is a nice affiliate bonus for any referrals!
Conclusion:
While link building traditionally was something that people did in a silo, nowadays it pays dividends to get out there.
We’ve identified 9 excellent methods to build a well-rounded back link profile, and also meet some influencers in the process.
 
David Schneider is the cofounder of
NinjaOutreach, an innovative new Blogger Outreach software for marketers. He writes about business and entrepreneurship and enjoys travel.