Why is B2B SaaS Link Building Evolving? 

Here's the truth about link building in B2B SaaS:
It doesn't work the same way as it does for e-commerce or blogs.
We have a smaller audience and a longer buying cycle.

And our pages, mostly feature pages, integration pages, and comparison pages, need strategic links that do more than just increase domain authority.
The goal with links is not just links, but the right links, to the right pages, for the right reasons.

With SaaS SEO, it is all about relevance over volume. And that's what this guide is going to share. Disregarding the outdated volume game and focusing on what will move your business: quality, relevance, and sustainable link strategies that align with your brand, your audience and the value you offer.

3 Common Mistakes in B2B SaaS Link Building 

A few months ago, my team performed an audit for a B2B SaaS startup.
During the analysis of backlinks, many links have been found to be of poor quality which made me question how many teams still chase backlinks blindly. 

Let's look into the three common types of mistakes made when link building for B2B SaaS:

Mistake 1: Value Over Volume

Here’s the first mistake we see all the time, volume over value.
Most teams continue to work in volume mode like acquiring backlinks in the same way as sea shell collecting. 

But in SaaS, more doesn't mean better.
You get one relevant backlink from a highly authoritative domain; that will carry more weight than a hundred irrelevant links put together. 

When your backlink profile is good on paper but ends up ranking for nothing, drawing zero traffic, and no conversions, it will lead to a junk link bloat.
Which can confuse search engines or trigger penalties due to irrelevant linking or poor quality backlinks that don't improve ranking or traffic.

Mistake 2: Linking to Irrelevant Pages

Link building should be mapped to the SaaS-user journey.
In other words, you want to get hyperlinks to the pages where people can actually buy something and are relevant. 

Example pages include, comparison pages, integration hubs, feature pages, and use case pages.

Mistake 3: No Personalization with Outreach

We have received many emails from link-building campaigns from startup companies.
It’s funny how comically obvious it is that AI wrote them.

There is no angle, no personalisation, and no link to the recipient's audience.
To be honest, these dubious emails demonstrated that they weren't landing links.
So, make use of the value of personalization with a relationship-first outreach.

Quality links come from understanding who you are talking to and smart use of data.
If you think of outreach like a cold transaction, you’re already losing.
But if you build partnerships, that’s when everything changes. 

10 High-Impact Link-Building Tactics for 2025 

I believe that by 2025, backlinks won’t just be about grabbing attention, they’ll be about genuine alignment.
The leading SaaS brands won’t buy links, they’ll earn them through meaningful relationships and providing real value.

So here is a list of ten working strategies:

1. Resource Link Building 2.0 (AI Tools, SDKs, Public Datasets)

Payoff: High | Effort: Medium
Why does this matter?

B2B brands opening their in-house tools (datasets, SDKs) or releasing an AI-informed framework become link-magnets for roundups, blogs, and community forums discussing the research. Writers, communities, and industry roundups usually tend to link to whatever material they happened to find interesting or useful at that time.
So instead of worrying about volume, just create something shareable, and the link building takes care of itself.

Useful and unique content includes opinion-driven, problem-focused, and thought leadership pieces that help your audience fill gaps in existing online resources.

Example: Stripe's SDKs and live code examples are neatly organized on GitHub and published to the Stripe Dev blog which are cited in numerous developer tutorials and integration guides.

2. AI-Suggested Broken Link Replacements 

Payoff: Medium | Effort: High
Why does this matter?

From my experience working with SaaS companies, broken links aren’t just dead ends, they’re hidden opportunities.
Whenever I spot one, I know there’s a chance to step in and offer better resources.

When you put your content in place of a broken link on a site covering your topic, you've won from both a link to your site and better user experience.
Tools like Ahrefs make it easy to find these opportunities in bulk and without them, you’d spend hours clicking through.

Example: If your website is a SaaS site, you can detect your competitors' broken backlinks with tools such as Ahrefs.
You can contact sites that previously pointed to Zapier but instead point to mortal addresses and post a link to your relevant content or service.

3. ESG & SaaS Directory Placement

Payoff: Medium | Effort: Medium

I have noticed customers as well as Google are paying significantly more attention to sustainability and governance.
Listings with ESG data such as G2’s new sustainability badges get more clicks and backlinks as they resonate with today’s value-based buyers.

I’ve seen how getting listed on popular directories like Capterra or TrustRadius can quickly elevate your brand’s thought leadership and social exposure.
The effect is even stronger when your product shows up in niche collections or shared values lists that speak directly to your ideal audience.

Example: Groundswell, a SaaS corporate philanthropy and CSR platform had a series of CSR badges on G2 in Spring & Fall 2024.
That includes "Leader in Corporate Social Responsibility Platform," 5.0 stars rating.

4. AI-Competitor Backlink Mining

Payoff: High | Effort: Medium
Why not reverse-engineer your competitors' backlinks? 

Tools such as Postaga and Respona are now AI-driven to build types of backlinks such as podcasts, templates, guest columns.
By reverse-engineering your rivals’ links, you save time and go after opportunities that are already proven to work.

You can then aim for comparable or better content to the same websites, saving your time and acquiring links already verified to function. You can either get your link added next to your competitors on comparison pages or replace their links with your superior content. 

Example: Moz’s single page boasts over 3,200 backlinks.
Marketers use backlink reports like these to launch targeted outreach campaigns where Respona is a popular tool for this.

Digging into your competitors’ link profiles means you’re following a proven strategy where you can earn links from the same or even better sources.

5. Automated Unlinked Mentions + Human Touch

Payoff: High | Effort: Medium

It’s surprising how many SaaS brands get mentioned but not properly linked, especially on media sites which often have high domain authority.
Tools such as Brand24 + ChatGPT help you discover unlinked mentions on blogs and news sources within minutes.

Honestly, the real work kicks in during the follow-up, that’s when you turn a mention into a solid backlink.
A friendly, personalized email to the editor or author usually does the trick, turning those simple mentions into valuable backlinks. 

Since they already exist and refer to your brand, this is a very low effort way of gaining a big impact on your site's authority. 

6. Listicle micro-apps

Payoff: Medium | Effort: Low

Listicles often overlooked are small interactive utilities embedded into "top X" lists that can make those posts much more engaging and helpful.
For B2B SaaS brands, the goal is simple: get featured on lists like ‘best CRM tools.’ 

Not only will you get backlinks, but you’ll also attract qualified traffic.
The best sites for you to target most likely aren't even your competition, they are affiliate link sites or complementary sites to your product or service.

This strategy will cost you only a minimal amount of time but could quite possibly bring about significant traffic options for linking.

7. AI micro-tools (Calculators, Estimators)

Payoff: High | Effort: Medium 

Like calculators, estimators, and other mini-AI offerings, guidebooks deliver actual value to B2B buyers who need timely and actionable information or benchmarks.

Like estimating ROI or price benchmarks, for example.
These applications will naturally attract backlinks from press, blogs, and other ecosystem relevant sites, as these applications are useful and novel.

As competition is high, by offering an embed link, others will be encouraged to link to your tool.

Example: HubSpot offers an ROI calculator that earned them 300+ referring domains.
The value is in creating specialized tools / calculators to solve actual pain points, but hopefully reusing one you've made for your own product.

8. ESG Storytelling within Digital PR

Payoff: Medium | Effort: Medium

Why does this matter?
Digital PR has evolved, it’s not just about hype anymore, it’s about values.
Google has evolved to reward uniqueness and social relevance.
So, creating authentic stories around your company's sustainability, DEI, or governance initiatives can do a lot more for your brand than simply gain exposure. 

It can build trust.
When you highlight your ESG initiatives in press releases, quotes from executives, or purpose-led campaigns, it can create a better opportunity to earn links from both industry and ESG based media. 

And when you create narrative stories, journalists tend to apply more depth to the stories they create.
Especially when they are seeking stories with meaning, not simply a product release.
These strategies can secure coverage boosting both visibility and link equity from high-authority publications and industry blogs.

Example: Onetrust is a leading SaaS solution for privacy management and compliance, with product offerings related to ESG storytelling.

This includes their Cookie Consent product and their Trusted Community.
They have humanized their brand with a transparent culture and values section.

As a result, OneTrust received media attention and backlinks that were not just based on product features, but for being trusted, transparent with sustainability and governance.

9. Co-branded integrations with AI-native tools

Payoff: High | Effort: Medium

Why does this matter?
When two companies collaborate through a co-product, a blog post, or even a co-created integration landing page, they are not only gaining exposure to each other's audiences, but they are also gaining high-authority backlinks. 

It is especially effective with AI-native tools, which are getting a ton of media coverage.
That is being generated where developers are looking for links in documents/marketplaces.
These integrations increase brand exposure and reach relevant audiences.

Example: Zapier creates SEO rich partner pages for every integration, this builds backlinks and drives traffic over time.
When you co-market your integrations, you effectively turn your GTM (Go-To-Market) motion into a perpetual SEO machine.

10. Link Bundle for Podcasts, Conferences & Widget

Payoff: Medium | Effort: Medium

Why does this matter?

Thought leadership isn’t only in blog posts, it’s in conversations, panels, and embeddable widgets.
So, every time your SaaS brand gets a podcast spot or a keynote or conference mention, you get multiple link-building touch points.

Everything from the show notes of the podcast to the sponsor pages and recap blogs and PR coverage.
Tools like SparkToro let you know which podcasts your ICP listens to, so you can turn those guest appearances into recurring backlinks.
And don’t forget about widgets. 

Example: Just like TrustPilot’s rating badge which helped generate 234M+ backlinks.
Credibility badges, award seals, or embeddable benchmarks are also capable of scalable link equity, they just need to add real value for the end users.

Step-by-Step Execution of Backlink Building

Building a sustainable B2B SaaS link-building program is a strategic process that compounds over time that includes finding websites and sending cold emails.

Here's the blueprint to help SaaS marketers drive results:

1. Research with Intent

Start by using AI tools to begin to find prospects that align with your ICP and buyer intent.
Services, like Apollo.io can allow you to segment prospects by job title/role, tech stack and firmographics.

Ahrefs on the other hand (with GPT agents or some browser automation) can allow you to find niche-specific high-value websites linking to competitors’ assets/resources or ranking for meaningful industry terms. Ultimately, it’s not just more prospects, but potential partners that fit your target better.

2. Prioritize with Precision

Once you have a pool of possible link partners, you need to classify your prospects by: 

1. Domain Authority (DA)

2. Topical relevancy

3. Referral/recommendation potential

A medium DA, at 60, that publishes information on somewhat related topics is less valuable than a DA of 40 blog posts in your niche with people that are willing to connect. You can use the collective data from Ahrefs, Moz, or even Semrush to score your prospects.
This is to prioritize your partners and automate it with sheets or internal dashboards.

3. Humanized Outreach 

Today’s outreach process is personalization just as much as it is automation. Platforms, like Postaga or Instantly.ai allow you to build sequences, but what gets warm replies is a personalized intro. Use dynamic tokens like: 

1. "Congrats on your new podcast episode with [Guest Name]"

2. GPT-based personalization that visits the person’s latest posts for a good opener. 

3. Keep subject lines light, and CTAs should be frictionless.

4. Track the Impact

Link building is only valuable if you track what it brings in.
Tools like Ahrefs or Linkody can monitor new backlinks, but to attribute true ROI, integrate it with platforms like Dreamdata or HockeyStack. 

These tools help tie backlinks to downstream metrics like demo requests or trial signups, so you can prove value to your leadership or clients.

5. Scale With Repeatability

Once your workflow starts delivering, it’s time to scale without losing the human touch. 

1. Create SOPs for prospecting

2. Maintain outreach templates

3. Use pre-coded personalization snippets (e.g., FirstName, Company’s Recent Post)

This lets junior team members or Virtual Assistants jump in without breaking your tone or brand.
Over time, these compounding habits build link equity and authority.
A simple campaign calendar can help you monitor outreach waves, follow-ups, and content publish dates for link-building materials.

Here’s a sample from our own backlink campaign tracker showing how it organizes tasks by domain rating, traffic range, campaign type, and progress status, making it easier to scale without losing track of priorities.

Final Thoughts

In this article we laid out a framework for strategic, ethical, aligned value, and principles-driven link-building. 
We focus on links that have:

1. Relevancy

2. Aligned authority

3. Long-term value

Because links are not designed just for search engines. 
Links are:

1. Trust signals

2. Positioning levers

3. Revenue drivers

If you want to take a more relevant approach to create links that build your brand, now is the time.
To get a detailed framework on recognizing and earning high-authority backlinks like covering DR and traffic stability, this high-authority link building guide offers a step-by-step approach.
Need help to build links that build your brand?
Check out Rank Wizard’s strategic SaaS link building program.