If you run a small business, you’ve probably heard that backlinks are important for SEO. But what exactly are they, and how do you get other websites to link to yours without paying hundreds of pounds or sending awkward emails to strangers?
The good news is that you don’t need a massive marketing budget or a specialist SEO agency. Some of the best backlinks come from being creative, making useful things, building relationships and doing something genuinely interesting.
Whether you run an online shop, a creative studio, a café or a small independent brand, here are 15 creative ways to build backlinks, boost your website’s visibility and hopefully bring a few more customers your way.
First, what exactly is a backlink?
A backlink is simply a link from another website to yours. For example, if a design magazine writes about your business and includes a link to your website, that’s a backlink.
Search engines like Google use links to help discover pages and understand how websites relate to each other. Relevant, trustworthy backlinks can support your SEO, while also bringing visitors directly from other websites.
The important thing to remember is that quality matters more than quantity. One genuine link from a respected website in your industry can be far more useful than dozens of random links from websites nobody reads.
1. Create a free downloadable resource
People love free things, especially when they’re genuinely useful. Think about something your customers might want to download, print or use.
If you’re a cycling brand, create a printable bicycle maintenance checklist. If you’re a florist, design a seasonal flower calendar. If you sell craft supplies, offer free patterns or templates.
Make the download available on a dedicated page of your website and share it with relevant bloggers, community groups and publications.
Why it works: Useful free resources give other websites a natural reason to recommend your page.
2. Make a quirky infographic or illustrated guide
Infographics are a brilliant way to turn information into something people want to share. They can be educational, funny or beautifully designed.
Imagine an illustrated chart of different types of London cyclists, a visual history of the shopping bag or a guide to identifying 20 different types of coffee.
Publish the original on your website, then share it with websites that cover the same topic. Include a clear link to the original resource so people can easily credit the source.
Why it works: A distinctive visual can attract attention from bloggers, journalists, educators and niche websites.
3. Create the ultimate local guide
Small businesses often know their neighbourhoods better than anyone else. Use that knowledge to create something useful.
A Hackney-based business, for example, could publish a guide to independent shops, unusual museums, free things to do with children or the best cafés for cyclists.
Include genuinely helpful descriptions, photographs, opening information and links to the places you mention.
Once the guide is live, let the businesses know they’re featured. Some might share it or link to it from their own websites.
Why it works: Local guides can attract backlinks from community websites, tourism blogs, neighbourhood newsletters and local publications.
4. Get yourself featured on podcasts
Podcasts are always looking for interesting guests, and you don’t have to be famous to have a good story.
If you’ve started a business from your kitchen table, developed an unusual product, turned a hobby into a career or survived an especially chaotic market stall, there could be a podcast that wants to hear about it.
Look for smaller podcasts covering entrepreneurship, design, sustainability, local business or your particular industry.
When you appear, ask whether the show notes can include your website.
Why it works: Many podcasts publish an accompanying webpage with guest information and relevant links. You also get to introduce your business to a completely new audience.
5. Share your expertise with journalists
Journalists frequently need quotes, opinions and expert insights for articles.
You might know about sustainable packaging, independent retail, manufacturing costs, cycling culture or the realities of running a small creative business.
Keep an eye on requests from journalists on social media, professional networks and specialist media enquiry services. You can also contact relevant writers with a short introduction explaining your expertise.
Be specific. “I run a small business” is less interesting than “I’ve spent ten years selling products at London markets and know which stall layouts attract the most customers.”
Why it works: If your contribution is used, the publication may credit your business and include a link.
6. Collaborate with another independent business
Find a business that shares your audience but doesn’t directly compete with you.
A bag brand might collaborate with a bicycle shop, a bakery with a coffee roaster, or a stationery company with an illustrator.
Instead of simply swapping links, create something worth talking about together: a guide, a workshop, a creative challenge, a limited-edition product or a behind-the-scenes interview.
Both businesses can then share the project with their own audiences.
Why it works: Genuine collaborations create interesting stories and natural opportunities for editorial coverage.
7. Make original research, even on a tiny scale
You don’t need a university research department to produce interesting statistics.
Ask your customers a question, run a small survey or analyse some information from your own business.
For example:
What percentage of your customers cycle to work?
Which bag colours sell best?
How much do people spend at independent Christmas markets?
What are the most common mistakes people make when starting an online shop?
Publish your findings with a clear explanation of how you collected the data, including your sample size and limitations. Add a simple chart or infographic.
Why it works: Original information gives other writers something to reference that they can’t find elsewhere.
8. Offer your photographs to relevant websites
If you produce beautiful product photography, unusual illustrations or interesting behind-the-scenes images, they may be useful to other publishers.
For example, original photographs of London cycling culture could be useful to a cycling blog, while photographs documenting traditional crafts might appeal to design or heritage publications.
Create a small image library on your website with clear information about how the images may be used and how you would like the source credited.
You can permit editorial use in exchange for attribution, although publishers should remain free to apply appropriate link attributes.
Why it works: Original images can generate exposure and backlinks when publications credit the source.
9. Get listed on your suppliers’ and stockists’ websites
This is one of the easiest opportunities to overlook.
If you stock somebody else’s products, manufacture items using specialist materials or sell through independent shops, check whether those businesses have a stockist, retailer, customer showcase or partners page.
They may already be featuring businesses like yours.
Send a friendly email asking whether your company could be included, along with a short description, relevant photographs and your website address.
Why it works: These links come from businesses directly connected to what you do, making them relevant and useful to potential customers.
10. Turn your business story into something newsworthy
Local newspapers and independent magazines love an interesting small business story. But “we have launched a new product” isn’t always enough to capture their attention.
Think about the bigger story behind your business.
Perhaps you’re reviving a forgotten craft, turning waste materials into new products, manufacturing something unusual in London or running workshops that bring different generations together.
Give journalists a proper story, not just a sales pitch. Include good-quality photographs and a few interesting facts.
Why it works: Local and niche media coverage can introduce your business to new customers and may generate valuable editorial links.
11. Find websites that mention you but don’t link
Here’s a surprisingly simple one.
Sometimes a blogger, magazine or online publication will mention your business without linking to your website.
Search Google for your business name in quotation marks. You can also search for the names of your products or distinctive projects.
When you find a genuine mention without a link, send the writer a friendly message thanking them for the coverage and suggesting your website as a useful reference for readers.
Keep it polite and don’t chase people repeatedly.
Why it works: They’ve already chosen to talk about your business, so adding a useful link may be a natural next step.
12. Build a free little online tool
This sounds technical, but a simple interactive tool can be surprisingly easy to create with modern no-code website builders.
It doesn’t need to be complicated.
A clothing business could create a size converter, a candle company could offer a burn-time calculator, or a cycling accessories brand could make a bicycle commuting cost calculator.
You could even create a funny quiz that helps visitors discover what type of shopper, cyclist or creative personality they are.
Make it genuinely useful or entertaining, and host it on your own website.
Why it works: People often link to tools that solve a problem or give their readers something fun to try.
13. Look for broken links you can genuinely replace
Websites change all the time. Businesses close, articles disappear and useful resources get deleted.
This leaves broken links scattered across the internet.
If you find a website linking to an outdated resource in your industry, and you already have a helpful page covering the same subject, you could contact the website owner and suggest it as a replacement.
For example, a cycling blog might be linking to a commuter safety guide that no longer exists. If you’ve written an up-to-date, comprehensive guide, it could be a suitable alternative.
The trick is to make sure your resource really does answer the original reader’s needs.
Why it works: You’re helping somebody fix a problem on their website rather than simply asking for a favour.
14. Host a workshop, event or creative challenge
Small businesses often have skills that other people would love to learn.
A craft brand might run a visible mending workshop. A café could organise a coffee-tasting evening. A bicycle shop could host a basic bike maintenance class.
Local event calendars, community websites, cultural organisations and neighbourhood blogs may feature your event and link to the booking page.
You don’t necessarily need a physical venue, either. Online workshops and challenges can also attract attention from specialist communities.
Why it works: Events give other websites a genuine reason to mention your business, especially when the activity benefits the local community.
15. Create a really good niche resource that people keep coming back to
Sometimes the best backlink strategy is simply to make the most useful page on the internet about a very specific subject.
Forget trying to compete with huge websites on broad topics.
Instead, create the definitive guide to something you know inside out.
It might be a complete list of independent London cycling shops, a directory of British textile manufacturers, a guide to selling at craft fairs or a glossary of obscure sewing techniques.
Make it detailed, organised, attractive and genuinely helpful. Update it regularly so that it stays relevant.
Why it works: When someone needs to recommend a resource on that subject, you want yours to be the one they naturally think of.
A few backlink mistakes worth avoiding
It can be tempting to take shortcuts, especially when somebody emails offering you 500 backlinks for £20. Unfortunately, these schemes are rarely worth the trouble.
Avoid buying links intended to manipulate search rankings, filling unrelated directories with your website, leaving spammy comments on blogs or participating in excessive link-exchange schemes.
Google has clear policies against manipulative link building, including paid links that pass ranking credit. Paid placements and sponsored content should use appropriate link attributes such as rel="sponsored" or rel="nofollow".
There’s nothing wrong with genuine partnerships, advertising or sponsorship. The important thing is to be transparent and not disguise advertising links as independent editorial recommendations.
So, which backlink strategy should you try first?
If you’re a small business owner juggling orders, emails, bookkeeping and approximately 47 other jobs, the thought of adding “SEO link building” to your to-do list probably isn’t very appealing.
My suggestion is to start with just three things.
First, look for existing opportunities. Check your stockists, suppliers and websites that have already mentioned your business.
Next, make one genuinely useful resource. It could be a downloadable guide, a local directory or a simple infographic.
Finally, tell a few relevant people about it. Not hundreds of random websites, just a handful of people who might actually find it interesting.
You can check which websites already link to you using Google Search Console, and monitor whether new backlinks are bringing visitors to your website.
Building good backlinks takes time, but it’s also an opportunity to meet interesting people, develop creative projects and get your business noticed in places you might never have expected.
And the best part? You don’t need to be a huge brand to do it.
Sometimes all it takes is a clever idea, a little persistence and a genuinely good reason for someone to say, “Ooh, that’s interesting. I’ll link to that.”
References and further reading
This is a good article https://brimcove.com/relevant-backlinks-the-complete-guide-to-building-a-strong-link-profile/
Photo by Kedibone Isaac Makhumisane on Unsplash
