How to Build Backlinks for a SaaS Website

To build backlinks for a SaaS website, start with pages worth promoting, create content others can reference, find relevant websites, and run targeted outreach. Use competitor backlink research, original research, useful tools, guest contributions, partnerships, and digital PR to earn relevant links. Focus on quality and relevance rather than chasing a high backlink count.

Your SaaS product can be a backlink asset—not just the page you want people to link to. Product data, integrations, original research, free tools, and customer insights can all give other websites a reason to reference your brand.

The challenge is knowing which assets can attract links, where to find the right prospects, and how to turn those opportunities into genuine editorial mentions. Random outreach rarely delivers that consistency.

A better approach connects the right content with the right websites and audience. Competitor research, guest contributions, partnerships, and digital PR can all help earn relevant backlinks. For the fundamentals, see SaaS Link Building: How to Build Quality Backlinks for SaaS Companies.

Prepare Your SaaS Website for Link Building

Choose the Pages You Want to Promote

Don’t start by trying to build links to every page on your website. Choose pages that have a clear purpose and something worth referencing.

These might include an original research report, comparison page, detailed resource, free tool, feature page, or an article containing useful industry data. A product page can also be a target, but informational assets are often easier to reference naturally.

A simple way to prioritize pages is to consider business value, search potential, and linkability.

The goal is not to make every page linkable. It is to identify the pages where an external reference would make sense.

Create Content Worth Linking To

Before asking for a backlink, give another website a genuine reason to reference you.

For SaaS companies, original research can be particularly useful. Product data, customer surveys, industry benchmarks, experiments, and first-party insights can provide information that other publishers can use in their own content.

Ahrefs’ research on SaaS SEO also highlights original studies and product-led assets such as free tools as opportunities for attracting backlinks.

You don’t necessarily need a huge report. A focused study answering one useful industry question can be enough. The same applies to calculators, templates, glossaries, technical resources, and genuinely comprehensive explanations.

A useful test is:

Would another writer have a reason to cite this page even if you never asked for a link?

If not, improve the resource before increasing your outreach.

Find Relevant Backlink Opportunities

Research Competitor Backlinks

Your competitors can show you where relevant link opportunities already exist.

Look at several genuine competitors and identify websites that link to their content. Don’t simply copy every backlink you find. Instead, look at the reason behind each link.

For example, if a competitor’s research report is repeatedly referenced by industry publications, that suggests those publications value original data. If competitors are being linked from integration pages, partner resources, or software roundups, those may reveal opportunities that fit your own product.

Competitor backlink research can therefore answer two questions at once:

• Which websites might be worth contacting?
• What type of content are those websites willing to reference?

That makes the research much more useful than building a prospect list based purely on domain metrics. Competitor backlink analysis is also a commonly recommended starting point for discovering relevant link opportunities.

Find Relevant SaaS Publications and Websites

Don’t limit your search to websites that have “SaaS” in their name.

The right prospects depend on the product. A project-management SaaS might look for productivity, business, remote-work, and operations publications. A cybersecurity platform may have more relevant opportunities in security publications, technology resources, and specialist communities.

Before adding a prospect, check:

• Relevance: Does the site cover your subject?
• Audience: Would its readers care about your resource?
• Editorial quality: Does it publish useful content?
• Link context: Is there a natural place for your page to be referenced?
• Website quality: Does it look like a genuine publication or resource?

A smaller, highly relevant website can be more useful than a large general site with little connection to your market.

The best prospects are usually websites where your content solves a real information gap.

Earn Backlinks Through Outreach

Use Guest Posting and Editorial Contributions

Guest posting works best when the article comes first and the backlink comes second.

Instead of starting with a keyword and forcing it into an article, study the publication and identify topics that fit its audience. Then pitch a useful idea that adds something the website does not already have.

For example, a document-management SaaS could contribute an article about reducing approval bottlenecks or improving digital workflows. If the company’s own research or resource provides additional information, linking to it can be natural within that context.

Avoid producing generic guest posts at scale simply to place links. Google’s spam policies specifically identify manipulative links, including certain paid and large-scale link schemes, as violations of its guidelines.

The strongest editorial placement is one where the link makes sense even without considering its SEO value.

Build Links Through Partnerships and Digital PR

SaaS companies can often find backlink opportunities through the ecosystem around their product.

Think about:

• Integration partners
• Technology partners
• Agencies and consultants
• Customer stories
• Software directories
• Industry associations
• Events and webinars
• Product ecosystems

An integration partner, for example, may have a legitimate reason to reference your software in its integration documentation or partner resources.

Digital PR provides another route. Original research, unusual findings, expert commentary, and useful industry data can give journalists and publishers something worth covering.

The key is having a story or resource before sending the pitch. Ahrefs’ SaaS research similarly points to original studies and data-driven insights as particularly useful linkable assets because other publishers can cite their findings. Original research can therefore support more than one acquisition channel, including digital PR and SaaS link building when the findings are genuinely useful to publishers. 

Make Outreach Specific

Generic outreach is easy to ignore.

Instead of saying, “We have a great article that would be perfect for your website,” identify the specific article, resource, or topic where your contribution fits.

A useful outreach email should quickly answer three questions:

1. Why are you contacting me?
2. What are you offering?
3. Why would it help my readers?

Keep the message short. Personalization does not mean writing an entirely different email every time; it means demonstrating that you understand the publication and have a relevant reason for contacting it.

Measure and Improve Your SaaS Backlink Strategy

Backlink count alone doesn’t tell you whether the strategy is working.

Track the quality and outcomes of the links you earn.

Look for patterns rather than isolated results.

If original research consistently earns mentions, produce more research. If integration partnerships generate qualified referral traffic, explore more partnerships. If a particular type of publication repeatedly responds to your pitches, build relationships with similar publishers.

This makes link building more efficient because future campaigns are informed by what has already worked.

It is also important not to chase links simply for volume. A recent Ahrefs analysis notes that links remain useful for SEO but should not be treated as the entire SEO strategy.

The broader goal is to build a backlink profile that supports useful content, relevant visibility, and genuine audience discovery.

FAQs

How do I build backlinks for a SaaS website?

Identify valuable pages, create link-worthy content, find relevant prospects, and conduct personalized outreach. Competitor research, guest contributions, partnerships, and digital PR can all uncover opportunities.

What are the best ways to build SaaS backlinks?

Useful methods include original research, free tools, editorial contributions, competitor research, partnerships, and digital PR. The right mix depends on your product, audience, and available resources.

How can SaaS companies get backlinks naturally?

Create resources that other websites genuinely want to reference, such as original data, research, tools, or expert insights. Useful content gives publishers a natural reason to link without being asked.

How do I find websites that link to SaaS companies?

Start by analyzing competitor backlinks to find websites already covering your market. Then look for relevant publications, specialist blogs, partners, resource pages, and industry communities.

Does guest posting work for SaaS backlinks?

Yes, when the content is genuinely useful and relevant to the publication’s audience. The focus should be on editorial value rather than producing guest posts solely to place backlinks.

How many backlinks does a SaaS website need?

There is no fixed number that every SaaS website needs. Focus on earning relevant, credible backlinks rather than chasing an arbitrary target.

Final Thoughts

Building backlinks for a SaaS website is less about chasing a high link count and more about giving the right websites a reason to reference your business. Start with pages worth promoting and content that offers genuine value.

Then focus on relevant prospects, personalized outreach, and tactics that fit your audience. Track which efforts earn meaningful links so you can refine your approach and build a more consistent backlink strategy over time.

Need a structured approach to SaaS backlink building? Optiscales provides SaaS link building services focused on relevant outreach, editorial placements, and backlinks that support long-term search visibility.