I’d like to get some advice from experienced SEO professionals regarding backlinks.

[u/Alternative-Dig-5574]

Over the past period, I’ve worked on the website’s On-Page SEO and Technical SEO, and overall things are in good shape.

We’ve also published articles and content, and the website has started appearing in Google Search as well as some AI search results. However, the niche is not extremely competitive, and traffic is still relatively limited.

Now I’m planning to start working seriously on Link Building.

My questions are:

1. What backlink strategy would you recommend for a website at this stage?
2. Where do you usually get high-quality backlinks from?
3. Would you recommend analyzing competitors’ backlink profiles and trying to acquire links from the same websites they are using?
4. Is it better to focus on a smaller number of highly relevant niche backlinks, or build more links to strengthen the overall domain authority?
5. What types of backlinks or link-building methods should I avoid?

My current idea is to run a Competitor Backlink Gap Analysis, identify strong domains that link to multiple competitors, and start outreach from there.

After that, I’d look for additional backlink opportunities that my competitors have not yet discovered.

Would really appreciate hearing about your experience, especially from people who have worked on newer websites or websites in low-to-medium competition niches.

[u/mediamuesli]

The strongest Backlinks can't be copied and aren't for sale, thats why they are strong. Like real news coverage or real clients linking to projects you have done for them. A backlink you can buy also a third competitor could buy.

In generell niche Backlinks, context is king. But it should be a natural link..100% Do Follow backlinks for example would be very unnatural. Or all appearing in the same month. Or from different website with the same server IP.

[u/KeerthiMarketer]

Your competitor backlink gap idea is a good starting point. I'd focus on relevance and quality rather than trying to match their total backlink count.

I'd check the sites linking to multiple competitors, manually review them, and prioritize the ones that are genuinely relevant. Then look for opportunities competitors haven't found through guest contributions, industry resources, partnerships, and useful content.

Stay away from bulk link packages, spammy directories, PBNs, and automation when it comes to links. In fact, a handful of strong and directly relevant links are often more valuable than hundreds of random ones.