Link building strategies for ecommerce sites

How do ecommerce sites earn backlinks?

The safe way for an online store to earn backlinks is to give other sites a genuine reason to link. Those reasons are usually original data and guides, supplier and manufacturer relationships, newsworthy brand stories and brand mentions that already exist. Buying links or asking for links in exchange for products falls under Google's definition of link spam.

Online stores struggle with links for a simple reason: nobody links to a product page for no reason. A blogger or news site links when it points readers to a useful resource. That is why a link strategy starts with creating something worth linking to.

How does Google treat backlinks?

Google's SEO starter guide says Google primarily finds pages through links from pages it has already crawled. Its ranking systems guide notes that PageRank, which works by understanding how pages link to each other, has been used since Google launched and is still part of its core ranking systems.

The same starter guide says other sites linking to you happens naturally over time, and that you can encourage people to discover your content by promoting your site. The promotion routes Google lists include social media, community engagement, online and offline advertising and word of mouth.

Which link tactics are risky?

Google's spam policies define link spam as creating links to or from a site primarily to manipulate search rankings. The most relevant examples for ecommerce are:

Practice	How Google treats it	Safe alternative
Buying links for ranking purposes	Link spam	Use rel="sponsored" on paid collaborations
Sending a product in exchange for a post with a link	Explicitly listed as link spam	Do not tie product seeding to links; have the link marked sponsored
Excessive link exchanges ("link to me and I'll link to you")	Link spam	Links based on real business relationships that help users
Using automated programs to create links	Link spam	None; avoid entirely
Low-quality directory or bookmark sites	Link spam	Directories and lists genuinely used in your industry
Advertorials with keyword-rich anchor text	Link spam	PR work using your brand name and natural wording

According to Google's documentation on qualifying outbound links, links that are advertisements or paid placements should use rel="sponsored", and links in user-generated content such as comments and forums should use rel="ugc". This matters especially in influencer and affiliate collaborations. We cover how to evaluate influencer work in our guide to measuring influencer marketing.

Which link building methods work for ecommerce?

1. Suppliers, manufacturers and brand partners

If the brands you stock have "where to buy" or "authorised retailers" pages, being listed there is a natural, relevant link. For products you make yourself, raw material suppliers, certification bodies or manufacturing partners may have reference pages. As long as these links reflect a real business relationship, they are fine.

2. Guides worth linking to

Comprehensive guides such as how to measure your size, how to care for leather or a camping gear checklist are the kind of content bloggers and forums cite as a resource. For planning this content, see our ecommerce blog content strategy guide. Remember that a guide earns links on its own merit, not as a product page; the sales message should stay in the background.

3. Original data and digital PR

Anonymised, aggregated trends from your own sales data (for example, which category takes off first in which city at the start of a season) can be newsworthy for journalists and creators. Never share personal data; use aggregated information only.

4. Turning unlinked brand mentions into links

Your brand may already be mentioned on news sites, blogs or lists without a link. Finding these mentions, contacting the author politely and suggesting the relevant page for their readers is one of the lowest-cost methods available.

5. Community and local relationships

Events you sponsor, industry associations you belong to and local organisations you work with can provide links based on real relationships. Links given in return for sponsorship count as paid and should be marked sponsored; they bring visibility and traffic rather than ranking credit.

How should you prioritise link building work?

A small team cannot run every method at once. Ask two questions when prioritising: is this link based on a real relationship or real value, and would someone who sees it actually want to visit your site? If both answers are yes, the method is safe and durable.

In practice the order is usually this: first collect links available from existing supplier and brand relationships, because they are an email away. Next, work through unlinked brand mentions. Then move on to longer projects such as guides and data studies. Recording how many links and how much referral traffic each effort brings shows where to spend more time next quarter.

One warning: when creating content to earn links, remember that creating low-value content primarily to manipulate linking signals is itself listed among Google's link spam examples. Content has to serve readers first.

Which pages should earn links?

In ecommerce, external links usually land on the home page and on guides. The way to pass that value on to sales pages is internal linking: link contextually from guides to relevant categories and featured products, so every link you earn benefits the rest of the site.

How do you monitor your backlink profile?

The free starting point is the Search Console Links report. It shows the sites that link to you most, your most linked pages and your most common anchor text. A practical routine:

1. Once a month, check your most linked pages in the Links report.
2. Identify content that earns new links and plan more like it.
3. Note any anchor text you did not create that looks irrelevant or spammy.
4. Check that links from paid collaborations are marked sponsored.

Search Console also offers a disavow tool. Treat it as an advanced tool to consider only when artificial links pointing to your site cause a concrete problem; it is not a routine clean-up tool.

Key takeaways

• Link building starts with creating value others want to link to.
• Buying links, trading products for links and excessive link exchanges are all examples of link spam in Google's policies.
• Paid, sponsorship, influencer and affiliate links should use rel="sponsored".
• Supplier pages, linkable guides, original data and unlinked brand mentions are the most productive methods for ecommerce.
• Pass link value to sales pages through internal links and review the Links report regularly.

If you would like a safe link and content plan for your brand, the Performetic team can prepare a free growth analysis.