20 Biggest Challenges in Securing Organic Backlinks
I use the tool Featured to pitch my clients and secure organic backlinks and brand mentions. I love it and it is such a helpful tool for me (and others who use it). However, recently I used it to learn more about potential clients and other professionals in the space of linkbuilding.
I asked the public: "What are your biggest challenges in securing organic backlinks?"
And here’s what I heard back from 20 experts:
Backlink Challenges: Creativity and Consistency Win
Getting consistent backlinks for clients has to be one of the most challenging aspects of SEO right now and it takes real creativity and staying power to be successful. Here are my biggest three challenges, along with some thoughts on how to approach them.
Demonstrating Clients' Return on Organic Backlinks
Organic backlink building is a long-term strategy, so the results are not immediate. This can frustrate clients who are looking for evidence that your work is having results.
Of course, you need to set clear expectations but beyond that, we find it helps to track a range of metrics, rather than focusing only on improved organic traffic and rankings. So, we're able to offer clients reports on referral traffic from new links, growth in domain authority, and the number of new relationships established. These are clear indicators of success along the way, allowing clients to see the milestones that determine the ultimate goal.
Great Content Isn't Enough
Articles still need to offer great content to get backlinks, but it's no longer enough to guarantee success. If you're not offering something unique, that adds real value to the editor, journalist or blogger you're contacting, you're not in the game.
The challenge is to create research that's original, free tools, a unique case study or an infographic that makes a complex topic immediately understandable. So, you need to commit the investment of time and resources to create something that will be exactly what your recipient is looking for.
Generic Outreach Won't Cut It
As someone who publishes a lot of content online, I get loads of generic outreach emails every week, and most of them get deleted straight away. So even if there are amazing pieces of content being promoted, it won't get to me because I don't trust or respect the messenger.
It's far more of a challenge to take the time to build a relationship with me and I respect that. If I can see that the sender understands what we do and can clearly demonstrate ways they can add value, I'll definitely pay attention - otherwise they could just be another spammer.
Reece H, Digital Marketing Lead at Outsource Your Marketing, Outsource Your Marketing
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Content Visibility and Relationships Drive Organic Backlinks
Securing organic backlinks, the kind that naturally boost your search rankings and truly signal authority, is an ongoing and complex challenge in the SEO world. For me, the biggest hurdle often boils down to a combination of content visibility in a saturated market and the time-intensive nature of building genuine relationships. It's no longer enough to simply create "good" content; you need truly exceptional, unique, and highly valuable pieces that stand out amidst the daily deluge of information. Even with stellar content, getting it seen by the right people - those with authoritative websites and the willingness to link - requires significant effort.
The sheer volume of content being produced means that even the most insightful articles can get buried without a robust promotion and outreach strategy. You're competing for attention with countless others trying to do the same thing. This leads directly to the second major challenge: the time and human effort required for genuine relationship building. Earning quality backlinks isn't a transactional process; it's about forming connections with webmasters, journalists, and industry influencers who see real value in what you're offering. This involves personalized outreach, consistent follow-up, and often, providing value to them before even asking for a link. It's a slow burn, requiring patience and persistence, and it can be incredibly difficult to scale effectively without significant resources. Ultimately, these two challenges make organic link building a constant strategic endeavor, pushing us to continuously innovate our content and refine our outreach approaches to cut through the noise and earn those coveted, high-authority links.
Michael Lazar, CEO, Content Author
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Breaking Through Noise: The Organic Backlink Challenge
One of the biggest challenges in securing organic backlinks is breaking through the noise and proving value to sites that already have established content and strict editorial standards. Many quality sites receive countless backlink requests and only link to content that offers truly unique insights or resources their audience can't find elsewhere. Another hurdle is building genuine relationships with webmasters and creators, which takes time and effort beyond just outreach emails. I've also faced difficulty in creating link-worthy content that balances SEO goals with authentic storytelling and utility. Sometimes, even great content struggles to gain traction because of shifting algorithms and competitor saturation. Overcoming these challenges requires patience, a focus on quality over quantity, and consistent networking to earn backlinks naturally rather than chasing shortcuts.
Georgi Petrov, CMO, Entrepreneur, and Content Creator, AIG MARKETER
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Editor Fatigue and Timing: Modern Backlink Hurdles
The biggest challenge with earning organic backlinks today is fatigue—editors and webmasters are inundated with low-value pitches, making even solid outreach easy to ignore. It's not just about quality content anymore; it's about relevance with timing. We've found success by aligning pitches with a publisher's current themes or seasonal focus, but it takes deep research and fast reaction.
Another pain point? Attribution. Even when we get brand mentions, many don't link back. That's where our team now uses mention-tracking tools and follows up with a polite nudge, offering a useful visual or resource to justify the link. It works about 1 in 4 times, but in today's link climate, that's a win.
Eugene Leow Zhao Wei, Director, Marketing Agency Singapore
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Reverse Outreach Secures High-Value Targeted Links
Getting high-quality links that point to specific pages, not just to the homepage.
The only approach that has consistently worked for us is reverse outreach: creating content that's so targeted and relevant, it gets picked up organically.
One example, where we received a backlink was from ComputerBild, a major German tech magazine, in an article about AI. They linked directly to one of our pages about APIs, using a relevant anchor text. This was a high-DR link with a clean, contextual placement on a subpage.
Heinz Klemann, Senior Marketing Consultant, BeastBI GmbH
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Cold Engines Need Time: Backlink Momentum Challenge
The hardest part is getting momentum when the engine is cold. Backlink growth behaves like a flywheel: the early stage is slow, and results often lag the effort. Staying consistent during this low-visibility phase is the real challenge. You must keep producing, keep promoting, and trust the compounding effect over time.
James DeLapa, SEO & Web Strategy Expert, Bottom Line Insights
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Human Connections Beat Templates in Backlink Outreach
One of the hardest parts is getting quality backlinks without sounding like everyone else. So many people send the same boring outreach emails. It's easy for editors to ignore them. I've spent hours writing emails that go nowhere. What worked better was building small relationships first—commenting on their posts, sharing their content, and being a real person before pitching anything. That human part takes time but gets more responses.
A while back, I tried to get a link for a client's article on eco-friendly skincare. I reached out to ten beauty bloggers with a fresh tip and a short, friendly email. Only one replied—and she linked to it because she liked the tone and the value. It wasn't the article that sold her, it was the way I approached her. People respond to real conversations, not canned requests.
Natalia Lavrenenko, UGC manager/Marketing manager, Rathly Marketing
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Stand Out From Generic Outreach Templates
One of the biggest challenges is standing out in a sea of templated outreach. Editors and site owners get flooded with requests every day, so even high-quality content can get ignored if your pitch feels generic.
Another hurdle is earning links without constantly giving away free content. It takes time to build relationships and stay relevant, but that's what makes a backlink truly worth it.
Ahmed Yousuf, Financial Author & SEO Expert Manager, CoinTime
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Quality Content Struggles Without Effective Promotion
Securing organic backlinks is challenging, especially in competitive markets. High-quality, relevant content is crucial for attracting these backlinks, but maintaining consistent content standards can be difficult. Organizations often struggle to create valuable, engaging content that garners attention from other websites and influencers. For instance, a fitness marketing agency may produce an informative nutrition guide but fail to receive links without effective promotion and outreach.
Mohammed Kamal, Business Development Manager, Olavivo
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Service-First SEO Attracts Authentic Travel Backlinks
In my experience, the toughest part of getting organic backlinks for our travel content is standing out in an overcrowded market. Creating truly unique experiences that grab attention isn't easy.
Last year, I put together a Californian wine country itinerary that focused on small family vineyards hit by wildfires. That story earned mentions from several major travel publications, just because it felt fresh and authentic—nobody else had really covered it like that. Honestly, authenticity beats algorithms every single time.
Building relationships with content creators is trickier these days. The line between real recommendations and paid promos keeps getting fuzzier.
I once connected with a travel blogger who used our custom Japan itinerary, not realizing I was involved. Their genuine endorsement brought in more meaningful traffic than dozens of supposedly "higher authority" links we'd chased through traditional outreach. That surprised me, but it's hard to argue with the results.
If you're struggling with backlinks, I'd say focus on solving real problems for real travelers instead of obsessing over link metrics. I call it "service-first SEO," and it's become my go-to approach.
One technique that's worked for me is doing first-hand research at destinations and publishing info you just can't find elsewhere. For example, my detailed guide to accessibility at California national parks got links from disability advocacy groups, parenting blogs, and senior travel resources—all without sending a single outreach email.
Joe Hawtin, Owner, Marin County Visitor
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Compliance Concerns Challenge IT Certification Backlinks
One of our biggest challenges in securing organic backlinks at Clearcatnet is the highly competitive and compliance-sensitive nature of the IT certification niche. Since we're in the exam dumps and certification prep space, many authoritative websites (like educational institutions, tech blogs, or online forums) are cautious about linking to our content—even if it's high-quality and informative—due to concerns around exam integrity and perceived association with unauthorized materials.
Another major hurdle is standing out in a crowded content landscape. Dozens of sites publish guides, tips, or practice questions for the same exams. So even when we create original, data-driven resources (like comparison guides or study plans), getting attention and convincing editors to link naturally often requires persistent outreach, relationship building, and offering something uniquely valuable—like exclusive data or user success stories.
Additionally, we face the challenge of scaling outreach without sounding automated or generic. Backlink acquisition takes time, and personalized emails to webmasters, bloggers, or niche influencers can be resource-intensive—especially when response rates are low.
To overcome this, we've started focusing on linkable assets, like certification trend reports and downloadable templates, and targeting niche blogs, Reddit communities, and online course providers for collaboration. It's a slower route, but more sustainable and aligned with white-hat SEO practices.
The lesson? Organic backlinks still require patience, creativity, and genuine value—especially in sensitive or saturated industries.
Kaushal Kishor, CEO, Clearcatnet
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Facts Grow Slow: Backlinks Favor Trends
Securing organic backlinks is tough when your niche is misunderstood or over-commercialized. Aesthetics gets lumped into trends too often, so educational content sometimes gets buried under search fluff.
Most backlink gatekeepers want quick clicks, not qualified knowledge. If your content avoids clickbait and stays grounded in real instruction, it takes longer to earn that visibility. That being said, fluff grows fast. Facts grow slow. That is the tradeoff.
Then there is the credibility gap. High-authority sites want long-standing voices, and sometimes niche medical professionals get boxed out. Even with press features and peer recognition, backlink offers often go to louder or trendier content creators with less depth. So, I mean, you end up doing double the work to prove the same point. Building links in this space takes persistence, but the quality payoff outweighs the shortcuts. In the end, depth wins... it just gets invited later.
Kiara DeWitt, RN, CPN, Founder & CEO, Injectco
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Relevance Trumps Volume in Sustainable Backlink Building
One of the biggest challenges I face in securing organic backlinks is finding genuinely relevant sites that align closely with our niche. It's easy to get caught up chasing volume, but I've learned that relevance drives real SEO value and referral traffic. Another hurdle is building trust with site owners—many are hesitant to link out unless they see clear value for their audience. To overcome this, I focus on creating highly targeted, data-backed content that naturally attracts attention and offers unique insights. However, even with great content, outreach can be time-consuming and requires persistence. Balancing these efforts while avoiding shortcuts that risk our domain's reputation is an ongoing challenge, but it's necessary to build a sustainable backlink profile that supports long-term growth.
Nikita Sherbina, Co-Founder & CEO, AIScreen
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Real Relationships Power Organic Backlink Success
One of the biggest challenges in securing organic backlinks is standing out in a crowded space. There's so much content out there, even high-quality articles can get overlooked. Reaching the right audience and getting noticed by reputable sites takes time and persistence.
Another challenge is building real relationships. Cold outreach rarely works anymore—people can tell when it's just a copy-paste email. It takes genuine effort to connect with others in your industry, offer value, and earn their trust.
Also, getting backlinks from high-authority sites often means creating content that's not only useful but unique enough to be worth referencing. That's a tall order when everyone's trying to rank.
It's a long game—consistency, good content, and real relationships are key. But it's definitely not easy.
Joseph Commisso, Owner, WeBuyHousesQuick.ca
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Human Stories Earn Backlinks Beyond Industry Publications
Securing quality organic backlinks in the 3PL and fulfillment space presents unique challenges. Our industry is highly specialized, which narrows the pool of relevant sites that would naturally link to our content.
The most significant hurdle we face is creating content that resonates beyond our immediate industry circle. While logistics professionals understand the value of optimized fulfillment networks and distributed inventory models, translating these concepts into content that appeals to broader business publications requires constant refinement.
I've noticed that when we publish highly technical content about warehouse slotting optimization or inventory forecasting algorithms, it attracts industry attention but few backlinks. Conversely, our case studies demonstrating tangible ROI for eCommerce brands generate significantly more organic sharing and linking.
Another challenge is the competitive nature of our space. Many 3PLs invest heavily in content marketing, making it difficult to stand out. I remember launching what we thought was an innovative fulfillment cost calculator, only to discover three competitors had released similar tools within the same quarter!
We've found success by focusing on data-driven content that addresses pain points at the intersection of eCommerce and logistics. For instance, our annual report on shipping trends across different product categories consistently earns backlinks from both industry publications and mainstream business media.
Building relationships with journalists has been crucial but time-intensive. Unlike B2C brands that can easily leverage trending topics, we need to carefully position our expertise to make logistics stories newsworthy and linkable.
The seasonality of eCommerce also affects our backlink acquisition. During Q4 when fulfillment is top-of-mind for retailers, our content naturally performs better, but maintaining consistent backlink growth during slower seasons requires creative approaches to content development.
Ultimately, our most successful strategy has been highlighting the human stories behind successful fulfillment operations. When we showcase how the right 3PL partnership transformed a struggling eCommerce brand into a scalable business, that narrative resonates far beyond industry publications and attracts the diverse backlink profile we're aiming for.
Joe Spisak, CEO, Fulfill.com
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Persistence and Value Win Backlinks Despite Silence
Getting organic backlinks from all angles is a grind. Biggest pain for me? Time and publishers playing hard to get. I've spent weeks emailing bloggers and journalists, pitching retreat safety guides and high profile write-ups, only to get silence or shady pay-to-play offers. One backlink took 17 emails and to land on a small, 20 DA travel site. Don't even get me started on the article guidelines some of these people demand.
My philosophy? Offer real value, like breaking down your unique selling point or share in detail a great learn that readers can apply to their own projects. If your service/product is truly legit, it should be easier than you think. Stay persistent, focus on niche sites, and skip the big dogs who just want cash and will unlink you a month later.
Chris Brewer, Managing Director, Best Retreats
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Commission Model Flips Backlink Strategy for Success
We secured backlinks from over 15 luxury travel sites without a single cold email, just by making their sales teams more money.
After launching Mexico-City-Private-Driver.com, I realized traditional backlink outreach wouldn't work for us. We weren't a blog or content brand. We sold high-ticket, time-sensitive services. So I flipped the pitch: instead of begging for backlinks, I offered luxury travel agents and boutique hotels 15 percent commission on every client they sent our way. We gave them ready-to-use landing pages, private tour booking links, and even WhatsApp concierge support in English and French.
The challenge wasn't getting them interested. It was proving we wouldn't mess up their client relationships. So we ran a beta with just 3 partners and overdelivered. One French travel agency alone generated \$4,300 in sales in the first 10 days. That credibility unlocked a snowball effect: more referrals, more backlinks, higher trust. We ranked on Page 1 for "private driver Mexico City" in under 60 days.
Our biggest challenge today? Filtering who gets access. Because now, everyone wants to link to us—but we only keep partners who truly understand our standards of service.
Martin Weidemann, Owner, Mexico-City-Private-Driver.com
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Fresh Hooks Cut Through Oversaturated Backlink Niches
One of the biggest challenges is earning links that are both authoritative and relevant. It's easy to land generic backlinks through directories or low-quality guest posts, but they don't move the needle. High-value links require strong content and a pitch that editors want to cover, which takes time and relationships.
Another challenge: standing out in oversaturated niches. In pest control, for example, top home and local sites are bombarded with similar pitches. We overcome this by offering original data or unique local angles that give outlets a reason to feature us. Without a fresh hook, even significant outreach falls flat.
Andrew Peluso, Founder, What Kind Of Bug Is This
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Tech Knowledge Powers Relevant Backlink Content
As someone with a business and background in tech, I would say the biggest challenge here is staying up-to-date and knowledgeable on current IT trends within my field. I have found the key to organic backlinks is providing content and information that is relevant and well-researched, so it's essential to stay on top of new developments within the industry. This can be difficult in such a fast-past and always-evolving field.
Soumya Mahapatra, CEO, Essenvia
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Building Credibility From Scratch
One of my biggest challenges in securing organic backlinks is building credibility from scratch. Even with relevant experience, it takes time to build up trust under a new name and domain, especially when asking for links from sites with higher authority.
Another challenge is that not every potential client fully understands the value of backlinks, so part of the work is not just outreach, but also education.
Ana Carlson, Owner, Visiblix
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As someone who specializes in linkbuilding, these insights are really interesting. It seems as though many professionals struggle to consistently secure quality organic links, and as someone in the space, I can understand. We’ve encountered so many people who have turned to paid backlinks, have given up on SEO altogether, and many companies who continue to bang their heads against walls consistently.
It doesn’t have to be this way!
There are opportunities to secure organic backlinks and we’re doing it every day. In fact, we’ve secured over 5,000 backlinks in the last 18 months or so.
Want to know how? No problem, I offer up free 1-on-1 consultation calls where I share our secrets (no obligation). You can become an organic linkbuilder if you have the proper toolkit available to you!
