How to Use Featured to Secure Backlinks (and Build Real SEO Authority)
Anyone can buy backlinks. But you can’t buy the trust that comes from being quoted in respected media outlets.
This is exactly where Featured.com helps. It's a platform that gives you a direct path to get your brand, product, or service in front of real journalists and publications who actively search for credible sources to feature.
Not only does this earn you quality backlinks, but it also puts your expertise in front of larger, more targeted audiences and builds real authority – both in your industry and in Google's eyes – without feeling pushy or artificial.
This guide will walk you through the best practices and proven tips to get started confidently, so you can join the growing pool of businesses, whether large or small, that consistently earn Featured backlinks and build long-term authority.
What Are Featured Backlinks?
When we talk about backlinks from Featured.com, we’re not talking about random directory links, shady blog comments, or mass guest post farms.
Featured backlinks are earned placements that appear inside real articles, expert roundups, interviews, or how-to guides published by actual journalists and vetted publishers.
These backlinks are typically do-follow, embedded naturally in the text to add context, improve the content’s value, and reference your expertise or business.
Why does this matter? Three reasons...
Google Warns Against 'Paid' Backlinks
Paying for backlinks as a backlink acquisition strategy is fairly common. But when it's used excessively and with the intent to manipulate rankings, it crosses into abuse. Google has made it clear that this kind of behavior violates their policies and can lead to ranking drops, deindexing, or even manual penalties.
That’s where Featured offers a far better approach. Since these links are earned through your actual expertise, not financial incentives, they align closely with Google’s preference for organic, editorially placed backlinks that add value to users and make sense to search engines.
Brand Mentions + Backlinks = Long-Term SEO Value
When you're cited repeatedly as an expert across multiple articles, your brand gains stronger visibility in search. People who come across your name once or twice may eventually type it directly into Google, and that branded search volume grows steadily.
Compare that to the typical guest posting approach. Yes, you may get a backlink, but that's about it. It falls two, three, or even four levels below what Featured can deliver because of the cumulative branded exposure that comes with it.
Higher Trust Flow
The very fact that a potential reader sees you mentioned in Forbes or another well-known publication rather than in some obscure site triggers immediate trust.
So, as your brand continues gaining mentions, your share of voice grows compared to competitors, leading to better lead flow and higher conversion rates.
How Does Featured Compare to HARO?
If you’ve been around link building or digital PR for any amount of time, you’ve likely heard of – or at least seen the name – Help a Report Out (HARO).
For those newer to this space, HARO is another solid platform for earning media placements and securing high-quality backlinks. I’ve used it extensively for digital PR campaigns (and proudly with great success).
Comparing the two, HARO certainly has its merits – I’ve written about it in detail on the RepuLinks blog. But I think of Featured as that more polished, more decorated cousin at the family reunion. Here’s what I mean.
Stronger Pitch Visibility
Featured.com requires users to make an upfront investment to unlock its full functionality (yes, there's a free version, but it doesn’t help much). Because of this setup, the contributor pool becomes smaller and far more serious.
This means you’re not competing against thousands of generic submissions or low-effort spam that flood HARO. Rather, you're competing with few people, real experts, as well. And so, your odds of getting selected (and getting that backlink) go way up.
At least for me, that makes the price less of a drawback, especially when you factor in the additional features available in the higher tiers.
Platform Tracking
Featured also handles post-submission tracking far better than HARO. After you submit a pitch, you can see exactly where it stands: In review, selected, published, not selected or skipped.
Whereas, with HARO, unless the journalist reaches out directly (very rare) or you happen to have your own alerts set up (Google Alerts for example), you might never know whether your submission earned a new backlink or permanently dissolved into the void.
Beyond tracking, Featured lets you review failed submissions, helping you optimize future pitches and see which topics or publishers are most responsive to your answers.
The Editorial Layer
Perhaps Featured’s best differentiator is its internal editorial layer. After you hit submit, your response doesn’t go straight to the journalist. First, Featured’s editorial team screens every submission to check for:
Relevance to the query
Effort (no one-liners, generic AI spam, or irrelevant answers)
Spam, keyword stuffing, or pure self-promotion
This benefits both sides of the platform. Journalists receive cleaner, higher-quality submissions that make their jobs easier. As for you, the expert, you no longer have to worry about seeing your carefully written responses buried under thousands of low-quality, AI-generated junk.
Getting Started with Featured Backlinking
This section breaks down how to set up your Featured.com account, build your profile, and start submitting pitches that give you the highest chance of landing backlinks.
Step 1: Sign Up & Sign In
Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.
Step 2: Create a Profile
You will need to create a profile for the person (whether it’s you or someone else) you will be representing. On the Featured.com homepage, simply click “Profiles” on the left sidebar, then select “Add New Profile”.
Fill in the information, making sure the information you enter correctly matches the corresponding LinkedIn account. Featured can be strict with profile accuracy, and any mismatches may get your profile flagged.
Now, this profile system actually highlights one of Featured’s best advantages.
Once your profile is set up, you won't have to re-enter your information every time you submit a response, unlike many platforms. You simply choose the profile, write your answer and hit submit – a huge time saver.
Hot Tip: Make sure your profile picture isn’t created using AI, and that you are the only person in it. If not, your profile could be flagged and it can impact your success rate.
Step 3: Look at All The Parameters
Before you even begin typing your response, you want to look at the questions, the publication, the due date, the DA, and the attribution (do-follow, un-linked, unknown, no-follow). These details will help you get a better understanding of what you’re getting, once you write your answer and hit submit:
Publication: Focus on articles or publishers that cover topics related to your business, niche, or audience. The closer the match, the more natural your backlink will look and feel within the content, and the more likely it is to be embraced by both the journalist and their readers.
Due date: If you want to work on the answer and submit it later, you need to be aware that the question could close quickly, depending on the deadline.
Domain Authority (DA): DA isn't a perfect metric, but a site or publication with higher DA often signals stronger authority and greater long-term SEO value. Naturally, those are the opportunities you'll want to prioritize.
Attribution type: Check whether the query is marked as “Linked,” “Unknown,” “No-Follow,” or “Un-Linked.” Most of the time, you’ll get some form of backlink, except for “Un-Linked”, which often means no link at all or just a LinkedIn mention.
Step 4: Prepare a Clear and Compelling Response
What you write is, of course, important. But on Featured, journalists select responses that bring unique insights or useful information they can easily quote. To help you write the kind of response they’re looking for, here are specific, practical ways to make your pitch stand out:
Lead with a direct answer. Don’t bury your main point. Start by answering the journalist’s question clearly before adding context or examples. The Bottom Line Up Front (BLUF) method is something we at Repulinks find works particularly well for this.
Share something specific and unique. Journalists look for real, specific information they can quote. Use personal insights, case studies, client experiences, or original examples that others won’t have.
Keep it concise but substantial. Featured imposes a character limit for a reason. Keep the response focused while offering enough value to make your response useful.
Use a simple structure. Break complex ideas into steps, lists, or quick bullets that make your point easy to digest.
Human-written content. It’s a fact that real, unique content written by a human will stand out more than AI-Generated content, as most of these will follow the same format. Instead, try to be unique in your writing so it stands out as being real!
The points mentioned above reflect what Featured themselves have outlined as general best practices that help responses stand a better chance of getting selected.
Hot Tip: Don’t worry if you aren’t ready to hit submit. There is an option to save the draft and come back to it at a later time. (Just remember the deadlines.)
Step 5: Be Patient and Responsive
Getting your backlink featured often involves a collaborative editorial process. Sometimes, your link may get placed in just a few days, while other times it may take months before it appears.
This is what makes the dashboard so helpful for this particular platform. You can monitor which pitches are in review, selected, published, or not published, which allows you to track upcoming wins more effectively.
Step 6: Monitor Your Backlinks’ Performance
After your backlink is published, track specific metrics that align with your specific goals, like referral traffic, time spent on page, bounce rate, and conversions.
Tools like Google Analytics, Google Search Console, or other third-party SEO platforms such as Ahrefs or SEMrush can help you gather such insights, allowing you to refine your targeting, focus on the most effective queries, and pursue backlink opportunities that deliver stronger long-term results.
Success Tips for First-Time Featured.com Users
If you're using Featured.com for the first time, these proven strategies can help you land backlinks more consistently.
Optimize Your Online Profile or Website
Make sure your online presence, whether it’s your website, social media, or business profiles, is polished and clearly conveys what you do. Include details that instantly show writers or journalists that you're a trustworthy, professional source worth linking to, such as:
your core services or products
who you serve
your specific areas of expertise
key industries you focus on
any notable credentials, certifications, awards, or past media features that help position you as a credible expert
Target Multiple Types of Publications
Featured backlinks don’t just appear in standard blog posts. Depending on the outlet, your quote might get published inside an expert roundup, interview-style piece, product review, or how-to guide. That said, contributing across different publications can help get your name in front of different audiences.
Spread Your Backlinks Across Sites
From an SEO standpoint, getting featured in different types of content helps build a more natural-looking link profile. You don’t want all your links coming from one article, one site, or one type of content. Instead, aim for backlinks across multiple domains, publication types, and topics.
Ensure Your Linked Content Adds Value
When your pitch gets accepted, editors often review the page you want them to link to. Make sure your page is well-designed, informative, up-to-date, and actually link-worthy. If it appears thin, outdated, or irrelevant, there’s a strong chance they’ll choose not to link to it at all.
Consider Upgrading to Pro or Business Plans
If you have the budget, I highly recommend getting Featured's paid plans. Either option can open up more opportunities for securing backlinks:
Pro Plan: Provides you with unlimited query responses and more keyword alerts, increasing your chances of securing backlinks from a wider pool of publishers.
Business Plan: Offers everything in Pro, but with added features like:
AI augmentation: Analyzes previous successful submissions to suggest improvements for your responses.
Interview profile feature: Allows you to create full-length expert profiles journalists can reference to better vet your expertise and credibility.
Bylined article feature: Lets you submit full articles under your name, giving you bylined content placements on partner publications./
Many of the clients we've worked with at Repulinks no longer had to purchase or manage their own Featured Pro or Business accounts. This is already handled within our fully customized Linkbuilding: Pro package, where everything – including access to Featured’s premium features – is fully managed for them.
If you'd rather not deal with managing subscriptions or navigating platform features yourself, this is something we're happy to help you with.
Avoid These Common Mistakes
Skipping Competitive Research
Technically, there isn't a direct competitor analysis tool built into Featured, but here's a workaround that most overlook – creating a publisher account.
This lets you post a few sample queries and review actual responses submitted by other experts. While it may require a bit of effort, it allows you to study patterns that help you shape your own pitches and align better with what journalists expect.
Expecting Instant Backlinks After Upgrading
Buying a premium Featured account doesn't guarantee backlinks. At the end of the day, your success still depends on the quality of your responses and whether journalists see your answers as valuable enough to include.
It all comes down to having a system that helps you stay creative while submitting pitches on the regular. That’s how my team and I at Repulinks have always approached it, since many of the business owners and marketers we work with struggle with schedules and consistency.
Attempting to Craft the "Perfect" Response
Here's the thing: "Perfect" lies in the eyes of the journalist – and that’s out of your control.
Remember that queries have deadlines. Taking too long to craft your response not only means missing your chance to submit for that query, but also losing the opportunity to respond to other, potentially better, ones. Respond quickly while the topic is still fresh.
Featured is Not Just for the Big Brands...
A lot of people assume Featured.com is mainly for large companies, high-profile SaaS founders, or PR agencies with big budgets. And it’s easy to see why:
Featured markets itself around “expert contributions,” which makes it sound like you need to be a huge authority or have a big company to participate.
The platform partners with recognizable media outlets like Inc., Forbes, and Fast Company, which can feel intimidating.
Even the word "Featured" itself feels a bit "elite" compared to something like "Help a Reporter Out."
But the reality is that Featured works very well for solo founders, small agencies, and local startups. If anything, I would say small businesses have more room to benefit because they don't have to deal with layers of corporate PR bureaucracy.
They can move fast and tend to write more authentic responses, which is something journalists appreciate a lot.
That all said, as long as you're capable of:
Giving clear, actionable, useful answers
Positioning your bio/expertise credibly
Pitching consistently
You’re fully qualified to leverage Featured – no matter the size of your business.
Get Featured Backlinks Done For You
Featured backlinks work best when they deliver real value for both the content creator and the audience. Ultimately, how successful you'll be on Featured depends heavily on the quality of your responses and your consistency in submitting pitches.
If this overwhelms you or you simply don't have the time to manage it, Repulinks can step in and handle the entire process instead. That frees you up to focus on your business while still building the kind of backlinks that strengthen your SEO authority.
Feel free to reach out if you want help with Featured or a fully-hands-off link building strategy.
