Fun backlink hack I’ve been using lately

Here’s a fun link-building hack we’ve been using at my agency: first I create a selection of sites that are indirect competitors of our clients. For example if a client sells yachts on their website, I’d make a list of indirect competitors like private jet companies, luxury real estate or high-end vehicles.

Next, don't write a boring listicle like “5 Best Private Jet Companies”. Write a more unique and engaging blog post like “The Unseen Stories Behind 5 Industry-Leading Private Jet Companies.”

We do quite a bit of extra research on things like awards they’ve won, asking our client if they know any insider info or finding interviews with the founder that mention something funny.

Once this blogpost is live on our client’s site we reach out via email. If there’s no reply, we try social media, targeting people in the marketing department or CEO (Twitter and LinkedIn work best for this in my experience).

Results have been quite good and a bit all over the place; most companies shared the post on their social media channels (one had 30k+ followers), others link back to it from their blog and one included it in their newsletter. The backlinks are relevant since they’re related to my client’s niches and always target a similar audience. This approach might help with relationship-building between the companies too but I’m no expert in that. I’m just here building links for my clients in weird ways Anyone else successfully did this ?