SEO & backlinks
Ways to earn links that keep working after launch week.
The slowest channel here and the only one that compounds. A launch spike lasts two days; a page that ranks brings people every week for years.
Alternative-to pages
evergreenhigh-intentA page per major competitor: [Competitor] alternative. High commercial intent and reliably rankable because the incumbent will not write an honest one.
Be genuinely fair about where they are better. Comparison pages that pretend otherwise convert worse and get linked less.
Free tool as a link magnet
evergreenlinksShip a small, genuinely useful calculator or generator on a subpath of your domain. People link to tools; they do not link to landing pages.
It has to work without a signup or it earns nothing.
Directory backlinks
quick-winThe listings in the Directories shelf are also your easiest early links. Prioritise the ones that give a dofollow link on a real profile page.
Diminishing returns after the first thirty or so — this is a foundation, not a strategy.
Original data posts
linksslowPublish a number nobody else has. Survey your users, analyse your own anonymised usage, count something in public.
The single most reliable way to earn links from people who have never heard of you, and the slowest thing on this list.