Link Building3 min

How to Use Original Research to Build Backlinks

Original research is the link building cheat code that most companies overlook. Here is your playbook.

Everyone Cites. Few Create.

Open any well-written blog post and count the citations. Notice how they all link back to original sources?

BE the original source.

The Research Loop

  • Pick a question your industry cares about. Not one that's been answered a hundred times. Something fresh. Use keyword research to find questions your audience is actively searching for.
  • Collect data. Surveys, product analytics, public datasets, expert interviews, manual analysis.
  • Analyze and find the story. What's surprising? What's counterintuitive? What challenges common assumptions?
  • Publish with full methodology. Transparency builds trust and makes journalists comfortable citing you.
  • Promote aggressively for 2-4 weeks. After that, organic citations take over.

    • What "Research" Actually Means

    It doesn't have to be academic. It can be:

  • Surveying 500 people in your industry
  • Analyzing 10,000 data points from your own tool
  • Manually reviewing 200 websites and documenting patterns
  • Aggregating expert opinions on a trending topic

    • The bar is lower than you think. The key is originality. Case studies are another approachable format if full-blown research feels daunting.

    The Evergreen Effect

    Good research gets cited for YEARS. A study we helped publish in 2021 still earns links today. Ahrefs' link building guide is itself a great example of research-backed content that earns links indefinitely.

    That's a compound return no other link building tactic can match.

    Start tracking your research-driven links at SEO Checkup. 113 tasks. Free.

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