Link-building is an important part of search engine optimization (SEO) and can help improve your website's search engine rankings. However, it can be time-consuming and difficult to know where to start. 

In this article, we will introduce you to four excellent link-building tools that can help make the process easier. 

We will explain what each tool does and how to use them effectively to build high-quality backlinks to your website. We will discuss the following four link-building tools:

  1. Ahrefs
  2. BuzzSumo
  3. Hunter.io
  4. HARO

Let’s discuss each of these tools and how to use them to build links for your website.

1. Ahrefs


Ahrefs is an all-in-one SEO tool that offers a variety of features to help you optimize your website's search engine performance. 

With Ahrefs, you can monitor your backlink profile, discover new link-building opportunities, compare your link profile with your competitors, research keywords, and more. The platform also provides detailed analytics on organic search traffic, paid search traffic, and referral traffic so that you can understand your website's performance in all aspects of SEO. 

The site explorer feature allows you to investigate any website, its backlinks, and keywords, giving you a comprehensive understanding of how a website is performing. 

Ahrefs offers several pricing plans for its users: Lite, Standard, Advanced, Agency, and Custom. The Lite Plan is priced at $99 p/m and includes access to the Ahrefs Site Explorer, Position Tracker, and Alerts features. This should be okay for most small businesses and people just starting with a website.

How to use Ahrefs for building backlinks

  1. Sign up for an Ahrefs account and add your website to the dashboard.
  2. Use the "Site Explorer" feature to analyze your backlink profile and identify any potential issues or areas for improvement.
  3. Use the "Backlink Intersect" feature to find websites that link to your competitors but not to you. These are potential link-building opportunities.
  4. Use the "Content Explorer" feature to find popular content in your niche. You can then reach out to the website owners and ask them to link to your similar content.
  5. Use the "Broken Backlinks" feature to find broken links on other websites. You can then reach out to the website owners and offer to replace the broken link with a link to your website.
  6. Use the "Best by Links" feature to find the most linked-to pages in your niche. You can then reach out to the website owners and ask them to link to your similar content.
  7. Use the "Link Opportunities" feature to find potential link-building opportunities, such as broken links, unlinked mentions, and more.
  8. Use the "Alerts" feature to set up alerts for your competitors, so you can keep an eye on their link-building efforts and find new opportunities.
  9. Use the "Link Intersect" feature to find the common links among your competitors.
  10. Use the "Link Metrics" feature to check the quality of your backlinks.

2. BuzzSumo


BuzzSumo is a tool that helps users to analyze and track content performance across various social media platforms. It allows users to see which content is popular and trending in a particular topic or industry, as well as discover influencers, backlinks, and who has shared a particular piece of content.

How to use BuzzSumo for building backlinks

Here are some steps you can take to use BuzzSumo for building backlinks:

  1. Use the "Content Research" feature to find popular content in your niche. You can then reach out to the website owners and ask them to link to your similar content.
  2. Use the "Backlinks" feature to find the backlinks of any website. This can help you identify websites that have linked to your competitors and find potential link-building opportunities.
  3. Use the "Influencers" feature to find influencers in your niche. You can then reach out to them and ask them to link to your content.
  4. Use the "Alerts" feature to set up alerts for your competitors, so you can keep an eye on their link-building efforts and find new opportunities.
  5. Use the "Mentions" feature to find unlinked mentions of your brand, competitors, or specific keywords. You can then reach out to the website owners and ask them to add a link to your website.
  6. Use the "Competitor Analysis" feature to research your competitors' backlinks, social shares, and traffic.
  7. Use the "Trending" feature to discover what topics are currently trending in your industry. You can then create content on those topics and reach out to websites linking to similar content.

3. Hunter.io


Hunter.io is a tool that helps users find email addresses and other contact information for people and companies. It allows users to search for email addresses by domain name, company name, or individual name.

How to use Hunter.io for building backlinks

  1. Use the "Email Finder" feature to find the email addresses of website owners and editors in your niche. You can search by domain name, company name, or individual name.
  2. Use the "Chrome Extension" feature to find email addresses on a web page or website with a single click.
  3. Use the "Verify Emails" feature to ensure the email addresses you have found are accurate and up-to-date.
  4. Once you have found the email addresses, you can use them to contact the website owners and ask them to link to your content.
  5. Use the "Save and Organize" feature to save the contact information you find and organize it into different lists.
  6. Use the "Export" feature to export the contact information to a CSV file for use in other applications.
  7. You can also use Hunter.io's API to integrate it with your CRM, marketing automation, or other tools.

4. HARO

HARO stands for Help a Reporter Out. It is a service that connects journalists and bloggers with expert sources for their stories. The service sends out daily emails to subscribers, which contain a list of reporter queries on various topics. 

Subscribers can then respond to the queries that are relevant to their expertise. If their response is selected, they will be quoted as an expert source in the story. 

The service is used by journalists and bloggers to find sources for their stories, and by experts to gain exposure, media coverage, and backlinks for their work.

How to use HARO for building backlinks

HARO can be used as a tool for building backlinks by responding to reporter queries that are relevant to your business or industry. 

When you respond to a query, you can include a link to your website in your response. If your response is selected and used in the story, it will include a link to your website, which can help improve your website's search engine rankings.

Here are some tips on how to best use HARO:

  1. Be selective: Don't respond to every query you receive. Instead, only respond to queries that are relevant to your business or industry.
  2. Customize your response: Tailor your response to the specific reporter's query and make sure to include a link to your website.
  3. Build upon your success: Keep track of which reporters use your responses and where the links to your site appear. Also, take notes of the type of responses that have worked well for you. Then use successful campaigns as templates to increase your chances in the future.

Conclusion

With the right tools and techniques, it's possible to improve your website's search engine rankings, drive more traffic and have a strong link profile. The four tools mentioned in this article will help you become more efficient, productive, and strategic in your link-building processes.