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Backlinks remain one of Google's top three ranking factors. For e-commerce stores, quality backlinks mean higher search rankings, more organic traffic, and ultimately more sales — all without paying for ads. But getting backlinks is the part most store owners struggle with.
In this guide, we'll cover 12 proven strategies to get backlinks for your e-commerce store in 2026, from quick wins to long-term plays.
Why Backlinks Matter for E-Commerce
Google's algorithm treats backlinks as "votes of confidence." When a relevant, authoritative site links to your store, Google interprets it as a signal that your store is trustworthy and worth ranking higher.
For e-commerce specifically, backlinks help with:
- Category and product page rankings — backlinks to specific pages boost their search visibility
- Domain authority — overall site trust, which helps all pages rank better
- Referral traffic — people clicking the link itself, not just SEO benefit
- Faster indexing — Google discovers new pages faster when they're linked from existing sites
- Brand credibility — being featured on respected sites builds customer trust
Quick Wins: Easy Backlinks You Can Get This Week
1. Business Directory Listings
List your store on relevant directories. These are easy to get and provide foundational backlinks:
- Google Business Profile (essential for local SEO)
- Bing Places for Business
- Trustpilot and Better Business Bureau
- Industry-specific directories (e.g., beauty directories for skincare stores)
- Local chambers of commerce
- Crunchbase (for registered businesses)
2. Social Media Profiles
Your social media profiles (Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest, YouTube, TikTok) all include links to your store. While these are "nofollow" links (they don't pass SEO authority directly), they contribute to your overall link profile and drive referral traffic.
3. Partner and Supplier Links
If you work with suppliers, manufacturers, or business partners, ask if they have a "where to buy" or "partners" page that can link to your store. These are high-quality, relevant backlinks that are relatively easy to get.
Content-Based Backlink Strategies
4. Create Linkable Assets
Create content that other sites naturally want to link to. The best linkable assets for e-commerce:
- Original data and statistics — conduct a survey, analyze trends, publish findings
- Comprehensive guides — the ultimate resource on a topic in your niche
- Infographics — visually appealing, easy to embed with a link back
- Free tools or calculators — margin calculators, sizing guides, etc.
- Industry reports — annual state-of-the-industry content
Ritsbo stores include a built-in blog platform where you can publish these assets. Each blog post is SEO-optimized with structured data — see store options here.
5. Guest Posting
Write articles for blogs in your industry. In exchange, you get an author bio with a link to your store. Focus on blogs with domain authority 30+ that are relevant to your niche.
How to find guest post opportunities:
- Search:
"your niche" + "write for us" - Search:
"your niche" + "guest post" - Search:
"your niche" + "contributor guidelines" - Check competitor backlinks with Ahrefs or Ubersuggest — see who linked to them
- Pitch 3–5 topic ideas that fill content gaps on their site
6. Product Reviews and Blogger Outreach
Send free products to bloggers and influencers in your niche in exchange for an honest review with a backlink. This is one of the most effective strategies for e-commerce stores.
Outreach tips:
- Find bloggers via Google:
"your niche" + "blog" - Check their domain authority before reaching out
- Personalize each email — reference a specific recent post
- Offer the product with no strings attached (FTC-compliant)
- Follow up once after 7 days if no response
Digital PR Backlink Strategies
7. HARO (Help a Reporter Out)
HARO connects journalists with sources. Sign up for free, and you'll receive daily emails from journalists looking for expert quotes. Respond with helpful insights, and if quoted, you'll get a backlink from a major publication (often domain authority 70+).
8. Get Featured in "Best Of" Listicles
Search for "best [your product type] 2026" articles. Email the author, introduce your product, and ask if they'd consider including it in their next update. Many will — listicle authors are always looking for new products to feature.
9. Create a Scholarship or Charity Initiative
Create a small scholarship ($500–$1,000) and list it on scholarship directories (.edu sites with high domain authority). This is an old-school but effective tactic for getting powerful .edu backlinks.
Community and Forum Backlinks
10. Q&A Sites (Quora, Reddit)
Answer questions on Quora and Reddit relevant to your products. Include a link to your store when genuinely helpful. These are nofollow links but drive targeted referral traffic and build brand awareness.
11. Podcast Appearances
Be a guest on industry podcasts. Most podcast show notes include a backlink to the guest's website. Search for podcasts in your niche and pitch yourself as a guest with 3–5 topic ideas.
Advanced Backlink Strategies
12. Broken Link Building
Find broken links on relevant websites and offer your content as a replacement. Use tools like Ahrefs Broken Link Checker or Check My Links (Chrome extension). When you find a broken link, create content that matches what was originally linked, then email the site owner suggesting your content as a replacement.
13. Skyscraper Technique
Find top-performing content in your niche (high backlinks), create something 10x better, then reach out to everyone who linked to the original and suggest they link to your improved version instead.
Backlink Strategies to Avoid
Some backlink tactics can actively harm your SEO:
- Buying backlinks — violates Google guidelines, risk of penalties
- Link farms and PBNs — low-quality, easily detected
- Comment spam — dropping links in blog comments
- Irrelevant directory submissions — low-quality directories hurt more than help
- Excessive link exchanges — Google detects reciprocal linking patterns
How to Track Your Backlinks
Monitor your backlink profile with these tools:
- Google Search Console — free, shows links Google has found
- Ahrefs — comprehensive backlink analysis ($99/mo)
- Ubersuggest — affordable alternative ($29/mo)
- Moz Link Explorer — domain authority metrics
- SEMrush — backlink gap analysis vs competitors
Start Building Backlinks Today
The foundation of backlink building is having a store worth linking to. Ritsbo stores come with SEO-optimized product pages, a built-in blog for content marketing, structured data for rich snippets, and automatic sitemap generation. Browse pre-made stores →