You can get editorial backlinks as an indie maker in five realistic ways: pitch journalists with a real story, write guest posts for blogs your buyers read, get added to roundups and "best tools" lists, pay an agency, or use a press network that publishes a page about your product with a link in the text. The first three cost time, not money, and earn the most trusted links. Agencies cost the most. Press networks sit in between, and you should understand how Google treats paid and swapped links before you use one. Nothing below guarantees a ranking or an AI citation; a link is one signal among many.
This guide is for makers who keep reading that they "need backlinks" and want to know which options are real. Policies and prices were read on 4 November 2026. Disclosure: Lede Press, Hed Press, Listed Press and Piece Press are Praneet Brar's sites, as is this one.
What is an editorial link, and how is it different from a directory link?
An editorial link is a link someone places inside a piece of writing because it helps the reader: a journalist citing your data, a blogger recommending your tool, a roundup naming you as the best option for a job. The words around the link explain what you do.
A directory link is a row in a catalogue: your logo, a short blurb and a link, on a page that exists to hold many links. It can send visitors and help people find you, but it says little about you.
Editorial link | Directory link | |
|---|---|---|
Who places it | A writer or editor | You, through a form |
Context | A sentence about your product | A listing among many |
Effort | Hours to weeks | Minutes |
Link type | Often followed, but the publisher decides | Often nofollow on free tiers |
What does Google say about getting links?
Read this before spending anything. Google's spam policies list as link spam "buying or selling links for ranking purposes", including "exchanging money for links, or posts that contain links", and "excessive link exchanges". Google adds that paid links are fine when marked rel="sponsored" or rel="nofollow"; its guide to qualifying outbound links shows how.
So the cleanest editorial links are the ones nobody was paid for. Any option where money or a link swap buys a followed link carries some risk under that policy, and you should weigh it with your eyes open. That includes agencies, paid guest posts and press networks, including ours.
Option 1: pitch journalists
Reporters link to sources when the source adds something: original data, a sharp opinion from someone who does the work, or a story that fits what they already cover.
List ten writers who covered your niche in the last three months. Recent bylines matter more than famous outlets.
Find one angle that is news to their readers: a number from your own product, a trend you see first, a local story.
Send a short, personal email: one line on why them, two on the story, one on what you can share.
Follow up once, a week later. Then move on.
Expect most pitches to get no reply. One good piece can still be worth more than every directory you will ever join. Aura++ has a fuller walkthrough on getting press coverage without a PR agency.
Option 2: write guest posts
A guest post is an article you write for someone else's blog, usually with a short author bio and a link. Done well, it puts you in front of the right readers and earns a natural link.
Pick blogs your buyers actually read, not "write for us" sites that publish anything.
Pitch a specific article that fills a gap on their site, with an outline.
Write the best thing you can. Link to your product only where it genuinely helps.
Skip any blog that asks you to pay for the post. That is a paid link under Google's wording.
Option 3: get into roundups and shortlists
"Best tools for X" articles and comparison pages rank for exactly the searches your buyers make. Getting added is often a matter of asking politely with a good reason: a feature the list is missing, a price change, a use case nobody covered. IndieHunt has a step-by-step guide to getting your SaaS into "best tools" lists without paying for spam.
Option 4: hire an agency
Link-building agencies do the outreach for you, usually priced per link. Per-link quotes of $300 or more are common for placements on established sites. That can make sense for a funded team; for most indie makers it is hard to justify.
If you hire one, ask:
Which sites, by name, and can I see past placements?
Are any placements paid to the publisher? If yes, are they marked sponsored?
What happens if a link is removed after a month?
Walk away from anyone promising rankings or "guaranteed DR".
Option 5: use a press network
A press network publishes a written page about your product on its own site, with a link inside the text, instead of a catalogue row. Our network has four, each with an angle: Lede Press runs a public daily feed of product pages, Hed Press focuses on strong openers, Listed Press on roundups and shortlists, and Piece Press on longer explainers built around one decision.
How it works on Lede Press and Piece Press, per their own pages: you get one dofollow link in a written page, free if you add their badge or link back to them, or $29 without one. You can read exactly what goes on the page in Lede Press's explanation of what an editorial backlink includes. I checked one live Lede Press publication on 4 November: the link in the body text had no nofollow, while a small header link on the same page did. I could not check a live Piece Press piece, so treat that one as unverified until yours is up.
Be clear-eyed about it. The free plan is a link swap and the $29 plan is a paid placement, which is exactly the kind of link Google's policy talks about. The fair way to use it is as a cheap, readable page that explains your product to people and to answer engines, one placement at a time, not as a ranking trick. If that fits, Piece Press walks through how to get a longer editorial piece about your product.
Which option should you start with?
Option | Cost | Time | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
Journalist pitching | Free | High | Makers with data or a real story |
Guest posts | Free (never pay) | High | Makers who write well |
Roundups | Free | Medium | Products with clear alternatives |
Agency | Highest | Low for you | Funded teams |
Press network | Free with a link back, or $29 | Low | A readable page about you, accepting the paid-link trade-off |
A sensible month for a solo maker: one roundup request a week, one guest post pitch, one journalist pitch if you have a story, and at most one placement you pay for, if any.
A made-up example: Lena and Stackmeter
Lena runs Stackmeter, a tool that tracks cloud bills for small teams. She wrote to six roundup authors with a short note on what their lists were missing; two added her. She pitched one guest post on cutting cloud costs to a newsletter her buyers read. She had no data story yet, so she skipped journalists for now. The names are invented, and so is the outcome; the mix is the point.
FAQ
How can I get editorial backlinks for free?
Pitch journalists with a real story, write guest posts for relevant blogs, and ask roundup authors to consider your product. These take time but involve no payment.
Are paid editorial backlinks against Google's rules?
Google lists buying links for ranking as link spam unless the link is marked sponsored or nofollow. Weigh that before paying for any followed link.
Will editorial backlinks get me ranked or cited by AI?
No one can promise that. Links are one signal; a clear site and content people want matter as much.
How many editorial links do I need?
There is no magic number. A few links from pages your buyers read beat many from pages nobody visits.
Earn first, pay last
To get editorial backlinks without agency prices, start with the free options that earn trust: stories, guest posts and roundups. If you use a paid or swapped placement, go in knowing the trade-off and judge it by whether the page helps a reader understand what you make.