Link Building for Enterprise Sites: 8-Step Framework for 2025

Enterprise link building presents both challenges and opportunities. 

Enterprises have brand clout and a lot of low-hanging fruit to pluck. But pushing for stakeholder buy-in and orchestrating large campaigns is hard work. 

A clear strategy that aligns everybody and is tied to measurable objectives is vital. 

Fortunately, I’ve got a tested blueprint for you. 

Key Takeaways

• Enterprise link building involves obtaining links for sophisticated enterprise sites. 
• Stakeholder buy-in and cross-departmental collaboration are important foundations. 
• Broken internal links, 404 error pages, and brand mentions are easy wins. 
• The majority of links will come from the creation of linkable assets (linkbait) promoted through outreach. 

What Is Enterprise Link Building?

Enterprise link building is the process of earning links for large, often elaborate websites run by enterprise brands. 

It differs from “normal” link building in two ways. First, it happens at scale. Second, it requires SEOs to coordinate an array of different processes. 

To start off with there’s the technical task of managing thousands of internal links. And that’s before you’ve even started with extensive outreach campaigns, creation of shareworthy assets, digital PR, brand tracking—the list goes on.

Step 1: Appease Stakeholders With Clear Objectives

For buy-in from the right people—usually the CMO or senior head of marketing with input from the financial department—a two-pronged approach works best. 

First, if possible, demonstrate the ROI of previous link-building campaigns. If you don’t have that data available, third-party case studies are your next best option. 

Second, connect your link-building strategy to specific metrics, with the promise of regular reports. Tying link building to revenue isn’t an exact science. But most marketing leaders understand the value of high-quality links. And they’re typically willing to take a long view.

Use the following metrics to show performance: 

• Referring domains: The number of referring domains with dofollow links acquired every month. 
• Rankings (Average Position): The average increase in rankings of existing pages. 
• Traffic: Growth of organic and direct traffic.
• Direct conversions: New leads and sales from visitors arriving through linking websites. 

It takes time to see results from link building. Three months is a conservative estimate. And it’s important to be clear about this with stakeholders.

That said, more immediate metrics like number of referring domains and conversions from direct traffic can bridge the gap. 

Step 2: Clarify Roles and Processes

Enterprise link building is surprisingly cross-departmental. Unlike routine SEO, which the SEO team handles (strangely enough), it draws on various skill sets. 

Let’s look at all the areas that require well-defined roles. 

Legal and Compliance

Legal teams have a nasty habit of killing link-building campaigns. Be clear about which activities require approval. If in doubt about the need for approval, err on the side of caution and ask. 

Common examples include the use of copyrighted and trademarked materials by third parties, who can represent the brand during outreach, and disclosures around sponsored material. 

Outreach

The outreach team is responsible for contacting site administrators, editors, writers, and journalists. They’ll request links based on brand mentions and promote linkable assets.

Outreach doesn’t occupy quite the same status as outbound sales, but it is a form of cold emailing. And that requires a degree of scale. It’s not uncommon for link outreach to be a full-time job at enterprises. 

Content and asset creation

The creation of linkable assets is the responsibility of the content department. Accessing in-house talent is the key to creating genuinely shareworthy content. 

Overstretched content teams can sometimes be reluctant to engage. But quality, and not quantity, is the watchword here. Remind content leaders of this if you get pushback. 

One in-depth study, an insightful infographic, or a useful tool is worth much more than 100 mediocre articles. 

Technical SEO

Don’t worry, I’ve not forgotten about the SEO department. 

They’ll be responsible for the following:

• Auditing the site for immediate link opportunities
• Researching competitor sites to identify linkworthy assets
• Tracking performance to report back to stakeholders

Oversight

With so many moving parts, a dedicated oversight role is a must. A marketer or senior SEO will usually take on this responsibility. The manager’s job here is to set goals and facilitate communication between departments. They’ll also set timelines and chase up work. 

Step 3: Take Care of Low-Hanging Fruit First

A thorough site audit can uncover a treasure chest of opportunities. But it’s not all about netting quick wins. It will amplify the results of all your subsequent link-building efforts. 

Let’s look at the low-hanging fruit. 

Internal Link Structure

Optimizing internal links is a whole subject in itself. For enterprise link building, the aim is to make sure link equity (also known as link juice) is optimally distributed. This gives you more bang for your buck when you build new links. 

Here’s a rundown of best pest practices:

• Embed contextual links with descriptive anchor text in new and existing content.
• Avoid orphan pages (pages with no links). 
• Link from high-ranking pages to newer pages to distribute equity. 
• Prioritize links to your most important content to help with ranking.

Broken Internal links

Broken internal links point to pages that don’t exist. Usually, the page has either been deleted or there’s a typo in the URL. 

Why are these bad?

Again, it’s all about link equity. Broken links are wasted opportunities to distribute equity through your site. 

Use platforms like Google Search Console and Ubersuggest to identify broken internal links and either correct the URL or redirect it to a page that exists.

Here’s a look at Ubersuggest’s audit feature:

404 Error Pages

Here we’re looking for external links that point to a page on your site that doesn’t exist anymore. 

Once you’ve found these URLs, set up 301 redirects to topically similar pages. Don’t redirect them all back to your homepage. Google has advised against this. 

Remember that a certain level of decay is natural for large sites. Ideally, you should run audits regularly to address internal and external broken links. 

Step 4: Search for Brand Mentions

Finding brand mentions and asking for links is a simple and effective strategy. 

Brand listening tools scour the internet to find mentions. You can then reach out to relevant editors or site admins and ask for a link.

For example, here’s an article in Marketing Week citing my research but without a link to my site:

Google Alerts and Brand24 are both good tools for monitoring brand mentions on an ongoing basis. 

Step 5: Create Assets That Are Actually Worthy of Links

Don’t rely on guesswork when creating what the SEO industry likes to call linkable assets. Or linkbait, depending on who you’re talking to. 

Research shows that certain types of assets work better than others, with original research and tools topping the list. 

The great thing about tools is that they’re relatively easy to create, especially with assistance from ChatGPT. Yet again, however, cross-departmental coordination is a must. You’ll need input from the tech department.

HubSpot is a great example of an enterprise site that offers easy-to-access, free tools: 

Ubersuggest also has a feature that lets you spy on your competitors to find out what’s working for them. You can improve on top linked competitor content or other assets and reach out to websites that link to them. 

Step 6: Refine Outreach Processes

Outreach is the bedrock of enterprise link building.

If you’re not following up on unlinked brand mentions, media outlets won’t consider you. Equally, you might have the most interesting, original content in the world. But if you don’t promote it, it can languish unseen. 

Promotion also has a snowball effect. The more links you generate, the more exposure you’ll receive, which further increases the likelihood of organic links. 

Successful outreach processes share the following characteristics:

• Scale and consistency: Outreach will always be a numbers game, especially for large and complex campaigns. It’s not uncommon for enterprise link-building teams to send hundreds of emails a day. 
• Well-crafted emails: Emails asking for links or coverage should be short, personalised and focused on the value you can provide. 
• Up-to-date recipient data: Getting through to the right people at reputable sites is difficult. High-quality databases like Apollo and Hunter give you access to validated email addresses. 
• Automated follow-up: A single follow-up email increases the chances of a response by 65.8%. A simple “Just checking in on my last email” is often all that’s needed. 

Step 7: Run Digital PR Campaigns

Digital PR is essentially about running interesting initiatives and asking journalists to cover them. 

Sometimes, media outlets will pick up a story or cool asset organically. However, digital PR works best with active outreach. 

Here’s a piece (with a link) about my post-keynote discussion with Campaign at Inbound 2024:

And here’s a press release announcing new Ubersuggest CEO Max Cheprasov: 

Effective digital PR campaigns have four stages:

1. Identify which linkable stories, research, content assets, product announcements, events, or other initiatives warrant coverage. 
2. Create a press release and distribute it through the main PR sites. 
3. Reach out to journalists (platforms like Cision can help with this).
4. Offer an exclusive comment to sweeten the deal for journalists. 

Over time, you can use the relationships you foster with journalists for future PR campaigns. With ongoing dialogue, you’ll also develop a sense of what large media outlets are most eager to cover. 

Step 8: Guest Post Selectively

If you’re a subject matter expert with an enterprise brand behind you, big publications will often be happy to feature you. 

These large media sites are always on the lookout for execs with a good story or subject-matter experts working on interesting projects. And most enterprises have these types of people in abundance.

Here’s one of my articles for Digital Marketing Institute:

Reach out to editors and don’t be afraid of flashing your credentials. Keep in mind, however, that their inboxes are full. Research shows that shorter, topic-relevant emails (ideally with the pitch idea in the subject line) tend to perform better. 

Bonus Step: Buy Other Sites

If you’ve got an enterprise budget, use it. 

Buying other sites shouldn’t be an exclusive link-building play. But if a site offers strong potential for traffic, brand awareness, and link potential, it’s worth considering. 

Semrush has taken this approach, buying both Backlinko and Search Engine Land in recent years. 

You can rest assured that a lot of links from those sites now point in the “right” direction.

Conclusion

The biggest challenge with enterprise link building is managing complex processes. 

One or two people can look after the whole link-building operation of a smaller site. For enterprises, this approach simply isn’t possible. 

That’s why a firm foundation of stakeholder buy-in and well-defined cross-departmental roles is non-negotiable. 

You can then use that foundation to build a linkbait and outreach machine. One that works seamlessly alongside technical SEO.

Add regular reporting to the mix to keep stakeholders happy, and regular deliveries of enterprise-grade cartons of link juice are all but guaranteed.