Ecommerce Link Building: How to Build Backlinks for Online Stores

For an ecommerce business, getting products in front of customers is only half the battle.

Your store also needs to be discoverable when potential customers search for products, brands, solutions, and categories on Google. While technical SEO, product optimization, content, and user experience all play important roles, ecommerce link building can provide another powerful way to strengthen organic visibility.

Yes, ecommerce link building is very useful.

It helps online stores rank higher in search results, builds trust with shoppers, and drives direct referral traffic. Because product and category pages are hard to get links for naturally, stores use special tactics to earn them.

The challenge is building links that are genuinely useful rather than collecting large quantities of irrelevant backlinks.

What Is Ecommerce Link Building?

Ecommerce link building is the process of acquiring external links from other websites to an online store, its products, categories, guides, or other valuable pages.

For example, a fashion publication might link to an ecommerce brand's new collection, a product reviewer might link to a specific product, or an industry website might reference a buying guide published by the store.

These links can serve multiple purposes.

They can help search engines discover your pages, potentially contribute to ranking signals, introduce your brand to new audiences, and send visitors directly to your store.

Unlike some other types of websites, ecommerce stores face a unique challenge: product pages aren't always naturally link-worthy.

A website owner may be more likely to link to an original study, useful guide, or interesting story than directly to a product page.

That's why ecommerce brands need creative approaches to link building for ecommerce.

Why Is Ecommerce Link Building Important?

A successful ecommerce SEO strategy isn't just about optimizing product titles and descriptions.

External authority can also matter.

Higher Rankings

Higher Rankings: Search engines see quality links as votes of confidence.

When relevant websites reference your content or products, those links can contribute to the signals search engines use to evaluate your website.

This doesn't mean that every backlink automatically improves rankings.

Relevance, context, website quality, and the overall backlink profile all matter.

The goal should therefore be to build meaningful links rather than simply increase the number of backlinks.

More Traffic

More Traffic: Trusted sites send ready-to-buy shoppers straight to your store.

This is one of the biggest advantages of ecommerce link building.

A link from a product review website, fashion publication, technology blog, or relevant industry publication can introduce your products to an audience that is already interested in what you sell.

That means the value of a backlink isn't limited to SEO.

It can potentially generate direct visitors, leads, and sales.

Brand Authority

Brand Authority: Mentions on major sites make your shop look credible.

When shoppers repeatedly see your brand referenced by reputable websites, publications, influencers, and industry resources, it can strengthen brand recognition and credibility.

This can be particularly important for newer ecommerce businesses competing against established brands.

Best Ecommerce Link Building Strategies

Not every traditional SEO tactic works equally well for ecommerce.

Here are several approaches that can work particularly well for online stores.

1. Digital PR

Digital PR: Pitch newsworthy data or unique products to journalists.

Digital PR can be an effective way to earn media coverage and backlinks.

An ecommerce business might pitch:

• Original customer research

• Industry statistics

• Product trends

• Seasonal data

• Unique product launches

• Consumer surveys

• Expert commentary

• Interesting company stories

For example, a skincare brand could publish research about consumer skincare habits and pitch the findings to beauty and lifestyle publications.

A successful story can generate multiple mentions and links from relevant websites.

2. Product Reviews

Product Reviews: Send free items to trusted bloggers and reviewers.

Product reviews are particularly relevant to ecommerce businesses because the content naturally revolves around the product.

A reviewer may publish an article explaining their experience with the product and include a link to the store where readers can find it.

The important factor is choosing reviewers who actually reach your target audience.

A link from a website with a smaller but highly relevant audience may be more valuable strategically than a mention from a large but unrelated website.

Always follow applicable advertising and disclosure requirements when products are provided for review.

3. Supplier Links

Supplier Links: Ask your manufacturers or suppliers to link to you as a stockist.

This can be one of the simplest opportunities for established ecommerce businesses.

If your company sells products manufactured by another business, check whether the manufacturer maintains a list of authorized retailers, distributors, stockists, or ecommerce partners.

If you're legitimately listed as a retailer, asking the supplier to include your store can create a relevant backlink.

These links can also make sense from a user perspective because customers may want to know where they can purchase the manufacturer's products.

4. Unlinked Mentions

Unlinked Mentions: Find sites that name your brand and ask them to add a link.

Sometimes websites mention an ecommerce brand without including a hyperlink.

These are known as unlinked brand mentions.

You can identify relevant mentions and contact the website owner or editor to politely ask whether they would consider linking the brand mention to your website.

This can be an efficient tactic because the website has already decided that your brand is worth mentioning.

The link request simply turns an existing mention into a clickable resource.

Link Building SEO for Ecommerce Content

One of the biggest mistakes ecommerce businesses make is trying to build links exclusively to product pages.

Instead, create content that naturally attracts links.

Examples include:

• Buying guides

• Original research

• Product comparisons

• Industry reports

• Size guides

• Statistics pages

• Tutorials

• Expert guides

• Interactive tools

• Trend reports

For example, an outdoor ecommerce store could publish a detailed hiking equipment guide.

Other outdoor websites may be more willing to reference that guide than a single product page.

The guide can then introduce readers to relevant products through internal links.

This creates a connection between link building SEO and ecommerce conversion strategy.

Build Links to Different Types of Pages

A natural ecommerce backlink profile shouldn't point exclusively to your homepage.

You can build links toward:

• Homepage

• Category pages

• Product guides

• Blog posts

• Research pages

• Buying guides

• Product pages

• Brand pages

This creates a broader distribution of external references.

However, don't force backlinks to pages simply because they are commercial.

The destination should make sense within the context of the referring article.

What to Avoid in Ecommerce Link Building

Good ecommerce link building is about quality.

Buying Cheap Links

Buying Cheap Links: Bulk-buying or spammy links can trigger search engine penalties.

Extremely cheap packages promising hundreds or thousands of backlinks should be approached cautiously.

Automated links, link farms, spam comments, and unrelated placements can create an unnatural backlink profile.

Instead of chasing volume, prioritize relevant websites and genuine editorial opportunities.

Ignoring Quality

Ignoring Quality: One link from a major news site beats dozens of low-quality directory links.

The number of links isn't the only metric that matters.

Consider:

• Website relevance

• Editorial quality

• Audience

• Context

• Referral traffic

• Reputation

• Link placement

A relevant publication that sends actual potential customers can be significantly more valuable than dozens of irrelevant directory listings.

Ecommerce Link Building vs. Traditional Link Building

The fundamentals are similar, but ecommerce websites have additional considerations.

A B2B software company might primarily promote research, reports, and educational guides.

An ecommerce brand can promote those assets too, but it also has products, collections, reviews, buying guides, and seasonal campaigns.

The best link building ecommerce strategy therefore connects SEO with merchandising and marketing.

For example:

Product launch → Digital PR → Media coverage → Backlinks → Referral traffic → Product discovery → Sales

This makes link building part of the larger customer acquisition system.

How to Measure Ecommerce Link Building

Don't measure success by backlink count alone.

Track metrics such as:

• Referring domains

• New backlinks

• Lost backlinks

• Organic rankings

• Organic traffic

• Referral traffic

• Revenue from organic traffic

• Assisted conversions

• Brand mentions

• Links to priority pages

Also pay attention to which campaigns attract the most links.

If original research consistently earns more backlinks than product announcements, you can invest more heavily in research-led content.

Final Thoughts

Ecommerce link building can be a powerful part of an online store's SEO strategy.

The best campaigns don't depend on buying cheap backlinks or submitting websites to hundreds of directories.

Instead, ecommerce brands can use digital PR, product reviews, supplier relationships, unlinked brand mentions, original research, and useful content to earn relevant links.

The most important principle is simple:

Build something worth linking to, then make sure the right people know it exists.

When link building is combined with technical SEO, high-quality content, strong product pages, internal linking, and conversion optimization, it becomes much more than an SEO tactic.

It becomes a way to increase visibility, attract qualified shoppers, strengthen brand authority, and create sustainable organic growth.

FAQs

Why is link building important to e-commerce?

Link building is important to ecommerce because quality external links can support search visibility, bring referral traffic, and strengthen brand credibility. Relevant backlinks can help search engines understand the authority and relationships associated with an online store while also introducing products to new audiences.

Is link building still relevant to SEO?

Yes. Link building remains an important part of SEO, although it should not be treated as the only ranking strategy. Modern SEO campaigns should combine relevant backlinks with high-quality content, technical optimization, internal linking, search intent, and a strong user experience.

How much does link building cost?

The cost varies significantly depending on the strategy, industry, target websites, content requirements, outreach effort, and quality of placements. Digital PR, manual outreach, product reviews, and specialized ecommerce campaigns can require different levels of investment. Businesses should evaluate the relevance and quality of links rather than choosing a provider based solely on price.

Which is the best e-commerce website builder?

There isn't one best ecommerce website builder for every business. Platforms such as Shopify, WooCommerce, BigCommerce, and other ecommerce systems can work well depending on the company's requirements, technical resources, integrations, budget, and growth plans. The best platform is the one that supports the store's products, SEO requirements, checkout experience, and operational needs.