How to Build Backlinks for Ecommerce: your free link plan
Pick what you sell. Get a ranked plan of the gift guides, reviewers, stockists, review sites and press that link to online stores, with the exact searches and outreach emails.
The full list
Your 17 best backlink sources for ecommerce stores
Ranked by impact, effort and cost for your products. Tick each one off as you go; your progress stays in this browser.
17 sources7 quick wins13 free or earned0 done
#1
Stockist and retailer pages
Quick winPartnershipFreeEffort low · Impact high
Every shop that carries your products is a natural link: a "brands we carry" page, a brand collection page or a stockist mention.
How to get this linkHide steps
List every retailer that stocks you, online and offline.
Ask each one to link the brand page to your store. Send a logo and a short brand description.
"brands we carry" OR "our brands" "[product]"
Add your product above to search
#2
Trustpilot
trustpilot.com
Quick winAuthority 95Review siteFree, paid upgradesEffort low · Impact medium
A free business profile that shoppers check before buying from a store they do not know.
How to get this linkHide steps
Claim your profile, add your website, and invite every customer to review after delivery.
Aggregated trends from your sales, like the most popular colors by state or what people buy before holidays, give journalists a story with your name on it.
How to get this linkHide steps
Pick one surprising finding, publish it with a chart, and pitch it to lifestyle and local reporters.
#7
Product reviewers and creators
ContentCost variesEffort medium · Impact high
Blogs and YouTubers who review your products send buyers and often link to the store. Google asks for links from gifted products to be marked as sponsored, so the value is the traffic and sales.
How to get this linkHide steps
Shortlist reviewers whose audience buys at your price point.
Offer a product for an honest review, with no conditions on the verdict.
Make it easy: a short brief, high-resolution images and a working affiliate or discount code.
"[product]" "review" blog "I tried" OR "honest review"
Add your product above to search
#8
Supplier and manufacturer showcases
Quick winPartnershipFreeEffort low · Impact medium
Your fabric mill, packaging supplier, printer or ingredient supplier may have a customer showcase or case study page.
How to get this linkHide steps
Offer them photos and a short story about how you use their product.
#9
Unlinked brand mentions
Quick winContentFreeEffort low · Impact medium
Bloggers, forums and news sites already mention your business without linking. These are the easiest links to win.
How to get this linkHide steps
Search your brand name and exclude your own site.
Thank the author and ask them to link the mention to your store.
Some shoppers, mostly in the US, check BBB before buying. Every business can have a free basic BBB profile. Accreditation is a paid program that adds the BBB seal and extra profile features.
How to get this linkHide steps
Consider it once the free sources are done, if your customers care about BBB ratings.
PartnershipCost variesEffort medium · Impact medium
Co-host a giveaway or a bundle with a brand whose customers overlap with yours. Both sites announce it and link to each other’s product.
How to get this linkHide steps
Pick a complementary brand of similar size and agree on how each side will announce it.
Authority = Domain Rank by DataForSEO, on a 0 to 100 scale, October 2026. Costs and policies change; check each site before you sign up.
Outreach emails
Write the email that gets the link
Pick who you are contacting and get a short, honest email you can send today. Personalize it with AI in one click.
Every shop that carries your products is a natural link: a "brands we carry" page, a brand collection page or a stockist mention.
Fill in the [brackets], then send it from your own inbox. We never send anything for you.
Template
Add your business above for a more specific AI draft.
Find more
Google searches that find backlinks for ecommerce stores
Each search surfaces pages that already link to ecommerce stores like you. Open one, pick the five most relevant results, and add them to your list.
Gift guides in your category
Editors who pick products like yours.
"gift guide" "[product]" 2026
Add your product above to run this search
Blogs reviewing your products
Reviewers to send products to.
"[product]" "review" "I tried" OR "honest review"
Add your product above to run this search
"Best your products" roundups
Roundups to pitch for inclusion.
intitle:"best [product]" 2026
Add your product above to run this search
Retailers listing brands they carry
Shops that could stock you and link to you.
"brands we carry" "[product]"
Add your product above to run this search
Buying guides to check for broken links
Guides that may link to products that no longer exist.
"[product]" "buying guide"
Add your product above to run this search
Guide
How to build backlinks for an ecommerce store
Ecommerce link building is hard for one reason: nobody wants to link to a product page for free. The links that work come attached to something editors and shoppers already want, like a gift pick, a review, a retailer listing or a story. Here is where to focus.
1. Get into gift guides and roundups
Gift guides are the single biggest source of editorial links for online stores, and they are planned months ahead. Holiday guides are pitched from late summer. A short pitch with one product, one great photo, the price and a reason it fits the publication beats a press kit.
"Best [product]" roundups work the same way year round, and they are what shoppers and AI assistants read when choosing what to buy.
2. Turn partners into links
Retailers who stock you, suppliers who make your materials and brands you collaborate with all have websites with brand pages, showcases and announcements. These links are relevant, permanent and easy to ask for because the relationship already exists.
3. Claim the mentions you already have
Once a store has customers, people write about it. Search your brand name, exclude your own site, and ask the authors who mention you without a link to add one. It is the highest-converting outreach there is.
4. Point links at category pages, not just the homepage
Category pages are where most ecommerce rankings happen. When you get a link, ask for it to point at the most relevant collection or category page, and link from there to your products internally.
5. Stay on the right side of Google
Links in exchange for free products, payments or affiliate deals should be marked as sponsored, according to Google. That is fine: those links bring sales. What to avoid is buying links on unrelated blogs or link networks to manipulate rankings.
Already have backlinks? Check they are still live, dofollow and indexable with the free backlink monitor.
Straight answers before you send your first email.
How do you build backlinks for an ecommerce site?
Start with links tied to things editors and shoppers already want: gift guides, product reviews, "best of" roundups, stockist pages from retailers, supplier showcases and unlinked brand mentions. Then add a data story or useful guide that journalists can cite.
Should backlinks point to product pages or category pages?
Mostly category pages. They target the broader searches with the most buyers, and products inherit authority through internal links. Link to a product page when the coverage is about that specific product.
Do links from gifted products count?
Google asks publishers to mark links given in exchange for free products as sponsored, so they pass little ranking value. They are still worth it for traffic, sales and the brand searches they create.
Are ecommerce link building services worth it?
Some are, if they earn coverage through real outreach and show you every placement. Be wary of packages that promise a number of high-DR links for a fixed price on sites unrelated to your products.
How long until backlinks help an online store rank?
Usually a few weeks to a few months after Google finds the link, depending on how competitive the category is. Steady links over months beat a single burst.
Is this tool free?
Yes. The plan, searches, progress tracking and email templates are free with no signup. The optional AI email writer has a fair hourly limit per visitor.
