Ecommerce link building is the work of earning backlinks to an online store. It sounds simple, and it is the hardest kind of link building there is. The pages you need to rank, your product and category pages, are exactly the pages nobody wants to link to. Bloggers, journalists, and guide writers link to things that help their readers: guides, tools, research, and honest comparisons. They rarely link to a sales page.
So the stores that win do it in two parts. First, they earn links to content worth linking to. Second, they use internal links to pass that authority to the product and category pages that make money. This guide gives you the full system: the tactics that work, a decision table matched to your store size and budget, three outreach emails you can copy, and a 30-day starter plan.
Key takeaways
- Nobody links to product pages. Earn links to content, then route the authority to product and category pages with internal links.
- Start with the free relationship links: supplier stockist pages and unlinked brand mentions.
- Match the tactic to your store size and budget. A 40-product Shopify store and a 5,000-product catalogue should not run the same plan.
- Work in 30-day cycles and judge them on category rankings and organic revenue, not link counts alone.
What is ecommerce link building?
Ecommerce link building is the process of earning backlinks from other websites to your online store. A backlink is a clickable link from another site to yours. A roundup of the best gifts for gardeners links to your gift set. A supplier lists your store on its stockists page. A local newspaper mentions your brand in a story about small retailers.
Those links do three jobs. They help Google find and trust your pages. They send you visitors who are already interested. And they build the authority your category pages need to rank against bigger stores and marketplaces.
Not all backlinks help in the same way. A store can earn editorial links, supplier links, directory links, and more. Our guide to the types of backlinks explains what each kind does, so you can aim for the ones that fit an online store.
Why links matter so much for online stores
Organic search is not a side channel for ecommerce. Research by Reboot Online found that 43% of all ecommerce traffic comes from organic Google search, and Reporter Outreach’s summary of the same research links 23.6% of ecommerce orders directly to organic traffic. When ads stop, that traffic keeps coming. When your category pages rank, they sell every day without a cost per click.
Links are a core part of how those pages rank. Google cannot see your product quality, your prices, or your service. It sees signals, and links from relevant, trusted sites are one of the clearest signals that your store deserves to rank. A link from a respected site in your niche tells Google that people who know this market trust you.
That is why link building for a store is not about collecting the most links. It is about earning the right links and pointing their value at the pages that sell.
The hard part: nobody links to product pages
Here is the problem every store hits. Your product pages are built to sell. They have prices, options, and a buy button. That is exactly why other sites will not link to them. A blogger writing a gift guide wants to help readers choose. A journalist wants a story or a number. Neither one gets anything from linking to your checkout path.
Category pages have the same problem in a milder form. They are lists of products with a short paragraph of text. There is rarely anything on them worth citing.
So link building for a store starts one step earlier than most owners expect. Before you ask anyone for a link, you need at least one page on your site that deserves one: a buying guide, a calculator, a data summary, a comparison, or a genuinely useful help page. The tactics below assume you have, or will build, that page.
The two-part system: earn links to content, then route the authority
Every store that ranks well with links follows the same pattern.
Part one is earning links to content. Your guides, tools, and research collect links from blogs, roundups, suppliers, and press. These pages are easy to link to because they help the reader of the site doing the linking.
Part two is internal linking. From each content page, you link to the category and product pages it supports, using clear anchor text that describes the destination. A guide to choosing plant pots links to your ceramic pots category. A size calculator links to the products it sizes. This is how authority earned by content reaches the pages that sell.
Most stores skip part two. Reporter Outreach, summarising Reboot Online’s ecommerce research, reports that 86% of ecommerce brands have unoptimised internal linking, and even among the highest visibility stores, 41% still get it wrong. If you fix only one thing after reading this guide, fix that: every linkable page should point to at least two or three money pages, and every important product should be reachable from relevant content.
7 tactics that work for online stores
These seven tactics cover the realistic options for most stores. None of them needs a big budget to start. They are ordered roughly from the easiest wins to the bigger projects.
1. Supplier and manufacturer links
Every product you sell came from someone. Suppliers and manufacturers often keep a stockists or where to buy page that lists the stores carrying their products. If you stock a brand and you are not listed, that is a relevant link waiting to be claimed. Check each supplier’s site, and where there is no list, ask to be added. Template 1 below is written for this. These links are highly relevant, they are free, and competitors who skip the admin never get them.
2. Product roundups and gift guides
Bloggers and magazines publish best-of lists and gift guides in every niche, and they update them each season. Your job is to be easy to include: a clear product page, good photos, honest specs, and a short pitch that says why your product fits their list. Send samples only when the site is a real fit. Template 2 below is a roundup pitch you can adapt. One placement puts your product in front of buyers and earns a link that stays live for years.
3. Unlinked brand mentions
Sites mention brands without linking all the time: in reviews, news stories, forum answers, and social roundups. Search your brand name and read the results. Where a page mentions you with no link, send a short, polite request to add one. The site already chose to mention you, so this is the highest converting outreach a store can do. Template 3 below covers it. Set a monthly reminder, because new mentions appear as your store grows.
4. Linkable assets
A linkable asset is a page built to earn links: a buying guide, a calculator, a checklist, a comparison, or a small data study from your own sales numbers. A kitchen store can publish a cookware size guide. A pet store can publish a feeding calculator. Assets take effort up front, then keep earning links with little ongoing work. Build one asset well instead of five thin ones, and link from it to the categories it supports.
5. Digital PR with your own data
Stores sit on data journalists want: what sold during a heatwave, how prices moved in your category, what customers searched for this season. Turn one interesting pattern from your own sales into a short report or a single strong chart, then pitch it to niche publications and local press. Reporter Outreach’s summary of Reboot Online’s study found that links earned through digital PR average a Domain Rating of 46, higher than typical ecommerce backlinks, and that 52% of ecommerce sites use digital PR. This is the slowest tactic here and the hardest for competitors to copy.
6. Broken link building
Pages disappear. A blog links to a gift guide that no longer exists, or to a competitor that shut down. Find those dead links on resource pages and roundups in your niche, then offer your matching guide as the replacement. You are solving a problem the site owner already has, which is why this outreach gets replies. Keep your replacement page genuinely better than what died, or the fix will not stick.
7. Guest posts and expert quotes
Writing for a niche blog or offering a short expert quote to a publication still works when the site is real and the content is useful. Pitch a topic their readers need, link naturally to one useful page on your store, and never pay for a placement disguised as editorial. If a site sells posts to anyone who asks, the link is worth little and can carry risk. Quality and relevance decide, not the price list.
Which tactics fit your store?
The right first tactic depends on your store’s size and what you can spend. Use this table to pick a starting point, then add one more tactic in your next 30-day cycle. If your store also has a physical shop or a local delivery area, our local link building guide covers the local tactics that pair well with these.
| Store type | Monthly budget | Start with | Then add | Effort | Risk to watch |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Small Shopify store (under 50 products, owner run) | $0 to $100 | Supplier stockist listings and unlinked mentions | One buying guide, then roundup pitches | Low: a few hours a week | Low. The main risk is waiting for a budget instead of starting |
| Growing store (50 to 500 products, small team) | $100 to $500 | Roundup and gift guide outreach | A linkable asset plus broken link building | Medium: weekly outreach blocks | Medium. Watch guest post offers that are really paid placements |
| Large catalogue store (500+ products, many brands) | $500+ or agency time | Digital PR with sales data; supplier programme at scale | An asset library and seasonal roundups | High: campaigns and data work | Higher. Paid link schemes and expired domain tricks put real revenue at risk |
Outreach templates you can copy
Keep every email short, specific, and easy to say yes to. Replace the words in brackets. Personalise the first line for each site, and follow up once after about a week.
Template 1: Supplier or manufacturer listing
Subject: Please add [Store Name] to your stockists page Hi [Name], We stock [Brand] at [Store Name], including [two or three popular products]. I could not find us on your stockists page here: [URL]. Could you add us? Our details: [Store Name], [store URL], [city or region if relevant]. Happy to link back to your range from our brand page if that helps your customers find the full line. Thanks, [Your name] [Store Name]
Template 2: Product roundup pitch
Subject: For your [roundup title] guide: [product] Hi [Name], I read your guide to [topic]. The [product name] from [Store Name] fits the [category or use case] spot: [one honest reason, such as material, size range, or price point]. Full details and photos are here: [product URL]. I can send a sample if you test products yourself. Either way, thanks for the useful guide. Thanks, [Your name] [Store Name]
Template 3: Unlinked brand mention
Subject: Small favour on your [page topic] page Hi [Name], Thanks for mentioning [Store Name] in your piece on [topic]. Readers may want to check sizes or prices, so would you be able to link our name to [URL]? No problem if your policy is not to add links. Thanks again for including us. Thanks, [Your name] [Store Name]
A worked example: 30 days for a fictional Shopify store
Example (illustrative, not a real client case): Terra Pots is a fictional Shopify store selling indoor plant pots and plant care accessories, with 42 products and one owner doing everything. In week 1, she listed her suppliers and found that two of her five brands had stockist pages she was not on. She also searched her brand name and found three unlinked mentions.
In week 2, she published one linkable asset: a pot size guide matching pot sizes to common houseplants, with internal links to her ceramic and terracotta categories. In weeks 3 and 4, she sent 14 emails: 2 supplier listing requests, 8 roundup pitches to plant and home blogs, 3 unlinked mention requests, and 1 broken link offer on a houseplant resource page.
By day 30, five links were live: both supplier listings, two of the three mentions, and the broken link replacement. Two roundups replied that they update in spring, which gave her a warm list for next season. The lesson is the order: free relationship links first, one good asset, then focused pitches.
Your first 30 days, step by step
Work in one 30-day cycle, then repeat. Each block has a clear finish line so you know when it is done.
| Days | Tasks | Done when |
|---|---|---|
| 1 to 3 | List every supplier and brand you stock; check each stockist page; search your brand name for unlinked mentions | A prospect sheet with suppliers, mentions, and contacts |
| 4 to 7 | Send supplier listing requests and unlinked mention emails (Templates 1 and 3) | Every easy win contacted once |
| 8 to 14 | Plan and publish one linkable asset (guide, calculator, or data page); add internal links to 2 or 3 money pages | Asset live with internal links in place |
| 15 to 21 | Build a roundup list in your niche; send 8 to 12 pitches (Template 2) | Every target roundup pitched once |
| 22 to 26 | Follow up once on non replies; find 3 to 5 broken links on niche resource pages and offer your asset | Follow ups sent and logged |
| 27 to 30 | Record links won and replies; note warm contacts and update dates for next cycle | Results sheet updated; next month list started |
Mistakes that waste a store’s budget
- Buying links. Google’s spam policies list buying or selling links for ranking purposes as link spam. Sponsored or affiliate links are fine when they are marked with rel=”sponsored” or rel=”nofollow”. A bundle of cheap links does not come with that care.
- Pitching product pages only. Sites link to helpful pages, not checkout paths. Earn the link to content, then route the value with internal links.
- Fake discount pages. A student or military discount page that does not offer a real discount fools nobody and can damage trust. Only publish offers you actually honour.
- Expired domain redirects. Buying an old domain and redirecting it to your homepage imports its history, good and bad, and rarely matches your niche. It is a shortcut that usually costs more than it earns.
- Counting links instead of revenue. Twenty links to a blog post that never links onward do less than five links routed to a category that sells.
How to measure whether it is working
Judge link building on store outcomes, not link counts. Each month, record four things: new referring domains pointing to your content pages, rankings for your top category keywords, organic traffic to category and product pages, and organic revenue or assisted sales if your analytics tracks it.
In Google Search Console, watch clicks and impressions for your category pages, because those are the pages links are meant to lift. In your link tool or a simple sheet, note which tactic earned each new link, so next month’s effort goes to what worked.
Set fair expectations. Supplier listings and mention fixes can land within days. Roundups update on the publisher’s calendar, often seasonally. Digital PR and assets build over months. Judge a 30-day cycle on replies, links live, and category movement together, not on sales alone.
The bottom line
Ecommerce link building is a routing problem. Earn links to pages that deserve them, then send that authority to the pages that sell. Start with the free relationship links, build one asset worth citing, pitch a small list well, and repeat each month. If you are new to the fundamentals, our explainer on what link building is covers the basics behind this plan. Stores that work this way stop depending on ads for every sale, one earned link at a time.
Frequently asked questions
What is ecommerce link building?
Ecommerce link building is the process of earning backlinks from other websites to an online store. The links usually land on guides, tools, research, and roundups, then pass value to product and category pages through internal links. Done well, it improves rankings, brings referral visitors, and builds trust in your brand.
Should I build links directly to product pages?
You can try, but most sites will not link to a sales page. The reliable route is to earn links to helpful content and link from that content to your product and category pages. Supplier stockist listings and some roundups are the exceptions that can link closer to products.
How many backlinks does an online store need?
There is no fixed number. It depends on your niche and the stores ranking above you. Check the sites linking to your top competitors, match that quality and relevance, and keep building steadily. A small set of relevant links usually beats a large set of weak ones.
Are paid backlinks safe for an online store?
Buying links to manipulate rankings is link spam under Google’s spam policies, and a penalty on a store hits revenue directly. Sponsored and affiliate links are acceptable when they are qualified with rel=”sponsored” or rel=”nofollow” so they do not pass ranking credit.
How long does ecommerce link building take to work?
Supplier listings and unlinked mention fixes can land within days or weeks. Roundup placements follow the publisher’s update cycle. Content assets and digital PR usually build over two to six months. Judge progress monthly using referring domains, category rankings, and organic revenue together.
