You build backlinks by making something worth linking to, then either earning links passively or actively asking for them. The fundamental truth: links are editorial votes, so you need a reason someone would reference your page. The most reliable method is creating assets that naturally attract links. Original research, industry surveys with Canadian data, free tools, comprehensive guides that become references, or contrarian takes backed by evidence all work. At Ottawa SEO we've seen a single data study pull 40-80 referring domains in 90 days without paid promotion, just strategic outreach to sites that cover that topic. Outreach turns those assets into links. Find sites already linking to similar or outdated content, email the editor or writer directly with why your piece is more current or useful, and ask if they'd consider updating their link. Broken link building works the same way, you find dead links in your niche, recreate better content, then pitch it as a replacement. Response rates sit around 5-8% for cold outreach, higher if you have an existing relationship. Guest posting still works but editors are pickier. Offer genuinely useful content to their audience, not a thinly disguised ad. One strong guest post on a DR 60+ site in your vertical beats ten low-quality directory links. Digital PR pitching stories to journalists, especially with local angles for Ottawa Citizen, Toronto Star, or CBC can land high-authority links but requires newsworthy hooks. Avoid link schemes, PBNs, paid links that pass PageRank, or anything that violates Google's spam policies. A manual penalty tanks your traffic overnight and takes months to recover from. Focus on links you'd be proud to show a Google engineer. The goal is 3-10 new referring domains monthly for most SMBs, scaling with your content output and authority level. Quality beats quantity, relevance beats raw DR, and a link from a site your customers actually read is worth more than a metrics-only play.