Link Building
Foundational Links
Quick definition
Foundational links are baseline, easy-to-acquire backlinks (business directories, social profiles, citations) that make a brand's link profile look natural.
Foundational links include LinkedIn, Crunchbase, Product Hunt, G2, Capterra, About.me, Behance, GitHub, and high-quality industry directories.
Why Foundational Links matters
They establish brand presence and provide a baseline of real-brand signals before more advanced campaigns (editorial, digital PR) begin.
How Foundational Links works in practice
Set up foundational links once during launch or rebrand. Don't confuse them with ongoing strategy — they don't move rankings on their own.
Need help applying this to your SaaS?
Get a free strategy call with our team — no pitch, just a clear next step.
Related terms
Pillow Links
Pillow links are low-risk, brand-only backlinks (social profiles, business directories, brand mentions) used to make a backlink profile look more natural.
Citation
A citation is a mention of your business name, address, or phone number (NAP) on a third-party site, often without a hyperlink — important primarily for local SEO.
Brand Mention
A brand mention is any reference to your brand name on the web, with or without a hyperlink.
Link Equity
Link equity is the SEO value passed from one page to another through hyperlinks — sometimes informally called 'link juice'.
Disavow File
A disavow file is a plain-text file submitted to Google asking the search engine to ignore specific backlinks pointing at your site.
HARO
HARO (Help A Reporter Out) is a service that connects journalists with expert sources, often resulting in backlinks from major publications.