Whether through exhibitions, podcasts, university talks, sponsorships, or even your supplier relationships, opportunities exist in everyday operations that could be used to develop your backlink profile.
Sadly, we’ve seen how easy it is for businesses to overlook these sources – usually because they just aren’t aware there’s a link to be gained.
Because of this, we’ve decided to take a moment to explore five different examples of “off-piste” link-building opportunities – those hidden in plain sight – with practical examples and insights from our team.
Let’s dive straight in.
1. Memberships & Accreditations
Most governing bodies and membership organisations host public directories listing their members, with links to their websites. Beyond this, many also accept guest contributions – industry insights, best-practice guides and thought leadership pieces – that can be used to reference your expertise. These contributions can secure recurring backlinks while positioning your brand as a trusted voice in your field.
Memberships to Target
- Industry accreditations: governing or certification bodies (e.g., CIM, RIBA, or ISO directories).
- Trade associations: sector-specific groups that often feature news and case studies.
- Chambers and business networks: local and regional directories with valuable local SEO impact.
- Buying groups and consortiums: niche collectives that list approved suppliers.
- Ethical and sustainability memberships: such as B Corps or Made in Britain, both of which maintain strong, authoritative domains.
Each of these platforms typically offers at least one – often several – backlink opportunities, from member profiles and press release syndication to regular news features. The key is active participation. Submit regular updates, share case studies and provide helpful content that adds value to their audience.
2. Events & Exhibitions
Whether you’re exhibiting, sponsoring or speaking, every public appearance can build toward authoritative backlinks from event organisers, media coverage and even attendees.
If your company is an exhibitor or sponsor of an event, check that the event’s online floor plan, agenda, and partner pages link directly to your website. These pages often have strong domain authority and remain live long after the event, providing long-term SEO value.
Explore the potential for guest articles or interviews on the event’s blog or newsletter; organisers are often keen to feature exhibitors offering practical insights, previews, or recaps – each one another chance to earn a backlink.
Keep an eye out for:
- Speaking Opportunities: Most conference websites will link to the companies of their panel members. If your presentation is particularly valuable or noteworthy, you may find natural links to your company site appearing in industry blogs and social media shares.
- Educational Links: Guest lectures and careers talks offer another route to backlinks, especially for B2B or specialist brands, as they often list guest speakers and preferred suppliers on their websites. Domains ending in .ac.uk or .edu can carry high authority.
- Local Sponsorship and Events: Aside from being great publicity, supporting local events or taking on community sponsorships often comes with a link from their website. What’s more, geographically relevant backlinks will also enhance your Local SEO, helping your business appear in more location-based searches.
Brick Digital recently sponsored a local beer festival, and in doing so, brought in new enquiries and, as a bonus, a handful of valuable local backlinks.
3. Client & Customer Relationships
Your clients and customers are among your most valuable – and often untapped – sources of backlinks. Every collaboration, case study, or project you complete can be turned into mutual visibility online.
If you showcase client work on your website, create a version for your client to publish on their own website, linking back to yours as project partner. Your chances of success will depend on how much of the “heavy lifting” you can do on the client’s behalf. If you’re able to present a completed piece of quality content with no additional work required (other than publishing), you make their lives much easier and gain a contextual backlink.
Tip: Add visual assets (logos, project photos, data graphics) to make the case study more appealing and shareable. Clients are far more likely to share it if it looks polished.
Taking the time to get to know your clients personally – meeting them at events, supporting their launches or engaging with their content – opens the doors to opportunities to gain backlinks organically. If it’s appropriate and part of your industry culture, there’s no harm in occasionally sending industry-related DM’s or emails to engage in broader conversations.
As you do, these clients are more likely to begin responding in kind – mentioning you in their own social media efforts and linking to your business simply because they want to shout about a partner they believe in.
On the side of your customers, a loyal customer base can become your most powerful link-building asset. Encourage your most active customers to share their experiences in reviews on forums, LinkedIn groups, Reddit threads, or niche communities.
How you do this will depend on your industry, but timing and incentive are key components: ask happy customers to share their experience right after a successful project or delivery, when enthusiasm is highest. Where you can, offer something in return as a gesture of thanks, but be careful not to turn the process into a transaction – people (particularly members of the general public) are likely to regard this as a disingenuous attempt to boost review scores.
4. Job Listings
Job listings don’t just attract new talent – they can also attract backlinks. Every time you advertise a position online, you’re creating another opportunity for your company to be mentioned, cited, and linked across authoritative employment and educational websites.
Recruitment platforms such as Indeed, Reed, Glassdoor, and Totaljobs typically include backlinks to your company website within their listings. While these are often nofollow, they still strengthen your domain visibility and citation profile.
By regularly posting (and refreshing) your listings – even for ongoing or evergreen roles – you maintain a steady stream of brand mentions and referral traffic from job-seeking professionals.
Tip: It’s good practice to have a dedicated “Careers” or “Join Us” page on your website, however, while you might think it’s appropriate to link to this page, your backlinks from recruitment listings should all point to your homepage – not a careers page – for maximum SEO value.
If your business offers internships, graduate placements or work experience, universities and colleges can be exceptional link sources. Their career services departments often maintain public employer directories featuring links to participating companies.
We’ve already noted the benefit of .edu links, but in this instance, you’ll also gain brand exposure to emerging talent pools – a long-term investment in both recruitment and reputation.
5. Slides & PDFs
From presentation decks to downloadable PDFs, your existing marketing materials could be transformed into link-building assets. With a few small adjustments, they can be repurposed to drive backlinks, traffic, and brand recognition long after they’re created.
If you speak at conferences, webinars, or internal training sessions, upload your slides to platforms like SlideShare, Speaker Deck, or Academia.edu. These sites not only host professional presentations but also rank well in Google for niche topics.
When uploading, make sure your slides include:
- Clickable links to your website and relevant resources
- A clear title and description with keywords
- A branded closing slide with your contact details and URL
Each view or embed is a new visibility opportunity, and many viewers cite or share presentations they find valuable.
Tip: If you frequently speaking at events, compile your presentations into a public “Resources” page on your site. This makes it easier for journalists, partners, and attendees to find and link back to your materials.
Whatever you’re working with, every downloadable file should include clickable links to your website. PDFs are frequently shared across internal teams, supplier networks, and educational resources – and once they’re out there, they have the potential to circulate for years.
Add your website link to:
- The header or footer on every page
- The title or cover page
- Any “Further Reading” or “Contact Us” sections
A shared PDF may not generate direct SEO benefit, but it does reinforce your brand presence and provides referral pathways when people share it online.
Conclusion
We’ve barely scratched the surface with this blog article, but the chances are, you’re already doing the hard part of link building – perhaps without even meaning to. With a few extra steps, every event, membership, collaboration or piece of marketing collateral has the potential to generate strong, impactful backlinks.
The trick is to stop seeing SEO as an isolated discipline and start viewing it as a layer that runs through everything you do. From PR activity to your recruitment campaigns, every public mention of your business can strengthen your website’s authority when paired with a link.
There are even more areas of link-building potential that we may yet cover in a follow-up piece, but for now, if you take only one “nugget” from this guide, let it be this:
The next time you attend an event, write training content or support a local cause, ask yourself:
“How can I turn this into a link?”
