Not every backlink is created equal. A link from a personal blog with 50 monthly visitors and a link from a DR 80 publication carry very different weight. But the high authority link is also 10x harder to get and 20x more expensive.
HeyLinks gives you three built-in strategies that adjust your filters automatically. Each one targets a different slice of a competitor's backlink profile. This guide breaks down what each strategy finds, what it costs, who it works best for, and how to combine them for the strongest results.
At a Glance
Small Blogs
This strategy filters for personal blogs, niche hobbyist sites, and small publishers. These are sites where the owner writes the content, manages the site, and reads their own inbox. Response rates are the highest of any strategy because you're reaching real people who care about their content.
Pages on low DR sites (typically under DR 20) with modest traffic. These are the easiest sites to pitch because the owners are approachable and often happy to update an old link for a better resource.
New sites building their first 50 backlinks. Budget-conscious link builders. Anyone who wants quick wins and high response rates to build momentum before tackling harder targets.
Balanced
The default strategy and the one most users should start with. It targets the middle of the backlink profile: sites with enough authority to pass meaningful link equity, but not so large that your email gets buried in a corporate inbox. This is the sweet spot for sustainable link building.
Established blogs, niche publications, and mid-tier media sites. DR 15 to 50 with real traffic. These sites have editorial standards but are still run by small teams who respond to well-crafted outreach.
Most link builders. If you can only run one strategy, this is it. It gives you the best balance of quality, success rate, and cost. Recommended for sites that already have 20+ existing backlinks and want to grow steadily.
Outreach Funnel by Strategy
Here's what happens when you send 100 outreach emails for each strategy. The numbers are based on aggregate data from link building campaigns. Your actual results will vary based on your niche, content quality, and email copy.
Link Equity Equivalence
Link equity isn't linear. A single link from a DR 80 site passes far more ranking power than a DR 10 link. Here's a rough equivalence to help you think about the tradeoffs.
Cost per Link
These are typical costs including outreach time, tool costs, and any payments to site owners. Your actual costs will depend on your niche and the quality of your pitch.
What a Healthy Backlink Profile Looks Like
Google rewards natural diversity. A site with nothing but DR 5 links looks suspicious. A site with only DR 80 links looks unnatural too. The healthiest profiles have a mix that mirrors how links naturally accumulate on the web.
Google rewards natural diversity. A healthy profile looks like organic link growth, with most links from mid-tier sites, a foundation of smaller blogs, and a handful of high authority placements that anchor the profile.
The Hybrid Approach
The strongest link building campaigns don't commit to a single strategy. They layer all three. Start with Small blogs to build momentum and get your first batch of links quickly. This gives you outreach practice and a foundation of referring domains that makes your site look established.
Make Balanced your core, ongoing strategy. This is where most of your link equity will come from over time. These are the links that steadily push your rankings upward without breaking the bank.
Reserve High authority for your most important keywords. When you need to break through on a competitive term, one or two high authority placements can be the difference. Don't burn budget chasing these for every keyword. Save them for the pages that matter most to your business.
Head to Link Extraction, add a competitor, and switch between Small blogs, Balanced, and High authority to see how the filters change. You can even assign different strategies to different competitors in the same batch.
Open Link Extraction