E1155: A roofer in South Florida donated a free roof through Habitat for Humanity.

The charity wrote about it and linked to his business.

Then a local news station picked up the story, his Facebook post was shared more than 200 times, and one act of goodwill produced the kind of links and attention that are extremely difficult to buy.

That is goodwill link building.

I break down how businesses can do genuinely useful things for people, nonprofits, organizations, and other companies, then turn that work into backlinks, partnerships, mentions, and press.

The important part most businesses miss is simple: ask for the link.

Businesses already sponsor youth sports teams, donate products, support nonprofits, volunteer their services, and contribute to community projects. But because they are not thinking about SEO, they often get a logo or plain-text mention and never ask for a backlink.

I cover real examples and practical ways to use this strategy across SaaS, e-commerce, and local services.

In this episode:
- How a donated roof turned into a nonprofit backlink, local press, and 200+ social shares
- Why sponsorships and donations frequently create easy backlink opportunities
- The two-minute follow-up email most businesses never send
- How Lily Ray generated a large number of links through a pro bono marketing project during COVID
- How SaaS companies can give free accounts to nonprofits and earn relevant partner links
- How to get links from companies whose products you already use
- Why publicly saying something positive about another company can lead to a case study or customer-story backlink
- How e-commerce brands can donate products to relevant causes
- Why recurring donations can produce links from multiple pages over time
- How returned or lightly damaged inventory can become a link-building asset instead of waste
- How e-commerce businesses can donate their expertise, not just their products
- How local service businesses can provide free work to nonprofits or newly opened businesses
- How disaster preparation and disaster response can create legitimate local press opportunities
- Why third-party tips to journalists often work better than pitching your own company
- How one goodwill project can produce backlinks, social shares, partnerships, and press at the same time

The bigger idea is that backlinks work best when they look like real marketing.

Instead of inventing artificial reasons for websites to link to you, do something that actually gives another organization a reason to mention you.

Support something meaningful. Give away something useful. Solve a problem. Share somebody else's business. Donate your expertise.

Then ask for the backlink.

⭐️ Bodhi- Local SEO's roofer post and comments - https://x.com/irentdumpsters/status/2092371437365461368
⭐️ Lily Ray's post - https://x.com/lilyraynyc/status/2092672103283613939

💎 Compact Keywords - My SEO Course - Get paying customers through SEO - Clear step-by-step video breakdowns - SEO templates to be copied and adapted for your products and services: https://compactkeywords.com/

00:00 Goodwill Link Building Intro
00:34 Habitat Roof Story
01:44 Ask For The Link
03:16 SaaS Goodwill Ideas
05:11 Ecommerce Donation Plays
07:21 Local Services Givebacks
07:58 Turn Good Deeds Into Press
10:08 Student Results Example
11:20 Daily Podcast Wrap Up

The Edward Show. Your daily search engine optimization podcast: https://edwardsturm.com/the-edward-show/

#searchengineoptimization #seo #linkbuilding #backlinks