Steal Competitors' Backlinks and Ad Keywords

Steal Competitors' Backlinks and Ad Keywords is a seo & organic tactic for getting your first users: Pull a competitor's backlink profile and ad keyword list with paid tools, then submit your own site to the same link sources and chase the same terms.

It's a strong fit for teams of almost any kind, and works especially well for Any niche with established competitors. As a seo & organic play, plan for medium effort and expect results to build gradually over time, all grounded in 1 linked primary source.

SEO & organicMedium effortSlow

Why does seo & organic work for this?

Wherever a competitor already earned links and runs profitable ads is a proven, pre-qualified opportunity for you.

The exact steps (5)

The full step-by-step this founder ran, what they posted, where, and in what order, plus the watch-outs, is part of the library.

Unlock the steps · $29 oncePlus all 3,000+ tactics and the new ones we add weekly.

Sources

Works for
Any / universal

Frequently asked

How is the "Steal Competitors' Backlinks and Ad Keywords" tactic verified?
It is drawn from 1 primary source — a real founder write-up or interview, not generic advice. It is linked in the Sources section above so you can read the original account yourself.
How much effort is it and how fast are results?
It is medium effort, and results tend to be slow.
Where can I see the exact step-by-step?
The full step-by-step a founder ran, documented via Source — IndieHackers, is in the paid library.

Related tactics

SEO & organicMedium effort· Slow

Carpet the Reputable Software Directories Only

Listing the app on quality software directories and showcase sites (AlternativeTo, Download.com, Product Hunt, Indie Hackers, dev-portfolio and showcase sites, linktr.ee) while deliberately avoiding spammy 'post to 500+ sites' services.

Read the steps →
SEO & organicLow effort· Slow

Canonical Repost Trick to Borrow a High-Authority Domain

Publish an article on your own blog first, then resyndicate it to a high-authority site like IH or Medium with a canonical tag, waiting a couple weeks so the strong domain doesn't outrank your original.

Read the steps →
SEO & organicMedium effort· Slow

Turn Your Free Product Into a Link Engine

A self-perpetuating backlink source baked into the product itself. When users embed or share something you create, each instance carries a link back to you, so distribution compounds without ongoing outreach.

Read the steps →
SEO & organicMedium effort· Slow

Wire the Hub-and-Spoke Before You Scale

A deliberate internal-linking and canonicalization architecture that lets crawlers find, trust, and rank thousands of pages instead of treating them as orphaned duplicates.

Read the steps →
SEO & organicMedium effort· Slow

Build a Tiny Free Tool to Farm Backlinks

Ship a simple niche utility on your main domain because interactive free tools attract far more links and shares than articles.

Read the steps →
SEO & organicHigh effort· Slow

The Integration Page Matrix

If your product links two other apps, generate one landing page for every pairing using a "[App A] + [App B]" template, turning a handful of connectors into tens of thousands of indexable pages.

Read the steps →

Get all 3,000+ tactics in one place

Filter by your product and channel, follow the exact steps, and get the new tactics we add every week. One payment, yours for good.