Links are still a large part of Google’s ranking algorithm and that’s never going to change. What has changed are the link building tactics to earn those links.

The days of hiring someone to write a article for $15, then {rewriting|spinning|revising} the shit out of it and submitting it to a few hundred article directories are long over. Between Panda and Penguin, that model has been killed. Highly scalable low quality links just don’t work anymore, and even worse, if Google catches you using those tactics, they will slap your website with a penalty that can take years to recover from.

Today, link building is simple, but it’s far from easy. Some people are still using outdated tactics that don’t work and will lead to penalties, while others have simply given up on link building entirely. It’s hard and it takes a ton of consistent hard work, but that detail creates tremendous opportunities for those of us who are willing to put in the work.

Building an effective link profile that helps you outrank your competitors depends on using tactics that they aren’t using.

So are you looking for a serious competitive advantage? Then suit up because you have a lot of work ahead of you and you’ll need to…gasp…build real relationships.

Here are link building tactics that I guarantee few, if any of your competitors are using.

Interview professors

A simple way to earn .edu links is to interview professors on topics relevant to your industry. Most professors have their own page on the university website and will happily link to your interview from that page to bolster their expertise. Boom! Now you have one of those coveted .edu links everyone is always drooling over. There is no shortage of professors who love to talk, so this is a very scalable tactic.

Get interviewed outside of your industry

Everyone else is fighting for coverage on industry-related websites, so why not reach out websites out of your industry? Website owners are always looking for a unique angle, so that makes relevant pitches from outside their industry a perfect fit fro them and an easier win for you. USA Mobile Drug Testing has done a great job of this by focusing on human resource websites rather than drug testing websites.

Review relevant products

Everyone loves it when you say nice things about them and companies are no different. Write a thorough and honest product review along with plenty of images and video, and your vendors will usually be more than happy to link to your review. You’ll have to contact them about it—they aren’t exactly scouring the internet looking for reasons to link to your website. Boiler plate copy or a basic description won’t cut it here. Your review needs to explain explain features and benefits, exactly how it works, how to use it, and anything else they should know about it. After reading your review, they should feel like they’ve used it themselves.

Participate in local events

Whether it’s a charity event, a networking event, or even an entertainment event, volunteering in a leadership role can help get your name in the news, and can often lead to links to your site. Don’t expect to walk in an run the show though; you’ll probably have to spend some time doing grunt work before being trusted to take a leadership role.

Develop high-quality, useful content in a digestible format

I’m not talking about your typical blog post here; I’m talking about extensive research distilled into an easily digestible format. It’s going to take a LOT of time to develop this type of content, and that’s exactly why most of your competitors won’t try, and since it’s so rare, it tends to earn a ton of links. Moz’s Local Search Ranking Factors is a perfect example. Rand and the team at Moz go through an extensive process of developing a set of questions/hypotheses, interviewing hundreds of the top industry professionals, then distilling that data into a beautifully designed and easy to understand webpage.

Interview industry experts

Has anyone ever published an interview with you on their website? If so, I’m willing to bet that if you had a website, you linked to the interview. Guess what—just about everyone else will do the exact same thing. Unless someone works for the CIA, chances are they want more publicity and validation, and if you can give them that, they’re usually more than happy to link to that interview to leverage even more publicity and exposure for themselves.

Guest lecture at a local university

Universities may link to the websites of their guest lecturers. Ideally, you should create a profile page on your website with your head shot and bio for the university to link to. They may not link to the homepage of a commercial website, but few would refuse to link to a non-promotional profile page.