The whole idea is obtaining hyperlinks from other, related websites pointing to your job board. These so-called backlinks serve as endorsements from other sites, indicating to Google that your website has a good reputation. This, in turn, increases your site's SEO rating, driving more traffic and improving your search engine rankings.

  1. Boosts search rankings: High-quality backlinks from reputable websites signal to search engines that your job board is a trustworthy resource. This can help improve your rankings on search engine results pages (SERPs), increasing your site's organic traffic.
  2. Speeds up indexing: When search engines find links to your site on other websites, they can discover and index your content more quickly. This is especially important for job boards, where frequent indexing will make sure that job listings are visible to job seekers in real time.
  3. Improves authority: Backlinks from authoritative sites enhance your website's credibility, reflected in your site’s domain authority (DA).
  4. Expands reach: Link building helps you reach a broader audience by exposing your job board to new users who may not have discovered it otherwise.
Related read: How To Improve SEO For Your Job Board And Rank Higher In 2024

Link building for niche job boards requires a unique strategy. You don’t just want any backlinks, but links around job categories that your job board caters to.

For instance, a job board specializing on music industry careers should focus on acquiring links from reputable record labels, music events or blogs around the music industry.

Here are some link building tactics for job board owners to implement:

1. Create high-quality content

Content is the cornerstone of any successful link building strategy. By creating valuable and informative content, you can organically attract backlinks. For example via:

  • Blog posts: Write blog posts and articles that provide valuable insights, tips, and advice related to your niche. For example, a job board focused on AI careers should publish articles on resume writing tips for the AI industry or salary trends in the AI job market.
  • How-to guides: Create comprehensive guides that help job seekers navigate the job search process. These resources can attract backlinks from other websites that want to share useful information with their audience.
  • Infographics: Yes, they are still here and thriving! Infographics are highly shareable and can attract backlinks from other websites that want to share visually appealing content. And they are pretty simple to create: take interesting data from your industry and find a way to visualize it.
  • Industry reports: If you have the resources, original research is an effective way to provide value while building backlinks. Unique reports with job market trends, salary benchmarks, or employer preferences are highly shareable and will easily attract links from other websites.
Related read: Drive Traffic To Your Job Board With A Blog

2. Build relationships with industry influencers

Building relationships with influential people in your industry can help secure valuable backlinks. These can be industry bloggers, experts, and company management who have a significant following and influence within your niche.

Getting an article of yours on an popular industry blog or newsletter is wonderful to showcase your expertise while earning a backlink to your job board. You can do this via reaching out for guest posts or use services like featured to provide content in exchange for a backlink.

Once you have build a relationship, you can collaborate with influencers on content projects such as webinars, podcasts, or co-authored articles.

3. Leverage industry directories

Submitting your job board to industry-specific directories can also help to acquire relevant backlinks. These directories categorize and list job boards based on different industries or job types, making it easier for job seekers to find your site.

This is especially relevant for directory pages: always make sure the site linking to your job board has a good domain authority itself. You can check the DA with this free tool.

Example of a general directory for different types of job boards

4. Get listed on resource pages

Many websites have resource pages or link roundups that list relevant tools and resources related to a specific topic. Getting your job board included on these pages can help acquire backlinks and drive targeted traffic while also providing the site’s owners with a helpful link for their readers.

One place to start looking are college and university career resource sites. You might not only get a backlink to your job board, but can also pitch some of your industry blogposts to be included.

This college’s resource page includes links to blogposts and other helpful content

Looking at your competitors' backlink profiles can help you find opportunities for your own link building efforts. SEO tools like Ahrefs, Moz, or SEMrush make it easy (and almost free) to discover where your competitors are getting their backlinks from.

Link building is a critical component of SEO for niche job boards. By implementing some of these low-cost tactics, you can improve your job board's visibility, attract more traffic, and establish your site as a valuable resource within your niche.