Get Your First Backlinks in Under 10 Minutes

Most people overthink their first link. They spend days comparing marketplaces, second-guessing prices, and debating whether a site is good enough. Here is the fastest path from zero to a real, live backlink.

Step 1: Open Marketplaces

Log into FatGrid and click Marketplaces in the left menu. You are now looking at 329,384 publishers aggregated from every major link-building marketplace.

Step 2: Set your filters

Apply these four filters to get a shortlist of affordable, relevant sites:

• Price: min $50, max $200
• AS (Authority Score): min 10
• Link Type: Dofollow
• Keyword Match: your target keyword (e.g. “writing services”, “project management”, “CRM software”)

The Keyword Match filter scans actual page content on each publisher’s site. A 100% match means the exact phrase appears on the site. This is relevancy, not guesswork.

On language: most SEOs filter by language. I usually skip it. A site that already covers your topic in its content is more valuable than a high-traffic site in your language that has nothing to do with your niche.

At $50–200 with AS 10+, you will typically see 2,000+ publishers in Marketplaces. That is enough to be selective.

Step 3: Find a publisher you like

Look at the results. The key columns to check: price, AS, organic traffic, and the site title. Click the Offers button on any row to see all marketplaces selling that publisher and their individual prices. This is how you confirm you are not overpaying. FatGrid pulls all metrics from Semrush directly, so the numbers are consistent across every publisher regardless of which marketplace lists them.

Step 4: Place the order

Click Offers, then Assisted Purchase, then Buy. Paste the link to your Google Doc with the guest post. FatGrid takes it from there and handles all actions and communication needed. You get a confirmation when the link is live.

If you do not have content ready yet, write a 600–800 word article covering the topic the publisher’s site already ranks for. Paste the Google Doc link when prompted.

Why this works

The $50–200 range with AS 10+ is the practical entry point for first links. These sites are real, indexed, and have some domain authority. They are cheap enough to test multiple placements without committing a large budget. Once you see your first link live, you have a repeatable process.

Questions or comments? Post on LinkedIn.