Tactics that actually work in 2026
Digital PR (data-driven content pitched to journalists), broken link building (find broken links on relevant sites, offer your content as replacement), unlinked mentions (find places that mentioned your brand without linking, ask for the link), and guest posting on relevant industry sites.
What doesn't work anymore: directory submissions, blog comments, forum signatures, link exchanges, mass guest post networks. Google detects and discounts all of these.