The issue has impacted top journalists, as well, who are now tired of the same canned pitch emails about why they should write a story about some shoe polish brand’s blog post.

And black hat isn’t worth dabbling in, because a penalty can mean a critical hit for your brand’s revenue and reputation.

I haven’t found a single better way to build links on an ongoing basis than through original research and digital public relations.

In other words, the best way to earn links from high-authority sites is to do your own industry research, studies, surveys as well as carefully curate a list of writers and craft personalized pitches explaining the value of the content for their audiences.

Is it a lot of work? Oh yes. The content development alone can take 1-2 months to get it right, and the pitching at least another month or so, longer if you don’t have any established relationships.

But if you want backlinks and brand awareness from respected sites like CNN, USA Today, Time, Huffington Post and more, it’s an investment you have to make.