What is Skyscraper Technique?
The Skyscraper Technique is a link building strategy created by Brian Dean of Backlinko — find content that's already earning backlinks, create a significantly better version, then reach out to the sites linking to the original and suggest they link to yours instead.
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What is the Skyscraper Technique?
The Skyscraper Technique is a 3-step link building method: find high-performing content in your niche, create something better, then contact sites linking to the original and pitch your improved version.
Brian Dean of Backlinko coined the term in 2015. The metaphor is simple — nobody looks at a skyline and notices the 5th tallest building. They look at the tallest one. By creating the tallest “building” for a given topic, you become the natural link target.
Dean’s original case study showed a 110% increase in organic traffic in 14 days using this approach. The technique became one of the most widely adopted link building strategies in SEO, though its effectiveness has evolved as more practitioners use it and outreach inboxes fill up.
Why Does the Skyscraper Technique Matter?
It solves the hardest problem in link building: getting people to actually link to you.
- Built-in proof of concept — you’re improving content that’s already attracting backlinks, confirming there’s demand for the topic
- Outreach is warmer — the people you’re contacting already link to similar content, so the ask is contextual rather than cold
- Creates genuinely useful content — the requirement to be “better” pushes you to create the best resource on the topic
- Earns referring domains at scale — one skyscraper piece can attract dozens of links through a single campaign
The technique is especially effective for data-driven content, definitive guides, and resource pages where being more complete and current wins.
How the Skyscraper Technique Works
Step 1: Find Link-Worthy Content
Use Ahrefs or Semrush to find pages in your niche with lots of backlinks. Search for your target keyword, check the top results, and sort by referring domains. A page with 100+ referring domains that’s outdated, incomplete, or poorly designed is your target.
Step 2: Create Something Better
“Better” means longer, more current, better designed, more comprehensive, or more actionable. Add updated statistics. Include examples the original missed. Create custom graphics. Cover angles no one else addressed. The improvement must be obvious and significant — not just 10% better.
Step 3: Outreach
Export the list of sites linking to the original content. Email each one with a short, specific pitch: “I noticed you linked to [original]. I just published an updated version with [specific improvement]. Thought you might want to check it out.” Expect a 5-15% response rate if your content is genuinely superior.
Skyscraper Technique Examples
A marketing agency finds that the top-ranking article for “email marketing statistics” has 180 referring domains but hasn’t been updated since 2023. They create a 2026 version with 50% more stats, interactive charts, and expert quotes. After emailing 150 of the original’s linking sites, 22 update their link. The new page ranks #2 within 8 weeks.
A SaaS company using theStacc to publish 30 articles per month identifies their best-performing post (by traffic) as a candidate for skyscraper treatment. They expand it from 1,500 words to 3,200 words with original survey data. The enhanced piece earns 35 new backlinks in the first month — without any cold outreach, just from being genuinely more useful.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
SEO mistakes compound just like SEO wins do — except in the wrong direction.
Targeting keywords without checking intent. Ranking for a keyword means nothing if the search intent doesn’t match your page. A commercial keyword needs a product page, not a blog post. An informational query needs a guide, not a sales pitch. Mismatched intent = high bounce rate = wasted rankings.
Neglecting technical SEO. Publishing great content on a site that takes 6 seconds to load on mobile. Fixing your Core Web Vitals and crawl errors is less exciting than writing articles, but it’s the foundation everything else sits on.
Building links before building content worth linking to. Outreach for backlinks works 10x better when you have genuinely valuable content to point people toward. Create the asset first, then promote it.
Key Metrics to Track
| Metric | What It Measures | Where to Find It |
|---|---|---|
| Organic traffic | Visitors from unpaid search | Google Analytics |
| Keyword rankings | Position for target terms | Ahrefs, Semrush, or GSC |
| Click-through rate | % who click your result | Google Search Console |
| Domain Authority / Domain Rating | Overall site authority | Moz (DA) or Ahrefs (DR) |
| Core Web Vitals | Page experience scores | PageSpeed Insights or GSC |
| Referring domains | Unique sites linking to you | Ahrefs or Semrush |
Implementation Checklist
| Task | Priority | Difficulty | Impact |
|---|---|---|---|
| Audit current setup | High | Easy | Foundation |
| Fix technical issues | High | Medium | Immediate |
| Optimize existing content | High | Medium | 2-4 weeks |
| Build new content | Medium | Medium | 2-6 months |
| Earn backlinks | Medium | Hard | 3-12 months |
| Monitor and refine | Ongoing | Easy | Compounding |
Frequently Asked Questions
Does the Skyscraper Technique still work?
Yes, but the bar is higher than when it was first introduced. Sending generic “I wrote something better” emails doesn’t cut it anymore. Your content must be demonstrably superior, and your outreach must be personalized and specific about why the switch benefits them.
How much better does content need to be?
Noticeably better — not marginally. Add sections the original skipped. Include current data where theirs is dated. Improve the visual design. Make it more actionable. If a reader wouldn’t immediately recognize your version as the superior resource, it’s not ready.
What outreach response rate should I expect?
A well-executed skyscraper campaign gets 5-15% of contacted sites to link. That’s significantly higher than cold link building outreach (1-3%) because you’re providing genuine value to someone who already links to similar content.
Want a steady stream of link-worthy content? theStacc publishes 30 SEO-optimized articles to your site every month — automatically building your content library. Start for $1 →
Sources
- Backlinko: The Skyscraper Technique
- Ahrefs: How to Execute the Skyscraper Technique
- Moz: Advanced Link Building Strategies
- Search Engine Journal: Skyscraper Content Strategy
Related Terms
Backlinks are links from other websites that point to a page on your site. Google treats them as votes of confidence — the more high-quality backlinks a page earns, the more likely it is to rank higher in search results.
Content MarketingContent marketing is a strategy focused on creating and distributing valuable, relevant content to attract and retain a target audience. Instead of directly pitching products, it builds trust and authority that drives profitable customer action over time.
Link BaitLink bait is content specifically designed to attract backlinks from other websites — such as original research, free tools, data studies, or provocative opinion pieces — by providing something uniquely valuable or shareable.
Link BuildingLink building is the practice of getting other websites to link back to your site. These backlinks act as votes of confidence that tell Google your content is trustworthy and worth ranking higher in search results.
Referring DomainA referring domain is a unique external website that contains at least one backlink pointing to your site — counted once regardless of how many individual links that domain sends you, making it a more reliable authority metric than raw backlink count.
