Glossary
Skyscraper Technique
A content creation and link building strategy where you find top-performing content in your niche, create something substantially better, then reach out to sites linking to the original content.
The Skyscraper Technique, developed by Brian Dean of Backlinko, is a strategic approach to creating highly linkable content and building quality backlinks. The process begins with researching existing popular content in your industry that has already attracted significant backlinks. This proven content becomes your foundation or "base skyscraper" upon which you'll build something taller and more impressive. The second step involves creating significantly improved content that surpasses the original in every way possible—more comprehensive information, better visual elements, updated statistics, improved user experience, or additional formats like videos or infographics. The goal is to make your content so exceptional that it becomes the new definitive resource on the topic. This improved content should be objectively better, not just different or slightly enhanced. Finally, you reach out to websites that have already linked to the original content and introduce them to your superior version. Since these site owners have demonstrated interest in the topic by previously linking to related content, they have a higher likelihood of linking to your improved resource. The technique leverages the psychological principle that people prefer to reference the best available resources, and your outreach simply makes them aware of the new "tallest skyscraper" in the content landscape.