The Skyscraper Technique: When It Works, When It Doesn't, and How to Do It Properly
The skyscraper technique was popularised by Brian Dean of Backlinko in the mid-2010s, and the name stuck because the idea is easy to picture. Find the tallest building on the block (a page with lots of backlinks), build something taller (a better version), and then tell everyone who admired the old building about the new one. In link building terms: find a heavily linked page on your topic, create a superior resource, and email the sites linking to the original.
It still works. It also fails far more often than the case studies suggest, and nearly always for the same reasons. This guide covers both.
The three steps
- Find linkable content. Pages in your niche that have earned links from many different websites.
- Make something meaningfully better. Not a longer copy. A page that a linking site would genuinely prefer to cite.
- Reach out to the right people. Sites currently linking to the original, plus others who write about the topic.
Step 1: finding pages that attract links
Use any backlink tool's "best by links" or "top pages" report on competitor domains. You are looking for pages with a high number of referring domains relative to the rest of the site. A typical pattern is that a few pages on a site earn most of its links.
Some formats tend to attract links naturally:
- Data and statistics pages that other writers cite
- Free tools and calculators
- Definitive how-to guides on a process people need to explain often
- Curated lists of resources, templates or examples
Search results matter too. If a page ranks on page one for a query like "home loan eligibility calculator India" and has hundreds of referring domains, you can see both the demand and the competition.
Why the page earned links matters more than how many
Before you build anything, open twenty of the linking pages and read the sentence around the link. Are people citing a specific statistic? Embedding a chart? Recommending a tool? This tells you what the linkers value. If everyone links to an old travel blog for one map of Kerala's backwaters, your "better" version needs a better map. A 6,000-word essay will not replace it.
Step 2: making it better in a way that matters
This is where most skyscraper attempts fall apart. People add more words, more headings and a "2026 edition" label and expect links to flow. Linking sites do not care about word count. They care whether your page is a better thing to send their readers to.
Real improvements usually look like one of these:
- More current. The original cites figures from years ago, tools that no longer exist or rules that have changed.
- More accurate. You spot errors and fix them, with sources.
- More usable. A clearer layout, a working calculator, a downloadable checklist, a comparison table.
- More specific. The original is generic, and yours covers a segment properly, such as GST filing for freelancers rather than "taxes for small business".
- Original input. Your own data, photos, tests or experience that nobody else has.
If you cannot honestly say why a busy editor would swap their link to your page, keep working on the page or choose another target.
Step 3: outreach to the people who linked
Export the list of referring pages for the original. Filter out scrapers, directories and sites that link to everything. You want real articles by real people where the link is in context.
Then personalise. Reference the article where they linked, explain in one sentence what your page does better, and make it easy for them. For example:
Hi Rahul, your post on budgeting for a first trip to Japan links to a rail pass cost breakdown that still lists the old prices. I put together an updated breakdown with current fares and a route calculator: [URL]. Might be useful if you are refreshing the post.
Do not ask them to "replace" the link in the first line. Lead with what is useful to them. Our guide to link building outreach emails covers follow-ups and subject lines.
Why most skyscraper campaigns get poor results
Be prepared for low reply rates. Some honest reasons:
- The method is well known. Editors of popular pages receive many skyscraper emails, and they recognise the template.
- Existing links are sticky. People rarely revisit old articles to update a link, even if your page is better.
- "Better" was not better. Longer content with the same information gives nobody a reason to switch.
- Weak targeting. Emailing every linking domain, including ones that clearly never read their own pages.
Because of this, the skyscraper approach often works best as a content strategy first and an outreach campaign second. A truly superior page will earn some links on its own once it ranks, and the outreach speeds things up.
Promote beyond the original's linkers
The original page's backlink list is a starting point, not the full audience. Look for:
- Writers who have covered the topic recently but linked to nothing, or to a weaker source
- Newsletters and communities in your niche
- Journalists who cover the subject, which overlaps with digital PR for links
- Resource pages that list tools or guides of this type, which is the focus of resource page link building
Measure it properly
Track replies, links won and the referring domains to your new page over the following months. Also watch rankings for the page's main query. A skyscraper page that ranks well keeps attracting links passively, which is often where the real value shows up. Use the SERP preview tool to tune the title and description so the page gets clicked once it starts ranking.
Pick one competitor page with strong links this week. Read twenty of the sentences that link to it, write down what those writers valued, and only then decide whether you can build something they would rather cite.