BacklinkScan logoBacklinkScan
Log inGet started

Backlinks From Community Roundups

BacklinkScan Teamon Dec 26, 2025
25 min read

Backlinks from community roundups are one of the easiest ways to turn your existing content into steady organic traffic and authority. By getting featured in curated community roundups, expert roundups, and niche “best-of” lists, you earn relevant, editorial links that signal trust to search engines and real people alike.

In this guide, you’ll learn how community-driven link roundups work, where to find them in your niche, and what makes your content “roundup-worthy.” We’ll also cover proven outreach tactics, etiquette, and simple systems you can use to consistently earn backlinks from community roundups without spammy link exchanges.

Community roundups are recurring collections of interesting links, posts, tools, or discussions that a curator pulls together for a specific audience. They might be weekly “best of” posts on a blog, a newsletter issue, or a pinned thread in a group.

They give backlinks because the whole point of a roundup is to send readers to the original source. When a curator recommends your article, video, or tool, they almost always include a clickable link so people can go deeper. In SEO terms, that link is a contextual, editorial backlink from their site to yours, which is exactly the kind of link search engines still treat as a strong trust signal in 2025.

These three formats often get mixed up, but they are not the same thing:

  • Link roundups are simple curated lists of links around a topic or niche. For example, “This week’s best technical SEO articles.” The curator finds good content and links out with short descriptions.

  • Expert roundups collect quotes or answers from multiple experts on one question, then link back to each contributor’s site or profile. The value is in the expert commentary, with links as attribution.

  • Community roundups are broader. They highlight what a specific community is doing or talking about: new posts from members, useful threads, tools people are trying, events, and so on. The curator is not just listing “good content on the internet,” but surfacing what their own audience has created or found helpful. Backlinks here are a side effect of community curation, not the main goal.

Examples of community roundups in different niches (blogs, newsletters, Facebook groups, subreddits)

You can find community roundups in almost any niche:

  • Blogs: A parenting blog might publish a monthly “from our readers” post that links to recipes, activity ideas, and personal essays submitted by subscribers.
  • Newsletters: A SaaS-focused email might feature “customer success stories of the week,” linking to blog posts, case studies, or product launches from users. Many modern newsletters use this curated format to share industry news and member content at the same time.
  • Facebook groups: Group admins often create weekly threads like “Share your latest article” or “Show us what you shipped this week.” When they later recap the best ones in a post on their site or in an email, those mentions become backlinks.
  • Subreddits: Many subreddits run “weekly highlights” or “best of the month” posts that link out to blog posts, tools, or research shared by members. These are classic community roundups, driven by upvotes and discussion rather than outreach.

Roundup backlinks tend to be strong for SEO because they check several quality boxes that search engines look for today:

  • Human curation and intent: Someone chooses your content because it is useful for their readers, not because you paid for a placement or swapped links. That makes the link “earned” and editorial, which current guidance still treats as the safest and most valuable type of backlink.
  • Topical relevance: Community roundups are usually niche-specific. If you run a cybersecurity blog and get featured in a security-focused roundup, that link is highly relevant, which modern algorithms weigh more heavily than raw authority alone.
  • Contextual placement: Links in roundups sit inside the main body content, surrounded by commentary, not buried in footers or random sidebars. Contextual links like this still pass more value than boilerplate or sitewide links.
  • Natural patterns: Because roundups are recurring and feature many different sites, they create a varied, organic link profile. There is no obvious footprint of paid placements or link schemes, which helps them stay on the right side of modern spam detection systems.

In short, when a real curator includes you in a community roundup, you gain both exposure to a targeted audience and a backlink that aligns well with how search engines evaluate links today.

Backlinks from community roundups are still useful for SEO when they come from real, active sites and are earned because your content is genuinely helpful. They are not magic on their own, but they can support your overall link profile, brand visibility, and traffic in a very natural way.

A good community roundup usually has a clear topic and a focused audience. When that page links to your content, it can help in three ways:

1. Authority If the roundup is hosted on a site with some trust and history, a followed link can pass PageRank and contribute to your domain’s overall authority. Even a handful of these links, spread across different relevant sites, can strengthen your backlink profile and support your other SEO efforts.

2. Relevance Roundups are often tightly themed: “best technical SEO guides this month,” “new productivity tools,” “beginner-friendly crochet patterns,” and so on. A link from a page that is clearly about your topic reinforces to search engines what your page is about. That topical relevance can help your content rank better for related queries over time.

3. Traffic and discovery Many roundups are created for humans first, not algorithms. They are shared in newsletters, communities, and social feeds. If your piece is featured, you can get referral traffic, email subscribers, and social shares. Those user signals and brand searches can indirectly support your SEO, even if the link itself is nofollow or low authority.

When done right, roundup backlinks look very natural. A curator finds useful resources, writes a short description, and links out to several different sites. That pattern is exactly what you would expect on a healthy web.

Signals that roundup links tend to look natural include:

  • They sit in the middle of editorial content, not in a “partner links” block.
  • The page links to many different domains, not just one or two.
  • Anchor text is usually branded or descriptive, not stuffed with exact-match keywords.
  • The roundup appears on a regular schedule and has been running for a while.

Problems start when roundups are obviously built just to sell links or manipulate rankings. If every “roundup” is pay-to-play, uses aggressive keyword anchors, or appears on thin sites that only exist to publish link lists, those links are more likely to be ignored or discounted.

Not every community roundup is a good SEO opportunity. In some cases, the effort to get featured is higher than the value of the link you receive.

Roundup backlinks may not be worth chasing when:

  • The site is low quality or off-topic. If the roundup covers random, unrelated subjects or is full of spun or AI-only content with no real audience, the link is unlikely to help.
  • Everything is clearly paid or labeled as sponsored with nofollow. Sponsored visibility can still be useful for traffic or branding, but it is not a strong SEO play on its own.
  • The page is buried or never gets seen. If older roundups have almost no organic traffic, no social engagement, and no internal links from the host site, the impact will be limited.
  • You have to bend your content to fit. Rewriting or churning out thin posts just to match a roundup theme usually leads to weak content and weak links.

Used selectively, community roundups can still be a solid, low-drama way to earn relevant backlinks. The key is to focus on real audiences, real curation, and roundups that you would be happy to be featured in even if search engines did not exist.

How to find active community roundups in your niche

Using Google search operators to uncover roundup posts

To find active community roundups, start with Google. Simple search operators make a big difference because most curators use similar wording in their titles. Combine your main topic with phrases like:

  • "your topic" "link roundup"
  • "your niche" "weekly roundup"
  • "best of" "your keyword"
  • "Friday favorites" "your niche"
  • "curated resources" "your topic"

You can narrow results with:

  • intitle:roundup or intitle:"best of" to focus on pages that clearly label themselves as roundups.
  • site:example.com "roundup" if you suspect a specific site runs them.
  • 2024..2025 added to the query to surface recent posts, which helps you avoid dead or abandoned roundups.

Open a few results and check: publishing frequency, last publish date, and whether they still link out to external sites. Add only current, outbound‑linking roundups to your prospect list.

Many of the best community roundups now live inside email newsletters rather than public blog posts. Look for newsletters that:

  • Publish on a clear schedule (weekly, biweekly, or monthly).
  • Have a “links,” “reads,” or “resources” section.
  • Regularly feature third‑party articles, tools, or case studies.

You can find them by searching for:

  • "your niche" newsletter "curated"
  • "your topic" "weekly reads"
  • "your industry" "best articles this week"

Also pay attention when you subscribe to industry newsletters yourself. Any issue that lists “top reads,” “what we’re reading,” or “community highlights” is a potential roundup. Save the sign‑up page and the sender’s email address so you can later pitch or submit content if they accept suggestions.

Spotting roundup opportunities inside Facebook groups, Reddit, and forums

Community roundups often happen informally inside social platforms. In Facebook groups, look for recurring posts from admins such as “Weekly wins,” “Share your latest article,” or “Resource Wednesday.” These threads sometimes get turned into blog or newsletter roundups, and even when they do not, they can still send targeted traffic.

On Reddit, search within relevant subreddits for terms like “weekly thread,” “resource thread,” “reading list,” or “roundup.” Many niche communities have sticky posts where moderators collect the best content of the week or month. Forums and Slack/Discord communities may have channels named “links,” “resources,” or “show and tell” that function the same way.

Your goal is to notice patterns: recurring threads, moderators who curate, and members whose recommendations often get highlighted. Those are the people and places most likely to feature your content.

Competitor backlink analysis is one of the fastest ways to uncover existing roundup opportunities. Plug a few close competitors into any backlink analysis tool and export their referring pages. Then scan the list for URLs or titles containing words like “roundup,” “best,” “top,” “weekly,” “monthly,” “favorites,” or “link love.”

When you find a roundup that already linked to a similar site, you know three things:

  1. The curator is active.
  2. They link out to external resources.
  3. They consider your topic relevant.

Visit those pages, confirm they are still being updated, and note the curator’s name, site, and contact method. These are high‑probability prospects, because they have already shown they are willing to feature content like yours.

What kind of content actually gets picked for roundups?

Curators pick content that makes them look good to their audience. If your piece helps their readers learn something faster, solve a problem, or discover something genuinely useful, it has a real shot at being included in community roundups and link roundups. Thin, generic posts almost never make the cut in 2025, no matter how hard you pitch them.

Topics and formats curators love to feature

Most roundup curators are looking for content that is:

  • Timely or trending: Fresh takes on new tools, algorithm updates, industry changes, or news in your niche.
  • Evergreen and actionable: Guides that will still be useful six months from now, with clear steps, checklists, or frameworks people can apply.
  • Data‑driven or research‑based: Original studies, surveys, benchmarks, or case studies that others can reference as a source.
  • Visually strong: Posts that include charts, screenshots, infographics, or short videos that make the idea easier to grasp and more shareable.

Formats that tend to perform well in roundups include:

  • “Ultimate” or deep how‑to guides
  • Checklists, templates, and toolkits
  • Case studies with real numbers and outcomes
  • Opinion pieces with a clear, defensible stance on a hot topic
  • Original research or survey results

If your content can be summarized in one compelling sentence and clearly fills a gap for their audience, it is much easier for a curator to justify featuring it.

Minimum quality bar: depth, originality, and usefulness

With Google’s helpful content signals now baked into the core algorithm, curators are more cautious about what they link to. They know that pointing to shallow or obviously SEO‑driven content can hurt their own perceived quality.

At a minimum, content that gets picked for roundups usually:

  • Goes deeper than page‑one clones: It covers subtopics others skip, includes real examples, and anticipates follow‑up questions.
  • Adds something new: A unique angle, proprietary data, a framework, or lived experience that is not already everywhere.
  • Is clearly written and well structured: Short paragraphs, descriptive headings, and clean formatting so readers (and curators) can scan it quickly.
  • Delivers practical value: Readers walk away able to do something they could not do before, not just “know more” in a vague way.

If a curator has to work hard to understand your point, or your article feels like it exists only to rank for a keyword, it is unlikely to be chosen.

Refreshing and updating older content before pitching

You do not always need a brand‑new article to get into a roundup. Often, updating an older but solid piece is enough to make it pitch‑worthy again. Many SEOs now treat “content refresh + outreach” as a core link‑building play, because it is easier to improve a good asset than to create a new one from scratch.

Before you pitch an existing article to a roundup curator, do a quick refresh:

  1. Update facts, stats, and screenshots so everything reflects the current year and current tools.
  2. Tighten the structure: improve headings, add a short summary or TL;DR, and make key steps or takeaways easy to skim.
  3. Improve depth where it is thin: add examples, mini case studies, or a short FAQ to cover obvious questions.
  4. Polish the UX: fix broken links, compress images, and make sure the page loads quickly and looks good on mobile.

When you reach out, you can honestly say, “I just updated this guide with new data and examples,” which gives the curator a clear reason to include your content in their next community roundup.

How to pitch your content to roundup curators without being spammy

Warming up: comment, share, and interact before you ask

Before you ever pitch a community roundup, make sure your name is familiar in a good way. Curators get a lot of cold outreach, and most of it is low effort. You stand out by acting like a real member of their audience first.

Spend a couple of weeks:

  • Reading their posts or newsletter issues
  • Leaving short, thoughtful comments that add something
  • Sharing their content on social and tagging them
  • Replying to their emails with quick “this was useful because…” notes

This kind of light engagement shows you actually follow their work and understand their audience. It also makes your later pitch feel like a natural extension of an existing relationship, not a random ask.

Simple email templates to submit your post to a roundup

When you do reach out, keep your email short, clear, and easy to say yes to. A basic structure works well:

Subject: Possible resource for your [topic] roundup

Hi [Name],

I’ve been enjoying your [roundup / newsletter / weekly thread], especially the recent issue on [specific topic].

I published a piece on [1‑sentence description: who it helps + what problem it solves].

If you ever do a roundup on [their theme or category], it might be a good fit: [URL].

Either way, thanks for putting together such a useful [roundup / newsletter].

Best, [Your name]

You can adapt this for DMs or contact forms. The key is: one clear link, one clear angle, no pressure.

Personalization tips that dramatically improve reply rates

Most roundup pitches fail because they look copy‑pasted. A few small touches can change that:

  • Mention a specific article, issue, or thread and what you liked about it.
  • Tie your content to a topic they clearly feature often.
  • Use natural language, not sales copy or SEO jargon.
  • Show you understand their audience: “This might help your readers who are [situation].”

You do not need a long email. One or two specific details are enough to prove you are not blasting the same message to 200 people. That alone makes your outreach feel far less spammy.

How often you should pitch the same curator

If someone ignores your first email, a single polite follow‑up 5–10 days later is fine. After that, assume they are not interested right now. Keep engaging with their content, but do not keep pushing the same link.

If they do feature you, say thank you, share the roundup, and wait at least a month or two before suggesting something new. When you pitch again, reference the previous feature and explain why this new piece is different and useful.

Think long term: you are building a relationship with a curator, not squeezing every possible link out of them in a single quarter. That mindset naturally keeps your outreach respectful and non‑spammy.

Community roundups you can participate in directly

Community roundups you can join yourself are one of the easiest ways to earn backlinks without cold outreach. Instead of waiting to be “discovered,” you submit your recipe, project, tool, or story to curators who are already asking for contributions.

These roundups usually have a clear theme, a submission form or email, and a regular publishing schedule. If you match what they are looking for and follow the rules, you have a real shot at being featured and linked.

Recipe, craft, and hobby roundups that accept direct submissions

Food, DIY, and hobby creators have a big advantage: many blogs and magazines actively invite reader submissions. You will often see “Submit a recipe” or “Submit your project” pages where home cooks and crafters can send in their best work for possible inclusion in a future roundup or column.

To make the most of these:

  • Focus on your strongest, most original recipes or tutorials, not everything you have ever made.
  • Include clear photos, full instructions, and any required background story or notes.
  • Read the guidelines carefully so you match the format, word count, and style they expect.

Beyond big blogs, look for hobby communities that run recurring “roundup” or “showcase” posts, such as monthly baking challenges, craft link parties, or themed project galleries. These often live on personal blogs but can still send meaningful traffic and a solid contextual link.

SaaS, marketing, and startup roundups that highlight new tools

In SaaS and marketing, roundups often take the form of weekly newsletters or curated “new tools” lists. Many of these quietly accept submissions from founders and marketers, even if they do not shout about it on the homepage.

You will typically find:

  • Weekly or monthly SaaS and growth newsletters that feature interesting tools, case studies, and resources.
  • Startup or product discovery communities that run recurring “what are you building?” or “launch thread” posts where you can share your app and link to your site.

To participate without being pushy, frame your submission around the value for their readers: what problem your tool solves, who it is for, and why it is a good fit for that specific roundup theme.

Local business or nonprofit roundups in your city or region

At the local level, community roundups often appear as:

  • “What’s happening this weekend” event lists.
  • “Local business spotlight” or “nonprofit of the month” features.
  • Seasonal guides like “holiday giving roundups” or “back‑to‑school resources.”

These are usually run by regional magazines, neighborhood blogs, chambers of commerce, or community organizations. Many have simple forms where you can submit:

  • Upcoming events and fundraisers.
  • New business openings or special offers.
  • Local initiatives, volunteer opportunities, or human‑interest stories.

If you are in the United States, start with city magazines, local lifestyle blogs, and community newsletters that already publish event calendars or “reader submissions.” Follow their instructions, provide complete details, and supply a good photo and short description. Even small local roundups can give you a relevant backlink, plus real people from your area discovering your site.

Creating your own community roundup can be a smart way to earn backlinks, but it only works if the main goal is to serve your audience and highlight genuinely useful resources. When the roundup is editorial, relevant, and not part of a link scheme, the links you attract tend to be safer and more sustainable for SEO.

When you publish a community roundup, you are curating other people’s best content, tools, or projects in one place. Many of those featured creators will naturally want to share the roundup because:

  • It makes them look good in front of their own audience.
  • It is an easy “as seen in…” or “featured here” mention.
  • It gives them a piece of social proof they can reference later.

Some will link to your roundup from their blog’s “press” page, a case study, a resources page, or a recap post. These are editorial links: they decide if and how to link, and they do it because the mention is useful, not because you forced a trade. That kind of organic linking is exactly what modern link policies describe as natural and trustworthy.

Roundups can also attract links from people who were not featured but found the page helpful, such as other bloggers, newsletter writers, or forum members who want to share a good resource list. Over time, a well-known recurring roundup can become a “reference page” in your niche and pick up links you never asked for.

Choosing a clear theme and cadence for your roundup

Your own community roundup works best when it has a tight focus and a predictable schedule.

A clear theme keeps the content relevant and makes it easier for others to understand why they should care. For example:

  • “Monthly technical SEO experiments worth reading”
  • “Weekly new tools for indie SaaS founders”
  • “Best new gluten-free baking recipes this month”

A consistent cadence (weekly, biweekly, or monthly) trains both contributors and readers to expect it. It also helps you avoid the kind of sudden, unnatural spikes in links and mentions that can look spammy if you tried to force everything into a short window.

Pick a schedule you can actually maintain. A smaller, reliable roundup is better than an ambitious series that dies after two issues. Reliability builds trust, and trusted resources are more likely to earn organic backlinks over time.

You should not pressure people into linking, and you definitely should not run your roundup as a “you must link to be featured” exchange. Large-scale, reciprocal link arrangements are exactly the kind of pattern that can fall under link scheme guidance.

Instead, make it easy and natural for contributors to share:

  • Send a short, friendly email when the roundup goes live, thanking them for their work and including a direct URL.
  • Offer a couple of optional, copy‑and‑paste snippets for social posts, not anchor‑text‑stuffed link blurbs.
  • Mention that they are welcome to add the feature to their “featured in” or “press” page if they keep one.

This approach keeps editorial control on their side, which aligns with how search engines expect honest links to be created.

You can also highlight contributors in ways that make sharing feel natural: include a short quote, a key takeaway, or a screenshot of their work. When people feel genuinely appreciated, they are far more likely to share and sometimes link, without you ever having to ask for a backlink directly.

Pitching irrelevant or thin content to every roundup you see

Sending the same weak article to every community roundup you can find is one of the fastest ways to burn bridges. Curators care about fit and quality. If your post is only loosely related to the topic, very short, or clearly written just to get a link, it will be ignored and you may be filtered out in the future.

Before you pitch, ask: Would this genuinely help their audience? Check the last few editions of the roundup and look at what they actually feature in terms of depth, tone, and topic. If your content is not at least on par, improve it first or skip that opportunity. A smaller number of highly relevant roundup backlinks will help you more than dozens of low‑quality mentions.

Roundup backlinks should look like a side effect of you publishing good content, not your only link strategy. If you appear in dozens of similar roundups in a short time, especially with the same anchor text pointing to the same page, that pattern can look manufactured.

Spread out your submissions, vary the pages you promote, and mix roundup links with other types of mentions like guest posts, resource pages, and organic citations. Treat roundups as one channel in a broader link profile, not a shortcut to “fix” your authority overnight.

Ignoring nofollow, sponsored, and disclosure rules

Many curators now mark some links as nofollow or sponsored, especially if there is any kind of payment, affiliate relationship, or clear promotion. Ignoring or arguing about these attributes is a quick way to lose trust.

Read each roundup’s guidelines. If they say submissions are unpaid and editorial, do not push for a followed link. If they label certain sections as sponsored, assume those links will not pass full ranking signals and decide if the visibility is still worth it. Respecting how curators handle disclosures keeps the relationship healthy and protects you from compliance issues.

Another common mistake is treating every roundup backlink as equal and never checking what happens after you get featured. Some roundups drive real referral traffic, email signups, or sales. Others barely send a click.

Use basic analytics to see which domains and pages send visitors, how long those visitors stay, and whether they convert. Also keep a simple record of which roundups actually published your link, what anchor text they used, and whether the link is follow, nofollow, or sponsored. Over time, this helps you focus on the communities that send both strong backlinks and engaged readers, instead of chasing every possible mention.

Building a small prospect list of 20–50 roundup opportunities

Start by treating roundup backlinks like a small, focused campaign, not a giant outreach blast. Your goal is a living list of 20–50 high‑fit roundup opportunities that you can cycle through over time.

Begin with obvious sources: search for roundup posts in your niche, check who links to your competitors, and note any newsletters or blogs that regularly feature “best of the week” content. Add only opportunities that:

  • Match your topic and audience
  • Are still active in the last 3–6 months
  • Actually link out to external sites

For each prospect, record: site name, URL, curator name, email or contact method, type of roundup (blog, newsletter, community thread), frequency, and any submission notes or guidelines. A small, accurate list beats a huge, messy one, because you will revisit these curators again and again.

Weekly workflow: find, pitch, follow up, and say thank you

To make roundups a recurring backlink source, block a simple weekly routine, even if you only have an hour:

  1. Find (10–15 minutes): Add 1–3 new prospects to your list by searching, checking competitor links, or noticing new newsletters and community threads.
  2. Pitch (20–30 minutes): Choose 3–5 relevant prospects and send short, personalized pitches for your best recent or refreshed content.
  3. Follow up (10–15 minutes): Gently follow up on pitches from 7–10 days ago, once only, unless the curator invites more.
  4. Say thank you (5–10 minutes): When you get included, reply with a genuine thank you, share their roundup with your audience, and note the win in your tracking sheet.

This rhythm keeps you visible without spamming, and it steadily compounds relationships, links, and referral traffic.

You do not need complex tools. A simple spreadsheet or lightweight CRM is enough to manage roundup backlinks and relationships. At minimum, include columns for:

  • Curator / site name
  • URL of the roundup page or newsletter archive
  • Contact details and preferred channel
  • Niche / topic focus
  • Status (not contacted, pitched, followed up, featured, not a fit)
  • Dates of last pitch, follow‑up, and response
  • Links earned (URL, anchor text, date)
  • Notes on tone, preferences, and what they liked

Update this every week as you pitch and get featured. Over time, you will see which roundups send real traffic, which curators respond often, and where to focus your energy. That is how roundups shift from “one‑off lucky mentions” to a predictable, recurring backlink source.