Backlink exchange

A backlink is a link to your store from someone else’s website. Search engines read them as votes of confidence — which is why they’re one of the strongest ranking signals there is, and why they’re normally so hard to get.

Rankira’s backlink exchange solves this with other Shopify stores already using the app. Their articles link to you; yours link to them. Everything runs on credits, and it happens without you doing anything.

How it works

You earn credits

Start with 100 credits when setup finishes, plus 3 more every day. You also earn credits whenever one of your articles hosts a link to another store.

You spend credits

When another store’s article links to yours, credits move from your balance to theirs. Nothing is charged up front.

Matching is automatic

As articles are generated across the network, Rankira pairs stores whose topics genuinely relate and whose language matches. You don’t pick partners.

Credits only move on verification

Rankira reads the published article back to confirm the link is really there before any credits change hands. You’re never charged for a link that didn’t appear, and if one stops working later those credits come back to you.

What a backlink costs

Price depends on how authoritative the linking site is, measured by its Domain Rating (a 0–100 industry score for how strong a domain looks to search engines).

• A link costs between 1 and 20 credits, matching the hosting site’s Domain Rating.
• The store hosting your link earns the same amount — the exchange is symmetrical.
• A link from a stronger site costs more because it’s worth more.

At 3 free credits a day plus what you earn hosting, most stores keep a healthy balance without ever thinking about it.

Built-in limits

Search engines penalise link patterns that look manufactured, so the exchange deliberately holds back:

Three per day, maximum

Your store can receive at most three new backlinks a day. Growth stays gradual and natural-looking.

30-day pair cooldown

The same store won’t link to you twice within a month.

14-day reciprocity gap

If you linked to a store recently, they won’t immediately link back — reciprocal pairs are an obvious footprint.

Real domains only

Participants need a proper custom domain. Links from .myshopify.com addresses carry no SEO value, so they’re excluded.

Same language

You’re only matched with stores writing in your target language.

Content screening

Every participating store is checked for inappropriate content before it can take part.

Tracking it

Open Link Management › External Backlinks.

Credit balance

What you have to spend right now.

Credit history

Every movement, dated and labelled — Welcome bonus Daily top-up Hosting reward Backlink charge Refund Adjustment.

Earned backlinks

Sites now linking to you, with the page they link to and when it appeared.

Hosting links for other stores

Occasionally one of your articles will include a link to another store in the network. This is how you earn credits, and it’s worth knowing what it does and doesn’t mean:

• Links are only placed where they fit the topic — never dropped in at random.
• You’re never matched with a store selling what you sell.
• Credits arrive once the link is verified in your published article.
• A single outbound link to a relevant store doesn’t harm your own rankings — linking out to good sources is normal, healthy web publishing.

If you’d rather not host links at all, switch the exchange off below rather than editing them out of individual articles.

Turning the exchange off

There’s a toggle at the top of the External Backlinks tab. Switch it off and your articles stop hosting links for other stores — and you stop receiving backlinks in return. Credits you’ve already earned stay in your balance.

Most stores should leave it on. Off-page SEO is the part merchants usually can’t do themselves, and this is the cheapest honest version of it available to you.