How to get a backlink from Smashwords?
The useful Smashwords backlink is the website or social link on your public user profile. Smashwords’ current privacy policy says every registered user can publish social hyperlinks on a profile, including a personal website or blog. You do not need to place promotional links in reviews or publish a book just to use this profile field.
Steps
- Open the Smashwords signup page and choose the username that will form your public profile URL.
- Register with a working email address, accept the current terms, and complete any email-verification step shown for the account.
- Sign in and open your profile-editing controls.
- Add a truthful name or pen name, a short relevant biography, and your legitimate website, blog, or social address in the designated profile fields.
- Save the profile, then open its public URL while signed out to confirm that the destination is visible and correct.
The Rebecca M. Douglass profile shows the public result: Smashwords places the author’s website under Where to find Rebecca M. Douglass online.
The inspected website anchor points directly to https://www.rebecca-douglass.com, but its HTML includes rel="nofollow". A second current author profile showed the same nofollow treatment, so this method should not be presented as a dofollow SEO win. Its practical value is a legitimate identity citation and a route for readers who discover the profile or the books attached to it.
Keep the link relevant to the person or publishing identity represented by the profile. Smashwords’ current terms of service prohibit spam, ranking manipulation, and using book reviews to market unrelated products or services. If you are an author who also wants books listed in the store, Smashwords now directs new publishing and distribution through Draft2Digital; that is a separate workflow from adding a profile website link.
Backlink signals
Editorial estimates for comparing this provider.
- Dofollow linksUsually nofollowWe set this after checking whether the recommended backlink method on this provider typically outputs a dofollow link in the page HTML. If attributes vary by page type, we use the realistic default for that path and explain the nuance in the guide.
- No. We set this after checking whether the recommended backlink method on this provider typically outputs a dofollow link in the page HTML. If attributes vary by page type, we use the realistic default for that path and explain the nuance in the guide.
- Backlink valueEditorial estimateBacklink value is our 0-100 editorial estimate of how much authority a page you create here would actually carry. We score the page you would end up with - not the provider homepage - from how strongly the platform links to and indexes that page type, how much editorial review stands behind it, and what comparable pages are worth in practice. Most new pages anywhere are worth little; a few platforms hand a fresh page real strength straight away. It is a comparison estimate, not a measurement, and it will not match any third-party tool.
- 4/100. Backlink value is our 0-100 editorial estimate of how much authority a page you create here would actually carry. We score the page you would end up with - not the provider homepage - from how strongly the platform links to and indexes that page type, how much editorial review stands behind it, and what comparable pages are worth in practice. Most new pages anywhere are worth little; a few platforms hand a fresh page real strength straight away. It is a comparison estimate, not a measurement, and it will not match any third-party tool.
- Spam ratingLower is betterWe use spam score when we have a defensible value for the relevant domain or surface, otherwise a conservative Backlink Badger editorial estimate from platform quality and spam patterns. Treat it as an approximate comparison guide, not a guarantee of how search engines evaluate the site.
- 1/100. We use spam score when we have a defensible value for the relevant domain or surface, otherwise a conservative Backlink Badger editorial estimate from platform quality and spam patterns. Treat it as an approximate comparison guide, not a guarantee of how search engines evaluate the site.
- Acquisition difficultyLower is easierBacklink Badger assigns this 0–100 score from editorial review of signup friction, content requirements, approval gates, and account trust for the recommended path. It is an approximate comparison estimate, not a measured difficulty metric.
- 15/100. Backlink Badger assigns this 0–100 score from editorial review of signup friction, content requirements, approval gates, and account trust for the recommended path. It is an approximate comparison estimate, not a measured difficulty metric.
- Time estimateTypical setupWe estimate the minimum minutes a prepared user needs to sign up, set up, and publish or submit the backlink, including obvious waiting steps we can reasonably predict. This Backlink Badger estimate is approximate - your first attempt or extra verification may take longer.
- ~10 min. We estimate the minimum minutes a prepared user needs to sign up, set up, and publish or submit the backlink, including obvious waiting steps we can reasonably predict. This Backlink Badger estimate is approximate - your first attempt or extra verification may take longer.
- Free optionNo required spendWe mark Yes when the recommended backlink path can be completed without paying the provider for access, placement, or a required plan. If only paid tiers unlock the link, or payment is commonly required in practice, we mark No.
- Yes. We mark Yes when the recommended backlink path can be completed without paying the provider for access, placement, or a required plan. If only paid tiers unlock the link, or payment is commonly required in practice, we mark No.
Provider overview
Smashwords is an ebook store operated by Draft2Digital. A registered user can create a public Smashwords profile and add a personal website, blog, or social link; the resulting external profile link is direct but explicitly nofollow.
Minimum requirements to get a backlink from Smashwords
- Working email address
- Public username
- Legitimate website or social URL
Key challenges to get a backlink from Smashwords
- Nofollow link: Current public profile website anchors use
rel="nofollow", so treat this as an author-discovery and citation link rather than a clean dofollow backlink. - Profile relevance: Use the designated profile fields and truthful identity details; Smashwords prohibits spam, ranking manipulation, and promotional content in book reviews.
- Separate publishing workflow: New ebook distribution is handled through Draft2Digital, although a free Smashwords reader account can still maintain a public profile.