Backlinks are an essential part of off-page search engine optimization (SEO). It is used to increase your organic traffic and helps you get notified by search engines. So, let’s understand what is backlinking and you can create good backlinks for your website.
What are Backlinks in SEO?
Backlink meaning can be defined as a link on one website directing to another. Backlinks are also known as “links,” “incoming links,” or “inbound links.” For instance, a fashion blog featuring a hyperlink directs readers to an online ecommerce store. This particular link becomes a valuable backlink for the e-commerce shop.
Therefore, the role of backlinks in SEO is pivotal, serving as a signal to search engines like Google that the content is respected by other entities. It significantly leads to potential improvements in search rankings.
What is the Difference Between a Link and a Backlink?
Links are essentially connectors; they enable the interconnectedness of individual web documents. Internal links link pages within the same domain, primarily facilitating navigation. On the other hand, a backlink essentially serves as a connection between linking different websites. It provides context, supports claims, makes recommendations, cites sources, or adds authenticity.
In each instance, the link’s presence on the page aims to enhance the reader’s experience, making them a valuable asset. It’s integral to note that every link has a direction. When it’s outgoing from the linking page, it comes incoming to the target page, constituting a backlink for the target.
Search engines recognize the value of backlinks and reward the targeted URL, interpreting the link as a deliberate choice with some level of editorial assessment of the target web page. This is why backlinks pointing to your site signal to search engines that your content holds value. In fact, backlinks stand as one of the most influential factors in determining the success or failure of a website in terms of organic traffic.
Why are Backlinks Important?
Some of the reasons why backlinks play a critical role in SEO:
- Increased Chances of Site Discovery
The foremost reason why backlinking is one of the Google ranking factors is that it elevates content visibility and discovery by searches. This is because links enable searchers to move from one place to another around the web, increasing the chances of discovering new websites.
- Helps in Search Engine Crawling and Indexing
Search engines, such as Google, employ crawlers, bots, or spiders to navigate the web through backlinks. These programs follow link paths, discover content, and index it. For a page to appear in search results, search engines must find it, and this discovery primarily happens through links.
- Acts as a Ranking Signal
Backlinks serve as a crucial ranking signal for search engines. Each earned backlink can be associated as a “vote” endorsing the value of the linked page. In the eyes of Google, a higher number of backlinks to your web page implies its superior quality compared to a competitor’s page with fewer backlinks. Google considers backlinks in its E-A-T signals, emphasizing the link authority derived from third-party recognition, either through links or mentions.
- Provides Competitive Insight
Backlinks are key in determining how pages and websites rank in search results. Analyzing competitor’s backlinks provides insight into potential sources to secure links for competitive advantage. The focus is on obtaining backlinks from high-quality, relevant publications.
Assessing the relationship between sites is crucial. For instance, imagine a website dedicated to healthy recipes linking to a fitness app. This linkage indicates the authority in the health and wellness domain. On the contrary, if the fitness app is linked to a gaming website, the relevance and quality of its backlinks might be questionable.
Therefore, when analyzing a competitor’s backlinks, focus on securing endorsements from high-quality, thematic sources, avoiding potential link spam. You can also leverage SEO tools to conduct a comprehensive assessment of your own and your competitors backlinks.
What Types of Backlinks are Good or Bad?
Not all backlinks are of the same value. You can only rank higher by focusing on high authority backlinks. Let’s understand the essential qualities of good and bad backlinks.
Good Backlinks
- Quality Links Originate from Trusted and Authoritative Sources
Good links stem from sources that hold meaningful relevance to your organization. For example, a fashion blog linking to your e-commerce website becomes a critical backlink. That is why, seek connections with trusted and contextually relevant entities to enhance the credibility of your links.
- Earned Through Outstanding Content
Earn links by creating high-quality content. When third parties link to your content without solicitation or willingly connect because of its genuine value to their audience, it signifies the organic and aesthetic appeal of your content.
- Proper Usage of Anchor Text
Quality links feature diverse anchor text, avoiding the repetition of the same anchor text across numerous links. This diversity enhances the natural and organic appearance of your link profile. Moreover, you would want your anchor text to include target keywords as it increases by ranking for that keyword.
- The Site Linking to You is Topically Related
Google emphasizes the importance of topical relevance when one website links to another. The logic is straightforward: if you have just published an article about running a marathon, Google assigns greater significance to links about marathons, health and fitness, and running as compared to sites unrelated to these topics. The contextual connection between the linking site’s content and yours holds weight in determining the value of the link in Google’s assessment.
- The Link is a Dofollow Link
Search engines, including Google disregard links marked with the “nofollow” tag. This means that they don’t factor into search engine ranking algorithms. However, the majority of links on the web are “dofollow” links, carrying significant weight in SEO.
Notably, links from sources like blog comments, paid advertisements, and press releases typically have the “nofollow” attribute. However, since these links have less impact on SEO, their “nofollow” status does not significantly impact their overall value.
- The Domain Hasn’t Linked to You Before
Link diversity plays a crucial role in SEO due to which it’s more beneficial to have links from various domains than multiple links from the same one. This is because the number of unique sites linking to your domain correlates more strongly with Google rankings than the total number of backlinks.
- No Exchange of Money or Perks
Genuine backlinks are free from any monetary transactions or perks changing hands in exchange for linking. The authenticity of the link should be driven by the merit of the content rather than any form of compensation.
- Visibility to Both Users and Search Engines
Quality links are equally visible to both users and search engine crawlers, without any hidden elements. Ensuring transparency and accessibility contributes to the credibility and effectiveness of the link in the online ecosystem.
Bad Backlinks
Bad backlinks are the ones that:
- Originate from financial transactions or the provision of incentives.
- Emerge from widespread link exchange schemes.
- Involve efforts to insert links into web pages by exploiting security vulnerabilities.
- Derive from websites engaged in schemes for paid links or other spam-related activities.
- Exhibit a consistent pattern of excessively using specific keywords in anchor text on a large scale, aiming to manipulate search engines.
How to Get High Quality Backlinks?
Are you still wondering how to build backlinks? Don’t worry! Let’s identify the different methods on how you can generate backlinks:
- Curate Linkable Assets
Developing linkable assets is pivotal for encouraging others to link to your website. You can create different forms of assets to do link-building for SEO. For instance, you can create blog posts, videos, conduct surveys, quizzes, or any content that appeals to a wide audience.
You can also opt for infographics as they effectively help in linking other sites to yours. Therefore, well-crafted content or infographics can lead to valuable links. The key lies in strategic promotion, and the “Guestographics” strategy is a recommended approach to maximize the impact of your linkable assets.
- Do Link Roundups
Consider a scenario where individuals create blog posts specifically to link to high-quality content- content akin to what’s already featured on your site. This linking practice is known as link roundups. These are in the form of blog posts, occurring daily, weekly, or monthly that direct readers to exceptional content.
For instance, securing a backlink from a round is an effective strategy. This process involves identifying link roundups in your niche using specific Google search strings, such as “Keyword” + “link roundup.” Subsequently, you can suggest your linkage asset for inclusion in the roundup process, and if your content aligns with the roundup theme, you can acquire a valuable and high-quality link.
- Focus on Broken Link Building
In this technique, you focus on identifying pages with 404 errors and try to rectify the backlinks for websites. The objective is to locate the broken links, especially 404 links, on resource pages within your niche. For example, if your niche is fashion, you can employ Google search strings like:
“fashion” + “resource page”
“fashion” + “resources”
“fashion” + “recommended sites”
“fashion” + “links”
These searches will help you identify the broken links you were searching for. So, rather than directly asking for a link, it’s more effective to inform the site owner about the identified broken website links. You can use different online tools to simplify the process and quickly highlight the broken pages.
- Use Content Format that Generate Links
Choose content formats that stand out in terms of constructing backlinks. Long-form content, especially focusing on “Why posts” and “What posts” consistently attract significant linking activity. Infographics are also an effective way to generate backlinks. Apart from these formats, you can also do video content, how-to posts, and list posts to get valuable links.
- Do Guest Posting and Encourage Blogger Reviews
Guest posting is a valuable strategy for linking websites, thereby securing backlinks. Writing quality guest posts for reputable sites in your niche boosts organic traffic. Instead of the traditional method, you can also leverage established guest bloggers by doing research. You can do so by searching for their headshots for potential posting platforms.
Collaborating with niche bloggers who consistently produce content also helps in generating backlinks. Building relationships with these bloggers can lead to various collaboration opportunities, enhancing your chances of acquiring quality backlinks.
- Submit Testimonials
Testimonials can be a powerful way to obtain backlinks. If you are a satisfied user of online products or services, offering a compelling success story might lead companies to publish a case study or testimonial featuring your experience.
When approaching the right person, this pitch can be relatively straightforward. Marketers find such content highly valuable for promoting their products. So, if you manage to secure a link in return, it becomes a mutually beneficial outcome.
- Apply the Moving Man Method
The Moving Man method involves a three-step process. Initially, identify web pages, resources, or businesses that are outdated, rebranded, or have recently changed names. Following that, locate the websites that continue to link to these outdated resources. Finally, reach out via email to inform individuals that they are linking to content that is now obsolete.
For instance, suppose a popular technology blog links to a software company that has recently rebranded itself. By applying the Moving Man method, you can identify the outdated link, locate the webmaster of the technology blog, and inform them about the rebranding. This not only helps in keeping information accurate but also opens opportunities for the software company to gain updated backlinks.
- Link Reclamation
Link reclamation is a straightforward process where you initially identify instances where your company is mentioned without a corresponding link to your site. For instance, consider a scenario where a blog post mentions your product but fails to provide a link to your website. This is where link reclamation becomes valuable.
Instead of expressing a desire for a link, take proactive steps by reaching out and requesting one. A friendly reminder often prompts the respective individuals to log into their content management systems and add your link. You can simply send a courteous email requesting the addition of the link.
- Develop Beneficial Partnerships
Cultivating beneficial partnerships with suppliers, retailers, and other businesses offers a strategic avenue for expanding your online presence. Encourage existing business associates to feature your business on their websites, leveraging any listing sections they may have. Moreover, you can also explore the mutually advantageous collaborations that extend beyond conventional business benefits.
Consider offering feature content to your partners for inclusion on their websites or engaging in co-promotional activities such as webinars. This not only enhances your visibility but also exposes your business to a wider audience through collaborative efforts.
- Support Your Local Community
Engaging with the local community presents a valuable opportunity to contribute positively to society while also crafting a favorable narrative around your business. If you haven’t established connections within your local community, explore avenues for involvement.
This might involve sponsoring local events, organizing community meetups, or participating in volunteer initiatives. By actively participating in and supporting the local community, your business not only gives back but also establishes a positive presence with the community at large. This can, in turn, help you gain worthy press coverage that would enhance your brand reputation.
Moreover, it will also serve as a valuable source for building backlinks as media outlets share and link to the stories surrounding your local contributions. This strategic approach aligns community engagement with an effective backlink-building strategy, reinforcing your business’s positive impact both locally and online.
Conclusion
Thus, backlinks form the cornerstone of SEO as they help people as well as search engines discover your website. Before you start your backlinking approach, understand the difference between good and bad backlinks. Follow the different strategies highlighted in this blog to create high-quality backlinks for your business.