Did you know that the numbered links to web pages when you inquire from search engines such as Google, Bing, or Yahoo, are known as search engine rankings?
Search engine results pages are ranked according to standards set by organic search traffic. No one can buy site’s ranking position in the search engines. Hence, this is where SEO comes in.
Search Engine Optimization or simply SEO is the process to achieve a higher rank on the search engine algorithm. But does a higher SEO rank really matter? It does.
Page rank defines the visibility of your page. If your web page lands on the second page, that might as well mean death for your site because most people do not go beyond the second page of search engines.
As a site owner, how will you have a higher rank on Google and other search engines? There are several ranking factors to consider to get the favour of Google. One SEO strategy to achieve this is by addressing these ranking factors.
One of the factors that can make your page rank higher on Google’s algorithm is by building backlinks. Rank matters to SEO and the world of digital marketing. To be recognized by Google being the top search engine means success for site owners.
What are backlinks, and why do they matter to SEO? Let’s find out!
What are Backlinks?
Backlinks are hyperlinks from other websites that lead to your website. When you link other websites to your page, it means they received a backlink from you. On the other hand, when other sites link their page to yours, you gain backlinks.
Backlinks are also referred to as inbound links, incoming links, or one-way links. Regardless of how they are called, there is the undeniable fact that backlinks matter to SEO, thus its search rankings relevance.
Why are Backlinks Important in SEO?
PageRank, an algorithm developed by Google’s founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, underpins the relationship between backlinks and search engine rankings. It’s designed to measure the importance of website pages by counting the number and quality of links to a page. When a page links to another page, PageRank considers it as a vote or endorsement for the linked page.
Link juice from backlinks contributes to this PageRank value, amplifying the ranking power of the receiving page. Sites with higher PageRank are more likely to appear at the top of Google search results, making it a vital part of SEO strategy.
Types of Backlinks
When it comes to establishing a trustworthy link profile, not all backlinks are the same. For link building strategies to be relevant, it is vital to know the type of backlinks that matter to SEO.
There are two basic types of backlinks – nofollow and dofollow. They are discussed below.
1. Nofollow
The first type is the nofollow backlink. This type does not give any value from one website to another. This nofollow tag basically prompts Google and other search engines that it doesn’t pass trust.
Since nofollow links do not pass link equity, they do not really do anything to boost your backlink profile. As such, this type of link is futile to SEO and search engine ranking.
2. Dofollow
The other type of backlink is the dofollow link. Unlike nofollow links, dofollow links are essential to building a good link profile since they pass link equity. These types are high-quality backlinks to your site that are beneficial to search engine optimization.
There is also truth to the claim that there are dofollow links that are regarded as bad backlinks. These links emanate from untrusted sites or are obtained by terminating the search engine terms of service.
External links from quality websites are the ones that matter to better search rankings. It is not just about the number of backlinks to your site but the quality of the backlinks gained. This is an important insight to consider when considering site linking.
3. UGC (User Generated Content) Backlinks
UGC, or User Generated Content backlinks, originates from the content generated by users. This could be in the form of blog comments, forum posts, or any content that users create, which includes a link to another site. Google introduced the UGC attribute in 2019 to help distinguish between the types of links generated from user-created content.
UGC backlinks play a pivotal role in modern SEO strategies due to the rise of social media platforms and online forums. These platforms allow users to share their thoughts and create content, often including links to relevant sites or sources. These links, when directed towards your site, can amplify your SEO efforts.
4. Sponsored Backlinks
Sponsored backlinks, as the name suggests, are links that are purchased or sponsored by a company to enhance their online visibility and search engine ranking. The intent behind these backlinks is generally promotional and can often involve a financial transaction or an exchange of goods or services.
In an attempt to bring greater transparency to the web, Google introduced the `rel=”sponsored”` attribute in 2019 to distinguish sponsored backlinks. This attribute should be used whenever a link is the result of a paid or sponsored arrangement. It signals to Google that the link is an advertisement or sponsored content, and should not be considered as a signal of trust or an endorsement from the site that hosts the link.
Using sponsored backlinks should adhere to legal requirements set by search engines and regulatory bodies such as the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). These requirements include accurately labelling sponsored links and disclosing any potential partnerships or paid relationships.
Characteristics of High-Quality SEO Backlinks
In SEO, the quality of backlinks significantly impacts a website’s search engine ranking. Here are the key characteristics that define high-quality SEO backlinks:
Relevance
Backlinks from websites that are related to your niche or topic are considered more valuable by search engines. This is because they indicate to the search engines that your website is an authority on a particular subject.
Authority
In addition to relevance, domain and page authority also play a significant role in determining the quality of a backlink. Domain authority refers to the overall reputation and credibility of a website, while page authority is specific to a particular webpage. Backlinks from websites with high domain and page authority are seen as more valuable by search engines.
Trustworthiness
Trustworthiness is another factor that is taken into consideration when evaluating the quality of backlinks. Search engines use various metrics, such as spam score and trust flow, to measure the trustworthiness of a website. Backlinks from trustworthy websites are given more weight in search engine algorithms, as they are seen as more reliable sources of information.
Diversity
Having a diverse range of backlinks from various types of websites, such as social media platforms, industry directories, and news outlets, is also important. Diversity in backlinks not only signals to search engines that your website is popular and well-connected, but it also helps you reach a wider audience.
Anchor Text Optimization
Anchor text optimization influences how search engines understand the content of a web page. When building backlinks, it is best to use a variety of anchor texts that are relevant and natural-sounding. This not only helps with SEO, but it also improves the user experience by providing more context for the link.
Backlink Sources and How to Acquire Them
Backlinks’ important role in SEO is a solid premise that has been established. As mentioned earlier in this article, the need for backlinks is crucial. What are the ways to obtain backlinks?
1. Natural Link Building
Natural link building is a strategy that involves the acquisition of backlinks without direct solicitation or efforts from the website owner. Organic link acquisition emphasizes the inherent value of your content or service, encouraging others to naturally link back to your site. There are several methods to gain links organically:
Content Marketing
Creating high-quality, relevant content that offers value to your audience is the cornerstone of content marketing. This strategy involves producing content that is unique and insightful, prompting other sites to link to your content as a useful resource.
Outreach and Networking
Building relationships with influential figures and organizations in your industry can significantly increase your chances of gaining quality backlinks. This can involve reaching out to bloggers, journalists, and influencers, offering them valuable content that their audience would appreciate.
Public Relations
Good PR involves managing and promoting your brand’s image in a way that attracts positive attention. This can result in your website being cited as a source of reliable information in news articles, blog posts, and industry reports, all contributing to your backlink profile.
Community Engagement
Becoming an active participant in your online community—whether that’s on social media, forums, or in the blogosphere—can also generate backlinks. By contributing to discussions and sharing your expertise, you can build your reputation and encourage others to link to your site.
2. Manual Outreach
Reaching out to webmasters and content creators requires a strategic and personalised approach to enhance your chances of obtaining backlinks.
Draft personalised messages when reaching out to webmasters or content creators. This shows that you’ve taken time to understand their content and express how your website or content could add value to their audience. Avoid generic messages, as they are likely to be ignored.
3. Guest Blogging
Guest blogging is an effective strategy to garner backlinks for your site. Here’s how you can find and secure guest blogging opportunities:
Research and Identify Prospective Blogs
Start by identifying blogs in your niche that accept guest posts. You can use search engines to find these blogs by using queries such as “[your niche] + guest post” or “[your niche] + write for us”. Websites that actively seek guest posts will usually have a ‘Write for Us’ or ‘Guest Post Guidelines’ page.
Analyse the Blog’s Content
Once you’ve identified a potential blog, analyse its content to understand the kind of topics it cover, its tone of style, and what its audience enjoys reading. This will help you tailor your pitch and your guest post to align with their requirements and audience’s preferences.
Develop a Pitch
Craft a personalised pitch highlighting what you can offer to the blog. Your pitch should include a brief introduction about yourself, why you’re interested in guest blogging for their site, and several topic proposals for your guest post. Make sure each proposed topic is unique, relevant, and offers value to the blog’s audience.
Submit Your Pitch
Follow the blog’s submission guidelines when sending your pitch. Some blogs prefer pitches via email, while others have a submission form on their site. Always adhere to their preferred submission method to increase your chances of acceptance.
Foster Relationships
Develop a professional relationship with the blog owner or editor. This could involve sharing their content on your social media platforms, commenting on their posts, or engaging in email conversations. Building a relationship can increase your chances of securing guest blogging opportunities and might even lead to more backlinks in the future.
4. Broken Link Building
Broken link building is a method used to obtain backlinks from websites with links that no longer work, leading to an error web page or non-existent content. Websites with broken links can provide an opportunity for acquiring backlinks as they make the website less user-friendly and damage its SEO ranking.
The strategy for broken link building involves the following steps:
- Identify websites with broken links: Use tools like Ahrefs or Broken Link Checker to find websites with broken links related to your industry.
- Analyze the broken links: Make sure that the broken link is relevant to your website’s content.
- Create similar content: After finding a suitable broken link, create high-quality and informative content on the same topic.
- Reach out to the website owner: Contact the website owner and inform them about the broken link on their website. Offer your content as a replacement for the broken link.
- Follow up: If you do not receive a response, follow up with a polite reminder after a few days.
- Monitor your backlinks: Keep track of your acquired backlinks and make sure they are live and working.
5. Competitor Analysis
Conducting a comprehensive competitor analysis can prove to be a valuable strategy in your backlink acquisition endeavour. This essentially involves identifying and analysing the backlinks of your top-ranking competitors. By doing so, you can uncover the sources of their backlinks and use them as a blueprint for your own backlink strategy.
Tools like Ahrefs or SEMrush can indicate not just the source of the backlinks but also the quality of the sites linking back to your competitors. Once you’ve identified these potential backlink sources, the next step would be to approach these sites for linking opportunities, possibly through guest posting, collaborations or simply by creating high-quality, link-worthy content.
Strategies for Backlink Acquisition
Obtaining backlinks can be a challenging task. You can’t simply buy or request them; you have to earn them. Here are some actionable strategies that will help you acquire quality backlinks for your website.
Creating Shareable Content
Content is king, and this holds true when it comes to backlinks as well. When your content is valuable and relevant, other websites are more likely to link back to it as a reliable source of information for their audience. The types of content that earn more backlinks include:
- “how-to” guides/posts
- list post
- case studies
- resource list
Infographics and Visual Assets
Infographics and visual assets present data and information in an easily digestible and visually appealing way. Infographics not only increase user engagement but also are more likely to be shared across different platforms, offering a greater chance for backlinks.
Similarly, other forms of visual assets, such as videos, images, diagrams, or charts, can also be beneficial. These assets can make complex information more understandable, enhance the overall aesthetic of your content, and increase the likelihood of other sites linking back to your content. Remember, the more unique and high-quality your visual content is, the more shareable it becomes.
Utilize Social Media
Social media can be a potent tool in attracting backlinks, primarily through increasing the visibility and shareability of your content. By promoting your content on various social media platforms, you expose it to a wider audience, increasing the likelihood of other websites picking up and linking back to your content. Regular posting and engagement can create a loyal following, who may then share your content within their own networks, amplifying its reach even further.
Participating in Forums and Communities
Active participation in forums and online communities can be a viable strategy for backlink acquisition. It’s important to become a valued member of these communities, offering helpful insights and engaging in meaningful discussions. Here are some dos and don’ts for using this strategy:
Do
- Engage constructively: Provide value in your comments and discussions. Use your expertise to help others.
- Establish credibility: Consistently providing useful and accurate information will help establish your credibility within the community.
- Share content judiciously: Once you have established your credibility and trust, you can start sharing your content, ensuring it’s relevant to the discussion and provides additional value.
Don’t
- Spam: Avoid flooding the forums with your links. This can be seen as spammy and could lead to your account being banned.
- Hard sell: Avoid hard selling your content or services. This can be off-putting to community members and can harm your reputation.
- Post irrelevant content: Stick to the community’s theme or subject matter. Posting unrelated content can be seen as disruptive and disrespectful.
Collaborating with Influencers
Influencers have built a loyal following and cultivated a sense of trust among their audience. When these influencers endorse your content or website, this credibility is transferred to your brand, leading to increased organic search traffic and potential backlinks.
Know the Risks of Black Hat Techniques
Not all backlinks acquired can contribute to the success of your website. There are ways to acquire backlinks that are known as black hat techniques, which can cause penalties to your website. Here are some black hat techniques that you should look out for:
1. Paid Links
Purchasing links might seem like a quick and efficient way to boost your site’s SEO, but it can create long-term consequences. Search engines like Google have refined their algorithms to identify and penalise such practices. Sites caught in the act can face severe drops in rankings, damaging their visibility and credibility.
2. Link Farms
Link farms are groups of websites that interlink with one another for the sole purpose of manipulating search engine rankings. This technique is considered a violation of Google’s Webmaster Guidelines due to its unnatural link pattern. Websites associated with link farms can be penalised and stripped of their ranking.
3. Cloaking
Cloaking is presenting different content to search engines and users. The intent is to deceive search engines into giving the site a higher ranking. However, this method is strictly against search engine guidelines, and if detected, the website can be removed from the search engine’s index.
4. Spam Comments
Spam comments on a blog post and forum might seem like an easy way to gain backlinks, but it’s a strategy that is both unethical and ineffective. Such practices tarnish the reputation of your site, and they’re often ignored or penalised by search engines. It’s much more beneficial to build relationships with other websites and earn genuine backlinks.
Best Practices for Backlink Maintenance
To maintain and optimise your backlink profile, a number of practices are essential.
Regular Backlink Audits
Conducting regular backlinks helps in assessing the quality of your backlinks, determining their relevance, and spotting any spammy links that might be harmful to your site’s reputation. It allows you to understand the health of your backlink profile and formulate strategies for improvement.
Disavow Toxic Links
Google’s disavow tool comes in handy when it comes to dealing with harmful or toxic links. These are links that could potentially damage your site’s SEO or lead to a Google penalty. The disavow tool allows you to inform Google that you do not want these links to be considered in assessing your site’s ranking.
Track and Monitor Backlink Profiles
Maintaining the health of your backlink profile involves keeping an eye on the quantity and quality of your backlinks. Regular monitoring helps notify you of any sudden changes or drops in your backlink profile, allowing you to take immediate action. This practice ensures that your backlink profile remains strong and contributes positively to your site’s SEO performance.
Tools for Monitoring Backlinks
Tools are available to monitor and manage your backlinks effectively. These tools come with unique features designed to streamline your backlink processes. Some of the most noteworthy tools include:
Google Search Console provides detailed information about your link profile. Though this tool does not provide any details about your competitors’ backlinks, it shows comprehensive data on your backlink profile.
Google Search Console gives information about external links, top linked pages, top linking sites, and even the top linking text.
All these data can be accessed by simply logging into the console, navigating toward the bottom of the left-hand menu, and clicking the link option. This will give an overview of your link profile.
Unlike the Google Search Console, this tool is more often used to analyze a competitor’s linking page in terms of backlinks. This is easy to use since all you have to do is enter the URL and click the panel for Check backlinks.
This will give a comprehensive report on the total number of backlinks including the referring domains which are the links from a unique website.
Apart from the referring domains, it also provides important details such as the target page, domain rating, URL rating, traffic information, and the anchor and surrounding link text.
Another useful tool to check backlinks is the SEO Spyglass. This can also check any website’s backlinks data, your own, and your competitors.
This gives complete details on aspects such as referral traffic, and keyword research. It can help generate the best keyword research. Tt also analyzes anchor text and it can even help you build the exact match anchor text you can use.
It will also let you view the exact number of clicks your page receives as visits. In addition, it helps identify the specific website links that bring real visitors. Data can also be backed up and updated.
SEMRush is another tool that also gives in-depth evaluations and comparisons of backlinks. It is a good way to monitor link-building efficiency. It also determines all incoming links and linking domains.
This tool allows you to evaluate inbound links, linking domains, subdomains, URLs, and their categories. You can also scrutinize each aspect, including the referring domain’s authority and location.
The same data can also be obtained from competitors. This can help when doing competitive backlink research to see what may be effective as a digital marketing strategy for your own company.
Moz’s Link Explorer is also a good tool for backlink monitoring. It provides data on linking domains, top pages, anchor text, and even link spam analysis.
It also shows the page authority and domain authority of your website. This can give valuable insights on how to improve your website’s ranking and identify any potential issues with your backlinks.
Case Studies and Success Stories of Effective Backlink Strategies
Building links is not an easy task; it comes with challenges. You can find real-world case studies of effective backlink strategies here.
Conclusion
Although numerous ranking factors influence link popularity, backlinks are among these factors and should be given appropriate attention. SEO rankings are all about the internal algorithm that lies behind the context depth, relevance, quality, and authority. Thus competitive backlink research should be done and solutions should be employed strategically for the efforts to rank higher materialize.
If you want to create a sturdy pillar for your webpage, it is necessary to build backlinks. Doing so is like creating a strong backbone for better SEO performance for your company.