We have compiled 5 most frequently asked basic questions about backlinks to help you clarify important information. If you need a quick reminder before proceeding, the Overview of SEO and Why It Is Important will serve best.
Backlinks, also called inbound links, are links from other websites to your site. In other words, this is a “reference” from a relevant page to one of your pages or piece of content.
Yes. Backlinks are the results of link building which is a big part of off page SEO.
Ultimately, because they want their site to rank higher on SERPs (Search Engine Result Pages). When other sites mention you via a link to your site, it is a “vote of confidence” and Google uses this as a “validating signal” to give you a higher search result ranking.
Taking the perspective of a user, when a popular site mentions you in their content, it means you have some useful information that is relevant to the current topic. Therefore it increases the chance that users will click on the link, visit your site, have another enjoyable read and become a frequent visitor.
All in all, backlinks boost your brand awareness and credibility.
One of the big reasons why over 90% of pages don’t get any traffic from Google is the lack of backlinks. And an Ahref’s search traffic study has found that “66.31% of pages don’t have even a single backlink”.
In short, we want editorial links – links that are given free of charge by relevant sites. On the other hand, acquired links are backlinks earned by payment or distribution.
Of course backlinks from reputable sites in the same industry are more valuable. The section Why Backlinks Are Important: The Metrics below will explain in more detail.
In one word, “ouch!”
At best this is a signal that a site is so obsolete that other sites don’t pay them any mind and users ignore them. At worst it means that the site has somehow been branded “untrustworthy” and their marketers will have to go above and beyond to “resurrect” it.
In short, without backlinks for some time, you will most likely stay absent in the first SERP and even several pages after that. Your branding, organic traffic and conversions will suffer.
According to Social Media Today, link building is one of two big ranking factors of Google, but due to its complexities, nearly 40% of businesses choose to outsource this task.
Now we are clear on what backlinks are and why they are important in SEO, let’s tackle the first challenge – what is the best way to build them?
A backlink is equal to a vote of trust. You can’t expect to earn trust by doing just one thing for one time. That’s why you need to combine various link building strategies for the best results. Here are several common strategies:
There are cases that other sites mention you or your content without a link. Your job is easy: just find them and remind them.
Many users are hooked on articles with titles like “Top 10 ...” or “20 best ...”
This is your chance to pitch for your site to appear alongside other strong competitors. Of course these backlinks are not as easy to get, which makes them more valuable and sought-after.
Note that not all sites allow their guest writers to include backlinks, and most sites have strict rules on this.
And while you’re at it, remember to do a quick audit of your on page SEO for maximal results.
These types of content stay relevant longer and can be presented in multiple formats for various channels. Just don’t forget running some (mini) PR campaigns for them (or even pitching).
Backlinks are great, but not every backlink helps. Schedule for regular clean-ups to weed out any valueless or bad backlinks.
In case it’s so difficult to get a few high quality backlinks, settle for many good ones first. Quantity can work too as long as the quality is not totally compromised.
No matter which link building strategies you choose, remember this is only a part of your overall SEO plan. Keyword research and many other aspects are no less important.
That’s why many businesses choose to outsource SEO tasks to a trusted digital marketing agency with all-inclusive service packages. By that way, they can spend more internal resources on other equally important business aspects.
There are many metrics to measure your backlink quality, but most of them focus on evaluating the linking site. Here are 3 key criteria:
Both are metrics developed by Moz, but DA is to predict “how likely a domain is to appear in the SERPs compared to its competitors” while PA focuses on predicting the possible rankings of one page on SERPs.
Be noted that Google doesn’t consider DA or PA their ranking factors. But they are still useful in tracking site performance and comparing with competitors.
Do a quick research on the quality of inbound and outbound links of the linking site.
And while you’re at it, see if they also give any backlink to your competitors. The more unique your backlink is, the better. But even if it’s not the case, backlinks from reputable sites still count a lot.
In short, how relevant do you think that piece of content is to your linked page or your whole site? Don’t just focus on keywords, think about context too.
After all, search engines are evolving to understand semantics – the search intent. Therefore think about whether a reader will be pleased after clicking on the backlink and visiting your site. If not, think twice about accepting this backlink.
For example, a backlink from a travel blog to a furniture site is irrelevant (a souvenir shop is a better choice). Even if the travel company and the furniture shop are located in the same city, it’s unlikely that a traveler is interested in buying furniture.
You may have more than 3 criteria to evaluate the linking site. But after all, what you want to get from any backlink is conversion.
So the question here is: How many conversions does that backlink create? The backlink with higher conversion rate is the better.
Tip: Besides all defined metrics, ask yourself whether you want to get backlinks from this site, if yes, how much? Will you pay to get them linked to you, if yes, how much? If you feel uneasy, think twice before accepting.
There are 3 red flags to look out for when implementing your link building strategy.
Then you can only lead visitors to your homepage or product page, and this is far from the best decision. Many visitors are still at the first stage – looking for more information, so they will not be thrilled with this experience.
Then proceed with caution. This is not bad as long as your linking sites have high authority and are relevant. And remember, “buying or selling links that pass PageRank is in violation of Google’s Webmaster Guidelines”.
Then again, proceed with caution. Most of the time, the practice of trading links takes place in a link neighborhood. Be selective here too. A bad neighborhood is often characterized by bad and/or unrelated links, bad content, excessive ads and external links, and spam.
Link building is an integral part of any effective SEO plan as backlinks mean a great boost in a site’s credibility.
However, many businesses have not paid this part adequate attention or they simply don’t know how to optimize it. This is both an opportunity and challenge for any business with the goal of building a strong online presence.
On Digitals is proud to be your loyal companion in this journey, to help you make the best use of your resources and gain the best results possible. Contact us today to kick start your digital marketing strategy for sustainable business growth.
