Backlinks: What They are and Why They Matter for SEO

Backlinks are an important part of SEO. They are one of the main factors that Google looks at when determining a website’s rank. But what exactly are backlinks, and why do they matter? In this blog post, we will answer those questions and more! We’ll discuss what backlinks are, how they’re used for SEO, and some of the benefits they can provide. So if you’re looking to learn more about backlinks and how they can help your SEO efforts, keep reading!

Backlinks are links from one website to another. For example, if you have a website about dogs, and someone links to your website from their blog, that’s considered a backlink. These website links play an important role in search engine optimization.

Backlinks are different than other types of website links, such as internal links and outbound links. Although those other types of links also play a role in SEO, backlinks are the most important type of link for improving your website’s search engine rankings.

Not all backlinks are of equal quality, there are a number of factors that Google takes into account when determining the quality of a backlink. Some of these factors include:

One of the most important factors is whether a link is nofollow or dofollow. Nofollow links tells Google not to follow the link, while a dofollow link tells Google to follow the link.

If you are building links that are nofollow, then you are not helping your SEO efforts. Google will not count any nofollow links when determining a website’s rank. Dofollow links are very valuable and can help improve your website’s ranking by helping to build a backlink profile.

A spam link is a link that is placed on a website for the sole purpose of boosting the website’s rank. These links are usually low-quality and can hurt your website’s ranking instead of helping it.

Quality links, on the other hand, are links that are placed on a website for a legitimate reason. These links are high-quality and can help improve your website’s ranking.

To help you tell the difference, here are a few signs that a link is or might be consider spam:

• The website is not relevant to your niche
• The website has low-quality content
• The website has been created solely for the purpose of getting links
• The website is filled with ads

If you’re unsure whether a link is spam or not, it’s always best to err on the side of caution and not use it.

Another factor that Google looks at when determining the quality of a backlink is the anchor text. Anchor text is the text that is used to create a hyperlink.

When you are creating links, it’s important to use keyword-rich anchor text. This will help improve your website’s ranking by telling Google what the link is about.

Although you might be tempted to make your anchor text match your target keyword, it is better to make your anchor text fit the context of the page. This will help to make your links look more natural and less spammy.

Another factor that Google looks at when determining the quality of a backlink is the referring domain authority. This is a metric that measures how authoritative a website is. It is measured on a scale from 0-100, with 100 being the most authoritative.

The higher the referring domain authority, the more valuable the backlink will be to your website. You can find this information by using tools like Moz’s Open Site Explorer or Ahref.

Authoritative links typically come from high-quality websites that are relevant to your websites niche. Although Pet Smart’s website is authoritative, it wouldn’t be relevant to our blog since we primarily write about website design, video production, & digital marketing.

Now that you know what backlinks are and what factors Google considers when determining their quality, it’s time to answer the question: why are backlinks important?

Backlinks are important for a number of reasons, but overall the main reason backlinks are important is search optimization. Backlinks are one of the most important ranking factors for SEO and they provide important benefits to your website including:

Backlinks can help increase your website’s traffic. When someone clicks on a link from an authoritative website, they are more likely to visit your website. This referral traffic is direct benefit from backlinks.

Backlinks also increase traffic by boosting your ranking on search engines. This doesn’t happen happen overnight, but by boosting your backlink profile more traffic will come with time.

Backlinks also help to build your website’s credibility. When other websites link to yours, it shows that you are an authority in your field. This helps search engines determine if your content is worth delivering to users.

Not only does it help search engines, but building backlinks helps users trust you and convert more ready. When users see that you are an authority in your field, they are more likely to trust what you have to say and take action. For example, more credible websites generate more leads.

Search engines like Google use backlinks as a way to determine the authority of a website or page. Authoritative websites are more likely to rank high on various search engines.

By building backlinks from high-quality websites, you can increase your website’s domain and page authority. This will help improve your ranking and allow your to rank your website for more competitive search terms.

Now that you know what backlinks are and why they matter, it’s time to start building links. There are a number of different link building strategies that you can use, but here are a few of our favorites:

Guest blogging is a great strategy for link building. When you write guest posts for another website, they will often include a link back to your website in the author bio or as a footnote.

You can also reach out to websites that you think would be interested in featuring your content. This can be done by emailing the website’s editor or by submitting a proposal through their website.

Guest posts are so useful because it not only helps you to build links, but it also helps you to build relationships with other bloggers and websites in your niche.

Broken link building is a strategy that involves finding broken links on high-authority websites and reaching out to the webmaster with a proposal to replace the broken link with a link to your website.

This strategy can be time consuming, but it’s one of the most effective ways to build quality backlinks. Not only do you get a backlink, but you’re often replacing broken competitor backlinks.

Applying to be listed on directory websites is great link building strategy. There are a number of different directories that you can submit your website to, but be sure to only submit to high-quality directories.

Choose directories that are relevant to your website niche, and make sure that the directory is well-maintained and has high-quality links. Remember, you have to apply and you won’t necessarily be approved for every directory.

When you are approved to be listed on a directory, many directory websites will request you to include a link back to their website. This is part of their link building strategy, so complete the task, get listed, & receive your backlink.

One of the best ways to find website backlinks is to spy on your competitors backlinks. Find out which websites are linking to their website and reach out to those websites with a proposal to link to your website instead.

Your competitor’s linking sites probably won’t give you a backlink unless your proposal is better than what they are currently linking to, so make sure your offer is enticing.

Consider what you can offer that is better than what your competitor is currently offering. Be sure to mention why your resource is better than a competitors to help sweeten the deal.

Another great way to backlinks to your site is by finding websites that mention your website but don’t include a link. Many businesses are mentioned online in a variety of place, but not every mention provides backlinks to your site.

To find unlinked website mentions, try using a tool like Mention.net or Google Alerts. Once you’ve found a website mention, reach out to the webmaster and ask if they would be interested in including a link back to your website.

If they are not interested in including a link, see if there is another way that you can help them out. Maybe you could provide them with a quote for their article or share the article on social media. Be sure to think of how your can provide value to them in exchange for the valuable external links they would be providing.

If you are a business that sells products or services, it’s likely that you have suppliers. Supplier backlinks can be a great way to build links because your supplier will likely to link to your website from their website.

To get started, find the websites of your top suppliers and reach out to them with a proposal to build backlinks. Make sure to mention the products they supply to your business and how link building opportunities will help you sell more.

Joining a business association is a great way to build backlinks because most associations have websites that are linked to from their website. In fact, many commerce associations include a local directory that you should be able to secure a backlink from.

To find business associations, do a Google search for your industry + “association” and see what comes up. Once you’ve found an association that looks like a good fit, reach out to the association and ask if they would be interested in having a link to your website on their website.

Be sure to mention the products or services you offer and how being a member of the association will help you grow your business.

Press releases can be a great way to get backlinks because they are often picked up by websites and published with a link back to your website. Journalist are often looking for new stories and press releases can be a great way to get their attention.

To get started, write a press release about your company or a recent development and publish it on your website. Once you’ve published the press release, submit it to websites that accept press releases and reach out to journalists with a pitch for them to feature your story.

If you haven’t tried getting backlinks from journalists before, research some of the tools available. Some of the best tools for finding journalists that cover your industry are Cision and HARO.

Now that you understand the basics of backlinks and why they are important to SEO, it is time to answer some of the most common questions that people have about backlinks.

Inbound links and backlinks are the same. Thinks of inbound links as a more generic term and backlinks as the specific type of inbound link that comes from another website.

External links on the other hand, are when your website links to another website. Your site’s external links would be backlinks for the website they point to.

There is no definitive answer to this question because there are many factors that go into how backlinks impact SEO. However, a good rule of thumb is to have at least 50-100 high quality backlinks from websites that are relevant to your industry.

You will also want to monitor your website’s backlink profile to see if there are any backlinks pointing to your site that are undesireable. If you find any unwanted links, you can use a tool like Ahrefs or Moz Pro to disavow them.

There isn’t necessary a “best” way to get backlinks, but there are a few best practices that you can follow to increase your chances of getting them. Depending on your site’s link profile, you may benefit more from some methods than others.

The best ways to get more backlinks for your website is by creating valuable content that people will want to link to. You can also reach out to websites and ask them to link to your content in exchange for a link back to their site. Finally, you can submit your press releases to websites that accept press releases and pitch journalists with stories.

Buying backlinks is a black hat SEO technique that can get your website penalized by Google. Therefore, it is not recommended and should be avoided. Top linking sites will not offer to sell backlinks and you don’t want to work with any website that does offer to sell links.

If you have bought backlinks in the past, it is important to disavow them using a tool like Ahrefs or Moz Pro. Even if you haven’t been penalized by Google, it is still a good practice to disavow any bought backlinks.

If you have already been penalized for buying backlinks, you will need to take more drastic measures to recover from the penalty. This may include conducting a link audit and disavowing all backlinks that are not from high quality websites.

If your website lost ranking after getting a bunch of new backlinks, it is likely that you received a Google penalty. This means that Google has detected unnatural or artificial links pointing to your site and penalized it for violating their Webmaster Guidelines.

Be sure to review your website’s Google Search Console page to determine if you have received a penalty. If you have, you will need to take action to disavow all unnatural links and improve your website’s link profile.

The best way to prevent your website from getting penalized for spammy links is by conducting a regular link audit and disavowing any unnatural links. Removing spam links is an important part of maintaining a healthy link profile and can help you avoid any potential penalties from Google.

You should also make sure to start building more quality backlinks to help clean up your site’s link profile. You want the majority of your backlinks to come from reputable websites that are relevant to your industry. This will help prevent Google from penalizing you for spam links.

If your competitor has a lot more backlinks than you do, it is likely that they are using black hat SEO techniques to get them. This means that they are engaging in activities such as buying links or spamming blogs with links to their site.

Don’t worry to much about catching up to your competitor – it is much more important to focus on building quality backlinks. This will help improve your website’s ranking and prevent you from getting penalized by Google.

Eventually competitors that use black hat techniques will be penalized and your site’s seo won’t be affected. In fact, you will be in a much better position than them because you will have followed best practices.

There are a few things you can look at to determine if a backlink is worth pursuing. First, you want to make sure that the website is reputable and relevant to your industry. You also want to check to see how many other websites are linking to them. The more links they have, the harder it will be for you to get them to link to your site.

So, what have we learned? A backlink is a vote of confidence from one website to another, and the more votes (or links) you have, the better your site looks to Google. Quality factors like relevance, trustworthiness, and popularity play into how well your site performs in search engine results pages (SERPs). And finally, there are many different ways to go about acquiring backlinks – some more effective than others. What’s clear is that building high-quality backlinks remains an important part of a good website and SEO strategy. Now it’s up to you put these concepts into practice and watch your website rocket to the top of SERPs!

If you’re looking for help building your website’s backlinks, 608 Media help! Our team of SEO professionals has tons of experience in link building and can get your site the high-quality backlinks it needs to rank higher in search engine results pages. Contact us today to learn more about our SEO services!