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Websites use link building to improve online visibility and get noticed among fierce competition. But here’s the catch: not all backlinks are good news. On the contrary, some can be downright bad for your online reputation in the eyes of Google.
Acquiring poor quality backlinks from shady websites or link farms, for example, can hurt your site’s rankings. Instead of helping you climb the digital ladder, they can become the reason you move down the search results.
In the worst case scenario, if you build a lot of low-quality backlinks, your website could even be penalized, costing you all your hard-earned rankings.
In this article, I’ll show you three simple ways to check the quality of the backlinks you’re trying to build. Use these tips along with other SEO techniques to start climbing the search engine rankings quickly.
Related: What are backlinks and why do you need them for your SEO?
1. Evaluate website quality metrics
When evaluating backlinks, you first want to look at the overall quality of the website. Several metrics can determine the impact a website has in the grand scheme of SEO. Here’s a quick overview:
Check the DA or DR:
Domain Authority (DA) and Domain Rating (DR) are third-party numerical ratings that give you a better idea of a website’s quality and influence. They range from 1 to 100, and the higher the DA or DR, the more valuable those backlinks will be.
Here’s a quick summary of the DA/DR ranks:
DA/DR 0 to 20: These websites are probably new and their backlinks are not that great. They can only improve your ranking if your website is new.
DA/DR 20 to 40: This is the correct range. Backlinks in this area are decent but not perfect.
DA/DR 40 to 60 – Backlinks here are great and can give your website a significant boost.
DA/DR 60 and above: Backlinks from websites with DR 60 and above are great, but more difficult to protect. Still, it’s worth investing in.
Note that although DA and DR are useful, some websites inflate these numbers to sell backlinks. That’s why you need to consider all the other factors on this list to get a more accurate assessment of backlink quality.
Check website traffic:
A website with no traffic is, in most cases, not worth your time. High traffic generally indicates legitimacy and potential to drive more readers to your site through backlinks.
A website that people are interested in and visit is likely to be authentic and offer authentic and valuable content. This resonates with users and encourages them to come back and share the site with others.
Acquiring an inbound link from such a website can positively contribute to your online presence by helping you build credibility.
Confirm the website is legitimate:
When you’re trying to get a link from a website, you need to make sure it’s a legitimate website with a real person behind it and a real audience. Here are some ways to do it:
About Us Page: Confirm that the “About Us” page clearly shows that there are real people behind the site.
Social Media Presence – Regular social media posting is a good sign of an active and genuine website.
LinkedIn Employee List: An official LinkedIn employee list adds credibility.
Content Niche – Check the type of content they publish. A clear niche is better than random topics.
Check if the website regularly sells guest posts:
While guest posting is a great way to build backlinks, a website that only sells guest posts without having high-quality organic content can’t provide much value. The sole purpose of these websites is to sell backlinks, and Google doesn’t agree with that.
To check if they only sell guest posts, look for a dedicated section or disclosure on their website. Also, you can explore their blog and its content to make sure it gives a genuine and “real website” feel. This should help you distinguish between sites that focus on providing valuable content and those that only exist to sell backlinks.
Related: Why is your backlink profile so important for SEO?
2. Analyze the SEO positioning of the website
Now that we’ve covered the basics of checking a website’s authority, let’s dive into a crucial aspect: website SEO positioning. This step is essential to make sure the backlink you’re looking at isn’t all smoke and mirrors.
Some shady websites post a lot of content on different topics to increase their traffic and make it look like they are a good option for link building. They actually rank for hundreds or thousands of low-effort keywords that are probably irrelevant to your business.
Checking your SEO position with an SEO tool can help you identify which keywords drive the most traffic and whether this is relevant to your business.
A big red flag you can watch for these websites is a sudden and drastic drop in website traffic. This is an indicator that something has gone wrong, possibly due to common SEO mistakes or even questionable SEO practices.
3. Ensure the relevance of current events
Making sure a backlink aligns with your website’s theme is crucial for Google to say it’s natural and relevant. If the website content is not relevant to your website, it is a red flag for Google.
For example, imagine you have a supplement website and suddenly you get an inbound link from an SEO agency blog. Google’s algorithms don’t consider it natural or valuable because your niche doesn’t align with the backlink’s niche.
To maximize the impact of your backlinks, you should get them from websites in the same niche as yours or from closely related niches. For example, if you have a website about entrepreneurship, you want backlinks from business and startup websites. This helps build a narrative of relevance and authority. In comparison, getting an inbound link from a travel website would be like mixing a business plan with a travel itinerary – they just don’t line up.
Also, you need to make sure that the specific post where the backlink is placed is also relevant to your business. This strengthens the authenticity of the backlink and improves its impact on your website’s SEO.
Related: Top 8 Backlink Strategies to Increase Your Traffic
The quality of your backlinks can make or break your SEO strategy.
You can get the best quality backlinks by evaluating your website’s quality metrics, analyzing your SEO position, and ensuring your relevance is up-to-date.
These SEO tips can help you boost your link building efforts to improve your search engine rankings.
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