Your website needs traffic – the more the better. And to do that, you need to rank well in search engine results.
how do you do it
With search engine optimization, of course.
So what happens after you’ve reviewed your content, added keywords, and beefed up your technical SEO and you’re still not ranking the way you want?
what do you do then
There is one key area you need to focus on: building backlinks.
But how do you do it? And what are backlinks, anyway? Are all backlinks good backlinks?
To find out the answers to these questions and more, read on.
What are backlinks?
Backlinks are simply links from one website to another.
Sometimes called “backlinks” or “inbound links,” backlinks are one of the most important parts of search engine optimization.
Handy tools for web page creators, backlinks make it easy to cite statistics, claim sources, add context, make recommendations, and more.
There is also another type of link called internal links, which are links between pages within the same website. These also play an important role in SEO, but we won’t go into that here.
If you’re interested in learning more about something, follow this internal link to an excellent Search Engine Journal article on best practices for using internal links in SEO. (See what we did there?)
Why are backlinks important?
Now that we’ve covered what exactly a backlink is, it’s time for the $10,000 question: Why do they matter?
The most basic answer to this question is that your site’s backlinks pass PageRank and search engines use it in their algorithm (along with many other factors) to help determine the quality of your website and where it should rank in the results pages.
They indicate the popularity of your site among users and are a vital part of any SEO strategy.
Backlinks also play an important role in your discoverability, as both users and search engine crawlers will follow links from external sites to your page.
“Great,” you might be saying right now. “Let’s go out there and start generating as many inbound links as possible, so we start increasing the search results.”
loosen up You didn’t really expect that to be all it took, did you?
If search engine optimization were as easy as all this, there would be many SEO professionals looking for a new line of work.
First, let’s talk about good and bad links.
What makes a good backlink?
In 1998, when Google was just starting out, it implemented an algorithm called PageRank. One of the things that was taken into account when deciding whether a web page was suitable for a user query was the backlinks.
But even in those early days, not all backlinks were created equal. And while the quantity of your inbound links is factored into your search ranking, the quality also plays an important role.
Let’s break it down: Quantitatively, the more sites that link to your webpage, the stronger the signal to Google that your content is valuable and therefore worth linking to.
And generally speaking, if your page has more backlinks than a similar page, it will appear higher in organic search results.
This is because every time a site links to your content, they are essentially vouching for its accuracy and truthfulness.
But don’t think for a second that any site that points to your web page is good. Not only can some links do nothing for you, but some can actually affect your search ranking. This means you need to worry about the quality of your incoming links.
It’s the internet’s version of judging someone by the company they keep, which makes sense if you think about it.
For example, which site would you trust more: one linked by a government agency, a reputable university, or a well-respected foundation, or the one just linked by your Uncle Joe’s conspiracy blog?
Obviously, the former will carry much more weight, not only for visitors but also for search engines. So it should come as no surprise that a page with fewer links from high-quality sites outperforms a competitor with more links from disreputable sources.
And speaking of disreputable sources, if your site receives backlinks from link farms or others unnatural links, you really run the risk of being penalized by Google. If you have spammy sites linking to your pages, the best thing to do is deny them to avoid being found guilty by association. We’ll talk more about that in a moment.
But not only domain reputation tells Google that inbound link A is more valuable than inbound link B. It also analyzes the relevance of the referring site to the topic.
Why are backlinks important?
If your Fantasy Football blog has an inbound link from ESPN and one from Crochet.com, Google will make a (logical) judgment call that the first link is more valuable.
We can follow several wormholes about link placement, anchor textand the impact of nofollow links in your search rankings, but let’s leave that discussion for another day.
For a detailed explanation of determining the value of an inbound link, be sure to read on this piece.
How many backlinks do I have?
Now that you know the importance of inbound links and their value, it’s time to start thinking about the ones you already have. How do you know which sites are driving traffic your way?
There are two ways to do this: one that just tells you who is linking to your site, and one that you can use to look at your competitors’ inbound links.
Check your links with Google Search Console
Google Search Console it should be your best friend if you are a webmaster. It has all kinds of useful tools and reports to help you track performance and troubleshoot issues, and it’s free.
Once you’ve created an account and verified your site, you can use it to track your backlinks. In the sidebar, there is an option called “Links”.
Google Search Console screenshot, October 2022
Clicking on this will show you details of your internal and external links. The external ones are the ones that interest us right now.
Under External Links, you can run three reports: Top Link Pages, Top Link Sites, and Top Link Texts. With these, you can determine who is linking to you and from where.
Link checking with a third-party tool
The only downside to using Google Search Console link tracking is that it only allows you to see the details of your site.
But using third party backlink checkers like Majestic SEO, Semrushi Ahrefsyou can also see what your competition is doing, and maybe steal some of those links.
Now that we’ve talked about what backlinks are, why they’re important, and how to track them, let’s get to what you’re really here for: building backlinks.
How can I get backlinks?
There are several ways to get other sites to link to yours, but most of them require some effort on your part.
The first and easiest way to get links is pay for them. But before you whip out your credit card, heed this important warning: If Google catches you participating in a paid link building scheme, you’ll be penalized.
Buying links has been a topic of debate for SEO experts for a long time, and some will swear by it, while others insist it’s not worth the risk.
Make your own decisions, but our advice is to try organic link building before considering whether paid links are an avenue you want to explore.
The next way to create backlinks is by creating them. This usually means submitting your website to business directories or commenting on blogs and forums with a link to your site in the signature. These links can be of different quality. To learn more, watch the video below.
A better way to generate inbound links is through winning them over. But of course, this is a bit more complicated.
To get backlinks, you need to have useful content that provides value to others.
For example, you might have a web page that lists your five favorite immersion blenders. This page can provide value not only to blender manufacturers, who will appreciate the shout out, but also to people shopping for a new blender or kitchen appliance websites.
Statistical contents is always a good way to attract quality backlinks. Statistics are a great way to prove a point and overcome objections.
By providing relevant statistics about your niche, you will establish your site as an authority and generate lots of inbound links. Or, you can take polls and post the results on your blog as news.
You can then promote your news through social media, where others may find the survey data useful and link to it from their articles.
If your content is good and talks about a niche, it will slowly start generating backlinks on its own.
But what if you can’t wait that long? What if you want backlinks right now?
Promote your content through paid or social campaigns to your target audience. Someone may find your article useful and link to it.
Or use one of the third-party tools mentioned in the previous section to find a relevant page with lots of inbound links. Then create better content than the competition and ask the linking domains to point their links to you.
You can also look for broken links or those that redirect aa 404 page. Once you’ve found one of these on a relevant site, email the webmaster to notify them. And don’t forget to suggest that they replace the broken link with your page on the same topic.
For more detailed information on these strategies, as well as others you can use, be sure to read on This article.
Start building those links
So there you have it: a crash course in link building. At this point, you should have a good idea of what backlinks are, why they are important, and how to create them.
Don’t forget that, like all SEO, it’s a marathon, not a sprint. It is highly unlikely that you will see results overnight.
But be patient, create great content, and look for opportunities to build links; you will have tons of inbound links in no time.
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