If you want to rank higher on Google and other search engines, you need to pay attention to backlinks. Backlinks are links from other websites that point to your site. They are one of the most important factors that influence your SEO performance. In this article, you will learn why backlinks are essential for SEO success and how to get them the right way.
Backlinks are like votes of confidence from other websites. They signal to Google that your site is relevant, trustworthy, and valuable. Google uses backlinks to measure the popularity and authority of your site, as well as the quality and relevance of your content. The more backlinks you have from high-quality and relevant sites, the higher your chances of ranking well for your target keywords.
Backlinks are like recommendations in the digital world. Just like in real life, when a respected person vouches for you, it boosts your credibility. For instance, when I wrote a blog post about travel tips and a well-known travel blogger linked to it, my post gained more visibility and trust. It's the same online – quality backlinks from reputable sources improve your website's reputation and search engine ranking.
To be precise, backlink refers to the authority a website holds on a particular niche. The more you publish trustworthy and evergreen content on your website, the amount of Backlinks you receive shall increase over time and that directly contributes to domain rating (out of 100). The higher the domain rating, the higher the trustworthy signal to Google.
Backlinks or incoming links or inbound links or one-way links not only act as a way for improving authority of the website but also acts as a door way for crawlers to enter the website from third party websites. Organically generated backlinks hold more weightage as they are also known as Earned Links. Not only the authority of the website from where you are getting link matters but their spam score also matters.
Backlink sellers make up 90% of my LinkedIn DMs. 99% of backlinks are useless and the other 1% are earned via great content/PR etc.
Backlinks are not important. If I were writing Google's algorithm, I could easily identify the common pattern of giving backlinks on each of the new pages to a website. It can be a blogging site or a directory. If I can identify such a pattern, I can discard its relevance to the linking website as well. Period!
Backlinks are an essential part of SEO as they can help you boost your domain and page authority, increase your traffic and visibility, build brand awareness and reputation, and enhance your user experience and engagement. This can lead to higher rankings, more conversions, revenue, customers, and partners, as well as a lower bounce rate and improved retention.
They aren't. They used to be the best signal for search engines to measure authority, but we don't need them anymore to generate topical authority, which is the version of authority Google cares about in 2023. I've overseen Pillar-Based Marketing campaigns for websites with shockingly low Domain Authority ratings compared to competitors, and as a part of that much fewer backlinks. Despite this, these PBM practitioners regularly overtake their competitors in page one rankings on terms relevant to their chosen pillar topics. The key is focusing on clear internal linking that creates a "choose your own adventure" style experience through a topic. When done right, top rankings are achievable in weeks, and backlinks follow organically.
Backlinks are sure of a shot solution when your business needs to be on top of Google. Whether it is an online business or offline business, the amount of organic backlinks a site receives can significantly contribute to ranking, thus resulting in improved brand visibility and user inquiries to the business.
Backlinks are a result of building authority and trust around a topic. Backlinks should never be the goal, but rather the by-product of great information. Links alone don't matter. What matters is the reason people would link to your site.
Backlinks are a driving source behind any successful SEO category for many reasons: - They help discovery (Google is following links to find pages to crawl and index) - They grow a page authority and trust (Link equity is passed through links from authoritative and trusted resources) - They help you become Google's entity (when your site is linked from other known entity, Google starts building those important associations)
Backlinks are all about trust. If you link to a website, it is because you trust it. It is like the "word of mouth" of the internet. A recommendation. Then what you do will reach to more people faster. Imagine that a celebrity/influencer recommends you. You will immediately gain trust. Your business will get more buyers. Backlinks have to come also from "celebrities". Meaning that it is better to have a few high-quality recommendations (backlinks), than thousands with little quality. A "celebrity" backlink comes from a website with high trust (high Domain Authority). Some "celebrity" backlinks could be from the local or national media, or from high-end websites, like getting a backlink from Shopify. No recommendations = No business
Getting backlinks for SEO is not easy, but it can be achieved by following certain best practices. This includes creating high-quality and original content that is of value to your audience and promoting it on social media, email, and other channels. You should also reach out to relevant and authoritative websites and influencers in your niche to ask them to link to your content or collaborate with you. Additionally, guest posting on reputable and relevant sites while linking back to your site in the author bio or within the content can be beneficial. Moreover, participating in online communities and forums related to your topic and sharing your content or insights can help you get more backlinks.
There are many great ways, none of which is easy or quick, including: - Create linkable assets (and reach out to those who may find it useful to link) - Get interviewed and featured - Contribute to high-profile niche publications (to get noticed) - Publish original studies and reports - Create timely and trending content, etc. The key is not to rely on one single method
There are several ways to get backlinks from Giant publishers in the industry. What to consider before getting a backlink from any website: -The authority of the website -Quality of content being published on the desired website -Quality of outgoing backlinks from that website -Quality of incoming backlinks on that website -Spam Score -Check if the website have had penalized in the past If all these metrics meet then we can consider getting backlink. How to get backlinks? There are several techniques to get backlink from high authority website. -HARO (journalists asks for content, provide them and get backlink. Use HARO subscriptions for this) -Digital PR (reach out to journalists under your niche of giant publishers -----continued
SEO in 2023 requires a unique approach to stand out from the competition. It's not just about earning backlinks; it's about crafting a memorable online presence - Start by creating strong entities through content marketing - Focus on well-researched content topics compiled from various sources - This approach opens the door to acquiring high-quality, natural backlinks from authoritative websites - These backlinks not only benefit specific content but also significantly boost your website's Domain and Page Authority - SEO in 2023 is about building a digital brand identity that resonates with both users and search engines
One way to get backlinks that align with Google's E-E-A-T Framework is to be interviewed on topically relevant podcasts that link back to their guests through episode show notes. You can also get links in YouTube podcast video descriptions. By providing your expertise and experience in your answers to questions, you align with Google's E-E-A-T Framework. If you provide topical questions to the host upfront, you can use people also ask questions to the overarching topic of the podcast interview, while tying this back to the theme of the podcast and the shows audience.
You could respond to one of the 36,000 messages received on LinkedIn every day saying they have 6,000,000 high-quality websites for guest posting. Or you could earn them with PR, great content, or bribery.
It's important to be aware that not all backlinks are beneficial for SEO. Some backlinks can damage your SEO performance or even get you penalized by Google and are referred to as bad backlinks. These usually originate from low-quality, spammy, or irrelevant sites. To protect your SEO from bad backlinks, it is recommended to monitor your backlink profile regularly with tools like Google Search Console or Moz, and remove any suspicious or unnatural links. Additionally, you should disavow any links that you cannot remove manually and do not want Google to consider in your ranking. Moreover, you should avoid buying or exchanging links from untrustworthy sources or using automated software or services to generate links. Lastly, following Google's guidelines and best practices for link building and avoiding any black-hat or unethical tactics is essential.
I always do backlink audits on my SEO client's websites using SEMRush. And then if any really spammy links are found, I disavow them using the Disvowal Tool within Google Search Console. This way, you will be able to improve your Domain Authority and Page Authority scores, so you can rank better for your main keywords, leading to increased overall website traffic.
To avoid bad backlinks for SEO: Monitor Backlinks: Regularly check your backlink profile using tools like Google Search Console or specialized SEO software. Disavow Tool: Use Google's Disavow Tool to request the removal of harmful backlinks. Review Link Sources: Assess the quality and relevance of the sites linking to you. Avoid Link Farms: Stay away from websites that exist solely to provide backlinks. Diverse Anchor Text: Use a variety of anchor text and avoid over-optimization. Natural Linking: Ensure links are earned naturally, not bought or manipulated. Avoid Low-Quality Directories: Don't submit to low-quality or spammy directories. No Follow Links Content Quality Monitor Competitors
I define bad backlinks as links from sites that have zero content and context relevance to yours. So as matter of prevention better than cure, don't go around getting backlinks indiscriminately; while backlinks are important, not all backlinks are equal.
We often focus on what we want from a link (higher rankings/traffic/conversions) instead of the value the link provides. Let's do a quick "gut-check": #1: Assess the link - would it: - Add value to the page's viewers? - Enhance the utility of the referring page? - Simply benefit the receiving page alone? #2: What is the level of effort - is it designed to: - Enhance the referring page in a meaningful way? - Benefit the referring page's audience? - Be reproduced or proceduralized indiscriminately? If we focus on the quality and value of the backlink, it's hard to go wrong; if the goal is simply to manipulate algorithms to our benefit, there will likely be no impact at all or in extreme cases, cause a manual penalty.
It's not necessary to worry with low quality backlinks. If a backlink is considered low quality, Google simply ignore it. In the past there was a need for disavowing toxic links but due to black-hat SEOs using this to send low quality links to competitors the metric was changed to protect legit websites from this type of attack.
For SEO, you need to track and analyze some key metrics to measure the impact of backlinks, such as the number and quality of backlinks you have in comparison to your competitors, the traffic and conversions from your backlinks, the ranking and visibility of your site and pages for target keywords, and the domain authority and page authority of your site and pages. Additionally, you should monitor how these metrics change over time as you implement your backlink strategy.
You can measure the impact with a tool like a ruler, or the built-in measure app on your iPhone. You can also count them all manually one by one inside an excel sheet, but this should only be done if you have over 1000 backlinks to count.
To measure the impact of backlinks for SEO: Monitor rankings Analyze organic traffic Track referral traffic Evaluate conversion rates Check dwell time and bounce rate Measure brand mentions Monitor link profile growth Assess link diversity Compare with competitors Use Google Search Console Conduct ROI analysis
Consider creating a graph, where your backlinks numbers are plotted on the Y-axis and organic search traffic is plotted on the X-axis. This graph can seamlessly show the trajectory of traffic growth that corresponds to the addition of backlinks. On the other hand, you shall consider having domain authority on the Y-axis.
For analyzing backlinks, there are various tools available, and one of the best ones is Ahrefs. In addition to this tool, I also utilize the Link section of Google Search Console. The links received by our site are updated in this section every week. Based on my experience, not all the links we acquire appear here. However, I have observed that these links have a more significant impact because they are recognized by Google.
The best way to measure impact is in a traditional A/B test format, focused on the metric that backlinks directly influence: keyword rankings. To setup a test correctly, take the following steps: 1. Create a segment (let's call this segment "A") that exclusively includes the pages receiving backlinks. 2. Create a 2nd segment (segment "B") that will include a set of similar pages (same intent, similar ranking KW count, avg. rank, visibility) that will be used as the control group. Now track keyword rankings for these two cohorts over time, segmenting as appropriate into various ranking groups (rank 1-3; 10 or better; top 10, etc.). This time-series A/B test format accurately reflects impact. Tracking other metrics can be helpful as well.
Backlinks will be a less relevant factor for SEO. Communities will take over. People, instead of backlinks, will bring the trust. That is for example, what LinkedIn is doing already, it asks the community to bring the knowledge and experience to the table. Just like in this page. People in LinkedIn are in some ways, verified; you get content created by experts in the matter. With engagement from other specialists. With real life interaction. Then the content is authoritative on its own. No need of backlinks. Build a community instead.
Backlinks are the secret sauce of SEO success! These digital endorsements from other websites act like votes of confidence for your content. They not only drive referral traffic but also signal search engines about your site's authority and relevance. In the competitive world of search rankings, quality backlinks are your golden ticket to climbing the SEO ladder and securing a prime spot on search engine results pages. So, don't underestimate their power – they're the building blocks of online visibility and credibility!
The best kind of backlinks are from tier 1 media outlets - this is because they are high authority, relevant, and trusted. Imagine being covered and getting a backlink from the Wall Street Journal in a story on your industry and your business got a positive mention. Not only the readers will be convinced of your credibility, Google will too. It is important to note that getting backlinks from media outlets is not easy. It takes time and effort to build relationships with journalists and create content that is newsworthy and relevant to their audience. However, the benefits of getting backlinks from media outlets can be well worth the effort.
Backlinks = trust. So while it's possible that backlinks *may* become less relevant, they'll continue to be one of the top 3 most important factors for a site's SEO performance and ranking. Good backlinks don't only indicate that "the robots" (search engines like Google) think the site is a trustworthy source—it also shows that humans trust the information on the site because they're going to it often.
Backlinks Quality vs Quantity? 1. Relevance: High-quality backlinks come from websites that are relevant to your content or niche. These links signal to search engines that your content is authoritative and trustworthy in your specific subject area. 2. Authority: Backlinks from authoritative and well-established websites carry more weight in search engine algorithms. 3. Trustworthiness: Search engines value backlinks from trustworthy sources. Links from reputable websites are seen as an endorsement of your content's credibility. 4. User Experience: High-quality backlinks often lead to a better user experience. 5. Longevity: High-quality backlinks tend to be more stable and long-lasting.