A Comprehensive Guide on Backlinks in SEO

Want to climb the search engine ladder? Backlinks are essential fuel

Backlinks are one of the primary element that have an impact on the SEO (Search Engine Optimization) rankings. Getting backlinks is not hard, however, getting high-quality backlinks is touch and need patience.

Based on the research and other resources that I have encountered and gone through, I will be listing out a detailed understanding of Backlinks and their types and ways to obtain them.?

Building a solid backlink profile is a cornerstone SEO strategy

Before entering into the main topic, I would like to inform you that backlinks are not a one-time collection. It is a continuous and ongoing process.

Penguin update in 2012 had a significant impact on websites and their performance. This update mainly focused on black hat techniques such as link buying, link farming, automated links, etc. As per the update, Google focuses on the quality of backlinks rather than on quantity. Google does penalize you for spammy links and websites can also receive a manual penalty for acquiring toxic links.?

Backlink acts as a bridge to crawl your site effectively

What is a Backlink?

A backlink is the process of passing authority (link equity) from another site to another site. Backlinks are also called Inbound Links. In simple terms, it acts like a reference.?

Picture it, if you are an employee in a company, and a senior manager discusses or mentions about you to the CEO. Even though he doesn’t know you, he will have a positive impression on you and treat you as an asset/trusted source. The same goes with Google.?

Backlinks can also have a negative like if you are associated with the wrong person (toxic site).

Types of Backlinks

The different types of backlinks include:

1. Dofollow:?They are natural editorial links.?This type of backlink passes link juice (credibility or value) to the other sites.

Ex: <a href="https://www.example.com/" rel="">

These “rel” tags tell google whether to consider the link for endorsement or not

2. Nofollow: These links don’t endorse you and they do not pass link juice, however, they can be used as a brand awareness, and generate traffic.

<a href="https://www.example.com/" rel="nofollow">

3. Sponsored: They are paid links offered to a website to promote their products/services.

<a href="https://www.example.com/" rel="sponsored">

4. UGC:?There are user-generated links like social media posts, customer reviews, testimonials, contests, etc.?

<a href="https://www.example.com/" rel="ugc">

To find if a link is a nofollow or dofollow, right-click on the link and select?inspect?and scan the html code.

Why are Backlinks Important?

Acquiring backlinks benefits your website in many ways including?

• Getting referral traffic
• Enhance your brand?
• Create trustworthiness in the eyes of Google
• Increase search visibility?
• Improve search engine rankings

How to Choose a Backlink Website?

Acquire a backlink from a website if it satisfies the below conditions.

• The website should have a high Domain Authorly score (60+) (Check using Moz extension) (You can try low-quality sites above 30+ for local businesses)
• The site must have low spam score (<5%, check using Moz extension). Even though the site has high Domain Authority, if the spam score is higher, ignore the website as it will only hurt your site performance.?
• The backlink should be from a relevant niche.
• The placement of the link (should be on the body rather than on the footer or any other section).
• Get unique links than your competitors (Do Competitor Analysis using tools like AHREFS, and SEMRUSH). Get unique links from unique referral domains.
• Try to get backlinks for different keywords rather than focusing on the main URL. Diversify and try multiple keywords.
• Avoid Private Blog Network links (PBN). PBN is a network of websites created mainly for linking purposes by?artificially?inflating the backlink profile of the target website. They acquire links through black hat tactics thus having a high chance of Penalty from Google and a drop in search rankings.?
• Check the organic traffic of the website(1000+) and also check for low or medium outbound links.
• Google treats anchor links (clickable text) as a ranking signal. Get backlinks for a mix of Anchor texts including exact match, Anchor text, Branded Anchor text, and generic Anchor text. The phrases around the link hint Google what the page is about.
• You should have a balance of dofollow and nofollow links.

How to get High-quality backlinks

There are numerous ways and strategies to acquire high-quality backlinks.

Some of them are:

1. Create high-quality sharable content like definitive guide, research articles, case studies, Infographics, Images, and statistical data to get natural backlinks from other websites. Google prioritizes editorially placed links (a website links to your site naturally because your site provides more value to users) adding more weight.?
2. Create a free useful tool on your site. Check Semrush and Ahrefs for keywords for tools with high volume and create a tool using Chatgpt or hire a developer if you need to.?
3. Broken Link technique: Check for broken links / dead links on the websites you target using SEO tools (SEMrush or Ahrefs) and create/ modify the existing matching content and make it link-worthy, superior content and contact them and ask to replace the broken link with your content.?
4. Guest Posting: You can reach out to the site and contact them for a guest post. Most of the sites charge you and some offer for free. You can also exchange links, however, be cautious about it.?
5. Use string in google= [niche keyword] + “guest post” or [niche keyword]+ ”write for us” for guest posting opportunities.
6. Press releases, Digital PR
7. PDF, PPT, DOC sharing
8. Web 2.0 blog postings
9. Social media platforms
10. Directories Submission
11. Profile links, forum links, social bookmarking, podcast links, citation links, Business profiles, Q & A sites like Quora.
12. Wiki links (Wikipedia)
13. Reverse engineer your competitors (Replicate your competitor’s link-building strategies)
14. Unlinked mentions: Some of the websites have mentioned your website but didn’t add a link back to you, extract the list using SEO tools and contact them and get a link.
15. Listicle link building: Reach out to websites that publish listicles related to your niche.
16. HARO (Help A Reporter Out): This platform connects you with journalists. They request queries and you can offer valuable insights and expertise by submitting your content with proper statistics, data, and personal opinions and get backlinks. It also helps to build trust and indulge in future collaboration.?
17. Run audits and monitor your backlink profile which helps you to keep track of your lost backlinks, spammy or low-quality links ( you can Disavow them).

Before Disavowing (informing Google that you do not want these links to be considered when evaluating your website's ranking.) the links, contact the website’s owner to ask them to remove your link because Disavowing incorrectly can negatively impact your website's ranking.

BY TAKING ALL THESE FACTORS INTO CONSIDERATION, CREATE YOUR BACKLINK CAMPAIGN AND KEEP NOTE OF ALL YOUR BACKLINKS DATA FOR TRACKING ANDEASY ACCESS. ALSO YOU CAN MAKE USE OF THE SEO TOOLS TO MONITOR YOUR BACKLINK PROFILE.

Are there any aspects I haven't covered or additional thoughts you'd like to share? Comment below