In this short guide, we’ll outline everything you need to know about backlinks and how they can have a positive impact on your website’s SEO.
What are website backlinks?
Backlinks are links inserted on other websites that link back to your own site.
When a site links to your content, it’s directing the original site’s audience over to your website. However, it’s not just traffic you’ll be benefiting from; these links are also highly respected by search engines, like Google.
Backlinks act as ‘votes’ for your website when discussing a specific topic. They’re used by search engines as a ranking factor, helping determine how trustworthy your content is. For example, Google will look at the quantity and quality of backlinks to help gauge your website’s expertise when it comes to ranking on search engine results pages (SERPS).
Essentially, strong backlink profiles can improve your position in search results and drive more organic traffic to your site.
The benefits of good backlinking for SEO include:
- Improving your website’s authority in SERPs
- Building brand credibility
- Increasing organic search rankings
- Driving referral traffic
- Helping search engines index your content
Types of SEO backlinks
Now we’ve outlined what backlinks are, here are a few of the most common types of backlinks to be aware of:
‘Dofollow links’
By default, most links on the web are “dofollow,” which means they pass authority from one website to another. When you include a dofollow link on your site (for internal linking or backlinking), search engines see it as a signal that your content is trustworthy and use it to evaluate and rank the linked page.
‘Unfollow links’
If the site you’re linking to isn’t particularly relevant or doesn’t meet high-quality standards, passing authority to it could work against you. “Nofollow” links allow you to include a link for users, while signalling to search engines that it shouldn’t carry any ranking credibility.
Not all backlinks are valuable to your website and can cause more harm than good. Some examples include:
- Spam links
- A purchased backlink
- Irrelevant links (e.g. not associated with your business)
How does backlinking work?
When one website links to your content, it signals to search engines that your website is valuable and carries authority within the industry. The more relevant backlinks you receive, the higher Google will rank your website.
However, it’s not about the quantity of backlinks you receive. In fact, too many irrelevant backlinks to your website could have the opposite effect – and it could leave you in a worse position than where you started.
Search engines assess several factors when evaluating backlinks, including:
- Authority: Is the linking site reputable?
- Relevance: Is the linking website related to your specific industry?
- Placement: Is the link naturally included within useful content?
How to find valuable backlinks
Finding valuable backlinks is less about chasing volume and more about focusing on credibility. The right links can strengthen your SEO performance, while the wrong ones can have a drastically negative impact on your Google ranking. When your site is linked from a reputable source, some of that authority is passed onto you. Over time, this helps improve your Google ranking.
Here are a few key things to look for when identifying valuable backlinks:
- Relevance to your industry: Links from websites in a related field are the most beneficial to your brand.
- Strong domain authority: Established, well-performing websites tend to pass on more SEO value than low-quality sources.
- Spam-free sources: Avoid links from spammy websites. Search engines can penalise sites associated with low-quality link-building practices, which can harm your rankings.
How to build links to your website
There are a few common approaches businesses use to build links.
Create quality content
Creating high-quality and original content gives other websites a reason to link back to you. Essentially, it’s in your interests to establish yourself as an industry leader, so that other businesses turn to you for advice and are keen to include you as a source on their own websites.
Guest blogs
Why not consider writing guest blogs on industry leaders’ websites? In doing so, you’ll position your brand in front of a new audience (and potential new customers), and you’ll also earn a backlink in the process. This could be a brand within your own industry, or sharing unique stories with high-profile journalists and publishers.
Listings and directories
Don’t forget to add your business to reputable online directories, which can generate foundational backlinks. And, if your business holds valuable data, it’s also worth creating linkable assets such as infographics and surveys for other online brands to link to.
It’s important to note that while these steps may seem straightforward, building a reputable backlink strategy doesn’t happen overnight. Realistically, it could be several months before you reap the rewards of your efforts and see your website climbing SERPs.
Need help on how to build links to your website?
Building backlinks effectively is about building the right links that support long-term SEO success. Working with an agency like Logica Digital could be the start of your long-term business growth. Therefore, you don’t need to be an SEO expert yourself to start seeing results.
At Logica Digital, backlinking works hand-in-hand with other effective SEO strategies. If you have any questions, then get in touch to speak to our expert team about our SEO packages and how we can help get your business off the ground. We offer a FREE discovery call, so please get in touch if you are interested in our services.
