Before we get into the nitty-gritty of how to build backlinks, let’s go over the basics first. What is the definition of backlink - "Backlinks are incoming links to a website from external sources. They play a crucial role in search engine optimization (SEO) by indicating the popularity and credibility of a website. Quality backlinks from reputable sites can positively impact a site's search engine rankings, while low-quality or spammy backlinks can have a negative effect". What Are Backlinks and How Do They Help Your SEO?
What is a Backlink?
A backlink is a link to your site from another website. For example, here are two backlinks to your site from the website WordPress tips, which is based off of a article reference.
🔹 bigbloggertips
🔹 install WordPress in Your Virtual Private server
These two sentences have given us a backlink to our website. Our website got a backlink from bigbloggingertips in homepage . Another article on our site got a backlink via the second sentence installing WordPress in your VPS.
What is an External Link?
When you make a link to someone else’s site, it’s referred to as a backlink to their site, and an external link to your site. A lot of bloggers choose to open their external links in a new tab, so that the reader doesn’t end up on the wrong site.
On the other hand, an internal link is a link between a page on your site and another page on another site. An internal link isn’t as powerful as a link from another site, but it can still improve your SEO.
Why Do Backlinks Improve Your SEO?
Google (and others) can crawl the web based on links. Every link to your website from another website is like a “voice” for your site. It tells Google that your website is interesting or helpful. This means that your website will get higher ranking in Google.
Let’s say you have two websites. One website only has 5 links from other websites. The other website has 500 links.
Google would prioritize the website with 500 links. The website with 500 links is much more well-known and reputable.
So, backlinks are a key ranking factor for Google.
This could lead to an obvious issue: what if someone maliciously sets up a fake website, gets their friends to link to it from their fake websites, and manipulates the system to get massive organic traffic that they didn’t earn?
Fortunately, Google recognizes this problem! Which brings us to…
What is a High Quality Backlink vs Low Quality Backlink?
Suppose your website has multiple backlinks from various sources. You may think that each backlink represents a single vote, but Google's algorithm assigns different weighting to backlinks based on where they originate.
For example, if a backlink originates from a reputable website, such as a government website, a national daily newspaper, or a well-known magazine such as Forbes or Time.
In contrast, a backlink originating from a friend's blog that was created a week ago will not carry much weight.
If you have a link from a website that Google knows to be a scammer, then it won’t do you any favors, and it’ll almost certainly hurt your site long-term.
Google uses a system called ‘domain authority’ to rate domains on a scale of 100 for their authoritative status. You can check the domain authority of any site using Moz’s free tool. High Quality Backlinks, When it comes to backlinks.
When you’re focused on getting backlinks, you want to build high quality backlinks.
That includes:
✅ links from authoritative websites (domain authority 50 or higher)
✅ links from well-known websites that are related to your site (for example, other blogs related to your niche)
✅ Links from.gov and.edu domains (although these can be difficult to obtain)
Can Low Quality Backlinks Damage Your Website?
Yes, of course. Poor quality backlinks often come from spammy, irrelevant websites or forums, or even from sites that you paid to link to your site (link mills, link schemes, etc.). Google doesn’t like any of that.
If, for example, you pay for an advertisement on a website that links back to your website, that ad should be marked ‘no-follow’ in the HTML code to let Google know not to count the link. Only organic, unpaid links should not be dofollowed.
If Google believes you’re building links that are unnatural, they can penalize your site with a ‘manual action.’ This means your site will rank lower in SERPs.
Fortunately, if this is the case for you, you can disavow these links using Google’s Google Search Console.
How Backlinks are helpful to generate traffic to website
Backlinks can help generate traffic to a website in several ways:
1️⃣ Search Engine Ranking: Backlinks are seen by search engines as a sign of trust in your website. When your site has high-quality backlinks from trusted sources, Search Engine Optimization (SEO) engines will rank your site higher in the search results, increasing your visibility to users.
2️⃣ Referral Traffic: Backlinks are a way for people to find other websites. When someone clicks on a link on another website and ends up on your site, it creates referral traffic. The more relevant and trusted the link is, the more likely your traffic is to be interested in what you have to offer.
3️⃣ Increased Visibility: Backlinks from trusted sources make your content visible to more people. People visiting trusted websites may stumble across your link, which means they’ll explore your content and maybe even become a regular visitor.
4️⃣ Trust and Credibility: Backlinks from well-known and reliable websites increase the trustworthiness of your site. Users trust and visit a website that has been recommended by other reliable websites.
5️⃣ Social Sharing: Good backlinks promote social media sharing. Influencers or well-known websites often share your content across multiple social media platforms, increasing your reach and driving traffic.
Conclusion
To sum up, backlinks serve as a pathway to your website and not only increase your search engine visibility, but they also attract referral traffic from reliable sources. The importance of backlinks goes beyond numbers; their quality matters. Search engines view backlinks as a vote of confidence, which affects rankings and makes your website more discoverable for users. Referral traffic generated by backlinks can be very targeted and relevant, making it more likely for users to engage with your site and convert.
In addition, backlinks increase a website’s trustworthiness, especially when they’re from authoritative sources. The trust factor is a key factor in driving and retaining traffic.
Backlinks also have a social impact. Quality links often result in more social media sharing, which in turn increases the reach of your content and attracts a wider audience.
In short, a well-thought-out strategy for building and managing quality backlinks is key to any website’s success in today’s digital world. It’s not just about the number of backlinks; it’s about building a network of backlinks that reflect your site’s trustworthiness and importance, resulting in long-term, meaningful traffic growth.
