WHAT IS SEO?
Search engine optimization (SEO) is a digital marketing practice that uses specific techniques to drive more organic traffic to your website from Google and other major search engines. The stronger your SEO, the higher your website will rank on search results pages.
WHAT IS A BACKLINK?
A backlink is a common term associated with SEO. When a marketer or website owner wants to drive organic traffic to their site, they will seek backlinks as part of their SEO strategy. Backlinks are links to your website published on other websites.
EXAMPLE
If you submit a guest post on someone else’s blog website and include a link to your website in the post, that would be considered a backlink. It is a way for people to discover and connect to your website when they visit other websites.
TWO TYPES OF LINKS
There are two primary types of backlinks:
A. Do-Follow
B. No-Follow
Each one differs in how it impacts your website’s SEO. Dofollow backlinks tell search engines to follow the link and pass authority for SEO purposes, whereas nofollow backlinks tell search engines not to follow the link for ranking purposes.
WHY DO-FOLLOW LINKS EXISTS
Some website owners may require nofollow backlinks to prevent spam or abuse, especially on blogs where anyone can make guest posts.You can set a nofollow backlink by adding the following attribute in the HTML code: rel=”nofollow”. The dofollow backlink is the default setting, so you wouldn’t need to add an attribute for it.
WHY BACKLINKS ARE IMPORTANT FOR SEO
The algorithms of major search engines like Google will rank a website higher if it has several high-quality backlinks from other high-authority websites. That is why backlinks are so important for SEO.
A. HIGH AUTHORITY
The term “high authority” refers to a popular or relevant website with significant organic traffic and strong industry relevance. On the other hand, a low authority website is one with virtually no popularity or traffic.
B. LOW AUTHORITY
You do not want backlinks from low-authority websites because they could hurt your Google ranking. It would be better to have 10 backlinks on high-authority websites than 100,000 backlinks on low-authority websites. Keep that in mind.
CONCLUSION
Google will consider your website high-authority when several other high-authority sites link to it. Then, it will reward you with a higher listing on its search results pages.
WHAT ARE THE QUALITIES OF A GOOD BACKLINK
Remember that Google uses backlinks as a trust signal for a website. A website with many backlinks from high-authority websites is considered trustworthy.
Otherwise, why would all those high-authority websites publish the link in the first place if it was not reliable? Any backlink from a relevant and trusted website is a quality backlink.
ANCHOR TEXT
In addition, the backlink should use natural anchor text to link to your website. Anchor text is any clickable text. Make sure you don’t just publish the URL address in the content without using anchor text because it will look too unnatural and spammy.
EXAMPLE
Here are some examples to help you understand this point better:
Natural Anchor Text = Come to eBay for some great deals.
No Anchor Text – Come to https://www.ebay.com for some great deals.
Do you see the difference? The natural anchor text uses the hyperlinked brand name without feeling forced. That is the way you will want your backlinks to appear in the content of high-authority websites.
TOP 4 TIPS HOW TO GET BACKLINKS
Okay, now you know the importance of backlinks for SEO. The next step is to get your backlinks published on high-authority websites. That is where most businesses and website owners struggle the most. They have no idea how to get these popular websites to publish their URLs.
Let’s see if we can help you with this. Below are the top 4 tips for getting backlinks from high-authority websites.
CREATE HIGH QUALITY CONTENT
High-authority website owners will only publish high-quality content worth sharing with their audience. It cannot merely be an advertisement talking about your website and what it sells. The content must offer value to people without really selling them anything.
EXAMPLE
Some examples of high-quality, shareable content include the following:
A. Surveys
B. Case studies
C. Experiments
D. Checklists
E. FAQs
F. Walkthroughs
G. Infographics
H. Charts
I. Diagrams
Publish this type of content on your website. If it is informative content, other websites will want to link to it. That is how you will create your backlinks.
GUEST POSTS ON REPUTABLE SITES
One popular backlink strategy is to submit high-quality guest posts on reputable sites, especially ones with forums and blogs. Don’t post dofollow backlinks on low-authority blogs or forums, as it will hurt your search engine ranking. At least use nofollow backlinks if you’re going to do this.
DOFOLLOW LINKS ON GUEST POST SITES
The primary goal is to post your dofollow backlinks on high-authority websites that allow guest posting. You may need to request permission from the moderators before you are granted access to post content on their website. They will want to ensure you are a reputable person with a relevant website.
GET LISTED ON DIRECTORIES
Another popular backlink strategy is to publish your backlinked content in reputable directories and industry pages. Some of them may accept your content if you pay a small fee, while others may accept it if they like your website’s content.
GOOGLE MY BUSINESS
Google Business Profile and Yelp are the two most popular directories. They will publish industry-specific listings of your website in people’s local search results pages. Other types of directories to consider are vendor directories, industry associations, university pages, YellowPages.com, and any other relevant directory or industry page.
BUILD RELATIONSHIPS
Backlinking is all about building relationships and long-term collaborations with other websites. Try participating in joint webinars, forums, research groups, podcasts, and Slack groups to make connections within your industry. Then, you may have people willing to publish your backlinked content on their websites for free.
CONCLUSION
Now you know what a backlink is and why it is important for SEO. A backlink is a link to your website from another website. If you can get your backlink published on several high-authority websites, you should see your website’s rank continuously increase on Google search results pages. You’ll know when this happens once more organic traffic starts flowing to your website.