Backlinks are links that connect an external web page to your site. These links are crucial as they tell search engines that your web page matters. Google considers links as votes, so the more links you have to your web page, the better you will do in this internet popularity contest.
When a web page links to yours, they show its readers that your content is also relevant. Besides, these links help Google understand what your web page is about. Google understands that if there are two linked pages, there is probably a relationship between them. It would help if you aimed to get other well-known web pages in your industry to link to yours.
What Factors Make A Backlink Suitable?
As already mentioned at the beginning: not all backlinks are created equal. Numerous factors make up a good backlink, or rather, by which a good backlink can be recognized. Therefore, you should always check where you have implemented a backlink and where your backlinks come from if you have not placed them.
So that you can see what makes a good backlink, I would like to explain once the most critical factors.
Relevance
A good backlink must always be relevant. It means that it must come from websites related to the topic. From Google’s point of view, backlinks that are “relevant” are preferred.
What does that mean? Suppose you have a website about football. You now have two backlinks. One backlink is from a sports website, and the second backlink is from a cat website.
In our case, the relevant backlink, the link from the sports-themed site, is the most relevant and is also ranked by Google.
Authority
Authority, also known as “Domain Authority” (abbreviated: DA), is an essential factor for Google when evaluating the backlink. The higher the value (0-100) determined by Domain Authority, the more potent the backlink.
To evaluate the authority of a domain, many other factors are used in the evaluation. These include, among others:
- the length of existence of the domain
- the number of incoming and outgoing links
- the quality of backlinks to this site itself (backlinks)
In addition to “Domain Authority,” there is also the so-called “Site Authority” (site authority), subject to the same rules as the first. In this case, the ranking refers to a single subpage of the corresponding domain.
Naturalness
A widespread mistake when establishing backlinks is the frequent establishment of unnatural anchor texts. This means that a backlink should be as natural as possible and flow seamlessly with its embedded text. Therefore, naked URL links like “www.blogjirafa.es” should be avoided. Better would be an anchor text like online business freelancer. Depending on how the sequence of words can be integrated into the body of the text, it can, and should, vary here, of course.
Of course, it always depends on the frequency of the established link. If the domain is used hardly as anchor text and placed countless times on external pages, there is a risk that Google will classify it as spam. The same goes for always using the exact keywords as anchor text. The consequence is then a downgrade of the domain. It must be avoided at all costs.
Traffic
The more regular traffic a website gets from which a backlink is received, the more power it will give your website. Search engines will rank this link to your site as higher quality than a website with tiny traffic links to you.
Placement
Do not underestimate the correct placement of the backlink. The more prominent the backlink placed on a website and referencing your website, the higher it’s quality.
What does that mean exactly? For example, if the link is in the sidebar or footer, it’s usually just one of many links. It means that less binding power is attributed to it de facto. However, if the link is placed relatively high within an article, it is more prominent.
Content-Length
In addition to the placement of a backlink, the length of the content in which the link is placed also influences. The longer Google already classifies the content as relevant, the higher the link’s relevance within this content.
The critical requirement, of course, is that this content is suitably well-written and relevant to search engines.
SEO and Backlinks
As already mentioned in the above paragraphs, backlinks are essential for search engines like Google and Co. to rank the respective website’s quality. The number of backlinks that refer to a site is not essential, but the quality of these backlinks.
If a website accumulates many unnatural backlinks in a short period, a so-called “Google penalty” can occur in the worst case. It means that the website is wholly excluded from the ranking. Therefore, you should regularly check which backlinks have been added recently and react accordingly to “bad” backlinks.
In short, from an SEO point of view, you should always make sure that the backlinks pointing to your site are natural and relevant to the topic. The more “trustworthy” a website refers to your site, the better.
The Anchor Text
Above, I had already mentioned the “anchor text,” also called “anchor text.” It is an essential component when it comes to search engine optimization.
On the one hand, it is the text visitors see on a website, and on the other, this anchor text is also read by search engines. Therefore, the anchor text should always be clear and in the context of the site link. See also “naturalness.”
Tips to Get More Backlinks
Who wants to actively build backlinks for his website has the most diverse possibilities. Below, I present the most popular.
Guest Article
The classic in backlink building is guest posting on other relevant sites. In other words, search for relevant websites and ask if you can write and publish a high-quality article that fits the topic.
Of course, the prerequisite is that you can also backlink this article to your website. Finally, you offer high-quality content for the readers of the respective site in this course.
Interviews
The interview procedure is similar to that for guest articles; only, in this case, you ask a web operator for an interview that you will publish on your site. How is this used now?
It is straightforward. After the interview publication, you offer the interviewee to share your interview, for example, on social media channels or maybe even within a short article.
Mention Websites
A straightforward and effective method is to regularly mention relevant websites in publications, either on your website or on your social media channels. In this way, you generate attention, and you can expect that the mentioned website will also say or link to you.
Comments
A popular (and sometimes controversial) method is to place backlinks in comments. Numerous blogs on relevant topics allow you to comment on the posts. Unfortunately, this article is often exploited by SEO spammers. Of course, if you comment, don’t just go for a backlink; read the post seriously and respond to the content. Most website owners immediately recognize generic comments written for SEO purposes and marked as spam.
Conclusion
Backlinks are links that connect an external web page to your site. These links are crucial as they tell search engines that your website matters.
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