Michael Epps Utley {kind=image/jpg}
Most small business owners and marketers know website backlinks are critical. However, they’re often unclear on what they are or how to earn them. This guide explains everything you must know about backlinking to do it like a pro.
What Are Backlinks?
A backlink is a link that one website receives from another.
Backlinks are beneficial because they drive referral traffic to a website and can increase brand awareness. They play a critical role in search engine optimization (SEO) because the right backlinks can convey authority on your site, which is a crucial ranking factor for Google. Some sites, especially highly respected ones, earn backlinks naturally. However, most businesses have to put in effort to generate and maintain them.
Did you know: A referring site places an external link to another domain, while a target site is one that receives the backlink.
Why Are Backlinks Critical for SEO?
Backlinks are essential for search engine optimization because Google views backlinks from quality sites as recommendations or endorsements, lending credibility to a site. Typically, the more quality backlinks a page or site has, the more authoritative and trustworthy it’s perceived to be.
In addition, backlinks help Google discover and rank your site because its website crawlers use them to find new pages.
While many other factors contribute to Google rankings, backlinks are essential.
Are All Backlinks Beneficial for SEO?
No, not all backlinks improve your position on search engine results pages (SERPs).
One example is no-follow links. They communicate to search engines not to pass link equity—essentially SEO power—to the target site. Examples of no-follow links include:
rel=“nofollow”: Tells Google that the linking site doesn’t endorse the target site
rel=“sponsored”: Communicates that the target site paid for the link
rel=“ugc”: Indicates the link is in user-generated content
Google usually ignores backlinks in poor-quality or irrelevant content or on relatively new and spammy sites. Google doesn’t trust signals from these sources to influence the search results it generates.
Your site may get some no-follow and low-quality backlinks over time. However, it's not worth pursuing them to enhance your site position in a search.
In addition, you must avoid building backlinks that violate Google’s link spam policy, often called toxic backlinks. They frequently result in Google penalties that harm your position in search.
Practices to avoid include:
Buying backlinks by exchanging money, products, or services for them
Exchanging or trading links to other sites
Leveraging automated programs to create links to your site
Forcing the keyword you want to rank for into anchor (clickable) text in a spammy way.
What Are the Most Valuable Backlinks for SEO?
The most valuable backlinks in SEO:
Follow links
Are placed naturally in relevant content
Point to high-quality content
Come from reputable and well-established websites
Appear in relevant and natural anchor (link) text
Generally, the more high-quality backlinks you earn, the better your website and its pages will perform in searches. However, backlink variety is critical as well. Seek out backlinks on different websites and pages and various anchor text types. If you don’t do this, your backlink profile may seem unnatural or spammy.
How to Check Your Website's Backlinks
Knowing what backlinks your site already has is essential before launching a backlink-building effort. You can find out about your site’s backlink profile through Google Search Console (GSC).
Log in to Google Search Console
Find LINKS on the left sidebar near the bottom of the screen. Under the EXTERNAL LINKS column, you’ll find your site’s backlink profile
This report includes:
Top linked pages. The pages on your website that have the most backlinks
Top linking sites: The external sites that link to your site the most
Top linking text: The most common anchor (link) text used in your backlinks
You can click MORE under these sections to access additional information.
How to Earn Backlinks
Here’s how to generate legitimate, high-quality backlinks to your site.
Develop top-quality content
Make it a priority to post quality content that other sites want to link to. The content should be information-packed, authoritative, and beneficial to website visitors. It can be videos, blog articles, checklists, or whatever best presents the information. Also, ensure it’s optimized for search engines by:
Performing keyword research and using keywords throughout the content
Including the keywords in your title tags and subheadings
Completely covering your topic
Using short paragraphs, sentences, and bullet points for better scannability, especially on smartphones
Linking to related pages on your site
Taking these steps will help ensure your content will be found online so other sites can link to it.
Respond to Journalists’ Requests
Responding to journalist queries through sources like #JournoRequests on X (formerly Twitter), Qwoted, and SOS can earn you backlinks if a writer uses your content as a source.
Start by looking out for press requests related to your industry or local area. When you find one, respond with a pitch. Be thorough when you answer the journalist’s questions. Offer up your point of view to make your response unique. Provide links to relevant website pages that could become backlinks. Make sure you include contact information. Finally, ensure you respond promptly because the typical press cycle is fast.
Develop Press Releases
Press releases share newsworthy information with journalists for the purpose of writing stories based on the content. For example, your business conducts original research, writes a press release about the results, and then sends it to publications that could be interested in it. While developing press-worthy content can be time-consuming, it’s a powerful way not just to earn backlinks but also to demonstrate authority in your industry.
Restore Broken Backlinks
Broken backlinks point to pages no longer available on your domain, such as deleted URLs.
To ensure a good user experience and maximize SEO potential, you should put in the effort to recover these backlinks by pointing them to functional pages. A tool like Semrush Backlink Analytics can help you identify broken backlinks.
When you find one, determine whether you have replacement content on your website. If so, 301 redirect the broken URL to the replacement page. This should ensure that most of the SEO value is passed to the new page. You can also contact the owner of the referring domain and ask them to update the link.
Backlinks: The Final Word
Now that you know how to generate and maintain backlinks, it’s time to get to work. While backlinking can seem time-consuming, such links are one of the best investments you can make in improving the search performance of your website.
