What is Backlinks and How to Get It?

A backlink is a link on a website other than your own that points back to a page on your website. Backlinks are also called inbound links because they represent another website's traffic flowing to your site. The quality and quantity of backlinks help you rank higher in search engines like Google and Bing.

Backlinks are considered an indicator of how popular your website is with users. Implementing, managing, and analyzing backlink performance are important aspects of search engine optimization (SEO) and SEO strategies.

You need to invest in on-page and off-page SEO to increase organic traffic and gain search engine attention. On-page optimization is creating content that helps search engines (and users) understand what your website is about. Off-site optimization is about showing search engines that your content provides value to third parties. The most important value statement is backlinks.

Individual documents on the web are interconnected through links, and links are the glue that holds the web together. Internal links are links between web pages on the same domain and exist primarily to allow users to navigate within a website. External links connect to web pages on other domains and can have a wide range of purposes, including:

-Provide broader context for readers

-Support a claim in your copy

-Cite or provide a source

-Recommend something

-Add credibility

In either case, the link is on your page to provide additional value to your reader, making outgoing links a valuable asset. It is important to understand that links have a direction. When they are sent from the destination web page, they are received by the target page. Thus, it is a backlink to the target page.

Search engines recognize backlinks as valuable and will interpret the link as fully intentional and reward the target URL. They assume that some level of editorial evaluation has been done on the target web page.

So, backlinks pointing to your website indicate to search engines that your content is valuable. Backlinks are one of the most powerful ranking factors. They play a major role in the success (or failure) of any website when it comes to organic search traffic.

One of the main reasons that Google is the dominant search engine is because they were the first to recognize the importance of backlinks in SEO. When Google launched in 1998, it used an innovative algorithm that ranked web pages based on link popularity. This means that the more links a page has, the higher the page ranks.

Named "PageRank" after Larry Page (a co-founder of Google along with Sergey Brin), this algorithm doesn't just calculate the number of links a particular web page receives. It also measures the authority of those links.

This means that not all backlinks are equal. Imagine that one of the pages on your website has backlinks from two web pages on different external domains.

1. Page A has 200 backlinks
2. Page B has 20 backlinks

If these two pages are about the same topic, then page A is likely to rank higher than page B. This is because page A has 10 times more links, so it has more authority.

When it comes to these two backlinks to your site, the link from page A is more valuable than the link from page B because it has more authority.

Essentially, the PageRank algorithm assigns an authority value to each web page based on the quantity and quality of its incoming links.

Exploring a Simple Link Network

PageRank is an iterative algorithm. This means that it must run many times before it stabilizes, as the data is calculated and fed back into itself.

This is because the relative authority of all pages in a given network is interdependent. For example, imagine a network of four pages:

1. Page A links to Page B and Page C, and has a backlink from Page B.
2. Page B links to Page A and Page D, and has backlinks from Page A and Page C.
3. Page C links to Page B and Page D, and has a backlink from Page A.
4. Page D is not linked to, but has backlinks from Page B and Page C.

To calculate the authority passed to page D, we first need to know the authority of page B and page C. But page B's authority depends on page A and page C, and page A's authority depends on page B.

Even a simple network quickly becomes complicated. Only by repeating the calculations many times does the solution become clear. The calculations are not that complicated, but the size of the dataset (trillions of links across the Internet) and the amount of calculations required make it a huge task.

What is Domain Authority?

Domain Authority represents the mini network of URLs and links that exist on your site. Similar to backlinks from external sites, internal links within your own site also pass authority from one URL to another.

It makes sense that links from big brand websites have a higher domain authority than links from small local businesses. For example, CNN is an authoritative website, so a link from a page on CNN is valuable. Lesser known websites have lower authority.

When your homepage gets a backlink from a local news site, it increases the homepage's authority. But because it also links to other pages on your site, some of this authority is distributed to the pages that are linked to from the homepage. This increase in authority also shares authority between the pages that link to it. So backlinks from external sites eventually trickle down into the internal linking architecture of your entire site. The closer you are to the top of the chain, so to speak, the higher your link authority.

This is why big brands can corner the market on a particular set of search terms. With the power of their domain and smart internal linking practices, even new pages have the chance to rank high.

Quantity and quality: both are important when it comes to backlinks

Accurately calculating the exact value of link authority is a very opaque and complicated task, but knowing how PageRank works gives you a basic rule of thumb:

1. You want to attract as many backlinks as possible.

2. It's better to get backlinks from authoritative websites.

3. You can use your intuition to determine whether your website is authoritative or not.

4. Attracting more backlinks has a positive impact on your website as a whole.

So when it comes to backlinks, you want both quality and quantity.

Benefits of Backlinks

Building backlinks is an important part of SEO because it helps search engines determine the authority and relevance of a page. Search engines use backlinks to determine the importance of a page. However, not all backlinks are equally valuable. Search engines evaluate backlinks based on the quality of the website that is providing the link, not the number of backlinks that your website has.

Backlinks can improve your ranking because they indicate value. Ultimately, the more high-quality backlinks you have, the higher your page will rank in search engines. Additionally, backlinks help your brand get discovered online. When popular sites link back to your website, you can increase referral traffic from people who are already interested in the topic you are discussing. This allows more potential customers to enter your marketing funnel.

How to Evaluate Backlink Relevance

Now that we know the answer to the question "what is a backlink," let's see how search engines evaluate the relevance of a backlink. Another important factor when it comes to backlinks is relevance. In addition to calculating the authority of a backlink to a website, Google also looks at the relevance of the link: whether the link, page content, or topic of the website matches the topic it is linking to.

As an example, say you have a website that sells musical instruments, and three different websites link to a web page that sells guitar picks.

Link 1

-Your website is very popular in the music industry.

-The web page that contains the link is about guitars.

-The anchor text used in the link is "Learn more".

-In this case, this is a highly relevant link because the anchor text does not pass any relevance signals, but the web page and website do.

Link 2

-Your website is very popular in the automotive industry.

-The web page that contains the link to you is about refueling.

-The anchor text used in the link is "Gasoline vs. Diesel".

Link 2 does not have any relevant signals. This link is so low in relevance that Google may not find any value in it at all, despite it being a link from a high authority website.

Link 3

-Your website is not very popular in the guitar equipment industry.

-The web page that contains the link to you is about guitar picks.

-The anchor text used in the link is "Best Guitar Picks".

In the example of link 3, the website, webpage, and anchor text are all relevant. Even though it's a low authority website, it's a valuable link because it passes clear relevance signals.

You will get backlinks from a variety of sources. Some of them are from seemingly unrelated websites, but generally, they are neither useful nor harmful. The most useful links are highly relevant links, because they send a clear signal to Google that your site is suitable for a particular topic.

Once you have done everything you can to optimize your on-page, building backlinks to your site is the most valuable thing you can do to improve your rankings.

Unfortunately, this is one of the most difficult tasks in SEO. To get a link, you need to convince others that you can improve their webpage by linking to a webpage on your site.

It is not a good idea to email random people and ask them for links. Instead, there are more specialized best practices for getting backlinks to your site.

Link Building

Link building is the process of actively acquiring backlinks. It is a niche specialty of SEO that requires a lot of practice.

However, when you are starting, it is enough to understand the value of links and engage in activities that may generate backlinks. After all, links to other web pages are a fundamental part of the web.

The bigger concern is the opposite. If you don't engage in activities that can encourage backlinks, your chances of improving your search rankings are very low.

Link building is a process that requires trial and error.

Link Generation Ideas

Essentially, backlink generation happens in one of two ways.

Someone finds your content and decides to link to you.

You put your content in front of someone and they choose to link to you.

Link generation works similarly to lead generation; that is, you need to reach people with your content. To do that, you can take a variety of approaches. Ultimately, the most effective way depends on the type of content on your website, the people and companies that might link to you, and how you can get them to see your site.

Here are some organizations that can help you increase your backlinks:

Suppliers and retailers. If you already have a business relationship with another organization, encourage them to mention you on their website. They may even already have a listings section. Make sure they include your site there.

Partnerships. There are already many benefits to a mutually beneficial business partnership, but there's no reason you can't use your existing relationship to bring even more spotlight to your business. You can provide your partner with featured content to feature on their website or do joint promotional activities such as webinars. This has the added benefit of exposing you to their audience.

Local Community. Supporting your local community is a great way to give something back while also developing a positive story about your business. If you're not already involved in your local community, find out how to get involved. This can include sponsoring events, hosting local meetups, volunteering at local schools and universities, etc.

Testimonials. If you're a satisfied user of an online product or service, they may be willing to publish a case study or testimonial if you can provide a compelling success story. If you can ask the right people, selling is pretty easy. This content can be very helpful to marketers looking to sell their products, and it's a win-win if you can get a link.

Charities. Charity can generate a lot of goodwill, and charities are happy to put the companies they support in the spotlight. While it's morally questionable to support a charity solely for link-building purposes, there's no reason not to try to maximize the return on the charitable work you or your employees are already doing.

Niche Bloggers. Many industries have dedicated bloggers who constantly create content for their audiences. Nurturing relationships with these bloggers is a great way to get a leg up online. They already have a loyal audience that loves their content. If your product or service is a good fit for their readers, collaborations can have a variety of benefits. Offer to write a feature article for them, send them a sample, interview them, or even pay them to write an article for your site as a guest author.

Coverage. Coverage can be hard to get, but it's possible, as journalists are always looking for articles. If you have a compelling article about your business or product, it may catch their interest. Press coverage can also double the reach of your article, as other news media will pick up the article and republish it for their readers. Learning the basics of PR will help you pitch to the press and understand what makes a good article.

With all these ideas, you shouldn’t pitch someone to link to you. Links are a natural by-product of mentions and features. The idea is to participate in an activity where a backlink can potentially result in a result. The best ideas are ones that provide business value even if you don’t get a backlink.

FAQ

What are examples of backlinks?

A backlink is when one website links to another. For example, a blog post linking to another article or source is a backlink. You can find backlinks across many blogs and websites.

How do backlinks improve SEO?

Backlinks boost SEO by increasing your website’s authority, helping it rank higher in search results. Quality backlinks from reputable sites are more valuable than just having a large number.

How do I get backlinks from high-authority sites?

To get backlinks from high-authority sites, create valuable, high-quality content like blogs, infographics, or videos. Websites tend to link to well-researched, original content. Linking to authoritative sources in your own content can also help you gain visibility.

The Importance of Link Building

Backlinks are crucial for SEO. Along with keyword research and on-page optimization, link building helps boost search rankings, traffic, and brand awareness. It should be a key part of any SEO strategy.