Backlinks, also known as inbound links, are hyperlinks on one website or webpage, that direct users to another site, but what are backlinks for and why do you need them for website authority?
Backlinks play a huge role in SEO, acting as signals to search engines like Google, about the credibility and relevance of a website based on the quantity and quality of backlinks it receives.
What Are Backlinks?
Backlinks are a fundamental aspect of search engine optimization and are crucial in determining a website’s visibility and page ranking position.
Backlinks are not all equal, and their quality and relevance matter significantly.
A backlink from a highly authoritative and relevant website carries more weight than one with a low-quality or unrelated site.
” A backlink is a link from a website that points back to your website.
Why You Need Backlinks
There are many reasons to get as many backlinks as you can for your website as backlinks serve multiple services other than SEO, however, they are all beneficial for your SEO rankings.
Reasons you need backlinks:
- Enhanced Search Engine Visibility: Backlinks signal to search engines the credibility and relevance of a webpage, leading to improved rankings on search engine results pages (SERPs).
- Increased Organic Traffic: Quality backlinks from reputable sources drive referral traffic to a website, expanding its audience and potential customer base.
- Building Authority and Trust: Backlinks from authoritative websites establish credibility and trustworthiness for a website, positioning it as a reliable source of information within its industry or niche.
- Faster Indexing and Crawling: Search engine bots use backlinks to discover and index new web pages more quickly, leading to faster crawling and inclusion in search engine databases.
- Referral Traffic: Backlinks act as pathways for users to navigate between related content on different websites, driving direct referral traffic from one site to another.
- Brand Awareness and Exposure: Backlinks from high-traffic websites or influencers increase a website’s visibility and exposure to new audiences, contributing to brand recognition and awareness.
- Relationship Building: Building backlinks involves outreach and relationship-building with other website owners, bloggers, and influencers, fostering collaborations and partnerships within the industry.
- Improved Conversion Rates: Quality backlinks from relevant sources can lead to higher conversion rates, as they drive targeted traffic with a genuine interest in the website’s offerings or content.
- Long-Term SEO Benefits: Building a diverse and natural backlink profile contributes to sustained SEO performance over time, providing lasting benefits in terms of search engine rankings and organic traffic.
- Validation of Content Quality: Earned backlinks serve as validations of the quality and value of a website’s content, indicating that other websites find it informative, useful, or worthy of citation.
Types Of Backlinks
Here are some of the most common types of backlinks you will come accross.
Natural Links:
These are links that are given naturally by other websites because they find your content valuable. These are considered the most valuable types of backlinks in SEO. They will help with blog SEO and overall website SEO.
Manual or editorial Links:
These are links that have been acquired through manual outreach and manual submission to web directories, forums, or websites.
These backlinks are obtained by contacting website owners or managers directly and asking them to link to your content.
Guest Blogging Links
These are links obtained by contributing guest posts to other blogs or websites.
Typically, the guest blogger is allowed to include one or more links back to their website within the content or author bio.
Social Media Links
Yes, links from social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, etc, can contribute to your website indirectly.
While these links are typically no-follow links, these links still direct traffic back to your website.
Directory Links
These are links obtained from online directories or listings such as local directories, business directories, or industry-specific directories.
Forum and Blog Comment Links
You can gain these backlinks by participating in online forums or commenting on blog posts. These can be valuable if they come from reputable sources.
Bookmarking Links
These kinds of links are obtained from social bookmarking websites like Reddit, Digg, or StumbleUpon, where users can bookmark and share webpages.
Image and Infographic Links
Links are obtained from sharing images or infographics on websites or social media platforms. These links can be particularly effective for visual content.
Resource Page Links
Links obtained from resource pages or link roundups on other websites. These pages often curate lists of useful resources, and getting your site listed can be valuable for SEO.
Broken Links Reclamation
Finding broken links on other websites and suggesting your content as a replacement.
If the website owner agrees, they may replace the broken link with a link to your content. This is not a very common method, however it is still a method of getting backlinks.
What Are Backlinks Tiers
Diving deeper into backlinks and explaining backlink tiers is something you need to know and understand to make sure you get the best backlinks for your website.
Below I have explained the 3 main backlink tiers that you will need to understand and identify when obtaining backlinks for your own.
Tier 1 Backlinks
These are high-quality backlinks obtained from authoritative and relevant websites. Tier 1 backlinks are usually from reputable sources with high domain authority, such as well-known blogs, news sites, or industry influencers.
They have a significant positive impact on search engine rankings and are often acquired through manual outreach or natural means.
Tier 2 Backlinks
Tier 2 backlinks are links that point to your website from other websites, but they are not as authoritative or relevant as Tier 1 backlinks.
They can include links from web 2.0 properties, social bookmarking sites, and forum profiles.
While Tier 2 backlinks may not have as much direct impact on search rankings as Tier 1 backlinks, they can still support and strengthen the overall link profile of a website.
Tier 3 Backlinks
These are lower-quality backlinks obtained from various sources, including blog comments, directory submissions, and automated link-building tools.
Tier 3 backlinks are often generated in bulk and are considered less valuable for SEO compared to Tier 1 and Tier 2 backlinks.
They may have minimal impact on search rankings and could even be potentially harmful if they come from spammy or irrelevant websites.
How To Check Backlinks For Free
Checking a website’s backlink count is easy and there are now many places you can go online, enter your website URL, and see the results.
Here is a list of the more common backlink checkers:
- Ahrefs: “My personal favorite”. A comprehensive SEO tool that offers backlink analysis, site exploration, keyword research, and competitor analysis.
- Moz Link Explorer: Provides insights into a website’s backlink profile, including metrics such as domain authority, spam score, and top linking domains.
- Semrush Backlink Analytics: Offers detailed backlink analysis, including referring domains, anchor text distribution, and
- Majestic: Known for its extensive link index, Majestic provides detailed backlink data, including Trust Flow and Citation Flow metrics.
- SEMrush Backlink Audit: Helps identify and remove harmful or low-quality backlinks that may be harming a website’s SEO performance.
These tools can help website owners and SEO professionals analyze their backlink profiles, identify opportunities for improvement, and monitor their link-building efforts.
Free Backlink Checker: AHREFS.com
How To Get Backlinks For Your Website
There are many ways to get backlinks for your website including these methods which are among the most common.
- Create high-quality content.
- Guest blogging.
- Relationship building.
- Content promotion.
- Participate in online communities.
- Create linkable assets.
- Directory Submissions.
- Provide testimonials and reviews.
Note: If you can find a customer service email, or website owner’s email, of a website you want to point back to yours, email them and ask, the worst thing they will say is no.
Summery Of What Is A Backlink
Backlinks are crucial, and you now understand the importance of needing them for your website.
To acquire backlinks for SEO focus on creating high-quality content and engage with the methods I have mentioned earlier in the blog.
Promote your content through various channels, participate in online communities, and create linkable assets.
Provide testimonials where you can and always include your website URL.
These tactics collectively contribute to a diverse and authoritative backlink profile, enhancing your website’s visibility and ranking in search results.
