If you are a webmaster or somewhat familiar with SEO, chances are you might have already had an idea on a term called Backlinks.
But if you are new to blogging and is confused with SEO, chances are you may be wondering what Backlinks are, types of backlinks and its importance
But not to worry, after reading this article, you will get an idea of it. In this article, we are gonna discuss what is a backlink, importance of backlinks and different types of backlinks, are they important to rank in Google, and How to get more Backlinks without penalization from Search Engines.
What is a Backlink?
In simple terms, Backlink is an incoming hyperlink from one web page to another website.
Or a link from one website to another website and is an incoming link to a webpage.
Importance Of Backlinks?
Search engines take into account Multiple factors to determine a site such as Domain Authority, PageSpeed, Domain age, Content, Rankbrain, Security, etc
Among them, Backlinks have always been one of the major ranking factors and they play a huge role in determining a site performance and prominence in search engine results
It is very crucial to improve a website’s ranking.
It basically works like this, When a website A links to Website B, Website A is implying that they trust enough to link to Website B.
And Google sees this as a trust mark and Website B become more of an “authority” on the topic it is covering.
Backlinks are like a recommendation and act like a vote in an election and Google takes note of that.
Types Of Links based On Quality
Low-Quality BackLinks- Low-quality backlinks can do more damage than good.
It can seriously have an impact on your site and if Google knows about it it can hit hard on your reputation and may even compromise your visibility in searches results
The worse things that can happen is penalized your site
Some Example of Low-Quality Links are – Link Farm, Spammy Forums Links, Spammy Blog comments and what not.
High-Quality BackLinks- Google rewards High-quality backlinks and can help you in many ways
Some of them are
- A) Build Your Brand Authority
- B) Drive Steady Referral Traffic on Autopilot
- C) Long-Term Directory & Resource Links
- D) Create New Relationships
- E) Brand Name Exposure & Recognition
- F) Increase Domain Authority
- G) Performs Better on Search engine an increase your Visibility
Here are some ways to Get High-Quality Backlink
1) Write competitive content.
2) Link externally and then reach out
3) Do an original case study
4) Write testimonials for other websites
5) Comment on other relevant blog posts and much more
Related Post: 37 Easy And Awesome Ways To Get Free Backlinks
Types Of Links Based On Linking
Internal Link – Links from one webpage to another webpage within your own site.
External Link or Inbound Link – BackLinks which are coming from other websites pointing to your site.
Types Of Backlinks Based On Flow Of Link Juice
No Follow– A no follow link is a type of link that blocks the flow of Link juice and doesn’t have much effect on boosting PageRank, and it also necessarily doesn’t help in determining the page’s placement in the SERPs.
Do Follow– Unlike NoFollow Link, DoFollow links are types of links that pass link juice and count as points, which will allow SEO link juice to flow and boost the page rank, and helps to rank higher in Search Engines Results Pages (SERPs)
Types Of Backlinks Based On Acquisition-
- Blog comment links
They are one of the oldest and simplest ways to get a backlink to your site.
You just have to basically visit a website relevant to your niche or industry and leave a comment. It’s that simple.
However, Blog comments are normally no-follow links and they don’t pass any link juice
However, you should not be relying on blog comments as your main link building strategy.
If your link profile consists of only blog comments, it can raise red flags with Google, and trust me you don’t wanna play a game with Big G
Tips:
Post your Comment on blogs that are relevant to your space or industry
Also, Add value to your comments.
“Great Article” “Nice Post” “Awesome Post” aren’t gonna cut it.
Comment something which would actually help the reader, If there is any missing point in the article, mention them in your comments.
For Example, if the Post is about Marketing and if you leave a comment saying like ” Hi, “Awesome Post” I also have an article on Marketing too, here is my link yourdomain.com/webpage”
That makes It so obvious will make it obvious to the webmaster that you’re just there for a link, and it will ruin your chances of using the comment on that particular blog to direct a traffic back to your website.
Chances are you will not get any traffic since your comments are irrelevant and considered spammy Or in the worst case the owner may even delete the comment
So make sure to maintain Quality and be relevant
- Directory links
Directory links are links coming from a directory listing
These types of Links come from websites that act as a directory or allow people to list their products or services.
There are two types of Directory Links
- a) Free Directory Links
- b) Paid Directory Links
To get this types of Links, Find a secure and a high-quality directory site which is in your space or niche.
Don’t go for the general listing Directory and instead focus on those which are more specific to your service and niche.
For example, let’s say that your company is providing a Laptop repair service in London and you wanted to submit your business in some directories.
Instead of going for large, national directories such as Yell.com, it’d be better for the business to find London Laptop repair-specific directories.
What they should do is find a Laptop or Electronics repair-specific directories to secure a listing.
Why? What’s the difference? Both of them are Directories.
This is because search engines provide more weight and importance to similar sites that are linked together,
This will allow the laptop repair company to gain authority from the niche directory site.
- Guest posts
Guest blogging is a method where a blogger or a freelancer offer to write a content for other, similar blogs in their niche or space
Its main purpose is to build relationships, exposure, authority, and links.
And when you send your article to them, Make your article interesting, long-form and relevant and provide value to the existing readers of the blog
Here are some Benefits of Guest Posting
- a) Get Quality Traffic
- b) Build your Online Influence
- c) Develops your Authority
- d) Increase your Brand Awareness
How to Pitch for a Guest Post?
When you Guest post, diversify your link in your guest posted articles
Related Post: List Of Blogs that Allow Guest Posting
- Forums Links
Forum links are a great way in order to diversify your backlink profile
There are literally thousands of forums ranging from Marketing to Dog Grooming.
But I don’t recommend overdoing unless it is 100% relevant and beneficial to the forum.
Don’t make Forum link building your top priority.
However many of the links are No-follow while Quite a few are “do-follow”
The simple and best way to get a high-quality forum link is to post in forums that are relevant to your niche and your industry
- Infographics and images
If you think content marketing is only about writing in words, then you are mistaken
They can come in many shapes and forms and one of them is infographics
Infographics may be about content from lists to definitions to research and statistics.
Make sure your Infographics are in High Quality if it is not a good infographic, no one’s gonna put it on their site.
If a person is given an infographic and a text article, Chances are that person is likely to pick the infographic to read
People just don’t wanna read a 1000-3000 word article, they would rather see an image with visual containing more words than the text.
Create an Embed code for the infographic and in that way, whenever someone put the embed code into their website to showcase your infographic, it automatically links back to your site.
CONCLUSION
There are several ways to build natural-looking links without violating Google Terms and Service
So, Don’t make your link profile from only just one source.
Make sure to diversify your Backlink profile
What makes up the majority of your Backlinks Profile? Let me know in the comments!