SEO Backlinks: What are they, and why are they important?
Backlinks play a critical role for search engines and are a measure of authority and trust. Known as hyperlinks, they enable users to navigate quickly between pages. However, they are considered ranking signals for search engines. You can define backlinks as when one website links to another, like when a blog lists the top ten most popular social networking websites or links to each social media website (think YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram). They are the basic building blocks of the web that are important for search engine optimization. This SEO backlinks guide will teach you what they are and why they are essential. Let’s get started!
What are backlinks?
A backlink can is an incoming link from one website to another website. If someone links to your website, then you have a backlink from that website. If you link to another website, then that website has a backlink or hyperlink from you. Backlinks go by a few names, such as incoming, hyperlinks, inbound, or just links.
However, not all backlinks are created equal. Only quality backlinks help you get a higher ranking position in the SERPs. If you have only one quality backlink, it can outperform hundred low-quality backlinks. A backlink consists of the following:
- Anchor text will open a new page or direct you to more information. If you create the link on an image, an alternative image text can be used as the anchor text.
- The URL is linked, and the user will be directed to another page once he clicks. Linked URLs can be any other resource, like a PDF file or web page.
Why are backlinks important?
There are different factors that play an essential role in SEO performance, and backlinks are one of them. Numerous tests prove this fact, and Google has also said that backlinks are the critical trust signal for its algorithm. They are the primary search engine ranking factor, that’s why they have much importance.
Google’s algorithm uses the profile of the page’s backlink to decide whether to rank it for a particular keyword or search term. A backlink profile consists of the quality of the links and the number of links a website has. A website with more backlinks is likely to rank higher on Google than other websites. They generally help with the following things.
Help you Rank better.
Backlinks help rank your website higher on Google and other search engines. If you haven’t quality backlinks, you are missing out on the essential ranking factor that can show you the reliable and trustworthy authority in your industry.
Quality backlinks also help to increase your website traffic when your website ranks higher for crucial search terms. Placement, relevance, and other attributes contribute to the utility and quality of links. If you get a connection more efficiently, it will be less valuable.
According to one study, you rank better on Google with more backlinks. However, quality is also vital to quantity. So make sure to get high-quality backlinks and avoid those violating the guidelines of Google Search Central. Although backlinks are essential for SEO performance, they have some other benefits beyond improving your page’s Google ranking. They can also:
· Generate more website traffic: A quality backlink may result in many users clicking through to your site.
· Better Relationship: Building backlinks is the outcome of outreach campaigns that can help you build relationships with other people in your niche.
· Boost brand exposure: More backlinks come with more exposure for your brand as more people click on the page links
Increase your reliability and credibility
Links from reliable and authoritative sources can improve your Google ranking and increase your trustworthiness and credibility as a business. For instance, if you are a tech startup and want to land press coverage, you will receive considerable credibility by getting a link from TechCrunch.
If you get links from the verge, Tech Radar, The guardian, or the New York Times, that’s some major industry authority mentioning your work and bringing massive traffic to your website.
Critical to any SEO strategy
When it comes to SEO strategy, backlinks are at its heart. Backlinks are one of those things Google looks at when ranking sites on search engine results pages. So if you crave those top spots on the first page of Google, you should strive to gather as many quality backlinks through-out the internet website.
The more quality links your website has, the more votes it gets when the search engine evaluates pages for ranking in SERPs. Studies suggest that the quality and number of backlinks to a site correlate to a top ranking in SERPs than any other SEO tactic. This shows how relevant they are to improving your site’s performance in SERPs.
Bring referral traffic to your page.
When the web started, links were navigational only, and they aimed to lead web browsers from page one to page two, among different sites or within one website. And backlinks are now considered one of the ranking factors by search engines like Google. However, quality backlinks are different from bad backlinks, and they drive healthy traffic to your site.
Help search engines find new pages.
Googlebot uses links to explore new pages on the web. It is one of the main ways how content is crawled, found, and indexed. Google revisits popular pages more often, which means a link from a reliable website will facilitate your content to be indexed and rank faster on the major SERPs.
Bottom Line:
A backlink or inbound link refers to links on one webpage pointing to another. Backlinks are critical to any strategy and a decisive factor in Google ranking. It also increases your PageRank with Google. However, not all backlinks are created equal. High-quality backlinks help you rank faster and get the top spots in Google.
Do you need help building high-quality backlinks? As an experienced SEO agency in South Carolina, SEO After Coffee can create link building plan for your website to help improve your Search Engine Ranking, increase website traffic, and boosts your presence in search engine.
SEO Backlinks | Blog Article | SEO After Coffee | Greenville SC | All Rights Reserved | Oct 2022