If you have a website, ranking high on search engines is more important than ever.

Why?

The answer is simple. Google is where websites compete for the top spot. Reaching a higher rank means a lot because Google considers your ranking when choosing what content to show on the first search results page.

Now while searching for proven tips to rank higher on search engines like Google, having an effective backlink strategy is the key to ensuring success in the Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs).

After all, it is backlinks that serve as influential surveys that tell Google about the reliability and relevance of a particular website.

What are backlinks?

Simply put, backlinks are links from other third-party websites that lead back to your website. Backlinks, also known as “incoming links”, “inbound links” or “external links” are the most important off-site ranking factor. It serves as a valuable endorsement by recommending content from other websites to dig deeper into a particular topic and gain insight.

Backlinks are ultimately how search engines determine a website’s authority and relevance to search queries.

Backlinks are important for SEO. But why?

Backlinks play an important role in Google’s algorithm. Here are reasons why backlinks are so important to SEO.

Parent domain authority

While ranking websites in SERP, search engines use several factors to measure how accurate and trustworthy the content found on a website is. Domain authority is one of the things that affect your search engine ranking. And high-quality backlinks play an important role in building domain authority.

This is because factors that maximize domain authority include the number of domains linked to your site, the number of sites that those domains are linked to, and the reliability and impact of the website that directs visitors to your site. The domain authority score ranges from 1 to 100, with a higher score the higher you rank and the more likely you are to bring more traffic to your site.

Organic ranking improvement

Organic ranking growth in search engines is one of the biggest benefits of backlinks. Google’s ranking algorithm is based on a system called PageRank, which measures the importance of a web page based on the links pointing to it.

The basic idea here is that trusted pages get more links especially if the links are from popular sites. So, when your website starts receiving links from related sites, your content will naturally start to rank higher.

Higher visibility and faster indexing

One of the other major benefits of backlinks is that your content is discovered by a wider range of search queries. This improves your website’s visibility in search engines, making it more likely that people will find and visit your site. Search engine bots also use backlinks from existing websites to find new webpages. So, if your site doesn’t have backlinks, it will make your site more difficult to find and list.

Send referral traffic

Good backlinks can help you get more direct traffic from search engines and send referral traffic to your website. This often happens when a reader of a post voluntarily clicks on a link in the post and reaches a web page on another website to learn more.

This happens because people trust what an authoritative source says about your product or service. Therefore, having a wide range of backlinks from different websites increases your chances of increasing traffic to your website through referrals.

Increases trust in the brand

Another important benefit of backlinks in SEO is that they build trust and authority for your business or brand. It adds credibility to your brand in the eyes of searchers. The more you are featured on a prestigious website, the more prestigious you are in your field and the more people will trust your business.

Customers tend to perceive your business as a dominant player in the market because your brand and links are consistently displayed on relevant online platforms.

Overall, backlinks are what drives your marketing strategy

Another benefit of doing backlinks. It works as a free source of ongoing digital marketing that you don’t have to pay for. Once the link is established, your website can benefit from a constant flow of organic traffic without further active link building efforts.

Having other reputable websites link to your site improves your online visibility and increases your credibility. Additionally, visitors browsing these linked websites will take note of your strong web presence, giving them a positive impression of your brand.

Later on, platforms like Facebook Ads will make it easier to reach customers because they are already familiar with your brand and likely think your business is worth investing in. Even this will maximize the chances of them becoming your long-term customers.

However, not all backlinks are equally valuable

Gone are the days when low-quality links were valuable in terms of site ranking. Instead of aiming for large amounts of backlinks, focus on acquiring high-quality backlinks from authoritative and reputable websites. Therefore, it is essential to know the characteristics of good backlinks.

Along with domain and page authority, content relevance is a major influencer of search engine rankings and link assets.

Links inserted naturally into body text are more valuable than links in footers or sidebars. It is also necessary to obtain links from various platforms, including websites, blogs, directories or forums, to set up an organic and diverse looking backlink profile.

So, before you get backlinks, it’s important to know the best practices for getting backlinks. Worth the effort!