Originally published March 15, 2022

First, let's discuss what a backlink even is. 

In the simplest terms, a backlink is a hyperlink listed on a website that sends the reader to another website.

No website is an island—you can quote me on that—so quality backlinks are the cornerstone of an effective digital marketing campaign. In SEO (search engine optimization), backlinks are critical in determining how well a site ranks on SERPs (search engine results pages).

Learn more about how backlinks boost SEO and how link building can improve your digital marketing strategy.

Types of Backlinks

There are two types of backlinks: dofollow links and nofollow links. 

Dofollow backlinks are created when a blogger or webmaster adds an HTML attribute to the anchor text or link pointing to the page they want to link to. On the other hand, nofollow backlinks don't have this attribute, so search engines treat them as regular text and not as links.

Importance of Using Backlinks for SEO

Imagine a scenario: you have a lemonade stand selling the best lemonade that lemon and sugar can make. Your lemonade stand has a fresh coat of paint, it's a beautiful hot day, and you're right next to a garage sale.

All you have to do is sit back and wait for the customers.

But they don't come. So you sit all day under the hot sun, positive you've done everything right, yet with no results to show.

And then you see another lemonade stand across the road. It doesn't seem half as put together as yours, but the line stretches out of sight.

You discover that when people ask about lemonade, the people running the garage sale have been referring them to your competition.

What have we learned?

The moral of the story here is if you want potential customers to find you, one of the best ways is to have someone to send them your way.

Backlinks are the internet’s form of word-of-mouth, and word-of-mouth marketing is super super effective. 90% of people are more likely to trust a brand that’s recommended to them. Quality backlinks are a way to harness that power and should be a part of your SEO strategy.What Do Backlinks Do?

What do Backlinks Do?

Backlinks are helpful on two counts:

1. Making you more trustworthy in the eyes of search engines

The whole point of SEO is to make your content easy to find, but some people abuse SEO tips to promote shoddy content.

Google and other search engines have a host of ways to figure out if you are providing valuable content. And one way is assessing how many other websites have decided your content is worth referencing.

Relevant backlinks act as digital votes of confidence. They mean someone found your content or site worthy of being referenced.

A way to get a bead on how you're doing is by checking your domain authority. Domain authority is a metric the SEO website Moz came up with to quantify how likely your content is to appear in search results. It's a number between 1 and 100 that relies on how many links you have and how quality the website links to you.

If an authoritative website like the New York Times thinks your content is good enough to reference, that's good enough for Google. However, if Joe Blow links to you on their spam-filled website, it could negatively affect your search engine ranking. 

2. Generating organic traffic

Another huge bonus is the organic traffic that backlinks can send your way.

You can assume that if someone is referencing your website, they're probably in the same industry with a similar audience. When relevant websites mention you, they're essentially funneling high-quality leads to your site.

If you're researching lemonade recipes, you may also need lemons and sugar. If a recipe blog provides a link to a website that sells those products, you're likely to take the path of least resistance and visit that site. This tells Google and other search engines that the site you're now shopping on and the site it referenced provide valuable information, improving both sites' search engine ranking. 

One valuable backlink from a related website can be a game-changer, especially if they have a larger audience than you.

So, how do you personally build backlinks and begin impacting your SEO ranking?

How To Get Backlinks

Now that you're sold on the power of high-quality backlinks, you're probably wondering how to use them.

This is the fast answer. You get backlinks by building quality content that attracts people who then share it across their social media platforms or reference it on their website.

But it can be challenging to get going from a standstill, so here's a list of tactics for improving your backlink profile.

1. Guest Blogging

   Guest blogging for backlinks is a great way to get high-quality links from authoritative sites. Guest blogging can also help you create content for your site and attract new visitors.

2. Infographics

   A well-made infographic can be a powerful tool for building backlinks because they are often shared across social media channels.

3. Content

   Well-written, topical articles with research are another way to generate backlinks. Articles are often shared on social sites and referenced on other blogs

4. Tools

   Free software or any other kind of tool will attract backlinks from those who have found it useful and want to share it with others.

Any and all of these methods are useful for building backlinks!

Check out our guides to guest blogging and infographics to learn how to get started.

Penalties for Bad Backlinks

One warning is not to try to take shortcuts in this process. Some websites use tactics like buying large quantities of backlinks from other websites.

Any backlinks that are spam, unnatural, irrelevant, or broken links can count against you.

Google and other search engines frown on this and will penalize your website for that kind of manipulation.

The Penguin algorithm update stopped a lot of link manipulation, so read over the guidelines if you're ever unsure about your process.

A rule of thumb: no trickery is better than producing quality content that spreads organically.

Conclusion

Customers and search engines both like to see that others trust a business. Building your company's ethos through backlinks is a concrete place to start with that process.

But covering all your bases in a digital marketing plan can spread you thin. Luckily, we can help. Our team of writers and designers at People First Content can help you create the kind of content people want to share. Click the button below to contact us today!

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