What Are Backlinks in SEO (And Where Do You Get Them?)
Here's a sobering statistic: 75% of searchers never click past the first page of results.
If your website isn't ranking high enough, you're invisible. And invisible means no conversions, no customers, no growth.
To change this, you need to understand search engine ranking factors. One of the most powerful factors search engines consider is backlinking.
But what exactly are backlinks in SEO, and how can you get them? Let's break it down.
TLDR: Backlinks are links from other websites pointing to yours. They act like votes of confidence, telling search engines your content is valuable. Quality backlinks from authoritative, relevant sites boost your rankings dramatically. Get them by creating linkable content, guest posting, fixing broken links, and reclaiming unlinked brand mentions.
What Exactly Are Backlinks in SEO?
Backlinks (also called one-way links, inbound links, or incoming links) are links from one website that point readers toward another website's page. Think of them as recommendations from one site to another.
Major search engines like Google use backlinks to rank your website. Pages with a high number of quality backlinks consistently achieve higher organic search rankings.
Here's the simple way to think about it: Backlinks are like votes from other websites. Each vote tells search engines that your content is valuable, useful, and credible. The more quality votes you have, the more search engines trust you.
Backlinks were ranking factors in Google's original algorithm way back when. Even though Google has updated its algorithm countless times since then, backlinks remain a critical component when Google indexes and ranks your website.
They're not going anywhere. If you want to rank, you need backlinks.
Not All Backlinks Are Created Equal
Here's where it gets important: backlinks in SEO are not all created equal.
If you expect to rank high, remember the old rule of quality over quantity. That said, both matter when it comes to ranking. You want as many high-quality backlinks as you can get.
Calculating the exact value of a link is complex, but the general recommendation is simple: attract as many quality backlinks as possible.
Why focus on quality? Because a single quality backlink has the power of 1,000 low-quality backlinks. That's not an exaggeration - the difference is truly that dramatic.
High-quality backlinks share these traits:
They come from authoritative websites. Links from respected, established sites carry significant weight.
They include target keywords in the anchor text. The clickable text should be relevant to your content.
The linking site is topically related to you. A link from a relevant site in your industry matters more than a random link.
They're "dofollow" links. These pass SEO value, unlike "nofollow" links.
They come from domains that haven't linked to you before. New domains linking to you carry more weight than repeat links from the same domain.
Domain authority can flow to your site through these links. In most cases, you can use your intuition to determine if a website is authoritative. Does it look professional? Is it well-known in its industry? Do other reputable sites link to it?
These are the backlinks worth pursuing.
Watch Out for Unnatural Links (They Can Hurt You)
The wrong links can actually damage your website's ability to rank. They can even hurt the rankings you already have.
Bad links are often called unnatural or toxic links. Nobody wants those.
Toxic links come from suspicious or low-quality websites that violate search engine guidelines. These links exist solely to manipulate search engine rankings, and Google knows it.
Examples of unnatural links include:
- Paid links that aren't marked with nofollow or sponsored attributes
- Low-quality links from spammy bookmark sites
- Links from sketchy directories
- Links from sites with no topical relevance to yours
There are backlinking auditing tools that help you identify potentially unnatural links pointing to your site. When you find toxic backlinks, request removal immediately. Because who needs that kind of toxicity in their life?
Protecting your backlink profile is just as important as building it.
How to Get Quality Backlinks (Proven Strategies)
Ready to build your backlink profile? Here are proven strategies to gain quality backlinks:
Create Linkable Content (Give People Something Worth Linking To)
One of the best backlink strategies is creating content so good that people naturally want to link to it.
If you want people to link to your website, you need something on your site worth linking to. These are called linkable assets.
Linkable assets might be:
- In-depth blog posts that answer important questions
- Helpful videos that teach or demonstrate something
- Useful software tools or calculators
- Interactive quizzes or assessments
- Original research or surveys with valuable data.
Search engine optimization and content creation are tied together precisely because of linkable assets. Create exceptional content, and the links will follow.
Build Backlinks From Link Roundups
Link roundups are blog posts that compile and link to quality content on a specific topic, published daily, weekly, or monthly.
To build backlinks through this method, find link roundups in your niche. Then pitch your best content to the roundup creator by explaining why your content fits their theme and benefits their audience.
If your content is genuinely valuable and relevant, you'll often receive a high-quality link. These roundup publishers may even share your content on their social media pages, giving you additional exposure.
Broken Link Building (Help Others While Helping Yourself)
Your backlink strategy can include finding broken links on other websites in your niche.
Here's how it works: When you find pages with 404 errors (broken links), email the site owner and politely let them know about the broken links. You're doing them a genuine service by helping them fix their site.
In that same email, mention that you have quality content on your website that could replace those broken links. You're offering a solution to their problem while gaining a valuable backlink.
This approach builds real connections while earning you more backlinks. Everyone wins.
Guest Posting (Contribute Value, Earn Links)
When you're first starting out with backlinks, guest blogging is one of the best ways to gain links to your site. Links from quality guest posts can give your organic traffic a significant boost.
However, guest posting requires caution. You can encounter bad links if you're not careful.
To avoid toxic links, only write guest posts for quality sites in your niche. Look for established websites with good traffic, professional design, and content that aligns with your standards.
Don't chase every guest posting opportunity - be selective and strategic.
Link Reclamation (Claim What’s Already Yours)
Link reclamation is one of the simplest backlink strategies, and it's often overlooked.
First, find mentions of your company that don't include a link back to your website. These are missed opportunities just sitting there.
Instead of wishing the author had linked to you, reach out and ask them to add a link. Most of the time, they're happy to do it.
You can use online monitoring tools to find mentions of your brand. Set up alerts so you receive notifications whenever someone writes about you.
When you spot an unlinked mention, send a friendly email requesting a link. In most cases, they'll gladly add one. It's that simple.
Reverse Engineer Competitor Backlinks (Learn From the Winners)
Take time to study your competitors' backlinks. This reveals opportunities that exist in your niche that you might have missed.
Use a backlink checker tool to examine a competitor's link profile. This uncovers insights into their backlinking strategy that you can adapt for your own site.
Research your domain-level competitors to identify which websites rank higher in your industry and where their backlinks come from. Then pursue similar opportunities.
You don't need to reinvent the wheel. Learn from what's already working in your space.
Why Are Backlinks Important to Your Small Business?
Backlinks are essentially votes of confidence from other websites. These votes boost your ranking in search engine results, which means more potential customers can quickly and easily find your site.
Better visibility increases the chances of turning browsers into paying customers.
Backlinks also provide powerful opportunities for referral marketing - an especially valuable tool for small businesses competing against bigger companies with massive marketing budgets.
When other sites link to your content, it means additional traffic for you. But it also spreads awareness about your brand and products among new audiences. Since people often rely on recommendations from others with similar interests, getting backlinks from trusted websites builds trust with new leads and helps turn prospects into paying customers.
Finally, leveraging high-quality backlinks accomplishes two goals at once: increasing visibility while also raising the authority and credibility of your website. This helps separate you from competitors and can even get your site featured on the coveted first page of Google's search results.
That first page placement? That's where the money is.
Implementing a Quality Backlinking Strategy
Now you understand what backlinks in SEO are and why they're critical for your success.
Backlinks are a key factor in search engine rankings. With the right backlink strategy, you can become an authoritative website in your niche. You can compete with bigger companies. You can claim your spot on that first page of search results.
But building a quality backlink profile takes time, strategy, and consistent effort. It's not a one-time task - it's an ongoing process.
And here's the reality: you probably don't have time to focus on backlinking strategy on top of everything else you're managing.
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