Search engine optimization (SEO) seems to have dozens of terms that can go right over the head of a person without a ton of website design experience or an IT background. But by understanding the terminology and the importance of different SEO aspects, you can strategize on how they can contribute to increasing your brand visibility and click-through rates.
Backlinks play an important role in your SEO strategy. They bring over site visitors from different sources, which boosts your credibility as well as your brand awareness. We’ll talk about the ins and outs of backlinks in SEO so that you can make sure you’re utilizing them for the best results possible.
What are backlinks in SEO?
Let’s start off with a basic definition. A backlink refers to a link to your site from a different online source, whether that be a site, page or directory. For example, if you have a blog post about back pain statistics, and that post is linked in a news article about chronic pain, that’s called a backlink
Backlinks can provide several benefits for your SEO strategy, including:
- Increased credibility due to the support of another source, which Google recognizes and will rank you higher on search engine results pages (SERPs).
- Improved search engine crawling and indexing, which means that search engines can find your links from other sources and know you exist.
- Increased brand awareness for visitors to the linked site, which will improve the likelihood that they’ll click on your SERP listings in the future.
You should strive to have backlinks that check off boxes like:
- Coming from high-quality, reputable sources.
- Having diverse anchor text.
- Taking the user to their intended destination, not a redirect.
- Being visible to both search engine users and crawlers.
It’s important to note that backlinks shouldn’t come from spam links or from the exchange of money.
How do you build backlinks?
Now that we’ve discussed the basics of backlinks, as well as how they benefit your SEO, it’s time to explore how you should actually go about creating them. The goal is to earn and grow your backlinks among many sources to gain authority and rank high on relevant search engine result pages.
You can build backlinks by exploring different strategies, including:
- Do outreach — It never hurts to just ask! If you have high-quality content that you think works well for another site, reach out to the website owner/manager and inquire about them putting a link for your site on their own.
- Find broken links — A great way to earn a backlink is by trying to fill the gap left by a broken one. If you see a broken link on a page that you believe connects well to your site or content, reach out to the webmaster to see if they can replace the broken link with your own. No one wants a broken link left on their site, and they may not even be aware they have one.
- Get on a resource page — Resource pages can be highly beneficial for both consumers and providers. Not only does it give the visitor a list of options in one specific place, but it also increases brand visibility for the listed businesses. If you find a reputable resource page that works like a directory for your particular industry or niche, then fill out the form on the site to be added and gain a backlink.
- Participate in link swaps — More than 70% of websites have reciprocal links, meaning that the sites agreed to feature one another on their site. While swapping links can boost your SEO with authority and traffic, it’s only effective if your backlinks are with high-quality sources. If the sources that you’re swapping with aren’t reputable, or there are excessive backlinks between you, it can have a negative impact on your SEO.
At BURG+CO., we know the most effective strategies to help you build your backlinks and move you up the ranks on SERPs.
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