If you’re a business that has looked to SEO as a form of marketing, you might have heard about the term Backlinks. Brands across Australia regularly build backlinks to their websites to boost domain authority and valuable keyword rankings on Google.
Here, we will explain what a backlink is and how it can drive your website to the top of Google search results. We will also discuss how you can gain more backlinks in a Google-safe, sustainable manner.
What is a Backlink?
A backlink gets one website to another and includes incoming links to a page. In short, when one page links to another website, we call it a backlink.
Why Backlinks are Important?
Backlinks are among the key performance indicators that describe a website’s dominance in SERPs and are crucial in improving its overall search ranking.
Furthermore, search engines measure a website’s ranking through several interconnected factors, including backlinks, to rank it in search results. Other factors include page speed, content quality, domain authority, and page authority.
Like the above examples, backlinks are the most significant factor in determining your web page ranking. Hence, your backlink strategy can make or break your overall website's ranking.
If you aim for a sustainable online following and popularity, establishing backlinks with reputable sites can also help you be more dominant on search engines. That way, people can find your site more easily.
To better understand this concept, remember that when site A refers to site B, site B gains more authority on the blog topic it covers.
With that out of the way, here are the backlinks you should consider earning or acquiring.
1. High quality links: authority domains
The definition of high-quality backlinks may vary from person to person, depending on their standards. We like to think of high-quality backlinks as links that are industry-relevant and come from authority domains.
Authority domains are typically websites with industry-leading expertise in a particular topic or industry.
2. Internal links: they're more important than ever
Internal links link your pages and content within your site. These can come as sidebar links or blog posts that link vague topics to another page inside your site, discussing the content in detail.
3. External links: we don't endorse link hoarding!
Also known as outbound links, external links come from other websites that point towards your pages.
For instance, a different blog post may link to your site to refer viewers if they want an in-depth view of the topic covered or news sources relating to your online products.
4. DoFollow links: what you want
In a nutshell, dofollow links pass link juice and are vital in gaining backlink points. Dofollow links drive your SEO link juice and, therefore, boost the ranking of linked-to sites, as well as positively contribute to your page rank.
5. NoFollow links: believe me, it's not the end of the world
Nofollow links don’t flow link juice throughout your site, nor does it impact your page ranking. However, nofollow links are critical in other aspects of a website’s health and security, such as privacy policies or terms and conditions you don’t want to sprout in SERPs.
6. Directory listing: get listed, it's that simple
Putting your site into an online directory will improve its overall authority and reliability, especially if you keep it up to date. Directory lists act as an online yellow pages that lets people list or find various products and services.
7. Free business directory links: believe it or not, there are still good ones out there
You can find several free and high-quality directory sites to register your website. Be specific in signing up for those relevant to your business and niche.
8. Paid directory links: access with scepticism
Similarly, various authoritative and time-tested directory lists require you to pay before signing up. Nevertheless, paid directory links are mostly secure and high-quality links within your business industry and niche.
9. Blog comment links: leave comments of value
Peer recommendations are significantly critical in driving traffic to your site. Hence, blog comment links are the simplest way to earn reliable backlinks. People can leave a comment on forums or blog sites that link to your page.
On the other hand, blog comments don’t flow link juice to your site, as they usually are nofollow links. Therefore, you should use blog comment links as part of your primary link building strategy. Besides, you might raise a red flag if Google finds many comments on one page linking to your site.
10. Guest blogging: they still work despite what Google says
Having another blog or website write content for your site is called guest blogging. With it, you can boost your site exposure, authority, and backlink profile. Besides, building lasting relationships with other sites is something every brand should nurture.
Other benefits of guest blogging include:
- Drive sustainable traffic
- Develop your online authority
- Spread brand awareness
- Expand your brand influence
11. Author bio links: subtle yet effective
Guest blogging usually limits the number of links you can send back to your site. However, most sites that accept guest articles include a dedicated author section or your author profile page.
12. Forums links: nothing beats a forum mention!
Forum links are useful in spreading by word of mouth and diversifying your website’s backlink profile. With the plethora of broad-range forums online, you can consider posting to those relevant to your industry.
However, be careful not to overdo it because Google monitors every suspicious site, and a few sketchy steps can bring you back down the list.
13. Infographics and photos
Visual graphics integrate with digital marketing more seamlessly than ever. You're wrong if you still think content marketing is all about wordplay.
Your infographics may contain materials ranging from handy lists to comprehensive analyses of research and statistics. Just make sure your photos are of high quality. If an infographic is not compelling, nobody will want to post it on their websites.
Furthermore, using an embed code for your infographic links it to your site whenever someone uses the embed code on their webpage.
14. Editorial backlinks: establish authority
Out of all guest blogging and third-party external links, backlinks that are most beneficial for SEO come from editorial links. That’s when an authority site links to your page through a contextual link.
Editorial backlinks include:
- Citing your staff or content as a source of information
- Referring to your page as a relevant resource
- Providing credits to your site for an infographic
- Mentioning your website/content in a compilation/roundup
- Interviewing someone from your site/staff
15. Business profile backlinks
When building an online profile for your business, you can leave a link that points back to your site. Links from social media sites, niche directories, and business listings tell search engines that your website contains high-quality content and established networks.
16. Webinar links
You might have stumbled upon webinar links without realising they are part of a grand backlink strategy. Creating relevant and valuable resources on your website encourages blogging sites and other pages to link to it.
Some websites even embed webinar links to their blog posts, providing you with both backlinks and brand mentions.
17. Free tool links
Everyone loves a free product. Hence, one way of encouraging sites to link back to your page is to provide a free tool. It could be anything relevant to your niche, a currency converter, mortgage calculator, or a simplified version of a paid tool such as an SEO checker.
Besides, if you develop something valuable, you can incorporate call-to-actions so users can sign up for the full service, leading to sales and brand awareness.
18. Sponsorship backlinks: get involved industry peers and contribute
Sponsorship backlinks come into play when another website links to your website as part of a brand collaboration. Sponsorship links have the potential to hold significant SEO value when partnered or affiliated with industry-leading authorities.
19. Niche directories: powerfully relevant
When it comes to local SEO, signing up for niche directories opens you to a more focused and targeted audience reach than general directories. Niche directories can generate a relatively robust backlink to your website, especially from authoritative sites.
20. Badge backlinks
You can provide value to other sites as part of your backlink strategy. One way of doing this is through branded badges. You can give these awards to other sites as a status symbol.
For instance, if you mention their page as one of the top sites, you can send them a branded badge that they can show off. You can also link these badges back to your site.
21. Press release backlinks: get your company updates and news out there!
Press releases play a vital role in every digital marketing effort. It can provide first-hand information about your page to media outlets and earn more backlinks. However, a poorly written press release can still break your backlink strategy.
Therefore, only lean to press release backlinks whenever you have something newsworthy and highly relevant/interesting to share.
22. Backlinks derived from press releases
Besides having the media outlets link to your site, you can dig further down the rabbit hole by producing backlinks related to publications and news sites that published your press release. It provides an authoritative path for users to follow and eventually to earn your site a reliable reputation.
Summary
There are countless ways to build organic links that don’t abuse Google’s Search Quality Guidelines. So diversify your link acquisition approach and don’t settle for only one link source.
To summarise, we recommend you outline your backlink objectives first, then implement the above backlinks to develop a groundbreaking digital marketing campaign.
Relevant data and a best-in-class SEO Strategy can help achieve long-term design objectives. At Red Search, our Sydney SEO experts use results-focused and data-driven SEO strategies to secure and sustain your rank on the first page of Google.
If you have questions or enquiries, call our SEO experts at 1300 101 712 or use our contact form.