What is a Backlink?

Backlinks might seem like mysterious, complicated things that you’ll never quite get your head around, but this isn’t the case. They’re not as complicated or mysterious as many marketers make them out to be. Here’s everything you need to know about backlinks, explained so simply that anyone could understand it!

The definition of a backlink : an incoming link to a webpage. This is one of most used words in SEO. Backlinks are essential for SEO and important for your overall online success. However, they are very different to the way they were years ago. Backlinks help to give an indication that a site is popular. If it helps, you can think of it as like a ‘vote’ for that site.

When a page links to any other page, it’s called a backlink. In the past, a page with many backlinks tended to rank higher on Google. Quantity used to trump quality. Low quality links used to help a site rank higher, but this is no longer true. These days it’s more about quality than quantity, thanks to the ever changing Google updates and algorithms. Backlinks from quality sites are the most important. Bear in mind that the links should make sense in the context too, and not be spammy. You wouldn’t link to a page about high heeled shoes if you were talking about car racing. Getting links for authoritative, relevant sites is the goal if you want to build up a quality backlink profile.

You can get backlinks by writing awesome articles, and commenting on articles yourself. People will want to naturally link out to amazing articles and content, and you won’t have to approach anybody for them. Comment on do follow forums and do follow blogs and you’ll benefit from ‘link juice’. Just ensure your comments are of value – actually read what you’re commenting on and take a little time crafting a comment. Otherwise, you’ll become known as a bit of a spammer. The more links in an article or on a page, the more diluted a good backlink tends to be. Be selective to receive value.

There are many benefits of high quality backlinks. You can improve your organic ranking, which is better for your SEO campaign. They also allow search engine bots to crawl your site faster so it can become indexed quicker. You’ll also get referral traffic to your blog or site.

What does it take to make a perfect backlink? It should come from a reputable source – that means real websites with real traffic. It should be on a page that contains relevant information.

The link text will be a relevant keyword, and your own site will be good quality. This means strong architecture, technically optimized, valuable content, and a strong domain authority. You should also fix technical errors, like duplicate content for maximum effect.