SEO basics: What is a backlink?
You might not know it, but in the world of Search Engine Optimisation (SEO), link building is a fundamental strategy that plays a crucial role in improving a website's visibility and organic search rankings.
It involves the process of acquiring hyperlinks from other people’s websites to your own, commonly referred to as inbound links or backlinks.
Link building is an essential aspect of SEO, as search engines perceive backlinks a bit like votes of confidence, indicating the relevance and authority of a website.
In this post, we’ll delve into the basics of link building and understand why it is important for your website's success.
What is Link Building?
Link building is the practice of obtaining quality and relevant backlinks from other websites to your own.
These links act as pathways that direct users and search engine crawlers to navigate between web pages. Each backlink acts as a vote of confidence, indicating to search engines that your website is trustworthy and authoritative.
Types of Links
There are lots of different types of links in link building, and understanding their differences can help you craft an effective strategy:
1. Natural Links
These links occur organically when other websites find your content valuable and link to it without any influence or persuasion.
2. Manual or Outreach Links
These links are acquired through a proactive approach, where you reach out to website owners or bloggers, request them to link to your content, and provide a compelling reason for them to do so.
3. Self-Created Links
These links are created by you, often through forum signatures, blog comments, or directory submissions. However, search engines are becoming increasingly sophisticated in identifying and devaluing such links.
Why is Link Building Important?
Improved Search Engine Rankings: Backlinks are one of the most important ranking factors used by search engines. Websites with a higher number of quality backlinks tend to rank higher in search results.
Increased Website Traffic: Backlinks act as referral sources. When a user clicks on a link from another website and lands on your page, it generates organic traffic to your website, potentially leading to conversions.
Enhanced Website Authority: Quality backlinks from reputable websites establish your website as an authoritative source within your industry. Search engines view this as a positive signal and boost your website's credibility.
Faster Indexing: Search engine crawlers discover new web pages through links. When your website receives backlinks from authoritative sources, it helps search engines find and index your pages more quickly.
Brand Exposure and Awareness: Link building can introduce your brand to a broader audience. When your content is shared and linked to by other websites, it increases brand visibility and awareness.
Looking for help with your link building?
Well you’ve come to the right place. We love ourselves a bit of link building and would love to help your organisation benefit from all the SEO-goodness that comes with earning good quality, highly authoritative backlinks.