Backlinks are hyperlinks from external domains that direct users to pages on your own domain, essentially linking their site to yours.
Your backlink profile largely consists of links from other sites, known as referring domains, which enhance the strength, relevance, and diversity of your domain’s backlinks. Often, the total number of backlinks includes multiple links from the same domain or various domains. This is typical if your content is relevant, authoritative, or beneficial to other sites. Ideally, backlinks are gained through content that other websites find valuable and wish to associate with.
Backlinks are generally seen as votes of confidence for the content linked to from external sources.
Backlinks are crucial for both Search Engines and users. For users, backlinks guide them to additional sources of information on similar or related topics. For instance, a page about "best smartphones" may link to other carriers, phone providers, or user review pages, enhancing the user experience by directing them to more relevant information.
For Search Engines, backlinks help assess a page's significance and value, also known as authority. Historically, the number of backlinks indicated a page's popularity. Nowadays, the emphasis is on the quality of the sites providing the backlinks rather than quantity. Conversely, too many links from unreliable domains can harm your domain's authority signals.
A robust link profile features diversity, with links originating from various domains and possessing different strengths. Evaluating your backlink profile involves examining key indicators such as referring domains, IP addresses, the country of origin, and the Top-Level-Domain.
Some domains are more favorable than others for receiving links, particularly those considered "trusted" with higher domain authority. For example, links from educational (.edu) and government (.gov) institutions typically carry significant authority and signal trustworthy content to search engines.
| Ranking Factors | Description | Suite Area / Action |
|---|---|---|
| Backlink | There's still a connection between high rankings and the number of backlinks, but this trend is decreasing. |
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| Anchor Text | The proportion of links containing keywords is declining. |
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| News Domains | Pages in the top SERP positions often have numerous links from news domains, suggesting that current content ranks well. |
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| New and Lost Links | URLs ranked 1-4 typically have older links on average compared to the previous year, with growing differences across all rankings. |
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Ensure your backlinks appear natural. Avoid asking webmasters to link to your pages with specific anchor texts as it may create a noticeable pattern, risking penalties from search engines. Refrain from unethical practices like placing links in the footer of every page on another site.
NEVER pay for links! If you use sponsored content to build backlinks, it must be clearly labeled as “Sponsored” per FCC regulations. Although most publishers mark these as “nofollow,” they still hold value and can drive traffic to your site.
Previously, directories like DMOZ were valuable for backlinks. Now, while large web directories might not be relevant, engaging with niche communities or industry-specific directories can be beneficial. Additionally, .GOV domains hold significant value due to their inherent trust and authority.
Personalize your outreach to webmasters. Highlight why you admire their brand, how your brand can complement theirs, or reference articles and content they’ve published to foster a positive reception. Finding a specific contact on professional platforms like LinkedIn is more effective than generic outreach.
Monitoring your site’s backlinks is crucial. This allows you to confirm the success of your outreach efforts and identify any problematic backlinks. For instance, links from certain regions, like Russia and Brazil, are sometimes associated with spam. It may be prudent to disavow such links using Google Search Console to protect your site, even if they haven't yet caused harm.