Backlinks are undoubtedly one of the most important things search engines are looking for because they show your site is credible and has information worth sharing.
66% of webpages lack backlinks, so gaining a few for your site is a quick and easy way to rise in search rankings and improve your online visibility.
What are backlinks, and how can you use them to solidify your SEO strategy? Here’s a quick guide.
What are Backlinks?
Backlinks are high-quality external links from other websites into your own. Think of them as votes on search engines that count towards your credibility, value, and usefulness; the more backlinks you have, the higher your rankings will be.
There are 3 ways that link-building can affect your website:
- Improve your organic rankings
- Get you penalized by Google.
- Have no impact.
Best Ways to Get Quality Backlinks
There are 2 main types of backlinks; nofollow vs. dofollow. The main difference between them is that nofollow backlinks don’t have the ‘link juice”. This means nofollow links don’t impact your SEO in any way because these links don’t pass on authority to your website. Dofollow links, on the other hand, are a major ranking factor on Google.
Here are some dofollow link-building strategies.
1. Focus on Quality vs. Quantity
For the backlinks to work, they have to come from authoritative sites. You could have 1000 backlinks from normal websites, and they wouldn’t impact your rankings in any way. If you, however, manage to get one link from an authoritative site, your Search Engine Ranking Position (SERP) will begin surging.
The impact isn’t immediate and can take up to 10 days to take effect.
2. Ensure Your Content is Top Notch
Great content is the backbone of all external links. If your content is not worth linking to, then nobody will link theirs to it. Most bloggers and organizations only highlight engaging and compelling content, which is why your wordy and overly-simplistic pieces are not getting any attention. Audit all your website content and edit or eliminate those that don’t conform to industry standards.
Conducting competitor research will also help you come up with relevant topics.
3. Use Infographics
The demand for infographics has been on the rise, and sites such as Huffington Post are now publishing them regularly. Readers seem to love them, and the best part is that they are highly shareable.
In addition to increasing your backlinks, infographics will also drive more traffic to your website. Just make sure you share them aggressively, submit them to infographic directories, and reach out to industry bloggers for feedback.
Pro tip: Have your infographics professionally designed to make them more engaging and shareable.
4. Leverage Public Relations
Your online net worth is equivalent to the networks you’ve built. Yes, public relations won’t immediately affect your rankings, but they will ultimately set you up for high-quality backlinks in the future. Think of it this way; nobody will allow you to link back to their site if they don’t know who you are or haven’t interacted with your content.
Start by establishing yourself as an industry expert, either by being active on social media or writing industry-relevant content on your website. Engage other bloggers by posting and sharing their content, then finally link to their content and reach out.
Let Us Help You Improve Your Rankings
Search engine optimization is a journey, and the first step towards dominating the SERPs is by acquiring high-quality dofollow links. Backlink building is, however, not as easy, and you’ll need an SEO expert that can help you leverage existing networks.
Reap and Sow was ranked the Best SEO agency in Houston, and we’d love nothing better than to help you rank higher on Google. Contact us today for an engaging consultation!