You’ve just got your first backlink, and you’re over the moon!
We totally relate to that - having backlinks is a good sign that you have valuable content on your site, and it brings you one step closer to building authority in your niche.
But, before you open that bottle of champagne, think about it.
Is any backlink… a good backlink? Not sure? Read this article to find out what makes a quality backlink.
What Makes a Good Backlink? Here are four questions to ask about your backlink and determine whether it’s a quality one.
1. Does the Website Linking to Yours Have Authority?
Imagine getting a backlink from Harvard Business Review’s blog post. Wouldn’t that be amazing? Of course, getting such a link may not be the easiest thing to achieve, but you get the point. The more authority a website has, the more relevant your backlink is.
When you receive a backlink from a website that’s considered an authoritative domain, Google recognises it. Your reward for this kind of backlink? Check your organic search engine traffic. Chances are, you’ll see an improvement.
Note: One relevant backlink can do more for you than a bunch of links from websites that don’t have any authority.
2. Is the Backlink Placed in the Main Content?
Which section of a web page does your backlink appear in? Keep in mind that where your link is placed matters.
If you’re looking to build quality links, what you don’t want are footers, headers, or sidebars. Those are low-quality backlinks that won’t contribute a lot to you ranking better on Google.
However, if your backlink appears in the main content of a page - in a blog post, for instance, it will be more valuable and Google will attribute more relevance to it.
3. Is the Backlink from a Related Website?
If your website is about hosting and you receive, say, a backlink from a website that belongs to a completely unrelated industry, will Google consider it relevant?
Not really.
Backlinks that come from websites from the same industry-speak more to your trustworthiness and authority.
4. Does the Backlink Have a Do-Follow Status?
Do-follow and no-follow links send different signals to search engines.
When adding a link to the content on your website, you can adjust these links to either of the options by using HTML code. No-follow links can bring traffic to your website, but they’re signaling to Google search that they should be ignored. That means they won’t be particularly important for SEO.
On the other hand, do-follow links can both bring traffic to your website and increase your visibility since search engines will give them more attention.
Aiming for the Best Backlinks
Now you know how to recognise truly valuable backlinks instead of getting excited about those that won’t help you achieve your goals.
Look for the four elements we’ve described in this article, and if they’re there, congrats! You’ve earned yourself a quality backlink.
It may be challenging to get good backlinks, but they’re sure worth the effort. Don’t get discouraged because there are ways to get them for free, so you can work even with small budgets. It only takes patience and skill to see your SEO strategy bring you great results.
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