Backlinks are a key part of search engine optimisation, arguably the most important ranking factor. The main aim is to link between your website with others, creating an environment where relevant people in your industry vouch for your website.
By building high-quality links and relationships with others in your field, you can benefit from well-known websites in your industry, linking back to your own website.
Now, you may be asking yourself, what are backlinks?
In a nutshell, backlinks are links that travel from another website to your website, making it possible for us to find related and supporting content while browsing the web. They most often come from blog posts and the content of other websites but can also come from places like social media sites and directories.
The backlinks themselves, form the basis of PageRank, which is the foundation of Google’s ranking algorithm. Although Google retired the PageRank toolbar in 2016, it is still very much used by Google. We just can’t measure it with a tool anymore.
Why do you need backlinks?
Link building is beneficial because they signal that the site being linked to is high-quality content and relevant to what you are looking at. You could call it a digital vote of confidence. It can also help contribute towards improved rankings and traffic from organic search. And as we all know, the higher you rank on Google, the more people will see your business and click on your website!
Backlinks are also a good resource for building your brand. For instance, if a popular, high-quality website links to yours, their consumers will see that this particular brand is happy to be associated with you. Hence, consumers start to take an interest in you.
How can you build your Backlinks?
Building backlinks can be difficult a time consuming, but it is very much worth the effort. Ideally, those links will come from other relevant websites within your niche and industry. It’s also good to have internal links relating to your other content on each page as well. Here are a few ways you can build links:
Outreach (Building relationships)
This involves reaching out to relevant websites and blogs in your industry promoting something that you’ve just created, such as a piece of content or an infographic. Benefits of using outreach is building long-term relationships with key influencers in your industry, which in turn will build the trust and regard of your own brand. Use social media and forums to build connections with like-minded brands.
Referral Traffic
A referral from a highly visited website or popular social media account can lead to an increase in traffic. If it’s a relevant website, chances are that the traffic is also relevant and may lead to an increase in leads or sales, as well. These types of backlinks are more about customers than SEO. By placing links to your website in front of people who are genuinely interested in what you do, they may well click through.
Testimonials
If you have shopped, worked, or interacted with a business that is relevant to yours, why not write them a testimonial? Especially if they are a business you are hoping to work with. After writing the testimonial, get in touch with them via social media platforms letting them know you have written one and ask if you can use them as a backlink to your content.
The importance of backlinks for your business
Backlinks are incredibly important to your business; they are essentially a digital ‘thumbs up’ for your brand. When a relevant company links to your website, they are showing their consumers that you are worth taking an interest in. In return, you may have informative content that could benefit them.
As long as your content is of a high-quality that people will be happy to share and be associated with. People want to read the information they can trust, or that gives them advice over certain products, services, or the industry as a whole.
If you would like more advice on backlinks, or building relationships with brands, feel free to contact our expert team now.