Why are backlinks important for SEO?


A backlink is a search engine optimization (SEO) term used for links that point to your site. You may have also seen them called inbound links or incoming links. Regardless of how often a search engine’s algorithm changes, backlinks are almost always a necessary ingredient.

Why? Because backlinks are a good indicator of how popular or relevant your site is. Although outbound links have no impact on SEO, backlinks do. Always have, always will.

For example, if you create a sports car niche blog site and place links to the top sites in the world (i.e. Top 3 as of this post are www.google.com, www.yahoo.com, www.facebook.com), it would be pointless for SEO purposes. Otherwise, everyone would do it what I just did (by listing outbound links) on their blogs, even if they have absolutely nothing to do with the content. On the other hand, let’s say your sports car niche blog site, actually had quality posts. Now imagine if the top sports car sites reference your blog on a regular basis. Mostly, you have others in your niche community vouching for the content on your blog site. Shouldn’t that represent that your blog site has valuable content for that audience?

Remember, this is just part of the secret search engine formula that the public will never know. However, since we know that it’s essential and it’s somewhat easy to do, doesn’t it make sense to ensure we get some backlinks on our site? In my next post, although there are various tools and services you could use, I’ll describe a quick do-it-yourself method to guarantee backlinks for your site.

Six degrees of site separation

I’m sure you already know that having quality inbound links (i.e., backlinks) help boost your blog rankings. That means having links from trusted websites in your niche is a big deal. So if you have a sports-related blog, getting a backlink from espn.com would pretty much make your site royalty.

I know what you’re thinking, that’s pretty unrealistic. You’re probably right but did you know that you can also benefit from being two links away? Or three? Or four? Yes, your SEO might even get a boost from being six links away! OK, six is a little thick, but the point is you don’t always need a direct connection.

The truth is, no one except for Sergey, Larry and a few insiders know for sure how many degrees is beneficial in Google’s eyes. In general, you want as many relevant backlinks as possible, the more “trusted”, the better.

I’m telling you this because I don’t want you to think that looking at Google PR is your only guide. It’s perfectly fine to have a backlink from a PR1, especially if that PR1 has a friend who is PR7! Being a friend of a friend counts. Sure, you might not get link juice, but you’re still helping search engines separate you from the millions of spam pages out there while tying your site with your niche category.

Getting a backlink from espn.com (PR8) is unrealistic for us. Getting a backlink from a blogger on their NFL blog is possible. And if not, perhaps a blogger connected to one of those bloggers. And so on.

Below is one way you could improve your backlinks. (Warning: please read their terms of service and do not spam.)
  1. Learn who your niche leaders are and create a target list. Aim high!
  2. Look for blogs on your target list and leave comments when appropriate.
  3. Look for related blogs from the targeted list blog and leave comments when appropriate.
  4. Repeat this until you can find someone to build a relationship with, and then create reciprocal links.
  5. Look for sponsors on your target list. See if you can provide value on their sites.
  6. Look for blogs on the sponsors’ sites and leave comments when appropriate.
  7. Repeat this until you can find someone to build a relationship with, and then create reciprocal links.

Backlinks are crucial for SEO (Search Engine Optimization) because they act like "votes of confidence" from one website to another. Let's break down why they are so important:

1. Build Authority and Trust

When one website links to another, it’s like a recommendation or endorsement. If your website gets a lot of high-quality backlinks from other reputable sites, search engines like Google see this as a signal that your site is trustworthy and authoritative. This is because other sites are vouching for your content by linking to it. The more high-quality backlinks you have, the more likely it is that search engines will rank your website higher in search results.

2. Improve Search Rankings

Backlinks are one of the most significant ranking factors in search algorithms. When search engines like Google determine where to rank a page in search results, they consider the number and quality of backlinks to that page. Generally, pages with more high-quality backlinks rank higher because they are seen as more relevant and authoritative on the subject.

3. Increase Organic Traffic

Backlinks can drive referral traffic to your website. If a popular website links to your page, their audience might click through to your site, boosting your traffic. This is known as referral traffic, and it can be highly targeted if the linking website’s audience is interested in your content or products.

4. Faster Indexing

Search engines use bots (also known as spiders or crawlers) to discover and index web pages. When these bots find a backlink to your site on another site they’re already crawling, they follow that link to your site. If your site is new or doesn’t have many backlinks, getting links from other sites can help search engines discover your pages faster, leading to quicker indexing and visibility in search results.

5. Relationship Building and Networking

Backlinking often involves reaching out to other website owners, bloggers, and influencers in your industry. This process can build valuable relationships and networking opportunities, leading to more collaboration, guest posting, and other marketing efforts that can benefit your website’s visibility and reputation.

6. Establish Relevance

Backlinks from sites within the same industry or niche help establish your website's relevance in that field. For example, if a popular cooking blog links to your recipe page, it tells search engines that your site is relevant to topics about cooking and recipes. This helps you rank better for related search queries.

7. Builds a Diverse Link Profile

Having a diverse backlink profile—meaning you have links from a variety of different domains (websites)—is important. Search engines prefer a natural backlink profile, which includes a variety of links from different types of websites (blogs, news sites, educational sites, etc.). This diversity signals that your content is valuable across multiple platforms and contexts.

8. Competitive Edge

In highly competitive niches, backlinks can give you an edge over your competitors. If your competitors are actively building high-quality backlinks and you’re not, they’re more likely to rank higher in search results. By building backlinks, you can level the playing field or even surpass them.

Conclusion

In summary, backlinks are essential for SEO because they help build your website’s authority, improve your search engine rankings, drive more organic traffic, and help establish your site’s relevance and trustworthiness in your industry. However, it’s important to focus on quality over quantity—getting backlinks from reputable, relevant sites is far more valuable than obtaining a large number of low-quality links.



So the ultimate goal isn’t to create a bunch of backlinks through your comments (although some DoFollow would be nice). Instead, you’re using comments to build relationships with others in the same community. Reciprocal links usually come first (e.g., blogroll) but this creates opportunities for guest posts, references to your posts, etc.…

So although you may not have celebrity status yet, knowing someone who knows someone who might get you in a few parties.

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