How to Get Good Backlinks

Being in the digital marketing world is enough to send a person to the funny farm. Algorithm changes, AI, worsening search; getting a handle on it all is challenging to move your business forward. With everything in a constant state of flux, one thing that remains a cornerstone for driving organic traffic to your site is search engine optimization. And while that’s getting dicier by the day, there are still techniques that work, including backlinks.

Backlinks are essential to getting good traffic, but they’re often misunderstood. This post will demystify backlinks, explain why they’re essential, and tell you how to improve your backlink strategy to boost your website’s search engine ranking.

What Are Backlinks?

Backlinks, or inbound or incoming links, are links from one website to another. When a website links to your site, it’s vouching for your content’s quality and reliability. Search engines, like Google, consider these backlinks as signals of trustworthiness and authority—the more reputable the site that links to you, the more value the backlink carries.

Backlinks are like word-of-mouth recommendations in the digital world. If a well-respected site in your niche links to your content, it’s like they’re saying, “This content is valuable and worth checking out.” The more recommendations you get, the higher your website will likely rank in search engine results pages (SERPS).

Why Are Backlinks Important?

Improved Search Engine Rankings: Search engines use backlinks as a key ranking factor. According to a study by Moz, backlinks are one of the top-ranking factors in Google’s algorithm, accounting for nearly 30% of how Google ranks content. Websites with a strong backlink profile are more likely to appear at the top of search results. A high-quality backlink can increase your domain’s authority, improving your target keywords’ rankings.

Increased Referral Traffic: Backlinks drive referral traffic from other websites. HubSpot reports that websites with a solid backlink profile see an increase in referral traffic by 58%. When a user reads content on another site and clicks on the link to your website, they’re directed to your content. This brings in traffic and potential leads or customers.

Building Relationships: Acquiring backlinks often involves networking and building relationships with other website owners and influencers in your industry. These relationships can lead to further opportunities, such as collaborations, guest blogging, and more.

Brand Authority and Trust: A reputable site’s link enhances your brand’s authority. A study by Backlinko found that the top-ranking pages on Google typically have 3.8 times more backlinks than those in positions 2-10. This signals to both search engines and users that your content is trustworthy, relevant, and authoritative in your field.

How to Get Good Backlinks

Getting high-quality backlinks requires effort, strategy, and patience. Here are some proven methods to help you acquire backlinks that will benefit your SEO:

Create High Quality, Shareable Content

You’ve heard it said many times, and it’s still true: Content is king, especially when it comes to earning backlinks. Invest time in creating high-quality, informative, and engaging content that provides real value to your audience. Content that solves a problem offers unique insights, or compellingly presents data is more likely to be shared and linked to by others.

Guest Blogging

Writing guest posts for other reputable blogs in your industry is an excellent way to earn backlinks. Ensure your guest posts are well-written and relevant and add value to the host site’s audience. Most sites allow you to include a backlink to your website in your author bio or within the content itself.

Build Relationships With Influencers

Networking with influencers and other bloggers in your niche can lead to natural backlink opportunities. Engage with them on social media, comment on their blogs, and share their content. Over time, as these relationships develop, they may link to your content naturally.

Use Broken Link Building

Broken link building is a strategy in which you find broken links on other websites, contact the site owner, and ask them to replace the broken link with one to similar content on your site. This method is a win-win: the website owner fixes a broken link, and you earn a backlink.

Leverage Online Directories and Forums

Submitting your website to online directories, especially niche-specific ones, can provide you with easy backlinks. Additionally, participating in forums related to your industry and including your website links in your signature can also help, provided It’s done in a non-spammy, value-added way.

Create Infographics and Visual Content

Visual content like infographics is highly shareable and can attract a lot of backlinks. If you create a useful and visually appealing infographic, other websites might use it and link back to your site as the original source.

Monitor Competitors’ Backlinks

Use tools like Ahrefs, Mod, or SEMrush to analyze your competitors’ backlink profiles. Identify the sites linking to them and contact them to see if they would be interested in linking to your content as well.

Backlinks remain a critical component of SEO, and acquiring good backlinks should be a priority for anyone looking to improve their website’s search engine rankings. If you need help with your backlink strategy or another part of your marketing strategy, call Brandtastic and let our expert team help.