What is a backlink and why are they important for my website?

Okay, so you’ve done a little bit of research on search engine optimisation or just heard about backlinks through the grapevine, now, you want to know what it all means.

So, what is a backlink?
A backlink is a live link to your website which is located on another website. The link that points to your website can be clicked by the visitor of the other website which then directs them back to yours.

So why are they important?
Backlinks are vital when it comes to search engine optimisation (SEO). Backlinks work in conjunction with a number of other factors to tell Google that your website is important and relevant to users searching for your niche type.

Are all backlinks the same?
No, they aren’t. Not all of them have been created equally. When you get a backlink from another website they hold more authority when they are relevant to your niche and are being directed from a website with a high domain authority. It is ideal to create a backlink profile which is rich in all kinds of areas from social bookmarking, guest blog posts, directory submissions, link circles and more.

How do I get a backlink?
There are many ways to get backlinks of your own. Backlinking can be tedious and take time to execute, not to mention learning the ins and outs of backlinks. Outsourcing your backlinking and search engine optimisation to a professional is the most effective way to build an optimal backlink profile to knock out your competitors. If you’re feeling brave enough to tackle your own backlinking you should start by doing some in-depth research into your competing niches. You can use tools like Ahrefs, Mangools and Moz to copy your competitor links, reach out to blogs and offer them high quality content in return for a backlink or even utilise social bookmarking sites.

What does ‘do follow’ mean?
A do follow backlink is a backlink which takes some of the ‘link juice’ from the directing site and points it to your site. Do follow backlinks are the most valuable and should primarily make up the most of your backlink profile. ‘No follow’ links don’t pass on any of that sweet link juice which means it doesn’t actually benefit your Google rankings.

How do I know if it is a do-follow or no-follow link?
There are some technical ways to identify the difference between the two. We like to take the technical parts away from the process where we can so have found some easy tools which do the work for you. Automatic Backlink Checker is an extension that you can download from Google Chrome. Once you have installed it into your browser you can use it to simply identify do-follow, no-follow and broken links with the click of a button.
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So there you have it. Backlinks. What they are, how they work and why you need them to rank a website successfully in the search engines.
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Still confused? Need some backlinking help of your own? Beyond Leads can help. Get in touch today.