Rumors say there are about 200+ ranking factors for Google, and backlinks are among the top 3 contenders for Google ranks, according to Andrey Lipattsev (Partner Development Manager, Search and Integrations at Google). A backlink is a very commonly used term in the SEO world. These are links that come into your web pages from external websites, or are commonly described as links from a third-party back to your website. Acquiring backlinks is also a proven marketing tactic that increases brand awareness and conversions.
The top 2 factors are link-related. Traditionally, web pages with maximum backlinks would rank higher, which is largely true, even today. The more you have, the better your chances to rank well for top keywords, quality of the link is of utmost importance though!
What is a Good Backlink?
*Search engines also consider citations or mentions as links
Relevancy
Being relevant to the search query is of the utmost importance to Google. A backlink is relevant when it comes from a relevant source.
Trust
Google must trust the website from where the link originates for a backlink to be good for you. Google’s move towards not trusting a website without SSL encryption is justified, as chances of our old backlinks getting diluted are high. Try acquiring backlinks from premium and websites of great reputation only.
Authority
Effective link building doesn’t mean building unlimited links, but it means getting genuine links from websites that are reliable and of high domain authority.
Google is updating their database in May 2021 which might affect all of this though.
For example, a link from an authoritative website like the Wall Street Journal will make a greater impact on your rank than a link from a newly built website. Quality of the links with quantity of the links is the best way to approach link building. You may want to get rid of toxic links using Google Disavow tool as soon as you discover them.
Different domains
All your backlinks should not be from the same domain, but instead from different quality domains. Working with a PR agency or news distribution partner like PRnewswire can quickly get you a lot of quality backlinks in short period of time. It is even more important if you are a public listed company with focus on public communication.
The Significance of Link Building
So far, Backlinks from one website to another act as a vote in the eyes of Google and they indicate to search engines that others vouch for your content. It may change sooner in 2021 with the new update Google aims to bring. The content people share on social media also counts as a vote for instance.
Link building helps in the following ways:
- More visibility for your website and content in the search results.
- High-quality incoming links means your site will be admired as a valuable resource to Google. Focusing on niche and quality content are some of the ways to look at it.
- Getting indexed in search results easily.
- Receive traffic from other websites linked to your web pages.
- It is also a very strong signal that search engines use while considering ranking.