Why are backlinks important?

This blog topic is arguably one of the most important topics to understand in order to grow your business and its presence online.

We are a part of the digital era so it’s time to get on the band wagon of digital marketing, SEO and backlinks. These words might seem an information overload, but it’s more important than ever to understand what they can do for you.

Here’s why backlinks are important, what toxic backlinks are, the type of backlinks you want and how to get them.

What are backlinks?

Backlinks are links that connect websites or domains. These links are very important as they impact your websites Google ranking ability. The ranking of your website on google determines the amount of free traffic you will receive to your site. A good backlink strategy is one of the most important factors to having a good SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) strategy.

 Backlinks aren’t just an SEO tool; these links allow for resources to be discovered through the web and provide a platform to be able to share a plethora of content.

What are toxic backlinks?

Bad backlinks can seriously damage your internet presence because Google will lower your ranking and worst-case could even remove your website from the search index completely. It is important to understand what toxic backlinks look like and how to remove them.

What kind of backlinks do I need and how do I get them?

Editorial Backlinks

This backlink happens when another website mentions your company after they’ve used your quality content as a source in their own work on their own website.

How you get these backlinks:

• Create strong, quality content that is shareable and that other websites want to use & reference for their work.
  
• Create infographics, videos, and any other image-based content to get attention
  

The result:

• Your website is cited in another website as a source of content
  
• Your website is cited as a source for content creations like videos, infographics, images, artwork or anything else in this field
  
• Your website has been mentioned after interviewing someone associated with your business/ website
  

Guest blogging backlinks

Guest blogging or guest posts are good backlinks to use. This backlink occurs when you write a blog and submit it as a guest post on another website. An editorial backlink is included on your blog to link it back to your website. When this is done well it can be quite effective in growing trust, reliability and authority of your website in the eyes of google.

How you get these backlinks:

• Write and post blogs or articles that relate to both your own website and the guest website
  
• In your blogs or articles backlink using editorial backlink to your website
  
• Find and grow your list of relevant, quality guest blogging sites
  
• Eg. Search on Google ‘guest blog/ post + {your specific topic}’
  

The result:

• Google recognises your website as an authority and has more trust that your website produces quality content and information
  
• Good quality blogging backlinks can boost your ranking on Google
  

Business profile backlinks

Your business should have a handful of business profiles on sites such as Facebook, Yelp, Yellow Pages, Twitter, Foursquare etc. These profiles usually allow for links back to your website which shows google that you have an established & high-quality website which increases their trust.

How you get these backlinks:

• Create business profiles on social media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram)
  
• Create business profiles on industry specific directories (Sports stores directory, etc.)
  
• Create business profiles on well-known directories (Yelp, Yellow Pages, Foursquare)
  

The result:

• These backlinks show Google that your website is high-quality and established
  
• Can make your website look authoritative and relevant which could boost your Google rank
  
• These profiles could attract clients to your website which = more visitors thus making your website even more relevant, high-quality & growing it as an authority website
  

Understanding backlinks is incredibly important to grow your presence online and to increase your website rank on google. Backlinks are important for SEO purposes but most importantly it’s all about quality not quantity.