What is backlinking in SEO and why is it important?
December 8, 2021
Do I need backlinking in my SEO strategy?
Once you have built a website and published it to the internet, the first thing you will want is for it to be found in Google or other Search engines.
One of the most important ranking factors for your website is Domain Authority [DA]. WIthout good DA your website will simply not be found when people search for a solution to a problem that your business can solve.
In this article, we explain why you need backlinks
- What is Domain Authority [DA]
- Volume of backlinks
- Guest blogging and microblogging
- Social signals
- Local backlinks
What is Domain Authority [DA]
Domain authority is a measure of how a search engine views your website’s authority on a subject.
How to measure your current DA
Below is a list of online tools you can use to measure the DA of your website.
TIP: All these tools only calculate an estimated value, but if you use them in a combination of ways you will be able to get a good idea of how well your website stacks for authority.
Most of the online tools we use above have the ability to compare one website against another, and this will give you some direction on your SEO strategy.
Offer: Visit our SEO Agency page if you need a backlink strategy consultant.
Volume of backlinks
There are several ways to measure the volume of backlinks, for example, Majestic calls it ‘citation flow’. And there is a balance between the volume of backlinks you have and the volume of links from strong DA websites.
Guest blogging and microblogging
Guest blogging is where your business contributes content to larger websites with content on a subject and then links back to your site. For example, if you are offering gardening services, you could guest blog on a website on gardening design and link back to your garden service page.
Think of backlinking as a similar approach to the real world, in which we often might ask a friend for recommendations to a restaurant. The more people that recommend you to a place the higher the chances are that you will actually investigate that restaurant and eventually book.
And that is how backlinking works, if 10 friends recommended a restaurant to you, but one of your friends was a ‘foodie’ you will add extra weight to their recommendation.
The links to your website should be specific to the landing page, it would be easy to just spread links to your main home page, but if you are a service provider with a few types of services in a particular area, then you should make sure that text of the link also describes what the reader can expect when they visit the website. For example:
Visit Moz - with a free domain authority tool
The hypertext link accurately describes to the reader what they can expect when they land on that page, also notice when you click that link it does not take you to the main website but takes you deep within the site to a landing page talking about the free domain authority checker.
TIP: This same method should also be used within your blog content when it links to your own products and services
Social signals
When Google added tweets to search results, it further cemented proof that it is measuring the effectiveness of companies messages across many touchpoints.
Social signals are a combination of links, likes shares to a webpage. This combines to contribute to a page's organic search ranking.
It is a volume game, the more your post like and share, the more your content will be liked and shared.
Local backlinks
If you are offering a local service to people, say Boiler repair in London, then you also need to consider getting your business found on local search indexes.
According to Moz: 97% of people learn about a local business online.
Getting your business listed on all the local search platforms like Yell can be time consuming but Moz has a tool that will do all the heavy lifting for you Check out Moz Local
It enables you to to upload location and contact details for your business, website links and pictures of your business. And then it submits that information to many sites at the same time.
