What Is Backlinking and Why Is It Important?

What is backlinking? How does it work?

Is backlinking in SEO important? If so, why?

If you're new to backlinking and SEO, don't worry. We're about to answer all these questions and more in the following guide.

First, though, we'll have you know that backlinking is a very important part of your overall digital marketing strategy. It helps you build brand authority and get recognized by a wider audience.

Ready to learn more? Read on to find out what you need to know about backlinking.

What Is Backlinking?

Backlinking is any strategy you use to obtain backlinks. A backlink is a hyperlink on someone else's website that links back to your website.

This is very different from an internal link. An internal link is a link on your own site that links to a different page on your site.

Both are important for SEO, but in different ways. Internal links can show search engines that your site is convenient to navigate.

But backlinks show what other voices on the internet think of your website. As you're about to see, this can be good or bad.

Backlinking in SEO

The job of a search engine is to point users to the most helpful and relevant sites for answering their queries. To do this, search engines use programs called bots to "crawl" (inspect the content of) every registered site there is. These bots rank websites according to certain criteria that show that the website is reliable, authoritative, and easy to use.

For instance, well-written, grammatically correct content with in-depth information shows authority. And so do backlinks.

Backlinks that lead to your site prove that other websites trust yours as an authority on the topic. This is especially true when you have backlinks on other authoritative sites. When search engines trust your site as an authority, they're more likely to rank your content high up in the search results.

Backlinks Done Wrong

Backlinks can just as easily make your website look bad. For example, let's say the anchor text of your link says, "Find cupcake recipes here." But then, the link itself leads to an article describing the importance of air purifiers.

This link makes no sense and would frustrate those who click on it. Thus, search engines penalize both websites for misleading links like this.

Using such misleading techniques on purpose is known as blackhat SEO. It does not fool search engines and will seriously lower your search rank.

Sometimes, however, negative backlinks to your site appear on some websites even though you had nothing to do with them. In this case, you can usually have the offending links removed.

Good Backlinking Strategy

There are four main ways to obtain acceptable, helpful backlinks. They are as follows.

1. Great Content

Well-written content with no errors is helpful to your readers. Some of these readers have websites of their own. When they write similar content, they'll likely link to your content as a source.

2. Guest Posting

Many sites openly invite visitors to write for them. Accept these invitations and write content that references your website as a source.

3. Ask Friends

Know anyone who has a website? Ask if they will link to you as a source or review your products and services. You can return the favor for them as well.

4. Outsource

Lastly, a third-party SEO agency can help. Find a reputable digital marketing company and check out their backlink building services.

Need Help With Your Backlinking or SEO Strategy?

So, then, what is backlinking? It's how you reinforce all your various SEO efforts and bring traffic and authority to your website. Now that you know, please share this guide with those in your company or anyone else who needs help with this topic.

Also, start using backlinking in SEO today. If you need help, that's what we're here for! Contact us here to find out how we can help with all your digital marketing and SEO needs.