Beginner's Guide to Backlinks
Search ranking issues queries and builds a ranking according to the site's authority. Backlinks are an integral part of the authority of a web resource. However, it's not just the quantity that matters. The quality of the backlink is also essential.
This is an essential area in SEO marketing that will help you outperform your competitors. Of course, there are other essential steps, such as technical and internal SEO, keyword research, web development, and content optimisation, but you can only improve in these areas.
In the eyes of search engines, links are a bit like votes for your site. The more votes you have, the more your site will likely rank high in search engines.
A backlink is a link from one website to another. If someone links their web page to your site, you have a link from them. And if you link to other pages on your site, they have a backlink from you. SEO specialists use the backlink management tool to control this direction.
Major search engines like Google treat backlinks as “votes” for a page. The more backlinks you have, the higher your search engine rankings.
Backlinks tell search engines that a page/website is relevant, helpful, and trustworthy. There are several types of backlinks; here are some of them:
- Links to guest blogs
- Links to press releases
- Editorial Links
- Links to comments
- Links to free tools
However, not all of them are the same. The best backlinks are those from large, reputable websites. Backlinks from spam or suspicious platforms can seriously harm your site.
Table of Contents
How to track outbound links to your site
Backlink analysis is the search for all links directed to the site, the domains on which they are hosted, anchors, and other parameters. Thus, you can get complete information about the link profile of the resource and their status, as well as track the relationship between the volume/quality of backlinks and positions in the search results.
Depending on the size of your site, it has dozens of outbound links. Over time, some of these links may become outdated or stop working (broken links), so keeping track of them is crucial. You can track outbound links manually, but it's not very practical.
Backlink analysis is carried out to evaluate external optimisation before the start of resource promotion and in the link-building process to control the number of backlinks, considering parameters important for SEO.
Also, a link audit helps to analyse the quality of external URLs, identify toxic links, and improve the link profile. Useful indicators when analysing links:
- list of all backlinks;
- a list of all sites where backlinks are placed;
- indexing date;
- anchors;
- link types (nofollow, dofollow);
- quality parameters of donor sites.
Backlink monitoring services, or a backlink API, can have different URL metrics. Some provide metrics for assessing the quality of donor sites, which is especially useful for identifying toxic links. Not all services are suitable for analysing competitors, so when choosing, you should pay attention to the terms of use.
Recommendations for building a quality link profile
Several rules will help to form a link mass that is effective for the site.
Make a plan for link building
To form a link profile according to this principle, we recommend you draw up an external optimisation strategy several months in advance and a separate plan for each month.
Create an anchor plan
When choosing texts for URLs, you must balance the number of commercial, neutral anchors and links without text. It is also helpful to monitor the site's position for good queries before starting external optimisation and then regularly monitor the dynamics.
Analyse donor sites before placing a backlink
Link exchanges have filters for selecting sites according to different parameters. Before publishing a backlink, it is advisable to check the site according to the main quality criteria and visit it as a user to ensure it is reliable.
Conclusion
External links are essential in site optimisation, affecting queries' ranking results. Backlinks should be placed on authoritative resources and look as natural as possible for search engines. If toxic links lead to a site, sanctions can be applied to it, reducing the position of its pages in the SERP or excluding them from the index.
