Inbound Links or Backlinks are the links that are directed towards your website, it doesn’t get more simple than that. These are the building blocks to a well-optimized website. A huge number of backlinks is one factor of a website’s popularity or importance with search engines. Search engines, i.e., Google, Bing, or Duck Duck Go give more credit to websites that have high DA backlinks and consider those websites more relevant in a search query.
So, let us dig deep into the importance of backlinks & why they matter the most for your business website. It will only take a few minutes to understand the lowdown!
Backlinks Are Reputation Management Tool for Google
Google isn’t human, unfortunately! Although the algorithms are created and operated by actual human beings, the software does not have a human brain. Although, this seems to have some advantages but team Google is playing catch-up when it comes to determining high-ranking websites.
For this part, Google uses ‘backlinks’ as a reputation management tool. Since the whole point is to direct searchers towards the best possible result for their query; they won’t point them towards a site that writes for elephants. Instead, they want to point them to a popular website because a popular website means it has credibility, good reputation, and can be trusted.
Let’s simply this, which website would you pick from the following?
- A website with five backlinks
- A site with 250+ backlinks
I know you’re going to choose the option ‘b’.
Yes, Google and you will be on the same page, simply because we all think and know that popular, credible, and backlink-rich websites are more reliable.
Backlinks Are the Driving force of Traffic
I am not going to beat around the bush with the whole, “Google prioritizes the best possible result…” talk that I may have (hypothetically) bored you with.
However, that same idea comes into the spotlight when we are talking about the additional benefit of referral traffic to your website through your rich backlinks. Take it in this way: Google will simply ignore a website that does not get any traffic. Logically, it would sit lower down in the SERPs. However, websites with lots of traffic are reliable, trustworthy, and offer some valuable content… right? No matter whether it is through social media, guest posts, local listings, or directory submissions, anyone who clicks a link and lands on your website helps to amplify your referral traffic.
Appropriate Backlinks Boost Your Credibility
Backlinks are also important because they boost credibility and helps in increasing the reliability of your blog or business website. Take your understanding from this:
If a camera manufacturer has a backlink profile with inbound links from photography blogs and photography/camera news websites, you would think they were more trustworthy, right. If relevant blogs from the industry are linking to their content, it can be safely assumed that they must be manufacturing or sharing something of great value.
However, if a camera manufacturer were to fill their backlink profile with links from clothing blogs and pet stores, it would have the opposite effect. Google will be like, “Is this website really a respected source in the camera industry?” and that second-take is all it ‘ll take to cost you those high SERP rankings. You need to remember this: Google uses backlinks to determine your online reputation.
Collecting backlinks from low authority or already penalized places will not get you anywhere, especially if it’s not relevant. In fact, it could have a drastic effect, and Google may penalize your website for that matter.
So, if you want to implement your own link building strategy, aim for backlinks from relevant, high-quality sites with a Domain Authority of 35+. These websites have a better, reputable audience – and a superior chance of landing good traffic to your website.
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