Backlinks Are Essential To Your Website's Search Engine Ranking

Build a strong online reputation and get found more frequently in web search results? The purpose of backlinks, also known as inbound or one-way links, is to increase the visibility and ranking of your website on search engines by linking to other websites.

A complete Search Engine Optimization (SEO) strategy includes more than just backlinks. In addition to quality content, common keywords, metatags, etc., there are many other factors to consider. As a result of positive networking and relationship building between different websites, backlinks serve as a simple and efficient method for optimizing a website. Adding backlinks to your website will help to increase its organic ranking, credibility, and authority.

Here at Sirkle, we have created this article to guide you along the backlinking pathways that will help you grow your website and, ultimately, your business.

This article discusses:

Backlink types
How do backlinking affect your website?
What is the process of acquiring backlinks for my website?
Do's and Don'ts of Backlinking
Sirkle can help you with backlinking and SEO for your website.

The types of backlinks

For your efforts to succeed, it is important to understand the difference between follow backlinks and no follow backlinks:

‘Follow’ backlinks

The authority of your domain and pages will increase directly as a result of follow backlinks, and passing on-site strength to your website. As a result of these links, your website will gain the reputation of an authoritative website, which will boost your ranking on search engines such as Google, Bing, etc. Therefore. As one might expect, follow backlinks are the most difficult to obtain as they directly affect your SEO rating with the most effective results.

‘No-Follow’ backlinks

Backlinks with no follow are the opposite. Inheriting site authority from these links is not possible, but they do have a positive impact on SEO and can make a site more visible to new visitors.

Backlinking affects your website in what ways?

Referencing is an easy way to describe how backlinks impact SEO on a website. We look to references and recommendations when hiring new workers, choosing a babysitter, or selecting tradesmen to complete renovations in our homes to determine who to give our time to, and ultimately, hire. Similar to backlinks, they work by directing traffic to a website.

In the same way that a well-written reference from a previous employer will raise your standing with a potential employer, follow backlinks from authoritative sites will increase your website's reputation with search engines.

In the same way that follow backlinks serve as positive references to improve your reputation among search engines, no-follow backlinks are like internet breadcrumbs that lead potential new visitors to your website.

Despite the fact that no-follow backlinks do not allow your site to inherit the authority of the site it is linking from, they are much easier to acquire and require less effort. To maximize the benefits of your backlink strategy, you should build a portfolio that combines both of these backlink types.

What is the process of acquiring backlinks for my website?

In order to acquire backlinks, it's important to keep quality in mind. A backlink connecting to a site with high authority and reputation will cause your site to inherit some of that authority. A backlink from a site with equal or lesser authority or reputation will not offer any advancement and may even negatively affect your search engine rankings.

A quality backlink process requires networking and relationship building; make sure that you devote the same amount of time to "giving" as you do to "taking".

Using the following methods, it is possible to acquire both follow and no-follow backlinks. Detailed and time-consuming tasks include:

Online Directories
Blog Comments
Guest Blogging.
Online directories

A no-follow backlink from online directories such as Yelp, Yellow Pages, and others will help visitors find your website. You and your business can be found on these online directories by combining contact information and customer reviews.

Google My Business and Google Maps are similar forms of online directories that can enhance your reputation with Google and make it easier to find you with a simple Google search.

Blog comments

Visiting other authority sites and engaging with their written content, including blogs and commenting on their work, as well as leaving a link to your own website in the comments, is another way to potentially collect no-follow backlinks.

It is important to understand that different blogs may handle comments differently, and some may interpret them as spam. If you want to mitigate this issue as much as possible, make sure to comment on blogs within your own industry and be aware that some blogs will automatically remove comments that contain links. You shouldn't take this personally and should instead seek out other sites that will accept your contribution, link, and all.

Guest blogging

Writing guest blogs is a great way to earn follow backlinks for your website. It is an article written by your business or organization and given to another business to be posted on their website or blog. As a form of thanks, the receiving website may allow single or multiple follow links.

Despite being time-consuming, guest blogging is a great way to build relationships with authoritative websites and expand your network. It is imperative that the quality of the article writing remains consistent throughout when writing guest blogs for other businesses. It is important to remember that your content will be primarily published on their site, under their name, with only your name credited. Therefore, keep a critical eye on your work.

Social media

You can also get backlinks from social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram. These include the following for Facebook:

Personal profile and posts
Page profile and posts
Pages About Tab
Page Buttons
Group Descriptions
Group Pinned Posts.

For Twitter, these can include:

Website Field
Twitter bio
Photos and video tweets.

(NB: These practices also apply to YouTube, LinkedIn, Pinterest and more).

Backlinking Do’s and Don’ts

When it comes to acquiring backlinks for your website, there are both effective and ineffective methods. To clarify which practices to follow or avoid when backlinking, here are a few Do's and Don'ts.

Make sure you understand the importance of quality
Consistency is key
Make sure you don't blackhat it
Take your time.

Make sure you understand the importance of quality

It has been discussed previously that backlinks act as a reference from one site to another, which Google interprets and uses to rank your site appropriately. References from a respected source carry more weight than those from unknown sources. Consequently, you will be able to rank better with backlinks from credible, authoritative, high-ranking websites.

Consistency is key

The results of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) don't usually appear overnight. Alternatively, you will see results with consistent, targeted action over a period of time, so don’t get discouraged if you don’t see instant results.

Make sure you don't blackhat it

Backlinks and SEO strategies have good and bad practices. These bad practices are known as "Black Hat SEO." Black Hat SEO refers to any tactic that attempts to manipulate the algorithms of search engines to improve a website's ranking.

Taking these actions can have negative consequences for your organic traffic, including a manual or algorithmic penalty from search engines.

There is no point in using black hat techniques long or short term on your website. These techniques will negatively impact the reach, user experience, and revenue of your website. This type of practice should be avoided as a whole.

Take your time

The process of achieving quality usually takes time. Rushing results in a less polished outcome. Backlinks are also collected in this manner. We all get tempted to grab as many follow and no-follow links as we can, regardless of the site's credibility, reputation, or ranking. Working slowly and consistently is a much better approach.

You can grow your business with Sirkle's backlinking and Search Engine Optimization services

SEO and backlinking can be minefields at best, especially if you are only managing a small team or even operating as a sole trader and want to focus on building your client base rather than focusing on your online presence.

You can rely on Sirkle to help you with your website and web hosting, SEO (search engine optimization), backlinking, and digital marketing. Visit Sirkle's website at https://www.sirkle.com/ to find out more.