Trends come and go, whether in fashion, food, furniture, or Search Engine Optimization (SEO) practices, but some things remain firm—like the need for backlinks.
Despite what you may have heard, backlinks still matter. There are some who say you can leave the links behind, but industry insiders say you do so at your peril.
Backlinks perform valuable tasks that benefit your business. However, there are multiple types of backlinks that differ in value, and some can actually hurt your website’s rankings.
When thoughtfully and skillfully used, though, backlinks can play an essential role in your 2019 SEO strategy.
Link Building Strategy
When your website links to an external URL, this is called a backlink. If an exterior website links to one of your web pages on your site, you get a backlink.
In the past, the more backlinks a page had, the higher its rankings on important search engines, and this is often still the case.
Some people are tempted to buy backlinks as part of their link building strategy, but beware. Bad backlinks can backfire.
Connections to spam sites, dead sites, and porn sites can lower your website’s rankings and reduce the legitimacy of your good links, not to mention your entire website and even your brand name.
Furthermore, trying to cheat search engine rankings by using what the industry calls black hat SEO practices can have serious long-term consequences.
Building many low-quality backlinks into your web pages could result in having your rankings dramatically lowered permanently with no chance to move up.
Keywords and Backlinks
Keywords and backlinks are intricately connected. They sway together in an intricate dance that can get your web pages noticed.
Careful keyword research pays off handsomely, as valuable backlinks often target keywords on web pages within your site.
The largest search engine by far is Google, which receives about 70,000 searches every second most days, according to Internet Live Stats.
In a study by Moz of links and Google rankings, 99.2 percent of the top 50 search results with 15,000 keywords had at least one external link.
Google itself has confirmed links that point to your site are one of the search giant’s essential ranking factors.
This is compelling evidence that backlinks do matter. And that strong keywords are vital for building high-quality organic traffic that boosts your rankings in a healthy—and ultimately profitable—way.
Acquiring Quality Backlinks
High-quality web page content is essential, but alone, it is not enough to boost your rankings. Backlinks are vital to higher search engine rankings, and you need to understand some of the best ways to get them.
Guest Posts
Write quality guest posts for other related external sites and link back to your website in a natural way.
Search engines like relevant, effortless links from highly reputable sites. Guest posting is a great way to get these valuable links.
In addition to building backlinks, guest posting also helps you begin to form relationships with other site owners and creators.
Revamp Older Blog Posts
According to Backlinko, refreshing old copy and adding new information and compelling images can boost organic traffic by up to 111 percent.
Updated information gives readers more perceived value, and careful internal linking with keywords can earn you long term value through more traffic and increased sales.
Use Social Media
Get brand recognition and build links to drive traffic back to your site by using social media platforms such as Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, and Facebook.
In 2018, the number of people in the United States using social networks was more than 243 million, and this number is predicted to keep rising.
By using social sharing, you can incorporate valuable backlinks, one of the top-ranking factors in google searches, into your posts.
Backlinks are relevant now because they help your site get ranked on major search engines, including Google.
When carefully cultivated backlinks are connected to relevant keywords, you can build lasting brand awareness in multiple ways.
Your website will grow in authority, which will boost your rankings and earn you more organic traffic, which is what today’s search engines want.
The right backlinks point the way to a bright future for your website and ultimately for your company’s products or services.
