Did you know that without backlinks, you have very little – as little as 0.8% – chance to rank in Google?
According to Moz, one of the leading marketing SAAS (software as a service) providers, it is!
This means that if you don’t use inbound links, you may not see your website (or webpages) appear in Google’s search engine results pages (SERPs) at all.
At the same time, it doesn’t mean that all links back to your content, such as from random sources, will do your marketing campaign good. This would endanger your SEO campaign, not to mention put your site at risk of penalties.
But what exactly are backlinks in the first place? What value do they have?
All these questions are most likely running through your mind now. Don’t worry. That’s why we’re here.
Let us show you the correct steps on how to hyperlink with this ultimate guide!
Google and Inbound Links: The Strong Link Between the Two
You may have noticed in the intro how we put the emphasis on Google. Don’t get us wrong. High quality, relevant links are as important a ranking factor to other search engines.
Why concentrate on making Google happy then?
Here’s something to put things in perspective:
If we were to ask you how much of the Internet does Google make up, what would you answer?
- 10%
- 20%
- 30%
If you gave an answer from any of the multiple choices above, then surprise, surprise. The right answer isn’t there.
Because Google makes up 40% of the Internet!
The search engine giant processes – at the very least – a shocking 2 trillion search queries every year.
All these numbers already tell you that your SEO campaign, powerful and effective link building included, should revolve primarily around Google. Because if you don’t, you stand to miss out on nearly half of your potential target market using this search engine for their consumer-related activities.
Where to Start
First things first: You need to have a basic understanding of what internal links, hyperlinks, or backlinks are all about.
Let’s break that down further with this links definition from Searchmetrics:
Backlinks are links external domains (websites other than yours) use to point to your domain’s web pages. Basically, they hyperlink keywords or key phrases relevant to the web page on your domain they point back to.
A good example is the link we used (above) to link back to Searchmetrics. See how the words “from Searchmetrics” are in blue and clickable? When you do click on it, you’ll find yourself looking at the company’s definition of links.
In this case, we, as the external domain, act as the “referring domain.” It’s important that your own backlinks come from trustworthy and reliable referring domains since this plays a crucial role in strengthening your backlink profile.
Here’s an easier-to-digest example:
Say your business is all about pet supplies, toys, etc. You have great content that talks about taking care of them in more detail.
Now, Forbes Magazine decides to create a post about how dogs really benefit humans. At one point, the post will feature a section about how people should take off their furry family members.
If they see that your content is really of top-notch quality and can help readers who want to take better care of their dogs, then they may link back to one of your web pages.
See where we’re getting at?
Basically, Forbes here is the referring domain, since they linked back to your site. Seeing that Forbes is a high-ranking, well-trusted domain, then Google (along with other search engines), will take that as a sign you’re credible too.
Thus, your SERP ranking increases. More people will see your site. And the more visitors you get, the higher your chances of generating leads and transforming them into paying customers.
Where to Start?
Before you can start building your backlink portfolio, you first need to curate outstanding content. For the simple reason that it’s your content you’ll link to!
Whether you’re link building for an eCommerce site or creating a backlink portfolio for scholarship sites, your backlinks have three primary criteria to meet:
- Strength
- Relevance
- Diversity
So, strength here refers to the overall credibility of the external domain hyperlinked to. Relevance, as the term suggests, pertains to the relationship between an anchor text (the hyperlinked keywords) and what that external page contains. The more diverse the backlink portfolio, the greater the number of places (referring domains) linking back to a website.
All these said, the key to developing a strong, relevant, and diverse backlink portfolio is first having content that other websites can link back to you.
Curating Content Consumers Crave
The more links pointing back to you, the higher chances you have of ranking better in SERPs.
The thing is, Google is so powerful it can easily figure out which links are bad and which ones are excellent.
Simply put, you want your backlinks to come from not only various but authoritative referring domains.
That’s why the first step to getting those inbound links is coming up with top-of-the-line content. Content that consumers need and they constantly look for. But, it should remain aligned with what your brand is all about (remember the above example of the pet business).
The more satisfying your content, the more people will want to come back for more. The more authoritative websites (again, like Forbes), will link back to you.
From here, Google will consider the link’s anchor text, and if meets the criteria, award your content with higher relevance. This then leads to higher chances of better SERP ranking.
Start Getting Those Backlinks Now
In a nutshell, inbound links, or backlinks, remain an important factor to rank in SERPs. Believing otherwise can really do a number on your web traffic and ultimately, your revenues.
So, if you haven’t started your backlink building campaign yet, there’s no other better time than now to do it. And we can help you with this.
