Why Is Backlinking Important And How Do I Get Backlinks To Boost My Google Ranking?
Dec 02, 2021When it comes to SEO, we’re all implementing it for the same reason, aren’t we? We all want to rank in the top positions in Google for our chosen keywords, so that we can grow our audience, sales and revenue.
There are three primary components to master when it comes to SEO and one of those is 'link building'. By focusing on building links, you signal to Google that you have a trustworthy, authoritative site that they should rank higher in the Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs).
But before I answer the question 'how do I get backlinks?', let me give you a quick refresh on all three components of SEO.
COMPONENTS OF SEO
SEO is made up of three primary components. Each component must work together to optimise your ranking in search engines like Google.
How your site is built and functions (crawlability, speed and responsiveness)
The words, images, graphics, videos and content on your pages and posts and how they’re optimised
Links
Backlinks from other sites to your website which increase your domain authority and help Google to boost your ranking.
Now that we’ve spent a decent chunk of time focusing on the technical and content side of SEO over the past few weeks, let’s do the same with links.
Starting from the top, I am going to get you all over backlinks so you start ranking for your chosen keywords.
WHAT IS BACKLINKING AND WHY IS BACKLINKING IMPORTANT?
A backlink is a link from other sites to your site. These links along with citations of your site help you increase your domain authority and are the only way to grow it. Increasing your domain authority helps improve your page rank for your chosen keywords and the higher the authority of your website, the better chance you have of ranking above your competitors for the same keywords.
WHAT IS DOMAIN AUTHORITY?
Developed by MOZ, Domain Authority (also known as Page Rank) is a score between 1 and 100. It’s determined by the quality and number of links to your site. The more links pointing to your site, particularly of higher quality, the higher your domain authority.
A brand-new site would have a Domain Authority of 1 or 2 given it has little to no backlinks
Websites like Facebook where almost all websites link back to it, have a Domain Authority close to 100. Again, numerous companies link to Facebook because they trust them which proves to Google that Facebook themselves are trustworthy and should be ranked higher.
KEYWORD ANALYSIS AND DOMAIN AUTHORITY
Keyword choices need to be considered together with analysing the domain authority of competitor sites that rank in the current top positions for those keywords. Why? Because if all things are equal, sites with a higher domain authority will generally rank higher than those with lower scores for the same keywords.
Not all sites have been optimised well for SEO which means there is potential for you to outrank a higher authority site. It is just a little harder and you’ll need to be more strategic about your approach. With good keyword research and implementation, and well written copy, you’ll give yourself a better chance.
The higher the authority of the site linking to your site, the more authority will pass to you. A link from a high authority site is worth more than hundreds of links from low authority sites.
TRUST SIGNALS
As demonstrated, your domain authority and page rank are two measures of how trustworthy your site is to Google and determinants of where you rank. The more links from higher authority sites linking to you, the more trustworthy Google deems you to be and the more highly ranked your site will be.
But let me tell you...if you want to rank in search engines like Google, there is no point doing your keyword research and getting your website technically sound if you aren’t going to use links.
Other Links:
- Links within your own site are called internal links.
- Links from your sites to other sites are called external links.
HOW DO I GET BACKLINKS YOU MAY ASK?
Building backlinks takes time and should be done naturally so you don’t get penalised by Google. But…it must be done so that people can find you on Google. And it’s important to get links to all pages on your website, not just your homepage.
There are several different tactics for scoring backlinks. I am going to take you through five free strategies that don’t require any paid SEO Tools at all.
5 FREE WAYS TO GET BACKLINKS
Family and Friends
- Ask family or friends that have a website or blog to link to your website via a supplier list or guest blog they do on your business.
Affiliated Businesses
- Consider what complementary businesses you could link to e.g. If you’re a facebook ads manager, you could ask an affiliated social media manager, copywriter or graphic designer to link to you as a partner.
Supplier Linking
- If you sell other people’s products or services, you could ask them to link to you as a reseller or stockist.
Testimonials:
- Writing testimonials for other brands, ask them to add it to their site and create a link to your site.
Directories:
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Consider industry related directories for the regions you operate in. Be sure to avoid free directories without a strong verification process.
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Look for reputable, well known directories and review sites e.g. Australian directories include: True Local, Hot Frog, Yellow pages, or internationally renowned sites like TripAdvisor or Yelp. One last thing: make sure your contact details including your Name, Address and Phone Number (NAP) are the same across all directories.
It’s critical to implement a backlink strategy to ensure all the hard work you put into creating a technically sound site, finding good keywords and writing good content doesn’t go to waste. Which backlink tactic will you be starting with?
