Backlinks: what are they and how do you get them?

If you’re looking to improve your website’s rankings, then backlinks should be an essential component of your SEO (search engine optimisation) strategy.

What is a backlink?

Put simply, a backlink is any link that points from a website to your website – another term for them is inbound links. Not to be confused with external links (where pages from your own website are linked to another page within your site), backlinks are when a link on a completely separate domain is directed back to your website.

Why are backlinks important for SEO?

Search engines place high importance on backlinks because it provides evidence that your website is a credible source and therefore trustworthy. The more inbound links you have pointing to pages on your website, the more credible you’ll be seen in Google’s eyes.

Having said that, not all backlinks are created equal – you must have high quality websites linking back to your site otherwise you may be doing more harm than good to your SEO strategy.

How do I get backlinks to my website?

Getting backlinks to your website takes time and effort, so here’s a few suggestions of how to get high quality backlinks to your site:-

Social media
One of the easiest ways to obtain backlinks is to simply create them yourself via your social media pages. Facebook, Linkedin and Instagram – if you have these accounts then first of all make sure you incorporate a link to your website in your bio. Secondly, as part of your social strategy (and let’s hope you have one!) make sure to include a link back to your site whenever possible in a social media post.

High quality content
Having a blog on your website is a valuable tool in any SEO strategy as it provides an opportunity to have high-quality, evergreen content on your website that’s useful, informative and helpful to potential customers. Having this type of content on your website means users are more likely to link to your blog posts, whether directly from their own website or one of their social media pages.

An excellent area to focus on is any type of “how to” post, as these are more likely to receive backlinks from other websites. Always focus on creating relevant, informative, valuable and unique content for your target market.

Guest blogging
This is an excellent way to secure backlinks and build a network simultaneously. This method requires some groundwork to reach other website owners and pitch your blog post idea. Still, it is guaranteed to provide high-quality backlinks as long as you reach out to authoritative domains relevant to your content.

As you can see, backlinks are an essential part of SEO and should be incorporated into your SEO strategy. If you need any help or advice on how to get backlinks for your website, give us a call or send us an email and we’d be happy to chat.