67.5% of Marketers believe that SEO has a very big impact on search engine rankings.
This makes sense because backlinks are an important part of search engine optimization and are amongst the top three crucial factors for website ranking in the SERP.
And no wonder that the top search results in Google have 3.8 times more backlinks than the lower pages or websites.
Also, according to a report published by Research and Markets, the global SEO market is expected to be 103.24 Billion Dollars by 2030.
Looking at these numbers many businesses have started putting more effort into their search engine optimization and link building strategies. But there are several kinds of backlinks which you can use in your link building strategy. And to help you select the right type of backlink we have curated this simple guide that you can make a part of your link building strategies.
What Are The Types Of Backlinks Which Work Mostly In SEO
As William Shakespeare said ”All that glitters is not gold”, he might have said this in some other context but this holds even for your off-page SEO efforts.
There are many types of backlinks that you can make a part of your link building strategy. But not every kind is gold; only a handful of them will be helpful.
And to save you the trouble of going through hit and trial we have mentioned the types of backlinks that work most in SEO.
- Image sharing
We all share images over multiple platforms, and this activity of yours can be easily used to build backlinks which will improve your search rankings. There are many websites that you can visit and submit images and get backlinks.
Also, this is a great way to interact with your audience apart from traditional social media platforms. Although there are certain things that you need to keep in mind when you use this method for link building
- Always include ALT text because Google doesn’t crawl images it crawls text.
- Include the keyword in the ALT text
- Use proper image format
- Don’t forget to write an image description
- Profile links
Almost every business that’s online has an online profile like local listings, social media channels, etc. You can use these platforms to gain good-quality backlinks to your website.
Getting backlinks from these platforms serves as proof for Google that your website is genuine and highly active. Also creating a backlink can be done by you even if you haven’t done it before.
- Pillow links
These are a type of white hat backlinks that may be utilized anytime and they are the most fundamental linking you can have on your website. These links are primarily used on home or landing pages which make it easier for the user to find the main landing page.
In layman’s terms, pillow links are links that go to a certain page on a website. Pillow connections are usually focused on certain keywords.
- Guest blogging
This is the most commonly gathered type of backlink. To gather backlinks via this means you have to write a blog post for some other website and submit it on their website in return for a high-quality backlink.
These backlinks are one of the best types of backlinks and that’s why they should be included in your SEO campaign. In most cases, a site that allows guest blogging will allow backlinks within the author’s bio, even if it doesn’t allow them inside the article as they still have an impact on SEO optimization.
- Web 2.0
These types of backlinks are generated from sites where you have to make an account to publish your content.
This included platforms like Pinterest, WordPress, Tumblr, Medium, etc. What makes this so great is the feature that you get to control the quantity and quality of all the backlinks you get from web 2.0 platforms.
Backlinks from these platforms are beneficial to SEO since they diversify your website’s backlink profile. Also, they have low competition and are cost-effective which will help you increase your search engine rankings.
- Local listing
46% of Google traffic comes from local searches meaning if you have a good local listing your website will rank higher in search results. Meaning if you get backlinks from any local listing it will be very beneficial for your business.
It can be understood as making an online profile for your business where it contains its NAP (Name, Address, and Phone). There are multiple platforms like Google my business, Yelp, Justdial, etc and get backlinks from there.
- Directory submission
It is the practice of submitting your website URL to numerous online directories (websites) to improve search ranking through backlinks. This is an off-page SEO approach that isn’t used much now because it is difficult to find a legitimate online directory nowadays.
Also, you should keep in mind to avoid automatic direct submissions because if your site appears as spam in search engines, your domain authority will drop substantially, and your blog may potentially be deleted entirely.
- Blog commenting
Gathering backlinks via this method is a good interaction between industry professionals and others who are interested. It aids in increasing traffic to the blog and hence to the website.
Also, building such backlinks is quite easy and is often exploited by spammers which use it to make bad backlinks. But when you leave a comment with your website link on a highly engaging blog then the chances of you getting good-quality traffic increase.
- Forum Posting
Every once in a while you find yourself online searching for some answer and when you search for it you are directed towards forums like Quora, etc. Meaning if you add a forum into your link-building matrix and leverage its power then you can easily get some good quality backlinks.
Also, posting answers in forums will help you interact with customers more interactively. Another feature that distinguishes forums is the ability to hold open discussions with potential clients who are actively inquiring about what you have to offer. This is an excellent method to begin establishing relationships and trust.
Now that you know about the types of backlinks it’s time to learn more about the different kinds of backlinks and their importance in your link building strategy.
Kinds Of Backlinks And Their Importance In Terms Of SEO
We’ve established that backlinks are a type of technique for increasing a website’s SEO score. Now, we’ll look at the various sorts of backlinks and how they may help increase a website’s SEO and help it rank higher in search engines.
- Do-follow backlinks
These backlinks are the best ones that you could ask for. Having these backlinks on your blog or website gives Google a clear indication that your content is trustworthy and people are engaging with it.
These backlinks pass their authority to our page or website which in term helps improve your website’s domain authority, and rating leading to an overall increase in website ranking.
- No-follow backlinks
These backlinks have an attribute of “nofollow” in them and give a clear indication to Google crawlers to skip this content as it doesn’t add value to the context. Meaning having a no follow link will not improve your search rankings.
Although these links don’t increase your domain authority or rating, they can help you increase your website traffic. That’s why you should always try to get a balance between do-follow and no-follow backlinks.
- UGC backlinks
These backlinks were recently introduced by Google and they fall under the umbrella of do-follow links. These links are generated when you get a link from a blog or via a forum. Just like not following the link they have an attribute of “UGC” which makes them easy to identify as UGC backlinks.
UGC (User Generated Backlinks) provides search crawlers with new and engaging content leading to better search visibility. Also, UGC backlinks can help you rank your website or page much higher in search results with long tail keywords.
- Paid backlinks
Nowadays influencer marketing is at a boom and many businesses are utilizing it to grow their business. And when they get a backlink from such a sponsored or paid process it is known as a paid backlink. It also has an attribute of “sponsored” making it easier for crawlers to identify the backlink type.
Such backlinks are best when your goal is to increase your brand awareness and increase sales and conversion. Because you’ll be paying a party for the backlink so it makes sense to use it in such scenarios.
- Unnatural backlinks
These backlinks are the ones that you should stay away from because they will harm your Google ranking and can also lead to serious penalties. Any link from a low-quality website or bought-out backlinks falls into this category.
All these backlinks (not including unnatural backlinks) are good for your SEO. They will help your content reach the target audience and increase your website traffic. Apart from this, they entail several other benefits like
Advantages Of Making High-Quality Backlinks In SEO
- Better visibility and indexing
Being visible online is a crucial and challenging task which can be accomplished with the help of SEO backlinks. Link-building will assist you in doing so by generating awareness in that location. This may have a significant beneficial influence on your organization and help you establish yourself as a trusted brand rapidly.
Not only this but with increased online visibility Google will be able to identify as a trusted brand which will lead to faster indexing leading to higher search ranking in a shorter time duration. This is because to efficiently crawl your site, crawlers must first locate it and with backlinks on your new website, they can easily identify and list your website more quickly.
- Increased trustworthiness
Trust is the backbone of any business because without trust your business cannot flourish. And having high-quality SEO backlinks from high-authority websites can help you build trust amongst consumers and the search engine as well.
And even if you have a high domain authority due to strong backlinks, if search engines do not attribute a high trust rating to your backlinks, you will rank poorly.
This is because backlinks lend credibility to your site by serving as third-party indications of your domain’s authoritative power. Google strives to deliver the most relevant results to consumers. It takes ‘authority’ into account to do this. The greater the number of high-quality links pointing to your site, the greater your reputation.
- Better organic reach
If you start spending money to increase your online reach chances are that you will not get the desired return on investment. But if you make a solid link building strategy and have a diversified SEO backlink portfolio then you’ll have a much better organic reach.
Additionally, high-quality connections will provide more passive visitors to your website. As a result, the higher the number of high-quality backlinks going to a website, the higher its total SEO score.
And because of this, you may see a boost in traffic and conversion rates as visitors are more inclined to investigate your product and service offerings and make a purchase while on your site.
- High referral traffic
Getting traffic to your website is one of the major goals. And that is just what having backlinks does as they assist you in receiving referral traffic.
For instance, the stats we used earlier in this article will lead (if you click on the links) to those articles leading to increased traffic on their site.
This is beneficial because people who deliberately click on links are generally more targeted and less likely to abandon the website quickly.
Conclusion
Hopefully, after reading this backlinks guide you are familiar with the importance of having SEO backlinks in your SEO optimization strategy. Although you have to make sure that you have a mix of each type.
Having a range of backlinks reduces your reliance on a single sort of connection and makes your site look more natural to Google. This has a hidden benefit in that if the algorithm is changed in the future, you will have an upper hand.
And now that you’re aware of the various types of backlinks, you can begin designing an effective link building plan for your website. However, keep in mind that acquiring more connections isn’t the only thing that matters. Link quality is also an important consideration in strategy.
FAQ
- Are backlinks important in terms of ranking?
Yes, backlinks play crucial in your website ranking. Although over the years their importance has taken a backseat still they are the third most important factor for website ranking after content and keywords.
- Can we get high-quality backlinks for free?
Yes, you can get high-quality backlinks for free from
- Guest posting
- Interview and podcasts
- Forum and blog commenting
- Citations and directories
- Building broken links
- What will be the major impacts of creating backlinks in SEO for any website?
- Better organic reach
- High referral traffic
- Increased brand awareness
- Improve DA and trust score
