It's time to unlock the secrets of the updated guide for site backlinks in 2021. Every business with a website wants to increase the rankings of their SEO on Google. Doing this effectively without spending money on paid page promotion is possible and simpler than one might think. Before diving into the latest site backlink techniques, it's important that the basic understanding of what backlinks are and how they work is covered.
What are Backlinks?
Site backlinks are one of the most valuable factors within an SEO ranking strategy for a website. Another name for a backlink is an external link or an inbound link. In short, when a website links to a URL from another website, this will add creditability and ranking to that linked site. The more legitimate and popular the site is that chooses to link to the website, the more beneficial that backlink is for increasing their SEO score.
A prime example of a typical backlink is when a website's blog page links to another website's page to highlight the definition of a term or linking to the page as a source they used to influence an article's legitimacy. When a website adds a link from a given site to its site, Google will increase its ranking, and the overall site traffic should improve.
Think of Each Backlink as a Job Reference
Before putting in the time to obtain backlinks, our guide for site backlinks will explain the significance of researching before reaching out. When using SEO tools, the creditability of any website is accessible to anyone. Think of site backlinks like job references. Getting ten low to average job references is not as beneficial as receiving four high-quality job references from creditable sources. Developing a site backlink strategy requires weeding out the bad leads to achieve optimized SEO results.
The Updated Guide for Site Backlinks in 2021 (SEO)
Now that the basic concept of site backlinks has been established, it is time to break down all the different types of backlinks and their value to a website. This updated guide for site backlinks will highlight the tried-and-true methods for obtaining backlinks and the latest methods surfacing in 2021.
Backlink Tools
There are a few things to decide on before beginning the journey to better backlinks. What tools are used to search for backlinks, evaluate a website's ranking, and send out backlink requests to businesses? A few of the popular tools to achieve these goals are highlighted in the list below.
SEO Ranking Tools
- Google PageSpeed Insights
- PageRank
- Moz Link Explorer
- DYNO Mapper
- SEO Profiler
- SEMrush
- Google Keyword Planner
- WooRank
The Simple Site Backlink
Anytime that a site links to another website, it is considered a backlink. The best backlinks are obtained when the website linking to the other is popular and has a high PageRank on Google. Another thing to consider is where the placement of the backlink is on the website. If the backlink is placed on a page that gets a higher amount of traffic, it will favor Google.
No-Follow vs. Do-Follow
What is a no-follow link?
A no-follow link is a link that does not pass the PageRank ratings. Therefore, a no-follow link would be flagged by Google as an untrusted source and will do more harm than good for site rankings. This is why researching the sites that you want backlinks from is important to do beforehand.
What is a do-follow link?
Naturally, a do-follow link is a link that passes the PageRank qualifications. Do follows links are the backlinks needed to improve website rankings on Google.
UGC Links
A newer item to cover in this guide for site backlinks is a UGC link. User-Generated Content (UGC) has become increasingly more people during the era of social media. Another form of user-generated content is a UGC backlink. This backlink comes from forums and blog comments online. This type of link will show Google that the backlink was from a user and not the webmaster. New features for UGC backlinks became available in 2019.
Editorial Links
What is an editorial link? This is a backlink that Google values highly because it is where the webmaster or reporter is selecting a link to place on their website. The webmaster chooses to link to this content simply because it will help their reader's overall experience. This is seen as an honest backlink and not a link plugged into content to falsely boost page rankings. Google can sniff out the accounts backlinking to cheat the system.
Avoiding Toxic Links
A significant piece to the updated guide for site backlinks in 2021 is understanding how a backlink can hurt or help you. Toxic backlinks are out there, and they can negatively impact the ranking and credibility of a website. What makes a backlink toxic?
Here are a few red flags to look for:
- A link from a poorly functioning website or unpopular website
- Paid links that are not marked as no-follow
- Links from a website that isn't secure or seems suspicious
- When a website uses a large number of backlinks from the same source
Starting Your 2021 Backlink Plan
If there is one takeaway from this guide for site backlinks, it is that research is a key component in securing quality links to help website rankings. Finding well-written content, credible websites, networking opportunities, and sites that align with your branded content all require research.
Research. Monitor. Network. Repeat.
Once the research is complete, it is all a matter of putting feelers out there to obtain quality backlinks. Lastly, website monitoring is key to ensure your own score isn't being damaged by broken links or poorly rated websites linking to your content. These can all be flagged and removed with the help of the several SEO tools highlighted in the guide above.
