Backlinks are one of the main building blocks of SEO. Think of them as digital recommendations—when other websites link back to yours, it signals to search engines that your content is trustworthy and valuable. However, not all backlinks are created equal. Building a solid backlink profile requires more than just collecting a few links here and there.
In this article, we’ll examine what backlinks are and why they matter. We’ll cover the different types of backlinks, mistakes to avoid, how to improve your backlink profile, and more. Let’s get started!
What Are Backlinks and How Do They Work?
A backlink (also known as an inbound or incoming link) is when one website links to another. For example, if a well-known blog links to an article on your site, that’s a backlink (or an inbound link). The domain that linked to you is called a referring domain.
In SEO, backlinks are like votes of confidence. The more high-quality “votes” your site receives, the more trustworthy and valuable it appears to search engines.
Since search engines can’t quite determine whether your content is trustworthy based solely on their own merit, they use backlinks to determine this. The assumption is that if that many high-quality websites (websites that also have a lot of quality backlinks) are linking to you, then your content must be good.
Inbound links function as a bridge between websites. They give readers a direct path to additional, relevant content. This not only drives traffic but also improves your website’s ranking on search engine results pages (SERPs).
Why Backlinks Matter for SEO (and How They Influence Rankings)
Backlinks are one of the main off-page SEO factors. They play a massive role in SEO rankings and overall site authority. When search engines like Google assess web pages, they don’t only consider onsite factors. They also look at the number of backlinks pointing to it and the quality of those backlinks. A single backlink from an authoritative site—say, a reputable news outlet or an influential blog—can carry more weight than dozens of links from smaller, less relevant sites.
The quality of your backlinks directly influences your website’s domain authority, which is crucial for ranking higher on SERPs. Good backlinks act like a stamp of approval from trusted sources, while poor-quality links from spammy or irrelevant sites can harm your ranking. That’s why the goal isn’t simply to collect links but to build quality links from sites with high authority and relevance to your industry.
The Different Types of Backlinks and Their Impact
Not all backlinks impact search rankings in the same way. Here’s a breakdown of the main types of backlinks and how they affect your rankings:
- Dofollow links. These are the most beneficial for SEO. Dofollow links tell search engines to follow the link to your page, effectively passing authority and trust from one site to another.
- Nofollow links. Nofollow links have a tag that tells search engines not to follow them. While they don’t directly boost rankings, they can still drive traffic and offer brand visibility. SEO professionals often frown upon a nofollow link, but in our experience, they can be quite helpful, too.
- UGC (User-Generated Content) links. Google identifies links from user-generated content, such as forums or comments, as UGC links. These links don’t carry the same SEO weight as editorially placed links but are still valuable for traffic and engagement.
- Sponsored links. These links are marked as paid or sponsored, telling search engines they’re part of a paid placement. They won’t boost rankings directly, but they can be valuable for branding and audience reach.
Each link type serves a purpose, and a healthy backlink profile will likely contain a mix. While dofollow links are the gold standard for SEO, a natural link profile would include nofollow, UGC, and even some sponsored links.
How to Find Backlinks to Your Site and Your Competitors’ Sites
Understanding where your backlinks come from—and where your competitors are getting theirs—can give you a massive advantage. Here’s how we usually do it:
- Google Search Console. Google Search Console (GSC) is a free and effective tool for identifying backlinks. It allows us to see where most of the links on your website are coming from and identify potential problems or, perhaps, opportunities. However, we mainly use GSC to gauge where you are at the moment.
- Ahrefs and SEMrush. Both Ahrefs and SEMrush offer serious backlink analysis tools that let you see not only who’s linking to you but also who’s linking to your competitors. We primarily use SEMrush to find backlinks that could be potential leads for outreach and link-building.
- Competitor backlinks. By analyzing competitor backlinks, we can uncover sites within your industry that may be willing to link to your content. This is where our backlink analysis tool comes into play again. It allows us to enter a competitor’s URL and receive a list of backlinks to give us an insight into their SEO strategy.
Finding and monitoring new backlinks isn’t always easy, but we do what we can to keep you competitive. The good news is that links are rarely a zero-sum game, so there are always opportunities out there. It’s only a matter of uncovering them.
Building High-Quality Backlinks & Proven Strategies for Success
Here are some of the link-building strategies we use to get high-quality backlinks for our clients:
- Guest posting. Writing articles for other blogs or websites in your industry is an excellent way to secure backlinks. We make sure the blog post is valuable and relevant to the audience you’re targeting. This increases the chance of the content being accepted.
- HARO (Help A Reporter Out). This tool connects journalists looking for expert quotes with sources. By providing relevant insights, we can often secure backlinks from high-authority media outlets.
- Create linkable assets. These are unique pieces of content that people naturally want to link to. This includes detailed guides, original research, infographics, and interactive tools. Sometimes the design team needs to get involved to make it work. The more valuable the resource, the more likely people will share and link to it.
Building quality links takes effort, but we use a wide variety of methods to achieve SEO success and help your business grow.
Common Link-Building Mistakes to Avoid and How to Clean Up Bad Links
While building backlinks is crucial, there are some common mistakes to avoid:
- Overusing exact-match anchor text. Using the same keyword as anchor text repeatedly can look spammy to search engines and may result in penalties. Let’s face it—there is no way to naturally have the same anchor text over and over again without being deliberate.
- Link schemes. Buying links or participating in link exchanges is against Google’s guidelines and can hurt your site’s reputation. Granted, there are ways to do this without violating Google’s guidelines, but it’s tricky.
- Ignoring low-quality links. Too many spammy links from low-quality or irrelevant sites can dilute your backlink profile. Google’s Disavow Tool can help here, though it should be used sparingly.
It used to be that if you’ve received a manual penalty or have a large number of links from spammy sites, disavowing these links was helpful. However, Google’s algorithm is quite good at recognizing low-quality links, so Disavow should be a last resort.
Google has stated numerous times that they’ll be “sunsetting” the tool soon. The only reason we’re mentioning this is to provide context in case you’ve seen other blogs talk about this.
Analyzing and Tracking Your Backlink Profile for Continuous Improvement
Continuous analysis is essential to maintain a healthy backlink profile. Metrics like domain rating, referring domains, and anchor text distribution all give us insights into the health of your domain. This is why:
- We monitor backlinks over time. We use SEMrush to track new and lost backlinks. If we see a sudden spike in lost links, that could be a signal to investigate further. The same goes for a sudden surge in new backlinks, especially if they’re from the same domain. This might point to link spam.
- We analyze domain authority. We keep an eye on the authority of the domains linking to you. A high number of links from authoritative sites indicates a solid backlink profile and that’s what we aim for.
- We check anchor text diversity. A natural backlink profile has a variety of anchor texts, including branded, generic, and exact match. We analyze the anchor diversity to make sure that it reflects a natural profile.
We track all these metrics to ensure your link building strategy is always on point.
Link Back to the Beginning
Backlinks are more than just digital endorsements: They’re a key component of SEO success. From understanding different types of backlinks to learning effective strategies and avoiding common pitfalls, building a strong backlink profile is essential for improving search engine rankings. The good news is that you don’t have to do it alone—you can always count on us! Contact Uptick for comprehensive SEO services that help get your website seen and help convert clicks into customers.
