The Importance Of Backlinks In Seo

5 minutes read

In SEO, strong link building is key to improving your website’s rankings for your target keywords. For search engines like Google, these links are indicators that other websites are vouching for a website. That is why link building is one of the fundamental elements upon which a strong SEO campaign is built.

High quality backlinks leading to a website indicate the authority and credibility of a website in the eyes of Google. A single high quality link can be more impactful in terms of rankings as compared to numerous lower quality links. As a website continues to build authority and credibility through quality links, Google ranks it higher in organic search results.

Today we will peek into how Google identifies high quality links from quality links.

What are high quality links?

So, we know Google values high quality links, but what qualifies as such?

Essentially, a high-quality link is one that is difficult to acquire. Editorial websites are considered authoritative domains, trusted by both web users and search engines as sources of reliable, truthful, accurate information. Webmasters cannot easily acquire links from these websites.

Sites that are considered as the main sources of news and information online, such as news websites, portals of industry leaders, and online broadsheets, hold significantly higher authority over other websites. Getting a link from any of these sites holds more weight, more gravity, as compared to getting numerous links from other lower quality sites. From the point of view of search engines, a link from these sites is similar to getting a vote of confidence from an authority or industry expert.

On the other hand, links from lower quality websites – otherwise known as ‘spammy links’ – are far easier to acquire.  These are links that can be acquired by any webmaster, with marginal effort, time, and resources invested. The list includes linked blog commenting, article networks, and forums. However, acquiring a good amount of links from any of these link building measures, cannot compare to obtaining a single link from an relevant online authority.

At the end of the day, authoritativeness and relevancy are critical. Develop a strategy that incorporates earning links from relevant industry websites, and you can earn the nod from Google.

What happens when I use low quality links to boost my site?

Over the years, Google’s search algorithm has evolved to a point where it is now able to recognise the quality of backlinks that are pointing to a site, and determine the techniques used by SEOs and webmasters to earn said links.

When it recognises that your site has purposefully earned low quality links to earn higher rankings in search results pages, it will take action with a penalty. If you are unsure about whether or not your site has been affected by a penalty, you can look back to a previous post we have made about the signs of a Google penalty.

On the other hand, if you need expert assistance to address a penalty on your website, USEO can help you. We have a team of experienced in-house SEO experts who can craft a bespoke digital marketing strategy to boost your website. Contact us today, and find out how we can help your link building efforts today.