What are backlinks? And how to build them in 2024
What are backlinks?
Backlinks are links from one website that direct to another website. They are very important for Google as well as other search engines. For them, backlinks are like a form of "votes". The more votes you receive, the better your ranking on Google improves.
For example, here is a link from Forbes to my website.
As this link directly leads to a page on my website, it is considered a "backlink".
Why are backlinks important?
The use of backlinks is not new. They have been around for a long time and even form the basis of Google's algorithm (specifically "Pagerank"). Certainly, this famous search engine has already made quite a few changes to its algorithms, but when it comes to Pagerank, there have been no major changes. Incoming links are still considered an important factor in terms of SEOranking in search engine results.
What are the most useful types of backlinks?
I am talking about the "type" of link, because they are not all created in the same way. There are those that arequalityand those who are not. Obviously, quality backlinks are the ones that interest us the most.
One high-quality backlink is more powerful than 1,000 low-quality backlinks. How can you recognize if a backlink is of high quality or not?
1) They come from reliable websites that have authority
If you were asked to choose between a link from a highly recognized site like Harvard and another from any other site, I know exactly who you would turn to.
It's the same thing for Google. It has established a concept called "domain authority." A site with high authority that sends a link to your site will automatically pass on some of its authority to you.
Google does indeed give a lot of weight to sites recommended by other sites that are already well recognized.
For my websites, for example, every time they get a quality backlink, they immediately experience a significant increase in traffic. However, these links are difficult to obtain. But are they worth it? Absolutely!
2) They contain the target keyword in their anchor text
As a reminder, the anchor text is the visible textual part of a link.
These links must have anchor text that includes the target keyword. This way, your site will have a better chance of ranking higher in search engines.
Still, be careful! You shouldn't abuse it. Google also uses the famous algorithm called "Google Penguin" which filters websites. Those who use "black hat" techniques risk being penalized by Google, meaning those who create links to sites with anchor text that exactly matches their own site.
3) The website (and the page) is linked to your site through a thematic link
When one website links to another website, Google wants to ensure that the two sites are related.
This makes sense if you think about it:
Imagine that you have just published an article on running a marathon.
In this case, Google will put MUCH more weight on links from sites about marathons, running, fitness compared to sites about fishing, unicycles, and digital marketing.
Trait n°4: The link is a "Dofollow" link
Google and other search engines ignore links with the "nofollow" tag.
In other words, nofollow links do not count in search engine ranking algorithms.
Luckily, the vast majority of links on the web are "dofollow" links.
And most links with the nofollow tag are not very valuable to begin with. For example, links from these sources tend to be nofollow:
These links are not very useful for SEO anyway, so it doesn't matter if they are not followed.
Trait n°5: The link comes from a domain that was not linked to you before
Let's say you get a link from website A.
Great..
Well, let's say that Website A is referring back to you. And again. And again..
Are the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th links as powerful as the first one?
None.
It turns out that the links from the same website have diminishing returns.
Or in other words:
It is generally better to get 100 links from 100 different websites rather than 1,000 links from the same site.
In fact, our correlation study with search engine rankings has revealed that the number of sites linking to you (and not the total number of backlinks) is more correlated with Google's ranking than any other factor.
Now that you have seen which types of backlinks are most useful for your Google ranking, it's time for me to show you how to build them.
Best practices
Create an asset that can be linked
If you want people to link to your website, you need an element of your site that is worth referencing.
also known as "related items"
A content asset can be a blog post, a video, a software, a quiz, a survey... in short, anything that peoplewant to link.
In most cases, your asset for link building will be amazing content (which is why search engine optimization and content marketing are so closely related).
For example, when I started my blog, I published this list of over 200 Google ranking factors.
One day, I read that Google uses 200 ranking signals. This made me curious: "What are these 200 signals?"
Of course, Google was not about to announce them to the world. So I started compiling Google's statements and patents that I found online.
The compilation of these 200 factors took a lot of time (over two weeks). But in the end, I FINALLY compiled a list of 200 ranking factors that Google could use in its algorithm.
To date, this single piece of content has generated over 19,600 backlinks from 4,810 domains.
Another example?
One of my most successful posts to date (in terms of backlinks and organic traffic) is my ultimate guide to YouTube SEO.
When I started writing this post, I was starting to have success with YouTube marketing. So I decided to compile and share what I learned in the form of an ultimate guide.
I also decided to include many examples in my guide
What most other content on this subject lacks
Even though this article did not generate as many links as my article on Google ranking factors, it still contains a certain number of backlinks.
Create links from the list of links
Imagine people publishing blog articles with the sole purpose of creating links to quality content.
The type of high-quality content that you are already publishing on your site
Wouldn't that be pretty awesome?
Luckily, it's a real thing. And they are called link raids.
Here is an example:
Link roundups are daily, weekly, or monthly blog articles that link to outstanding content.
Here is an example of a backlink that I recently built from a roundup:
Here is the step-by-step process..
Find link raids in your niche: Use search strings in Google search, such as ""Keyword"" + ""link"".
Present your resources: Suggest (gently) that they include your link asset in the roundup.
And if your post fits well with this person's roundup, you will get a high quality link.
They can also share your content on social media
Use the method of the man who moves
Here is the three-step process:
Firstly, you will find web pages, resources or companies that are outdated, have been renamed, or whose name has recently changed.
Next, find the websites that still offer links to these outdated resources.
Finally, you send emails to people to let them know that they are connecting to something that is no longer up to date.
Let me show you how this works with a concrete example..
Some time ago, I read that a website of a large SEO agency had suddenly closed down.
This means that they had a lot of pages on their site that were no longer working..
...pages that many people still refer to..
More specifically, I noticed that an infographic on SEO on their website was no longer working. Which was perfect, as I had just published my own SEO infographic.
It was therefore the first step..
Next, I had to see who was actually connected to this infographic.
I then fired on the Ahrefs and removed all their links
Finally, I sent an email to everyone who was involved in the infographic to let them know that the image was no longer working. I also let them know that my infographic would replace BlueGlass's very well.
Here is the script that I used:
Hello [Name],
I was looking for some content to read on [Topic] this morning. And I came across your excellent post: [Post Title].
Anyway, I couldn't help but notice that you mentioned [Outdated Resource] in your article.
As you may have heard, [Problem With Outdated Resource]..
Here is a screenshot of where this link is located: [Screenshot]
Furthermore, I recently published content on [Topic]. It could effectively replace the [Outdated Resource].
Anyway, I hope this helps you and that you have a good day!
Thank you
Your Name
As you can see, people were more than happy to connect with me
Broken link building
This strategy is similar to the Moving Man method that you have just learned about.
The difference is that with faulty link building, you are only looking for pages that have 404 errors.
To find these 404 links, you want to focus on resource pages in your niche. So, if you are in the fitness niche, you can search in Google using these search strings:
"fitness" + "resources page"
Physical fitness + Resources
"physical form" + "recommended sites"
Physical fitness + links
And you would find pages like this one..
You can now send an email to the website owner and ask for a link. But I have found that begging doesn't work very well.
Inform the website owner of any broken links you find instead.
You can easily find broken links on any page. Just use the "Check My Links Chrome" extension.
This program quickly finds the broken links that the page contains. It also highlights them in red to make them easier to find
The last thing you need to do is send an email to the site owner to inform them of their dead link.
Hello [Site Owner Name],
I just went through your resource page today, and among the interesting resource lists, there were a few broken links.
Here are a few:
I'm sorry, but I cannot provide a translation without the actual content of the website. Please provide the text from the URL so that I can translate it into English for you
Sorry, I am unable to access external content. If you provide the text from the website, I can certainly help translate it into English for you
I'm sorry, but I cannot access external content such as URLs. If you provide me with the text from the website, I'd be happy to help translate it into English for you
Oh, and I have a website, [Your Website], which also regularly publishes quality content related to everything that is happening. If you think so too, feel free to post a link to this site on your resources page.
In any case, I hope this helps you and that you will continue to do good work!
Thank you
Your Name
Guest post publication
Is guest posting dead?
Not really..
In fact, when you are starting out, guest blogs are one of the BEST ways to get links to your site.
In fact, when I started working at Backlinko, I wrote over 50 articles and guest interviews in 12 months!
And the links I obtained through guest messaging have definitely boosted my organic traffic.
That being said, I have been very strategic about things. I made sure to only write guest posts for high-quality websites in my niche.
So if you manage a website about the Paleo diet, and you write a post on a site about iPhones, it will appear as spam to Google.
But when you write stunning guest posts for high-quality websites in your industry, these links are useful.
The fact is that finding places to post guest articles can be a HUGE pain.
But there is an easier way..
Here is how it works:
First, find someone in your sector who writes a lot of guest posts.
Next, go to one of their published guest posts. And take the photo they use in their author bio
Finally, display the URL of this screenshot in Google's reverse image search.
And you will get a list of places where guests have posted messages.
Infographic and other visual assets
Does infographics work as well as before? Probably not.
But they still make an effective link building strategy.
In fact, when we examined the types of content that generate the most links, infographics came out on top.
For example, one of the first infographics I created only took a few hours to put together (I also hired a professional designer to give it a professional look).
Even though this infographic did not go viral, it helped establish strong links
To be clear: I did not just publish my infographic and hope for the best.
As with any content you publish, you need to strategically promote your infographic. And to do this, I recommend using a strategy called "Guestographics".
In this post, I explain exactly how Guestographics works.
Submit a testimonial
Businesses, big and small, like to showcase testimonials from their customers.
And if you use a product or service that you like (or at least appreciate), consider sending them a testimonial.
To show that you are a real person, they will often add a link to your website... without you even having to ask for it.
Here is an example:
Bloggers' comments
If you have software, a physical product, a consulting service, or anything else of value that you sell, you can easily turn it into dozens of high-quality backlinks.
Comment?
By offering your product for free to bloggers..
Here's how:
Find bloggers in your niche who might be interested in what you have to offer. If you sell an information product that teaches people how to make their own soaps, you can search on Google for information such as "soap making", "making soap at home", etc.
You will get a mix of blogs, news sites, and "how-to" sites like eHow. Filter out the "how-to" or news sites. You will get a solid list of bloggers who may be interested in your offer, like this one:
Contact them using this email template: Hey [Site Owner Name], I was looking for [Some Homemade Soap Recipes] today when I came across [Website]. It's awesome! In fact, I just launched a guide that [Teaches People How To Make Luxury Soaps At Home]. I usually charge [$X] but I would be more than happy to send it to you for free. Let me know what you think. Cheers
Your First Name
A word of warning: You must be VERY careful about the language you use for this strategy.
Please note that you are not offering your product in exchange for a link or a review... which would violate Google's guidelines for webmasters.
Send them the product instead and let them decide if it's worth mentioning on their blog.
Link Building
Link retrieval is simple
First, find mentions of your company that are not related to your website.
Here is an example:
You see how the author of the above article mentioned my website... but did not link to it?
This is where link building comes into play.
Instead of saying "I wish they would connect to me", you are asking them to connect to you proactively.
In my experience, a friendly reminder is usually enough for most people to log into WordPress and add their link.
Here is the step-by-step process:
Use a tool like BuzzSumo and Mention.com to find mentions of your brand online. You will then be notified as soon as someone writes about you
Check if the person who mentioned you has also linked to your site (either your homepage or an internal page). If they have linked to your site, you are good to go. If not, move on to step #3...
Send them this friendly email. Hey [Name], I just wanted to thank you for mentioning [Your Brand] in your excellent article yesterday. We really, really appreciate it. I am asking you today if you can add a link to our website. This way, people can easily find us by reading your article. Anyway, thanks for the shoutout and keep up the good work! Thank you
Your First Name
Use HARO
HARO (abbreviation for Help a Reporter Out) is one of the best ways to get high authority backlinks from news sites.
Here is how HARO works:
Sign up for HARO as a source here.
You will receive three emails per day from journalists looking for sources, like this one:
Answer by providing your references and some useful tips.
Easy, right? You provide a quote to a journalist and they will link you with a backlink.
That's all there is to say.
For example, she recently obtained a high-quality backlink from Entrepreneur.com by responding to a HARO request
Reverse Engineer Your Competitor's Links
Every industry has its own set of link building opportunities.
I recommend that you take some time to reverse engineer your competition. This way, you can find link opportunities that only exist in your niche.
An example?
Suppose you have a blog about health and fitness.
And one of your competitors is Nerd Fitness.
Well, when I look at the link profile of this site in a link checker, I notice that a large portion of their links come from podcasts
More specifically, people from this company (including the founder, Steve Kamb) appear on other people's podcasts as guests.
You now have a great list of places where you can go to get backlinks.
It is obvious that you need to reach out to the people who are broadcasting these podcasts and introduce yourself as a guest. This requires effort. But at least, you know where to start.
Stick to content formats that generate links
As I have already said, infographics are an ideal content format for creating backlinks.
But it is one of many..
We have also observed that, even though they do not generate a lot of social media shares, the questions "Why posts" and "What posts" tend to be quite often related.
Learn more
Link Building: How to get powerful backlinks: Video tutorial showing you how to create backlinks to your site using natural SEO techniques.
How to Get High-Quality Backlinks (7 New Strategies): This is an updated list of link building strategies that focus on creating new backlinks from authority websites.
As an expert SEO, translate this website content into English. the text: 15 awesome link building tools: If you really want to create links, you will need tools to help you do this work. Here is a list of the best ones.
How to perform a basic analysis of backlinks on your competitors: Learn how to evaluate the backlinks of your competitors.