Who are we kidding? Every time we publish a blog, we’re silently wishing for it to make it to the top of Google’s search results; or at least anywhere on the first page, right?
And you probably already know that one of the best ways to make that happen is to do thorough keyword research.
But, that’s not the only thing that plays a role in your page rankings; backlinks do too.
Learn more about what backlinks are and why your site needs them down below!
What Are Backlinks?
Backlinks are simply links that are made from one website to another. They are also known as incoming links or inbound links.
When a person backlinks to a page on your website, this often means that they’re acknowledging its credibility and the value that it adds to their own content.
For that reason, Google views websites that have a good number of quality backlinks as more credible and prioritizes them in the search results page.
Coupling keyword research with backlinking will greatly help you in growing your website more effectively.
Types of Backlinks
There are two main types of backlinks: Nofollow and Dofollow. You might not be able to tell them apart at first glance, but one of them holds more value over the other.
Dofollow
Dofollow backlinks are the most common type of backlinks and the ones that people are after because they can help improve page rankings.
This is what a dofollow link will look like.
Adding a dofollow link on your website will tell search engines that you’re attesting to the value and authenticity of the content found on the other side of that link.
In doing so, you’re not only helping increase the credibility of that website but also your own. This is because dofollow links allow search engines to follow them and reach your website.
But, note that not all dofollow links are good for SEO. Some of them can drag your website down, so it’s important to only link to reputable websites.
Nofollow
Now that you know what dofollow links are, you can probably guess what nofollow links are and why they’re not the best for SEO.
Here’s an example of a nofollow link.
Unlike dofollow links, nofollow links tell search engines to ignore a particular backlink, keeping the website creating the backlink from receiving any SEO benefits.
5 Ways to Get Backlinks
Aside from backlinking to other websites, having other websites backlink to you can also help you move up the ranks and get more traffic.
Here are 5 things you can do to increase your chances of getting people to backlink to your website.
Create Original Content
If there’s one thing that Google doesn’t like, it’s duplicate content so avoid writing about what every other organization is writing about.
Think outside the box. What’s unique about your shelter or rescue? What insights and perspectives can you provide that no one else has?
A good topic to write about is one that’s uncommon but falls under your area of expertise and is relevant to your audience.
Write Long-Form Content
Google and other search engines are all about positive user experience, so they always place the most valuable content at the top.
And for a piece of content to be valuable in Google’s eyes, it not only has to be original but also informative.
That means the more information you have on your blog, the better.
The best way to do this is to go through the top blogs writing about the same topic and make sure that your blog is more informative than all of them combined.
Yes, it’s gonna take a lot of patience and effort on your part, but your hard work will pay off.
Interview An Expert
People backlink to websites that they believe contain credible information, and what better way to increase your content’s credibility than to bring in an expert?
Use Infographics
People love visuals. That’s the exact reason why images and videos get more shares on social media. We just naturally find them more engaging and for many, easier to digest.
One way to take advantage of that is to incorporate a high-quality infographic in some of your blogs.
You can place an embed code below it so people can easily place it on their website and backlink to yours.
Backlink and Reach Out
Of course, we can’t forget about the good ‘ol “backlink and reach out” strategy. This one’s pretty straightforward, but it does work and can help you build connections along the way.
When you backlink to another website and you believe that you have content that could be relevant to their audience, you can reach out to them and let them know that you backlinked to one of their pages.
This will put you on their radar and bring them to check out your website.
Once they see that you’re in the same niche and you have content that could help add value to theirs, they’ll be more than happy to return the favor.
How to Check Your Site Backlinks
As we mentioned earlier, not all backlinks are good. Some of them can seriously hurt your SEO ranking and keep you from reaping the rewards of your hard work.
These not-so-great backlinks are called toxic backlinks and it’s crucial that you remove them from your website if you want a spot on the first page of Google search results.
One tool that you can use to detect these toxic backlinks is SEMRush.
SEMRush is a popular online software that specializes in SEO optimization and competitor research but it also comes with a backlink audit tool.
The backlink audit tool will help you detect and analyze all the backlinks on your website.
Using 40 different toxic markers, SEMRush will determine a Toxic Score for all your backlinks and give you the option to Remove, Whitelist, or Disavow the most toxic ones.
You can learn more about the backlink audit tool on SEMRush here.
