A committed backlink strategy is fundamental to maximizing organic traffic and SEO ranking for your website. However, some links are better than others, and the effort required to generate backlinks can seem daunting. Some brands choose to buy quality backlinks, but that also raises the question of what separates a good link from a bad one.
8 Characteristics of Quality Backlinks, Whether You Generate Backlinks or Buy Quality Backlinks
1. Quality Backlinks Seem Natural
One characteristic that search engines look at is whether a link seems naturally earned due to the quality of the content or authority in a certain market segment. They favor natural links over those that appear “forced” or generated as a way to fool search engines into thinking a site is more relevant than it actually is. Examples of these include spammy tricks such as comment links and awkwardly placed anchor text.
You will likely be penalized in search ranking for employing such tricks, so avoid doing so when you generate backlinks. Building a backlink that is considered natural may seem like a difficult thing to nail down, but one way to achieve this is through effective placement. The link should appear somewhere in the content that feels natural for the reader and makes sense in context. It shouldn’t feel like it’s been forced in to manipulate search rankings.
2. Relevance of the Site It Comes From
Deciding which websites to pursue backlinks from is one of the key questions you’ll face in deploying your link-building strategy. In fact, it’s one of the issues a backlink service provider will discuss with you if you decide to buy quality backlinks. A site’s relevance to your own is a key factor in identifying it as an ideal target for a backlink. Search engines consider relevance in rewarding link authority and higher search ranking.
To give an example, let’s say your website sells tents. If you get a backlink from a camping and outdoor living website, this will be considered a highly relevant link and your SEO will be rewarded accordingly. If you get a link from a cooking website, you’ll still get the extra traffic but it won’t be considered relevant. The reason search engines value relevance is it helps give them a stronger understanding of what your website is about.
3. High Domain Authority
Domain authority is a score a website receives that ranks it according to its perceived authority and trustworthiness in a given niche or topic. Websites with high domain authority are rewarded with better search engine rankings, which makes them very attractive targets for other sites seeking a backlink. If you are able to get a link from a site with strong domain authority, the traffic you receive from the link is better in quality and quantity.
Further, such links deliver even greater benefits to your site with something called “link juice”. This is a term used to describe the authority that the hosting site passes to your site via the backlink. Receiving this juice means you not only get high-quality traffic, but you also get a strong SEO boost by inheriting a slice of the domain authority that the other site has built up over time.
4. Has the Right Anchor Text
When you generate backlinks, you will select the word or phrase that contains the hyperlink sending traffic back to your site. This hyperlinked text is called anchor text, and it is an important factor in determining how well your backlink will perform. Search engines look at anchor text as a way to measure your site’s authority or relevance in relation to a particular topic. It may seem like a small detail, but that little phrase you choose matters.
For example, if you have multiple high-quality backlinks that use the phrase “running shoes”, Google and other search engines will consider your site to be a strong authority on the topic of running shoes. Make sure that your anchor text is not only relevant to your site’s content but is used naturally in content, so it doesn’t appear forced. This is another thing that backlink agencies will ask you to contribute when you choose to buy quality backlinks.
5. Unique Linking Root Domain
The linking root domain refers to the home page URL that sends traffic back to your website through a backlink. For SEO purposes, it’s better for your site’s profile if it has numerous links from different sites. Some brands make the mistake of pursuing as many links as possible no matter where they come from, which can result in generating multiple links from the same site.
While there is inherent value in the idea of having multiple backlinks, search engines don’t favor two links from the same site as much as they do two links from two different sites. Try to build as many high-quality links as you can from as many different linking root domains as possible.
6. Social Media Sharing
As much as possible, try to get backlinks from sites that have strong social media signals. Website content that receives heavy social media activity is a factor in how search engines view the site’s relevance with respect to its market segment. Social media shares and likes are indications that content is valid with users, which in turn will positively affect its search ranking. This makes links from these sites much more valuable.
7. Pursue Non-Reciprocal Links
In the past, it was quite common for brands to reach out to other websites with an offer to exchange backlinks. This is no longer advisable, as search engines can penalize a website’s search rankings if they determine it is using exchanged links. To avoid this penalty, always try to build natural, non-reciprocal links that are relevant to website content.
8. Do Follow Links Are Better Than No Follow
While both do follow and no follow links will pass traffic to your website, they contain different instructions for how search engines should treat them. Do follow links carry the added SEO benefits of transferring the domain authority from the other site onto yours. It is thus preferable that your backlinks contain do follow instructions in their HTML code.
Thankfully, all links are set up as do follow by default. While no follow links are inferior, it’s important to keep in mind that a site’s organic SEO profile will likely contain both do follow and no follow links, so don’t panic if you have a few no follow links.
These are some of the main characteristics to look for in building a strong backlink profile. Contact BetterBacklinks to generate the best backlinks and start driving relevant traffic to your website.
