If you want to improve your website’s SEO, you need quality backlinks. These are links from other sites that can boost your site’s ranking on search engines. Keep reading to learn more about how backlinks work and where you can buy quality backlinks.
Quality Over Quantity
Some people believe that backlinks are all about quantity. They think that simply having as many backlinks as possible from any source will boost their SEO. This belief may cause some marketing managers to focus on creating a huge number of links without much thought to their quality.
Although quantity used to be the most important factor for backlinks, things have changed in the way search engine algorithms work. Algorithms now measure certain elements of quality rather than simply looking for the number of links. There are several signs of quality backlinks you can look for.
Domain or Page Authority
One of the best ways to check if a host website is good for your backlink is to check for the site’s domain authority. This is a metric that shows how much traffic a website has and whether it is held in high regard. A site with good domain authority is ideal for hosting backlinks.
Free tools are available online to assess domain authority. They help you get a measure of how useful a website could be for the purpose of providing backlinks. Although domain authority rankings are not produced by Google, they are widely acknowledged in the SEO sphere as being a good metric for websites.
Dofollow Links
All backlinks pointing to your site should be dofollow links. Dofollow is a technical term, meaning information is shared between the sites when the link is clicked. These links give your site a reputation boost and help it to climb the search engine rankings. Their opposite is a nofollow link, a type of link that does not share information between sites.
If your backlink comes from a nofollow link, the positive impact on your site will be non-existent or greatly reduced. Although you will still benefit from a little extra traffic, you won’t get the benefits in the search engine algorithm. Don’t worry though, dofollow links are the default style of link, and a website will need to do some complex HTML editing to create a nofollow link.
Check Link Position
The position of the link within the article plays an important role The first link in an article is considered the most valuable for SEO purposes. It is likely to get the most clicks and will also give the greatest boost to your search engine rankings.
Ideally, your backlink should be in the first few paragraphs of the article, possibly even in the introduction. This will encourage the largest possible portion of readers to click on your link.
Watch Out for too Many Links
Backlinks work best when there are few other links on a page. That means if your link appears beside several others, the boost you’ll get in search engine rankings will be far weaker.
Try to get your backlinks featured alongside no more than two or three other links. A few links to other sites may be necessary for citations and to keep the article as interesting and accurate as possible. But if you’re competing with lots of other links on the same page, you won’t be getting the highest quality backlinks.
Choose a Quality Anchor Text
The best backlinks don’t just appear as bare URLs. This makes them look unnatural and lowers the value of the backlink. Instead, they should appear as a hyperlink around a carefully chosen anchor text.
Anchor text should be keywords that are relevant to your product or service. For example, a car wash might use an anchor link around the phrase “professional car waxing.” Choosing the right anchor text will help your backlink to draw in more clicks and help you to move up those search rankings.
Check the Number of Host Site Visitors
It’s important to think carefully about which websites will host your backlinks. The link won’t be of much use if it’s hosted on a site with a bad reputation or one with very few visitors. Various tools are available online to help you gauge the amount of traffic a given website receives.
The best host sites have a firm base of followers and the topic of the site should be at least somewhat relevant to your business. Let’s say you run a restaurant in Boston. A site about tourism in New England could be a perfect host for your backlinks, as their visitors might be looking for good places to eat in the area.
Avoid Blackhat Practices
Certain SEO agencies offer extremely cheap backlink creation. But these agencies use underhanded tactics to acquire links for your site. These organizations are called blackhat SEO agencies, and you should avoid them at all costs.
Blackhat agencies may spam forums or comment posts with links to your website. These links have very little value, and they will likely be deleted quickly by moderators or spam filters. Additionally, Google and other search engines sometimes penalize websites believed to be using blackhat tactics, knocking them way down the search results list.
Avoid AI Content
You’ve no doubt heard about the many forms of AI being used to write content. These bots can whip up articles quickly, but the content they produce is usually poor quality, and if no one is checking the output carefully, full of errors. Search engines are known to be penalizing sites using AI-generated content at times.
You can use free tools to screen content for AI generation, but be aware that these are not very reliable just yet. It’s worth checking that your backlink provider has systems in place to stop AI content from being used on their platform.
Check Content Quality
Backlinks work best when they form part of a quality piece of content. Your link could appear in an informative article or a fun listicle. If the content is poorly written it is unlikely to serve you well as a backlink host.
Work with sites dedicated to producing great content. They shouldn’t be posting just to provide backlinks. Instead, they should be providing quality content that offers value to their readers, linking to relevant websites in the process.
Buy Quality Backlinks From a Reputable Source
Many business owners don’t have the time or experience to get backlinks on quality websites. That’s why they turn to agencies to help with the link building process.
Remember to look for a quality agency to help you with your SEO. When you work with a reputable agency, you can be confident they’ll provide you with only the best in backlinks.
If you’re looking for quality backlinks, we can help. Take a look at our backlink pricing list today.
