Backlinks are a key ranking factor on all search engines. This means that the more websites that link back to your website, the higher that Google will place your site in the search engine rankings. Here are some pointers on how to get backlinks to work for you:
Older sites are seen as more credible by Google so make sure that you have backlinks from established and trusted domains. Links from “competitors” are also very valuable for your rating. If the link is from another site in your search engine results page, or business in the same field as yours, this will push up your rating as well. Google sees these as more important links than ones from unrelated sites. The backlink should be from the main content of the site, instead of in the footers or sidebars, and above the fold to push up your ratings most effectively.
By now you’re probably wondering exactly how to get backlinks. It can be one of the most challenging areas of SEO and it definitely requires time and dedication. Trading links with a colleague is a great way to build your backlinks. Say you’re a caterer who’s worked with a DJ and the collaboration went smoothly. This would be a great opportunity to swap links. A basic way to get links that everyone should be doing, and can do yourself, is linking all your social media accounts (LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, etc.) back to your site and vice versa. Finally, you can put out an official press release, which should be written by an SEO copywriter and must be optimized.
A backlink audit is an important tool for every business; it can show you the quantity and quality of your current backlinks. A backlink audit will also show any toxic backlinks you have. A toxic backlink is a backlink from a website Google considers toxic or spammy. Almost all websites have some toxic backlinks but if you have too many, Google will consider your domain toxic and stop showing you in search results.
If you conduct a backlink audit and find you have a large number of toxic backlinks, you’ll need to disavow them with Google’s Disavow Tool. In this program, you upload 10 toxic links at a time and then Google will absolve them one by one. You must proceed with caution when using this tool, as accidentally removing a link that isn’t toxic will bring down your SEO rating. You can learn more about this tool and how it works here.
If you’re an existing client, don’t worry, we run backlink audits on a regular basis and are disavowing toxic backlinks as they appear. If you are not a Webtyde client and would like to get in touch about backlink audits, link building in general, press releases, send us an email at info@webtyde.com and we’d be happy to help.
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