If you have a website or you are a professional blogger, I think you’ve heard about backlinks.
But what does that mean?
What are the best ways to build backlinks of high quality?
A backlink is an essential part of any website, not only blogs but also businesses because high authority backlinks will increase the amount of traffic to your website.
A lot of bloggers who have just started their blogs think they can just publish content and get traffic to their sites, but this isn’t the case.
To enhance your website’s authority and increase organic traffic in 2024, it’s crucial to focus on building backlinks.
If you’re unsure about backlinks, don’t worry. By the end of this post, I’ll cover everything you need to know, ensuring a clear understanding.
To get started, let’s first explore what exactly are backlinks in SEO.
What Are Backlinks?
A backlink is one type of link where one website links to your website using anchor text.
For a better understanding, let’s explore an example.
If I add your website to my blog, it means that I have given you a backlink.
Here is the link that I have received from Medium.
Types of Backlinks
Below, I discuss each and every detail, so I believe you can easily understand the types of backlinks.
Do-follow Backlink
A do-follow backlink allows search engines to follow it and pass on link equity from one website to another.
As an example, if I link to your website with the rel=”do follow” attribute in the HTML code, I am telling search engines that the link should be followed.
One of the benefits of including do-follow links is their status as standard backlinks. They significantly boost the authority and SEO performance of the linked website.
No-follow Backlink
No-follow backlinks have the rel=”nofollow” attribute added to their HTML code, which instructs search engines not to follow the link and not to pass link juice along.
To better understand, let’s say your website link has a backlink on another website, and the website owner gives you a no-follow link, this means the search engine does not follow the link.
It doesn’t mean the nofollow backlink is worthless. It is also a valuable backlink because if you want to get good authority on your website, you have to have both types of backlinks.
They may not directly affect a website’s search engine ranking, but they can still drive referral traffic.
Sponsored Backlink
Backlinks created as part of a paid partnership between two websites are called sponsored backlinks.
As an example, if a website owner uses the rel=”sponsored” attribute in HTML code to mark these links, they are informing search engines that these links are sponsored or sponsored by the website.
The majority of sponsored backlinks come from guest posting, affiliate marketing, and other paid marketing.
UGC Backlink
User-generated content, or UGC, is one type of backlink that comes from:
In order to identify these links to search engines, website owners use the rel=”UGC” attribute in the HTML code.
Having backlinks like nofollow, sponsored, and UGC does not pass link juice for search engine optimization, but it will enhance referral traffic.
How to Create a Backlink?
While there are numerous ways to acquire backlinks, let’s focus on some effective strategies you can implement for your website in 2024.
Guest Blogging
When we have a new website, we are often confused about where to start and what type of backlinks we should create, right?
I would like to suggest that if you have just launched a new website or if you have an old website and you want to create backlinks, do guest posting because it will really help you to build authority fast.
But do you know how to find guest blogging sites that accept guest posts?
If you don’t, don’t worry. Below, I will explain in more detail.
The first thing you need to do is find niche-related websites that are related to your industry. For this, you can use search operators to find them.
For example, if you own a fitness business, then you need to use search terms on search engines to find guest posting sites like:
“Write for us” + fitness
After searching, you will see a collection of sites in the search results that accept guest posts.
However, before building backlinks, make sure you have a well-crafted pitch offering valuable content. Once you have valuable content ready, you can pitch them with your content idea that you want to publish on their website.
Note: If you don’t have time to find out, there are also many guest posting services available that can help you create valuable backlinks for your website.
Here, you can find the top 10 guest posting services.
Broken Link Building
Do you know how to find broken links and build backlinks from them?
As you may know, there are many web pages on the internet that have broken links (404 errors). So, the first step is to identify websites in your industry with broken outbound links.
But the question is, how do you find these broken links? Let me tell you that there are several ways to do so.
You can use a Chrome extension called “Check My Links,” which helps you identify broken links on pages or posts.
You can also use SEO tools such as Ahrefs, SemRush, and many other tools.
Once you have found the broken link in the post, you need to write a similar piece of content to the broken link’s target.
Reach out to the website owner, inform them of the broken link, and suggest your content as a replacement.
Resource Page Link Building
As it is an older strategy, it still works in our off-page SEO efforts, where many professional SEO experts are focusing on resource link building.
If you don’t know how to build this type of backlink, don’t worry. Below, I will guide you through each step in detail.
The first thing you need to do is look for resource pages in your niche that list helpful links for readers.
But how do you do this? Here are some search terms that you can use:
Use specific search queries like “your niche + resources” or “your keyword + helpful links” in Google.
For easier understanding, here is an example: If you have a fitness website, you can search for “fitness resources” or “exercise guides.”
Now the question is, how do you reach out to them? The first step is to provide a brief description of your website and explain why it would benefit their audience.
For example, your fitness blog offers a comprehensive guide to home workouts. You find a fitness website’s resource page listing workout guides and ask to include your link among them.
Social Media Profile
Find high-authority social media profiles and create profiles on various social media platforms. When you create a profile on any social media platform, don’t forget to include your website URL in the bio or “about” section of each profile.
How to Check Backlinks?
There are many SEO tools available to check how many backlinks you have created. However, I will guide you using the Ahrefs tool because it’s my favorite and I have been using it for 5 years.
- First, you need to open the Ahrefs tool in your browser.
- Once you have opened the tool, you need to enter your domain or URL.
- Now, click on the search icon.
- After that, you will see the domain rating, total number of backlinks, and referring domains.
Why are Backlinks Important?
Backlinks are crucial for any website’s success because they play a big factor in search engine optimization (SEO). Here’s why they are important:
Improved Search Engine Rankings
Backlinks are crucial for any website because Google considers them as “votes of confidence” from other websites.
To improve your search engine ranking, you need to build high-quality backlinks for your website. Having a higher number of quality backlinks means you will rank higher in search engine results pages (SERPs).
Increased Website Traffic
Quality backlinks from relevant websites can drive referral traffic to your site. But how does this work?
When people click on these links, they go to your website, which helps get more visitors.
Builds Website Authority
Having good authority backlinks helps build your website’s trustworthiness and expertise in a particular field.
Here’s an important tip: If you have a new website and want to build website authority, start with foundational backlinks such as profile creation, image submission, video submission, press release submission, and more. These types of backlinks will significantly enhance your website authority.
Faster Indexing by Search Engines
One great benefit of backlinks is that if you have quality backlinks to your site, Google will index it faster.
Competitive Advantage
If you have a high number of high-quality backlinks and your competitors have fewer quality backlinks, then you have a better chance of outranking them in search results and attracting more organic traffic.
Final Words
In this blog, I have discussed everything about backlinks and why they are important for any website, right? I hope it will definitely help you understand each step to make your website gain organic traffic and appear on search result pages.
Many users think that just writing a blog can get organic traffic, but this is the wrong practice. Just like how content is important, so are backlinks. So, don’t forget to create high-quality backlinks.