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What good are backlinks anyway? Well, I'll tell you!
Backlinks have three important jobs in Google’s systems. Their first job is to help Google find your content. Google crawls the web with “spiders” and “robots.” Sounds very sci-fi, doesn’t it? These programs do their jobs by following links from one website to another. So by including as many backlinks to your website as possible, Google will find you easier and, as a result, put you in the index.
They are also responsible for looking at the links to decide what your site is about. If your site has lots of links coming from fitness sites, then it will assume that your site is also about, you guessed it, fitness! Those ‘spiders’ and ‘robots’ must be pretty smart, huh?
Finally, they also look at links as testimonies. Links to your site suggest ‘quality’. People don’t usually share links to websites that they don’t think are useful or valuable.
The more backlinks you have to your site, the more Google will see your site as important and valuable. More importantly, Google will also look to see that your links are from pages that it already trusts.
For example, if you have a link from NBC, Google will consider that to be way more worthwhile than a link from a website that is full of spam. Come one now, I know you’ve seen them out there…
Finding backlinks that Google sees as credible is possibly the best way to increase your chances of climbing the ranks.
One technique is to look for links with .edu and .gov TLDs.
Finally, look at your top competition. (It always comes back to our competition, doesn’t it?) Use a backlink checker that will show you the links pointing to their website. You can then try to get those same sites to link to you. If they link to your competition, you know that they will give out links and can help you get to where you need to be!
What is the best way to get backlinks from other sites?
It’s called guest blogging. You write a high-quality article for that website, then give it to them for free in exchange for a link pointing back to your website. This has been done online for a long time and is still highly effective. Not only do you get a link from a site in your niche that is high value, but it also helps you build relationships (power partners) that can help you succeed.
One more tip
To be successful at guest posting and SEO in general, then your website needs to be top-notch. This helps keep bounce rates low and ensures that other bloggers will want to work with you.
Go and take a good hard look at the best or biggest blog/ website in your niche. How does your website compare with that site as far as the presentation and quality of your content?
A top website is not going to want to link to you if your site looks dated or is covered in ads. As they say, ‘dress for the job you want, not the one you have.’ Your website needs to look the part if you’re going to succeed.
Need help with your SEO and backlink strategy? Book a free consultation and I’ll take a look under the hood for you.