What Are Backlinks?

In the world of inbound marketing, there are loads of buzzwords used on a daily basis, some of which go over the top of client’s heads. We’re here to disseminate some information on one of the inbound marketing trump cards: backlinks.

Let’s start with a basic definition: a backlink is an incoming link from an external site, linking to your site via hyperlinked anchor text on the external site. If you’re in the business of real estate, then the anchor text on the external site would more than likely relate to real estate too.

Having incoming links pointing to your site acts as a vote of confidence for the work that you’re doing and Google recognises this when determining the authority of your website. The bottom line is that the more solid, quality backlinks you attract, the more chance you have of showing up in search results.

Links From High Profile Websites

Not all backlinks are created equal. Depending on the site that is doing the linking, a backlink can hold a varied amount of value. The higher the level of prominence of an external site, the better the link does for your personal web authority. There is a measure of value that Google places on websites, called PageRank and it indicates the prominence of a site with a figure between 0 and 10. The higher the value, the higher the PageRank and the more valuable the backlink, as it carries some of this weight and persuasion through it to your site.

The Good And The Bad Of Backlinks

On the web, it’s really easy for people to fall into the trap of believing any person who claims to be in the business of online marketing. There are many inbound marketing businesses that offer the art of building multiple links into your site in exchange for a fee. While, all marketers who understand the value of links will do this, some do it on a very large scale and this can damage your online reputation, rather than improve your visibility.

Linkfarming is a very real, existing business that also falls into the category of black hat SEO. If you were to invest in the services of someone who uses these tactics, you’d receive a large amount of links in a short space of time from extremely questionable locations. The relevance of the backlink wouldn’t matter and neither would the prominence of the site that it comes from. These tactics used to work very effectively, until Google’s Penguin update put dodgy sites and their links in the right place: down in rankings and web authority!

There are many ways to build quality backlinks, which involves taking time to build relationships, reach out to web owners and create quality content that people want to share. We don’t subscribe to any quick fixes, and we certainly don’t use linkfarming techniques.