Backlinks are created when one website links to another website. You might also hear backlinks referred to as ‘inbound links’ or ‘incoming links’. The process of gaining backlinks is referred to as ‘link building’. For further discussion of backlinks, you might be interested to find out more about the best techniques for inbound links. 

When another website links out to your site it helps to build credibility and reputation for your business. Search engines consider backlinks a way to tell that a website has content worth looking at.  

SEO is constantly changing, but link building is one of the most reliable and timeless techniques for improving rankings.

The difference between good and bad backlinks

Not all inbound links are created equally. The best kind of backlinks include:

  • Backlinks from businesses within your industry or relevant to your industry.
  • Backlinks from businesses that are popular and widely trafficked.
  • Backlinks from businesses that are already seen as reputable and credible.

Inbound links can provide negative consequences if they are off topic or created by spammy websites. These types of inbound links can reflect poorly on your business and cause you to rank lower on search engines.

How to get backlinks

Sometimes individuals or companies will link to your website solely because they find your content to be relevant. This is why it’s important to create quality, innovative content.

However, besides producing good content, there are other ways you can get inbound links. The following are some basic techniques for link building:

  • You can write guest articles to get featured on specific websites.
  • You can promote your content in order to gain visibility and increase the likelihood of acquiring backlinks naturally.
  • You can network with individuals or businesses in your industry.
  • You can write testimonials for companies you trust or that you’ve worked with.

There are other ways to gain backlinks as well, but all of them require specific strategies. We’ve put together a comprehensive list of the best inbound link techniques to start out with.

Why backlinks matter

Backlinks heavily contribute to SEO because they help Google and other search engines find new websites faster. Google uses external backlinks to check for reputation and authority. Most good sites will have a lot of inbound links, and poor websites will have bad backlinks (spammy ones) or none at all.

Focusing on backlinks as an SEO strategy is one of the best ways to improve ranking. Best of all, inbound links drive traffic to your website and help you gain new business because well-known sites will drive traffic to your site from their own.

Talk to an expert

If you want to find out more about backlinks or any aspect of how to manage your digital presence, we’d love to chat. Digital Bridge is here to help. Give us a call at +613 8658 2434 or email us.

Digital Bridge is a web design and web development agency. We’re based in Fitzroy, Melbourne. Specialising in custom-building web-based applications and software for Australian businesses.