If you’re trying to improve your business’s online marketing, getting to know all the lingo and jargon associated with search engine optimization (SEO) can feel overwhelming. One of the most confusing aspects of digital marketing is backlinking.
But what is backlinking? Here’s some of the information you should know about backlinks before you implement this strategy in your online marketing strategy.
A basic definition
Backlinks are links on an outside website that link back to your webpage. This is an organic form of SEO marketing designed to boost your ranking on Google and other search engines without using shady, blackhat tactics. This is important since most internet users typically click on the first couple of websites that pop up on the results page.
Backlinks typically referred to as incoming links on a webpage, but they’re also known as inbound links, inlinks, or inward links as well. If a link is made on your website that redirects your reader to another website, this is known as an outgoing link.
What does it do?
You want to partner with or utilize outside websites that link back to your page. In theory, this allows you to reach a broader audience when people read the outside website. When they do, they will be linked to your website if they follow the link.
But backlinking also promotes a number of other SEO tactics.
Backlinks help promote link juice, a ridiculously funny phrase that’s essential to boosting your page ranking and improving your website’s domain authority. When you have strong backlinks, search engines are better able to find your website and perform necessary crawls which helps to index your site.
Essentially, the more great websites link back to your page, the higher your website will rank in turn. Avoid shady websites, however. Spam sites and other low-quality sites can make your website look even worse. You should also ensure your backlinks are relevant. Poorly placed backlinks is a poor SEO strategy, akin to keyword stuffing.
Keep in mind that nearly 75% of SEO occurs off-page, meaning that this is a strategy to use in conjunction with building your onsite SEO. Look out for Part Two of The Basics Of Backlinking!