Why Backlinks Still Work

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Backlinks are a cornerstone of most SEO strategies, and have been widely acknowledged as a critical part of the entire online marketing operation. It is no secret that backlinks give your website a lot of authority, which basically means the more links, the higher you will rank in search engines. Of course, it is not the be-all and end-all for digital media efforts as other important factors do influence your traffic and how you rank on search engines. Because it is such an effective tactic though, everyone ends up doing it and consequently, over the years, it has gotten harder and harder to backlink.

In fact, some outsourcing companies specializing in online marketing and SEO don’t really focus on creating as many backlinks as before. This is because hundreds, and maybe even thousands, message authority sites, campaigning for links. How are you able to get the attention of such sites and have them link to your page? These days, it feels almost impossible to do so. However, at the end of the day, you are going to need those links in order to get your website to rank.

Backlinking is only one facet of search engine optimization.

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So, how do we do this in today’s digital landscape where you are swallowed whole if there’s a dearth of links to your website? Well, there are a few methods, and we’re going to lay them out later. But first, we are going to emphasize just how important getting good backlinks is, and how your SEO campaign might fall apart at the seams if you don’t make it a priority. We did a bit of digging and compiled a list of the most important factors when it comes to organic rankings on search engines.

Important factors in ranking strategies

When you really think about it, there are actually hundreds of factors that go into search engine optimization. The first time you encounter them, you would most likely be overwhelmed and think that nobody has enough time on their hands to keep track of them all. And you would be right, as there literally isn’t enough hours in a day to cover all the bases and ensure your page gets the top spot. Fortunately, though, not every single factor has the same weight—some aspects are far more important than others.

The first of these factors is user experience in general, and mobile-first users specifically. Two years ago, one of the biggest shifts in Google’s search for authority sites was their mobile-first indexing. The company’s search engine began to scan if a website translates well on a mobile gadget. If a certain website fails this check, the search engine deems it a low-quality site not worth of a slot on the first SERPs. So, you can imagine just how devastating it would be if you simply optimized your desktop version of the website and failed to properly optimize the mobile version. Because of this change, it has become a priority to improve mobile sites and has resulted in all of the top 100 websites having mobile-friendly pages, according to SearchMetrics.

Another factor is technical details that some domains fail to take into account. Examples of these are encryption, the H1 and H2 headings, and anchor texts. The type of encryption you use has a strong correlation to how you rank on search engines. In fact, it has even shown that 45% of the highest-ranking domains all use HTTPS instead of HTTP, which can be seen on Google Chrome, as the browser marks HTTP websites as “unsafe.” Another common thing among higher ranked websites is their use of at least one H2 heading. It is also imperative to use diverse and organic backlink anchor text to have your links appear natural, and not spammy.

Written pieces aren’t the only kind of quality content.

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Content, as always, is one of the biggest factors when it comes to your search engine rankings. The only shift it has seen in recent years is how search engines now favor “natural” content, instead of keyword-focused writing. In fact, of the top 20 results, only 53% have their keywords in the title tags, and below 40% have them in an H1 heading. These numbers are dropping year by year, as search engines now focuses on content that is relevant, not one that has a bucket load of keywords.

Last but not the least, backlinks bring a lot of weight when it comes to organic rankings. However, it should be noted that search engines, most notably Google, have developed methods in order to weed out the bad links from the good ones. So, despite the fact that a large number of links is important, it would be useless if they do not pass through a search engines standards. This means you need to have diverse, authoritative links in order to reach a high ranking. Here, we will also explore some effective methods on getting great backlinks to improve authority.

Effective link building methods

Despite how it is an established fact that content is king, even great content wouldn’t generate a lot of attention if it wasn’t supplemented with great backlinking. This is because links are the search engines’ way of measuring the authority, popularity, and relevancy of a content piece. Without these, your content, no matter how well written, won’t ever make it to the top spot when it comes to rankings. Therefore, it is imperative to practice good link building tips to increase the chances of ranking higher.

One method that is an effective way of getting attention is guest blogging. Blogs are very industry-specific, and therefore nabs you the right audience for your content. Don’t get us wrong, posting on your own domain is great. But being able to post on a website that already has thousands, and even millions of followers and subscribers is definitely beneficial for your campaign. When you guest blog, make sure to post a custom author byline so you are able to link back to your website. Guest blogging is basically near-free promotion, so why not take advantage of it?

Just make sure you guest post on websites that have a following, as guest posting on domains that have no authority is practically useless. Speaking of authority, it is also very effective to mention influencers on your post. When you mention an influencer, or authority on a certain topic you write about, you will undoubtedly get more links. For example, you write about “25 Industry Tips from the Top Influencers,” and those you mentioned are likely to link your post, as you have already linked their website. This is a cycle that is both profitable, and works almost every time.

There are other methods of building links, some just as effective, others not so. It is important that you know which ones work for you, and you also need to make use of the best people to do this for you. If you don’t want to do backlinks and other aspects of SEO by yourself, you can always make use of one or several BPO companies that specialize in digital media, like SquareFish Inc. If you hire the right people to lead your campaign, your business will flourish both online and in the real world.