Despite being key to an effective digital marketing strategy, SEO remains a mystery to many businesses. They sprinkle keywords on their websites like magic beans, hoping for miracle growth. If only. Limiting your approach to one aspect of SEO means limited results. You must embrace what else SEO has to offer.
Like backlinks. Backlinks give your website credibility. They also help people find your website, which is the ultimate goal, bar none. But what are backlinks and why should your business care enough to use them? Let’s unpack these questions in more detail.
Backlinks: what are they?
No mystery to the definition: backlinks are links from your website to someone else’s. Like a friend vouching for your strength of character, backlinks let Google know that your website’s content is relevant to a user’s search query.
Quality matters. It can’t be just any friend vouching for you, it has to be a successful and well-respected friend giving you their official tick of approval. Got a circle of friends like this? Even better. Festoon your site with low-quality links and Google probably won’t notice. Optimise your site with high-quality backlinks and watch your Google ranking soar.
Is that backlink good or bad?
Let’s return to that successful friend. Turns out they made their fortune illegally. Now, instead of seeking their recommendation, you’re trying to erase all association. Backlinks work the same way. For Google, the company you keep matters. Scrutinise every backlink you use, and weed out the bad links. Building trust is harder than breaking trust, so don’t get caught by Google with links that undermine your website’s authority.
To help you better recognise bad links, let’s look at what makes a link good. If a backlink has the following attributes, Google will deem it good.
Good links
Relevance. Nothing frustrates a user more than an irrelevant link. That’s why relevance tops this list of attributes. Backlinks relevant to your business impress Google and optimise the user experience. If your backlink ticks one box only, make sure it’s this.
Authority. A close second is authority. Compare these sources: an MBA student’s blog versus The Economist. No prizes for guessing which source commands Google’s undivided attention.
Follow vs Nofollow. The former is generous with its ranking influence, the latter selfish. Acquiring nofollow links won’t convince Google of your website’s authority.
Placement. A backlink on your homepage shouts importance to Google. A link at the end of an article you wrote years ago? Not so much.
Anchor text. A good anchor is clear, honest, and delivers on its promise. If the anchor text is sustainable sandals, it suggests to Google your website is an expert on the topic.
Destination. Be strategic with your backlinks. A link to a page with a compelling CTA (call to action) will deliver tangible results.
Bad links
If a link displays none of the qualities above, its quality is poor. But not necessarily bad. Bad links promise financial rewards, reciprocal engagement, anything that feels not quite right. Be vigilant. Bad links are those deceitful acquaintances who change schemes as often as they change underwear. Google didn’t believe them the first time, and neither should you. And be careful not to confuse poor with bad. A poor link is innocuous. A bad link, harmful.
Why should my business invest in backlinks?
Remember that ultimate goal, bar none? Exactly. A visible website is a visible business, and in this game, visibility translates to sales. You could build the world’s greatest website—and you should try—but if it’s hidden from online traffic, it might as well be on the ocean floor. If it’s visible, it’s accessible. Your website is a city, and backlinks are the roads that connect your website to other websites.
It’s not all about the customers, either. Google also uses these roads to find your website, crawling from link to link and indexing content it discovers. A hidden page won’t rank, no matter how good it is.
But is it worth the investment for your business? Yes, it is. An Australian business whose website uses reputable, high-quality Australian backlinks is a healthy website, and a healthy website welcomes organic traffic every minute of the day.
Just be prepared for the long game. Nothing’s an overnight fix in SEO; the rewards come when you give your strategy time to grow. And adjust. Effective SEO strategies have no destination in mind. They gain strength and momentum by staying agile and responding positively to things like customer sentiment, market trends, and Google’s updates and shifting SEO guidelines.
And remember to play the diplomat when developing your overall strategy. Every aspect of SEO—and digital marketing—deserves your energy and investment. Spread it equally and the results will come.
