What Are Backlinks In SEO With Top 5 Types Of Backlinks

Introduction to Backlinks and Their Importance in SEO

Backlinks are among the most important factors of Search Engine Optimization that can either make or break the ranking and visibility of a website. Sometimes, it is called an inbound link, incoming link, or one-way link. Backlinks refer to hyperlinks pointing from one website to another. It uses clickable links to jump between pages and determines a website's relevance, authority, and credibility based on how search engines like Google understand these links.

Check out our post on SEO and why it matters

This simply means that organic search rankings can never be exaggerated by the importance of backlinks to the search engines, especially Google. To them, backlinks act as a vote of confidence in reference to a specific page or website one has found credible, informative, and significant enough for attention. Such websites, by virtue of backlinks, do well in search results and boost organic traffic as well as general visibility.

Backlinks are just the votes other web pages are casting when they vote for the endorsement of the content of your web page. When an authoritative page links to your content, they basically vouch for value and quality of your page. High vote counts on backlinks for a particular website generally increase its chances for boosting up its SERPs. It starts from the early days of Google's algorithm. For all intents and purposes, at that time, backlinks was a leading ranking factor of PageRank. Years have been passing by, and so has the algorithm of Google, but one thing continues: backlinks have remained among the top three ranking signals besides content and RankBrain.

Generally, backlinks help the search engine determine how relevant and valuable your website is within a specific topic or niche. For Google, backlinks are considered an endorsement wherein it means that other webmasters trust and recognize your content. If many good-quality websites link to your page, then Google will consider this as a sign that your content is authoritative and useful; thus, it will lead to higher visibility in SERPs.

But not all links are equal. The amount of SEO goodness you can draw out of these backlinks will depend on the quality and the relevance of those sites linking to you. Like that link from The New York Times or a Wikipedia page, for instance, would do much more than a low-traffic blog with perhaps little traffic and just a handful of users linking back to you.

Why do Backlinks matter in Search Engine Optimization ?

There are several reasons why backlinks are important:

• More Organic Rankings: Google sees a backlink as a vote of confidence that says the content deserves it. The more number of backlinks your page has, the greater the chances that it is likely to rank well in the SERPs.
• Higher Website Authority: With an authoritative website, your website gets the backlinks that enhance your domain authority. The bigger your website's authority, the better its chances of ranking on the same search query.
• Referral Traffic: From the standpoint of SEO, backlinks help a page rank but also bring referral traffic. Whenever a visitor clicks on the backlink present on some other website, that traffic is considered to be of source referral.
• Faster Indexing: Because of backlinks, the search engine crawlers can easily find your website. High-authority websites linking to your content accelerate the process of getting indexed by the search engines.
• Relationship Building: It is a way of building relationships with other website owners and content creators within your industry to acquire backlinks. Many times, the relationships will provide more opportunities for collaborations, partnerships, and exposure.

How Google Values Backlinks

Considering Google algorithms evaluate several factors, backlinks are ranked this way:

1. Domain Authority (DA)

The authority of the website linking to your content greatly impacts how much value that backlink will provide. Backlinks from websites with high DA are considered more valuable.

2. Relevance

Backlinks from relevant sites to your niche or industry carry more weight. For example, if your website is related to fitness, then the backlinks from health niches will carry more weight than those of technology and fashion niches.

3. Relevant Anchor Text

Relevant anchor text in the backlink does the job too. If anchor texts are somehow relevant and bear some resemblance to your targeted keywords, then their use could be helpful in lifting up the SEO performance for that particular keyword.

4. Follow vs. Nofollow Links

All links do not pass "link juice" (authority). Only dofollow links will pass SEO value; nofollow links will not directly influence the rankings. However, nofollow links can drive traffic and support a natural profile of backlinks.

Top 5 Types of Backlinks That Benefit SEO

Let's check out the top 5 types of backlinks that will benefit your SEO strategy the most in the following section.

The 5 Best Types of Backlinks for SEO

In the process of different types of backlinks, one needs to learn which type of backlink holds more value in the game of SEO. Here comes the list of five best backlinks types that are rated as most useful for an SEO rank.

1. Editorial Backlinks

Editorial backlink is the most valuable and the most sought-after link. These are mostly contained within the body content of a website, like an article. Such a link comes from authority sites and contains highly relevant content for your topic.

For example, if a top blog in your niche publishes a post linking to your content, then that is an editorial backlink. Editorial backlinks have been considered as earned because they are not requested or set manually but are given naturally based on the value and the quality of your content.

What are Editorial Backlinks All About?

• Much Appreciated by Google: As these are approvals from authentic sources, Google values these much.
• Targeted Traffic: These are likely to send targeted traffic as they now form a part of relevant content.
• Domain Authority: As the links are coming from authentic sites, they help improve the domain authority positively and ensure that your site ranks well within the results.

Guest Post Backlinks

Posting articles on other websites or blogs that will link back to yours is a form of guest posting. Guest posting is one of the best and most used methods to obtain good links.

Much more DA plus much more visibility and referral traffic you will be having via proper guest posting. That's why the point of proper guest posting lies in actually choosing the websites for your niche which contain active readers or the targeted audiences.

• You are going to provide something valuable on authoritative websites hence establishing your self-esteem over what you write.
• Targeted Audience: Guest posting typically addresses an audience that is already interested in your niche; thus, there will be more relevant traffic going to your website.
• Networking Opportunities: Also, guest posting can help you build relationships with other content creators and influencers that may lead to future opportunities for collaborations.

3. Resource Page Backlinks

Resource pages are just any web page that provides the user with resources, guides, articles, and much more on a specific topic in which they are interested. So, these pages present users with valuable content, meaning they're pretty resourceful at backlinks pointing toward great content.

Another excellent way of getting some quality backlinks is when your website gets listed in a resource page. Practically all A-class sites have a resource page on niche categories. Getting listed there will help a lot towards giving your site a tremendous performance on SEO.

Why Resource Page Backlinks?

• Resource pages are usually found on authority sites; hence, any backlinks from them are good for your SEO.
• Increased Exposure: Your content appearing in a resource page means exposing it to a much bigger audience and hence more opportunities for higher traffic.
• Natural Link Profile: Diversification of backlinks with the introduction of resource pages and more tends to develop a natural backlink profile, which again is critical for SEO.

4. Broken Link Building Backlinks

Broken link building is a technique in which you look for dead or broken links on someone else's website and replace it with your content instead. That way, the website owner removes a dead link while you get an invaluable backlink.

First, find broken links in relevant websites for your niche and then tell them that perhaps your content might be the alternative to replace the broken link. One can identify broken links on a website with the help of tools like Ahrefs and Screaming Frog.

Why Do Broken Link Building Backlinks Matter?

• Benefits For Website Owners: Broken link building is a win-win situation where both the website owner benefits from the process and also you.
• Higher Conversion Rate: Because you are providing relevant content to replace the broken links, it's easier to get a backlink.
• Quality Backlinks: Broken link building, very many times, helps to acquire backlinks from authoritative high-ranking websites that would do tremendous wonders for your SEO.

5. Forum and Community Backlinks

Another type of backlinks that can help your SEO strategy benefit from this is with your forums, communities, and discussion boards. These usually occur after active participation within your niche's online communities.

Online forums such as Reddit, Quora, and so many others take niche-specific communities where a person can talk meaningfully and link back to relevant content on your website. Just do not spam the communities with too many links. Instead, try to provide value and contribute thoughtfully to the discussion.

Why Are Forum and Community Backlinks Important?

• High-Relevance Traffic: This is that backlink which fetches huge relevancy traffic towards the site along with the chance of conversions as very much.
• Branding: Through a backlink, brand identity increases also brand reputation enhances in a business.
• Natural Link: Since these links seem natural, thus become an integral part of the link profile and lifts up SEO of the site without incurring any sort of Google Penalty.

How to Get Quality Backlinks for SEO

Quality backlinks are one of the most important features of a successful SEO building strategy. Though the method of earning backlinks requires time and effort, in the end, it has been well worth it. And here are some effective means of getting backlinks that will improve SEO performance on your site.

1. Produce High-Quality, Link-Worthy Content

Create high-quality, linkable content to earn backlinks. The more informative, original, and clear and engagingly your content answers questions, the more likely it is to be linked from other sites. Comprehensive guides, reports based on data, case studies, and infographics are just full of links.

How to Create Link-Worthy Content

• Be Complete: Take the content up to depths that go beyond existing information presented over the internet.
• Use the Multimedia: The story is presented in infographics/charts or a video/animation and hence increases the ability of it to get linking.
• Refreshing of Old Work: Periodically refreshing the same old content also refreshes its relevance; thus, it gets more links over time.

2. Outreach and Link Building Campaigns

Another proactive method to reach out to other website owners, bloggers, and influencers in your market to ask them for a backlink is link outreach. This means identifying quality websites where your content will be valued by them.

Email is more of a relationship builder than for the sake of solicitations. Customize your outreach email and give them a sense of why their readers would need your linking content.

Outreach Tips

• Be Specific: Don't send mass outreach emails. Personalize every email to the recipient and explain why your content is important to their audience.
• Add Value: Explain how your content will add value to their website and why it aligns with their content.
• Follow Up: A good majority of your outreach emails are not going to get responses overnight. Don't be afraid to follow up nicely.

3. The Skyscraper Technique

It's called the Skyscraper Technique, popularized by Brian Dean of Backlinko. Find content in your niche already doing well in terms of backlinks, create something even better, and then reach out to people who have linked to it, asking if they would link to your improved version.

The secret is to have something that's better than the one it is outshining, as well as giving new insights, more comprehensive data, or better visuals.

Steps of the Skyscraper Technique

• Find Link-Worthy Content: Use Ahrefs or SEMrush tools to identify high-ranking content within your niche and having a lot of backlinks.
• Better Content: Your content has to be longer, more detailed, fresher, and more visual compared to the old one.
• Outreach: Reach out to the sites that have linked to your older content and let them know of your better content and if they would be willing to exchange links to your newer piece.

4. Utilizing Your Connections with Influencers and Industry Experts

Quality backlinks are developed over time as you connect with industry experts and influencers. In fact, popular figures in your niche will be your best way to getting backlinks, whether through interviews, collaboration, guest posting, or mere mentions.

Tips on Building Relationships

• Be Active on Social Media: You have to follow influencers and constantly comment, share, or provide insightful comments on what they have published.
• Content Collaboration: Suggest co-webinars, podcasts, or guest blog posts.
• Influencer Mention: Mentions of influencers or industry leaders in your content could make them share it. This would give backlinks in the process.

Use Directories and Listings

You can submit your website to some of the best online directories and business listings that will help you get backlinks and, in the process, increase visibility. Ensure you submit only to high-quality, niche-specific directories so you don't have low-quality backlinks that may damage your SEO.

Recommended Trusted Directories:

• Google My Business: Any business should always keep its appearance on Google My Business. It is the minimum one should do about SEO and rankings in local search.
• Industry-Specific Directories: For example, health-industry specific, education-industry specific, technology-industry specific.
• Web Directories: There are web directories that allow businesses to list online. Some of the web directories include Yelp, Yellow Pages, and a few others that people may never know.

6. Check Your Competitors' Backlinks

Another good way to identify potential opportunities for backlinks is by analyzing your competitors. There are tools like Ahrefs or SEMrush that will let you know where the backlinks point to your competitors' sites. You can try to get links from those sites as well, if you know the sources that bring your competitors' backlinks.

Competitor Backlink Monitoring Tips

• Identify Link Opportunities: Look for quality backlinks that your competitor has and you do not. That is an incredible opportunity for outreach.
• Duplicate Success: If your competitor earned a backlink from guest posts or resource pages, try duplicating success by reaching out to them.

Quality of Backlink and Optimizing Anchor Text Importance

True, the number is an important factor in building backlinks, but quality remains the real motivator for enhanced SEO performance of your website. A few high-quality backlinks will do your website much more good than a hundred low-quality ones. This chapter discusses the importance of backlink quality, how to optimize anchor text, and the risks associated with poor link-building practices.

1. Why Quality of Backlinks Matters More Than Quantities

Quality over quantity, as the search engine giants Google value the quality of backlinks rather than the number coming from the websites towards a particular web page. A link that comes from one authoritative web page is way better compared to the number coming from not so authoritative or spam websites.

Determinants Which Determine the Quality of the Backlink

• Domain Authority: A website's Domain Authority is determined by how much more credible or authoritative a website is. Websites typically from governments, educational institutions, or other news agencies are considered credible sources.
• Relevance: Inbound links from relevant domains also increase the authority score as these are from relevant industry niches. A link from a finance blog can be more useful to a website dealing with financial services compared to a link from a travel blog.
• Link Placement: Links placed in prominent positions on a page, such as within the main content, are more valuable than those buried in footers or sidebars.
• Editorially Acquired Links: These are links acquired on the basis of editorial decisions. They have much more value compared to those bought or manipulated.

You must target acquisition of backlinks from other sites within your niche that are authoritative sources. Usually, building backlinks through outreach or content marketing is generally the best way of acquiring quality linkages.

2. Optimization of Backlink Anchor Text

Anchor text refers to the clickable words or phrases used in a hyperlink. Optimizing anchor text is important because this helps search engines understand what the link is about, especially in terms of context and relevance. It also signals what the content of the page is that the link leads to.

Types of Anchor Text:

• Exact Match: This is the repetition of the target keyword, such as "SEO backlinks" linking to a page about SEO backlinks. It is helpful, but over-optimization might look unnatural and get flagged by search engines.
• Partial Match: This type contains a variation of the target keyword, like "improving SEO" linking to a page about SEO backlinks. This is safer yet effective.
• Brand Name: Using your brand name as anchor text (e.g., "Come Back To Learning" linking to your homepage) helps search engines associate your website with your brand.
• Naked URLs: The link is presented in the form of a naked URL, such as "https://www.cb2learning.com". It’s natural but not very strong in terms of SEO.
• Generic Anchor Text: Common words like "click here" or "read more" are used, though not ideal from an SEO perspective since they don't convey meaningful information to search engines.
• LSI Keywords: These are words conceptually related to your target keyword. Anchor text that contains LSI keywords may add an extra layer of relevance and context to your backlinks.

Best Practices for Anchor Text Optimization:

• Anchor Text Diversification: Avoid overusing exact-match anchor text. Diversify with partial matches, brand names, and generic terms to maintain a natural profile.
• Anchor Text Is Natural: Avoid unnatural or overly optimized anchor text, as this may result in penalties from search engines.
• Context Matters: Anchor text should be relevant to the surrounding content so search engines can understand its significance in the context.

3. Risks of Poor Link-Building Practices

Not all links are created equal. Bad practices may hurt your website's SEO. Common poor link-building practices and their risks are outlined below:

1. Buying Links

It is against Google's rules to buy backlinks. Purchasing backlinks may seem like an easy way to rank high, but it can lead to penalties. Websites that sell links are often deindexed or demoted in search results. Google's algorithm is well-developed to identify paid-for or manipulative link-buying practices.

2. Overlinked Exchanges

This process involves two sites agreeing to link to each other for SEO improvement. While link exchanges can be effective in moderation, excessive exchanges are considered spammy by search engines. Search engines prefer natural, editorially earned links rather than reciprocal linking.

3. Spammy or Irrelevant Links

Links from poor-quality, irrelevant, or spammy sites can harm your SEO. Manipulating rankings by acquiring links from untrusted sites is detrimental. Make sure that sites linking to you are relevant, trusted, and within your niche.

4. Over-Optimization of Anchor Text

Excessive use of exact-match anchor text will raise flags with Google's algorithm and can cause your site to be considered spam. Avoid overusing anchor text and instead use natural variations that complement your content.

5. Broken or Dead Links

Backlinks from sites that no longer exist or have disappeared are useless. These backlinks could even harm your website's performance. Monitor your backlinks using tools like Ahrefs and Screaming Frog to ensure they are active.

Monitoring the Performance of Backlinks and Maintaining a Sustainable Link-Building Strategy

The building of backlinks is a continuous process. Your backlink strategy may grow in effectiveness over time. In this section, we will discuss how to track your backlinks' performance, why you might want to disavow harmful links, and what it takes to maintain a sustainable link-building strategy.

1. How to Track the Performance of Your Backlinks

Once you receive backlinks, it’s important to track their performance to understand your strengths and weaknesses in terms of value and effectiveness towards enhancing SEO. Below are several key metrics and tools for monitoring backlinks:

Key Metrics to Track:

• Domain Authority: Track the Domain Authority of domains linking to you. The higher the Domain Authority score of a backlink, the more valuable it will be. Use Moz tools to monitor your domain scores.
• Referral Traffic: Monitor how much traffic backlinks bring to your website. If you’re receiving visitors from backlinks, it indicates that the backlinks are effectively benefiting your website. Use Google Analytics to track referral traffic.
• Keyword Rankings: Monitor keyword rankings, especially for pages with backlinks. The better the rankings, the more likely it is that your backlinks are positively influencing your site’s SEO.
• Link Placement and Quality: Use tools like Ahrefs, SEMrush, or Majestic to track how your backlinks are distributed (e.g., within content vs footers) and on which sites.

Tools Used to Follow Backlinks:

• Google Search Console: This free tool allows you to see which websites are linking to your site and how these backlinks are performing in search visibility.
• Ahrefs: Ahrefs provides detailed backlink analysis, tracking the number of backlinks, domain authority, and link growth over time.
• SEMrush: SEMrush allows you to track backlinks by providing an overview of newly acquired backlinks, lost backlinks, and your site’s overall link profile health.
• Moz Link Explorer: Moz offers link tracking features to assess the quality and quantity of your backlinks, as well as your competition’s link profile.

2. Disavowing Bad Backlinks

Not all backlinks are beneficial. Low-quality, spammy, or irrelevant backlinks can harm your SEO and even lead to penalties. Google offers a tool called the Disavow Tool to help remove harmful links from your profile.

When to Use the Disavow Tool:

• Spammy Sites and Irrelevant Sites: Disavow backlinks from spammy websites or those that are not relevant to your industry.
• Link Farms and Paid Links Violating Google’s Webmaster Guidelines: Disavow links from link networks or paid links that violate Google’s policies.
• Toxic Linking Practices: If you’ve purchased links or participated in extreme link exchanges, disavowing those links can help protect your website.

How to Disallow Links:

• Find Toxic Backlinks: Use backlink analysis tools to identify toxic backlinks.
• Export Your Backlink Data: Use Ahrefs or Google Search Console to export your backlink data.
• Create a Disavow File: Create a .txt file listing the links you want Google to ignore the next time it evaluates your site.
• Submit to Google: Submit the disavow file through Google Search Console so Google ignores the specified links during its algorithm updates.

This method ensures your site is protected from harmful backlinks, but it should only be used after thorough investigation to confirm the links are indeed harmful.

3. Maintaining a Sustainable Link-Building Strategy

Link building is a long-term strategy that requires patience and ongoing effort. Here are some tips for maintaining a sustainable backlink strategy:

Quality Over Quantity

It may be tempting to pursue a large number of backlinks, but quality is far more important than quantity. Fewer, high-authority backlinks will provide much more value for SEO than a thousand low-quality ones. Engage trusted websites in your niche and focus on earning organic links through valuable content and outreach.

Diversify Your Link Sources

Don’t rely on just one type of backlink. Diversify your link-building efforts by targeting a variety of sources, such as:

• Guest blogging on authoritative sites
• Press releases or media coverage
• Partnerships and collaborations with other businesses
• Natural links from user-generated content or reviews

This diversification strategy will help you build a more natural and robust backlink profile.

Create Link-Worthy Content

The most organic way to acquire high-quality backlinks is by creating content that others in your industry would want to link to. This content includes:

• Long research articles or whitepapers
• Infographics or visual content
• Case studies or success stories
• Expert interviews or thought leadership articles

When your content is valuable, people will naturally link to it, boosting your SEO and establishing your authority in the field.

Regular Monitoring of Link Profile

SEO and backlink trends evolve over time, so it’s crucial to regularly monitor your backlink profile. Keeping track of new backlinks, lost backlinks, and any harmful links will help ensure your site remains in good standing.

Avoid Black-Hat Techniques

Using black-hat techniques such as buying links, engaging in private blog networks, or keyword stuffing anchor text can lead to penalties and long-term damage to your site. Stick to ethical, white-hat link-building strategies that create value and build meaningful relationships.

Conclusion

Backlinks play a crucial role in how search engines determine your site’s authority and relevance. Understanding how backlinks are categorized can greatly improve your website’s ranking, as quality is prioritized over quantity, anchor text is optimized, and the backlink profile is monitored.

A sustainable link-building strategy requires consistency and patience. By producing valuable content, ethically acquiring links, and continuously improving the quality of your backlinks, you can ensure long-term SEO success.