What is Link Building?

Link building, as defined by its name, is the process of creating backlinks. In SEO, it is the way of acquiring links to your website from external websites. Creating links should be a priority for all marketers to boost their website’s authority and increase referral traffic.

What is a Backlink or Inbound Link?

A backlink is also known as an inbound link or an incoming link. It is any link coming from an external website to your website.

A good backlink is a link coming from a high-quality, relevant website pointing out to Google that your content is credible.

Why Link Building?

As Search Engine Land would rightly put it,

“Links are one of the top two criteria considered in Google’s page ranking algorithm.”

Authenticity, relevancy, and quality were never more vital than today. Although Google’s algorithms are deep and constantly changing, backlinks play a significant role in how search engines assess which websites rank for which terms. Since links are an indication to Google that your website is a credible resource befitting of mention, building links is one of the numerous effective methods employed in SEO. 

As a result, websites with more backlinks consistently rank better. While spammy, low-quality and manipulative link-building strategies can be effective, you should never include them as part of the strategy for an organization.

Link building is probably more equivalent to intelligent marketing, and companies that grasp this succeed in the long run. However, this does not negate the link development technical side or imply that all tactics must revolve around the product.

Let’s discuss in depth why link building is essential for long-term results.

Why is Link Building Important?

According to HubSpot statistics,
“Shortly, 53% of marketers believe link building will have the same impact on search rankings, while 41% think it will have less impact.”

However, regardless of how bigger the percentage of impact is, the importance of link building is evident because it affects how Google ranks websites. According to Google, web admins can boost their website’s ranking by increasing the amount of high-quality and relevant websites linking to their content. The popularity of the links is one of the ranking elements Google will use when deciding how to rank the sites. Below are a few more things to think about: 

1. Backlink’s credibility and authority. 
2. SEO and content strategy of the website. 
3. The inbound links’ anchor text.

According to Google, it is crucial to grasp that your website will rank higher for the targeted keywords through quality backlinks.

Backlink Anatomy

To grasp the importance of link building, you must first comprehend the anatomy of a backlink, how search engines view links, and what they may deduce.

First of all, what exactly a backlink tag looks like: <a href=”imsadia.com”> Best Link Building Expert </a>. 

1. Here, <a> is the anchor tag, the first link tag. It opens the link tag and informs browsers and web crawlers that it is a link to imsadia.com.
2. Href is the link referral location. The “href” stands for “hyperlink referral,” and the URL inside the inverted commas is the link’s destination URL. It may also be the location of a video, image, or downloadable file. You will occasionally notice something besides a URL that starts with a # symbol. They direct you to a specific section of the website.
3. The visible text of the link is its anchor text. It is a small piece of text that consumers see on the website and click to open the link. The text is structured to distinguish from the surrounding text with color or underline to indicate a clickable link to users. In our example, it is “Best Link Building Expert.”
4. Link tag closure tells search engines that the link tag has concluded.

Link Building Strategies to Create the Best Backlinks

I have added a few of the most effortless and quality link building strategies to create the best backlinks:

• Content Marketing – Create skyscraper or high-quality content that attracts natural backlinks from relevant websites all over the internet. You can earn this type of backlink by creating value in the market.
• Mentions & Reviews – Make your product or service visible to the audience and encourage them to mention you or review your product online.
• Referral Links – A referral backlink is earned when people you know, your friends, partners, and clients, talk about your product or service and link to it.

Building many links takes time, but be persistent, and keep in mind that workarounds like purchasing links are against Google’s standards and can be detrimental to your SEO. Do not take any risks and keep doing the great work.

Benefits of Link Building

Link-building is essential because it enhances organic search rankings or traffic and offers other perks to help your brand. Below are a few advantages of link building:

1. Boosting Keywords Ranking: When you earn a backlink using an anchor text, it signifies to Google the value of your content, and it improves your ranking for that particular keyword on the search engine.
2. Improving Brand Image: Link building helps you build your brand and position yourself as an expert in your field. Some link-building strategies, like content development, can demonstrate your expertise, which could go a long way towards establishing your reputation.
3. Building Network: Outreaching to other related websites and blogs in your business can be an essential part of link building. Getting a backlink is a common outreach goal, but there is much more to it. Outreach may aid in the development of long-term relationships with key industry influencers, bloggers, and journalists, and these interactions can result in your company being highly valued and trusted. Even if we ignore link development for a second, this is beneficial in and of itself because you’re cultivating faithful preachers and supporters for your company.
4. Increasing Referral Traffic: Getting a backlink from a high-quality, industry-specific, and niche-relevant website helps gain referral traffic. Since the website is relevant to your industry, this traffic is valuable and might also get you a sale.

Here, I conclude my guide to link building basics. I will publish another guide to create backlinks and the tools and metrics for the link-building process. Subscribe to my website to not miss an update. Feel free to reach out to me for link building services and more details.