Backlinks are one of the most important factors in search engine optimisation.
Backlinks can provide a site with higher rankings, more traffic, and increased conversions.
Over the years there have been significant changes in Google’s algorithm that have affected backlink profiles both positively and negatively for websites.
I often get asked whether backlinks are still important in 2021 and how they impact a business’s SEO strategy.
This article will go into detail about what backlinks exactly are and whether they are still relevant.
What exactly are backlinks?
- What exactly are backlinks?
- Why is link building so important?
- How important is link building in 2021?
- What to avoid when link building in 2021?
- How do you build high-quality links in 2021?
- Need link building advice?
A backlink is simply a link from one website to another.
They act as an indicator of trust for search engines. The more high quality and relevant links you have online, the more trustworthy you look in Google’s eyes.
Backlinks are a way of indicating how popular your website is with users. Implementing, managing and analyzing the performance backlink strategy will be an important aspect if you want to optimize SEO strategies for success.
Some of the best link building strategies include:
- Guest posting
- Unclaimed brand mentions
- Skyscraper link building
- Digital PR
- Data source link building
- Linking on existing articles
Why is link building so important?
Link building is an essential part of every SEO strategy and still remains very relevant in 2021. Quality link building tells Google that you are being mentioned on other websites that are trustworthy and are relevant to what it is you are doing.
Google says: “In general, webmasters can improve their site’s rank by getting featured on high-quality sites that users want to visit.”
Backlinks are a signal to search engines that content on your website has been deemed worthy of being linked from elsewhere.
Source: Moz
When many websites link to a single page, it tells Google that this particular page is credible and trustworthy. In turn, Google will reward these pages with higher search results rankings as a way to provide users with the most relevant and trustworthy answers to whatever query a user poses.
How important is link building in 2021?
Link building still remains a crucial part of any SEO strategy… as long as it is done properly of course.
Links are still the main way in which Google crawls a website and understands the web. Incoming links to a web page is still a key factor in the way search engines determine the authority of a website.
As important as things like on-page SEO and fundamentals like correctly structured page titles and good content, a well-executed link building campaign is one of the significant tactics that will still have a big impact on how your pages perform.
Can a page with fewer backlinks rank higher than one with more?
Absolutely – backlinks are just one of many ranking factors that determine the ranking of a web page.
Many years ago, it was far easier to rank a web page with backlinks when Google’s algorithm was far less sophisticated. You could essentially spam a web page with links not directly relevant to what that page was offering.
Now, Google has a far better understanding of the content on a web page and there are far more trust signals to tell Google whether a page is trustworthy or not.
Link building however is still very important and is one of many factors that come into play when trying to rank higher.
How does link building impact domain authority?
Increasing your domain authority can result in better Google rankings and more traffic coming to your website.
Although domain rating is not the only ranking factor that Google uses to determine a website’s ranking, it does play an important part.
Websites like Wikipedia and Facebook have some of the best domain authority scores on the internet. When you search for any kind of query relating to a notable person, chances are that Wikipedia will generate the first result for that particular entity.
Building high-quality links will help increase your domain authority and as a result, when you build new pages, you will generally find it easier for these new pages to rank higher in Google.
What to avoid when link building in 2021?
Link building is something that when done right can be hugely impactful on your Google rankings. However, if done poorly, it can be very harmful to a website. Some of the things you need to avoid when link building include:
- Over optimisation of anchor text – generally, you should avoid too many exact match keywords on your anchor texts. Sticking with your brand name primarily will help your link profile look more natural.
- Buying links from spammy websites – you should avoid buying links from websites that are irrelevant or look unnatural.
- Getting links on pages with lots of other outgoing links – if you get a link on a page with a lot of other outgoing links, it will reduce the impact of the link and not really pass much authority.
How do you build high-quality links in 2021?
A well-executed link building campaign is the key to achieving high rankings for organic search. I often get asked about how to build high-quality links and some of my winning strategies include:
Guest posting
Guest blogging is a way to attract traffic and increase brand awareness. Guest bloggers write for other companies in their industry, which usually have similar blogs as those of the guest author. By creating content that you share on sites in your industry, you can link back to your website and increase the topical relevance of your backlink profile.
Unlinked brand mentions
Unlinked brand mentions are mentions of your brand on published sites that do not provide a link back to your website. You can use tools like Ahrefs to find these mentions and its a quick and easy way to get links to your website in a natural way.
Skyscraper link building
Skyscraper link building involves pitching better pieces of content to websites that may have outdated or redundant content. If you offer an updated and improved piece of content on a particular topic, then this can be a great way to show your expertise and be a good way to build backlinks naturally.
Digital PR
Digital PR is a strategic link building tactic used by businesses to increase their web presence. Digital PR agencies network with journalists, bloggers and influencers in order to send out press releases that can gain high-quality backlinks from other sites.
Data source link building
You can use real data as a way to encourage links back to your website or a particular article. By providing useful data, websites within your industry will want to link to you. This will help drive links to your website in an organic way.
Broken link building
Broken link building is an effective way of helping webmasters while still acquiring external links that direct traffic to your website. You just need a resource that can be easily replicated on other sites and sent out as an email with the URL in place of where they should have been originally linked to.
Infographic link building
Infographics are unique because they can go viral. They make the information they’re trying to represent more engaging, interesting and memorable than ever before with their ability as a powerful link building tactic for businesses who want high rankings on Google.
Need link building advice?
Link building remains a key component in a website SEO strategy. When done correctly, the results can help drive significant results and exposure for your business. If you need any link building advice, please do not hesitate to get in touch.