What are Backlinks? Backlinks explained.

Doing your own search engine optimization (SEO) can be a bit of an overwhelming experience. Google keeps much of its algorithms a secret, so the lists of what can make a website float to the top of Google requires a lot of guesswork. But, if you have been reading these lists, then there is a term that you have likely seen over and over again: backlinks.

What are Backlinks?

What are backlinks? Simply put, they are links on other websites that link back to your website; hence, backlinks.
Backlinks are important because they are one of the main components Google uses to determine how much authority your website has. Websites with a lot of backlinks are seen as having more authority because others have deemed them important enough to link back to.

Dofollow Backlinks

Backlinks can work in a variety of different ways. Dofollow backlinks are one of the most common kinds. Dofollow backlinks are backlinks that Google can crawl (or “follow”) back to your website. Dofollow backlinks are the backlinks that carry the most SEO weight.

Nofollow Backlinks

Nofollow backlinks are links that Google does not craw/follow. No follow backlinks have their place in internet marketing as well, although they do not contribute as much to SEO. Nofollow backlinks are common on social networking websites but can also be on your own website.

Nofollow links prevent Google from indexing content that could potentially be seen as duplicate by Google, which is good because Google does ding duplicate content on websites, seeing it as plagiarism even when it is not.

Interlinking

Interlinking, when referring to backlinks, is linking to different pages on your own website. Interlinking is useful for optimizing your website because Google sees websites with a good interlinking strategy as user-friendly and thus better.

How to Get Backlinks

You want that SEO juice, don’t you? Now with interlinking aside (which you can easily do yourself on your own website), you may wonder how to get backlinks on other websites that you don’t manage.
There are a few different strategies you can use for this. One of the easiest and most effective ways to do this is simply asking any businesses that you are affiliated with to link to you on their website. Keep in mind that they might be more willing to link to you if you offer to link to them as well.
This same strategy can be used for blog posts as well. Offer to guest-write a blog post for another business or organization in your industry and you will be able to link back to your website in return. Whatever you do though, do exercise caution when seeking backlinks: your website can actually be dinged for backlink activity that looks suspicious due to inorganic linking.

Need More SEO Help?

Do you have zero time to read up on SEO yourself, let alone implement the strategies you read about? If so, it may be time for you to recruit some outside help. Call iMatrix at 888.719.0733 to schedule a complimentary consultation.

Learn more about optimizing your website:
8 Steps for Solving Incorrect or Duplicate Listings on Google
How to Appear Multiple Times on Google’s First Page

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