Backlinks

What is a backlink?

Backlinks are basically links to your website from another websites.  The search engines love these.  When they see the link on someone else’s site it sends the spiders over to your site and they index your site getting it placed on a search engine organically instead of you going over and entering it.  This way is preferred by the search engines.

A backlink is essentially the same thing as an inlink.  It is extremely important to build a large number of backlinks that are reputably obtained for several reasons.

1.    First, in SEO (Search Engine Optimization), part of the search engine algorithm that determines where your page ranks is, in part, determined by the number and quality of backlinks to your site.  But, remember, these banklinks must occur naturally.  Purchased backlinks have no value.  In fact, they can even work against you.

2.    Second, backlinks are how you get known on the Internet.  If lots of other sites provide a link to yours, a natural increase in traffic to your web pages occurs and it will help quickly raise your position in a keyword search.

Where do I put backlinks?

You can put backlinks in any number of locations.  You can use them in signatures in forums, you can pay for them, but today we are talking about putting them in blogs and free article publishing sites.  The two places where you should be looking to get backlinks from ( if you’re trying to increase traffic and search engine ranking) are general sources and other sites that bear some relationship to your website.

Blogs and Forums: Find a blog or forum that is about a similar topic as what you will be linking to.  Read the postings, find one that interests you, and relates to your business, and then you make an insightful and meaningful comment to the post.  When you are finished with your post you also put a link to the site you want the search engines to go look at. (and the other people reading the blog for that matter).

Facebook, twitter, Linkedin, etc: Social networking has become the rage.  And, it can be a terrific platform for your backlinks.  But, you will have to be careful that you realize the primary purpose of these websites; social interacting.  Anyone that comes in with “advertising guns blazing” will quickly be ostracized.  There is a true art to using social networking sites for backlinking and the process will take some time to do it right without damaging your company and personal reputation.

Web 2.0 locations like Digg, and ezinearticles are all examples general sources to post information and get backlinks to your website.

This can be the most time consuming way to get backlinks, but it can produce some amazing results for you depending a what niche you are writing for, and how well you write your articles.

Here’s the thing.  You write an article about a topic.  It can be a short and sweet, like “the Top 5 things about….”.  In fact, those are some of the best articles.

At the bottom of your article you include a resource box, which includes some information about you and you guessed it, a link back to your website.

Other websites that are related to your business are some of the stronger positioning for backlinks.  But, you’ll need to stay away from competitive sites, or other closely related businesses.  For example, if your website is on the joys of flower arranging, you probably won’t get backlinks from other florists.  Instead, you might try obtaining links from sites pertaining to the growing of various flowers, sites that discuss different types of flowers…even wedding, prom and home décor sites would be excellent.

Directory Submission: There are hundreds of directories you can add a backlink to your site URL on them.  Here’s a great list of directories you can get started.  This site also has a huge list of social bookmarking sites and article directories.  I set aside about 30 minutes each day for submitting and posting.  Over time, you will build up a credible number of backlinks.

There are automatic ways of creating backlinks, and you can hire someone to do it for you at relative inexpensive costs.

How do I make backlinks?

To make a backlink it takes a couple steps. (they’re real easy don’t worry)

1.    Know your URL.  If you want your link to send people to the front page, or to a specific article or blog post, make sure you have the specific URL for that page.  For example it might be the difference between www.stevenmanagement.com which is the main page of my personal website or this: http//:www.stevenmanagement.com/blog which is my blog page.

2.    Now you need a little html magic. You will need to use this HTML code to make a link:

<a href=http://yoururlhere.com>your keyword here</a>

3.    You will need a keyword for your link.  Don’t use a keyword that is in the title of your blog/article/website, because the search engines will already see it in your URL.  Choose something else that is relevant to where you are sending people. For example, using the above post I might use the key words “best local business website colors”.

There are many ways to increase your backlink numbers.  You can contact related sites, and ask them to link to you, and you can offer reciprocal linking.  Another common practice is called link threading.  This is when you post a link to your site on someone else’s blog, usually in the text of your blog. But be aware that people can edit your post and change or delete those links.  A great way of obtaining backlinks is writing articles and posting them on different free article sites, like ezinearticles or Squidoo.  Be sure that the website to which you direct people is truly one of interest to readers of that particular site where you posted your article and backlink.  Don’t write an article, for example about your flower arranging business and then post it on a blog or page for motorcycle racing.  You probably won’t get much activity.

 The Source is important

Much of the strength and quality rating of the backlink is partly judged by the popularity of the page from which it originates.  A page that owns few backlinks itself is not going to have a lot of traffic.   And any page that has links to illegal material may actually decrease your page ranking.  You can oversee number of backlinks by searching on Google with the search terms link: and then your website.  For example, if you wanted to check backlink number to Steven Management, the search command would be “link: stevenmanagement.com”.  There are several programs, like TrackBack® which may help you find exactly who is linking to your sight.  But these are not yet compatible with all programs, especially various blogging site programs.One of the things you’ll find essential is a solid knowledge of backlinking and a way to keep up on the ever-changing process and results.  I’ve found that signing up for a couple of the better forums is one of the best ways to stay on top.  There are many goods one out there.  Backlinksforum.com is one I’ve found that provides quality information without advertising.

Final note

In order to be effective, your backlink building strategies you must seek the right types of links, and avoid building links that have the potential to do more harm than good.  Here’s what most search engines evaluate to determine backlink value:

• Diversity – Search engines like to see links coming from many different sources. Good strategies are not just about one type of site linking to you.  Backlink diversity shows your reach in your industry.
• Relevance – Although for some strategies it is fine to have general interest sites like web directories linking to you, search engines rely more on links from sites that are relevant.  In the case where you have a regional focus, strategies with websites in your same region linking to you are highly valued and trusted.  Also, a higher value is placed on a government or recognized authority websites than just the average information website.
• Quality – Search engines measure the quality of websites.  The majority of websites out there are simply not highly regarded by search engines to give your link any credibility.  Getting your links from high quality sites is vital to good link building services/strategies.
• Quantity – While not nearly as important as quality, good backlink building strategies work on getting lots of websites to link to you.  This can have an influence on how search engines perceive your site.
• Anchor Text Links – Did you know that the clickable text of inbound links can have a powerful effect on your search engine position?  Good link building campaign strategies understand that not just that a website links to you… how they link to you is every bit as important.
• Natural Link Building – Search engines are concerned with inbound links that seem to them to be un-natural.  That means you set them up yourself.  There are many landmines in link building services that could do more harm than good.  Do you know what those improper link building campaign strategies are and how to avoid them?
• Link Freshness – Search engines know that your website is relevant and provides up-to-date information if new websites link to you on an ongoing basis. Good link building is an on-going campaign.  As stated earlier, you need to continue backlinking, adding more every month.

Most companies wouldn’t even know where to begin with a link building campaign.  Link building campaigns are difficult and tedious work.

Conclusion

This is just a brief overview of what backlinking is all about.  Backlinking is one of the primary keys to getting your website ranked on the top of the search engines in your local market.  However, backlinking takes work and it must be sustained.  If, for example, Google detects a large drop-off in your backlinks after 3-4 months of heavy postings, it will actually penalize you because (1) it suspects your popularity has gone down, or (2) it realizes you were just doing some backlinking to get moved up.

That’s why we recommend you hire an expert to help you with your backlinking and then develop a program to sustain the postings month after month.  Steven Management does offer high quality backlinking services as part of a complete online market domination program, or as an individual service.  Contact us if you’d like to know more about this option.