What are Backlinks?
Backlinks, also known as inbound links, are links one website gets from another website. Typically, the websites are similar or connected in some way (similar content, industry, or goals) and the backlinks are beneficial to both parties.
Backlinks make a big impact on a website’s prominence and overall performance in search engine results. In fact, implementing a backlink strategy can be an important part of search engine optimization (SEO). Because search engines calculate a site’s ranking using a number of different factors, it is important to utilize all resources when trying to help your site rank higher on Google or other search engine results pages (SERP).
Of course, how much a backlink matters really depends on the backlink you’ve secured, your industry, the nature of your content, and how much of a reach your content has. However, the bottom line when it comes to backlinks is that they are very important and should definitely be part of your marketing strategy no matter what.
Why are Backlinks Important for SEO?
The best way to think about backlinks is as a type of building block. Backlinks directed towards your website are important because they lead to good SEO, which leads to more visibility and the possibility of better business.
If a website has a lot of backlinks, it is usually a good indicator that the site itself is popular or important with search engines – or both. If a site has a large number of backlinks, the typical search engine (think Google), will give more credibility to it because it seems more relevant than sites with little to no backlinks.
Of course, you must be careful about just adding backlinks for the sake of having them. While backlinks are important and indicate popularity, throwing in backlinks that aren’t relevant or even connected to your content can become pointless and gratuitous. Like a keyword strategy, you want to be intentional about the backlinks you procure and the websites you’re connecting with.