A backlink is a link on one website that points to another website. This can also be called an incoming or referral link.
Search engines use backlinks as a ranking signal to determine how high a site should rank in results pages. However, not all backlinks are created equal.
Link building
Backlinks are one of the most important aspects of search engine optimization (SEO). When a website links to yours, it sends a signal to Google that your content is worth ranking. Getting high-quality backlinks is a key part of the SEO process. However, some backlink-building techniques are against Google’s policies.
You can get quality incoming links by creating content that is valuable to others in your industry. Often, this will lead to other websites linking back to yours. Incoming links are also known as referral links.
Another way to build quality backlinks is by finding broken links on other websites. Reach out to the webmaster of these sites and suggest your relevant page as a replacement. This is a great way to build relationships with other sites.
Anchor text
Anchor text is the clickable text in a hyperlink. It is usually underlined and colored blue in html code. While recommendations for anchor text vary widely, best practices suggest that it should be relevant to the page to which you are linking. Generic anchor text such as “click here” or “read more” does not tell Google what the linked page is about and may be considered spammy.
The relevance of a link is one of the most important factors in SEO, as it informs search engines about the topic of a page and what keywords it should rank for. However, anchor text is also open to manipulation, and Google is effective at identifying unnatural links. Hence, branded anchors are preferred for SEO. They are more effective than generic links that use naked URLs, which look spammy.
Domain authority
Domain authority (DA) is a relative score that predicts how well a website will rank in search engine results pages (SERPs). The higher the DA, the more likely a site will be to appear at the top of SERPs. Developed by Moz, a leading SEO platform, domain authority is based on several factors, including backlinks.
A good way to improve your DA is to create quality content that’s link-worthy. This can be articles, videos, infographics, podcasts, or slides.
Ideally, your links should come from sites with high domain authority. This is because these sites have already earned Google’s trust and are more likely to pass on their clout to your site. However, you should not solely focus on obtaining these links, as it’s important to have a variety of different types of backlinks.
Page authority
In the world of SEO, page authority is one of the most important factors for ranking a webpage. It’s a holistic metric that incorporates many different metrics, and it can change often. While it’s difficult to directly influence, boosting your authority can help you rank more effectively.
In addition to link equity, page authority communicates relevance and quality. For example, a backlink from a gluten-free bakery in California will pass more value than one from a mountain climbing site. The positioning of the backlink matters too – a link hidden in a footer will not pass as much equity as one placed within content.
It’s also important to note that page authority does not correlate with keyword rankings. It can give you a snapshot of how well your pages are ranking, but it does not necessarily determine where they will rank in search engine results.
Do-follow or no-follow
Backlinks are like votes of confidence that can boost a page’s authority. However, not all backlinks are created equal. Some, such as those from reputable publications, can carry a lot of value for your website. Those links can help drive traffic to your site and can also boost your brand awareness.
In order to determine whether a link is dofollow or nofollow, you can use the inspect tool in your browser. This will show you the HTML code for the link. Generally, dofollow links are considered to be more important because they pass link equity and can boost your search engine rankings. However, some sites choose to use the nofollow attribute for their own reasons. It’s not difficult to do. Just add the “rel=nofollow” tag to the HTML code of a link.