There is little doubt about the value of backlinks for websites because the links not only help improve online visibility but also drive more web traffic and position a website at the top of search engine results. Google and many other search companies are placing a greater emphasis on the value of backlinks.
When a website has a high-quality backlink to a reputable website, most search engines will view these as essentially being recommendations. Companies all over the United States need to invest considerable time and effort into their link-building strategies.
The process of link building involves obtaining links from other sources to your website. In an ideal world, a consumer visits one website and then clicks the link to go to another website that offers additional information.
When it comes to search engines, links allow bots to crawl, index, and rank certain web pages. Link building remains one of the most effective ways for companies to get other high-authority, niche-specific websites to vouch for a website.
People will be able to develop a prolific backlink profile as they gain more links. Such links will have a desirable effect on the Google algorithm that will help you achieve higher rankings.
The unfortunate truth about link building is that it will take time to develop a strong backlink profile, and constant efforts need to be made. The upside to this arrangement is that people who do get valuable backlinks will set themselves up for long-lasting results.
As SEMRush notes, PageRank used to be something of a cornerstone to search engine optimization (SEO) efforts a decade or so ago. PageRank is an algorithm Google uses to rank web pages in search engine results by counting the number and quality of links to a page to determine a rough estimate of how important a website is, with the underlying assumption being that more important websites will be more likely to receive more links from other websites.
There are essentially three ways for people to build links. The first option is simply to ask another party for a backlink to your website.
You do not want to be asking just any website owner for permission, as you must be sure that a website relates to your industry or niche and the website is credible, and shows signs of strong performance. A person then crafts an email pitch to a website owner to seek a backlink.
Another option can be earning backlinks, which means creating original material that is compelling enough for other parties to want to share. The Google Webmaster Guidelines point out that creating good content can pay off because links are typically editorial votes given by choice, and the more useful content a person has, the greater the chances someone else will find that content valuable to their readers and link to it.
The third option that is probably not the safest is buying links. Google’s Webmaster Guidelines note that buying or selling links that pass PageRank can negatively impact a website’s rankings.
When you are in the process of reviewing websites for possible link-building efforts, you will want to look at all of the following factors:
There are a variety of metrics that will be important for people to understand when they are trying to develop their backlink profiles. Some of the most common metrics include:
When you are evaluating a website, you are going to need to keep several different important things in mind. You will have to give weight to each different element of a website and stress the elements that emphasize website quality.
The key elements in these cases often begin with the content. Identify whether a website has any links to its biggest pages and whether those links have no follow or sponsor tags.
You also need to investigate content navigation and any restricted keywords. Also, look to see how regularly a website is updated.
When it comes to more administrative features, you will want to view the company’s about page to see whether there are any links to its biggest pages. You are also looking for contact information such as phone numbers, email addresses, or physical addresses, and pages directly advertising do follow links in guest posts.
Next, you will want to examine a website’s link profile and whether a company has too many links pointing to a single source. You will also want to look at a website’s domain authority and domain rating using SEO tools and discover whether there are links that do not make sense for the webpage.
When it comes to who is authoring the pages, look for bylines, author page information, and nationalities. You may also want to look at an author’s reputation and determine whether they have an online presence, followers, and a record of engagement.
Finally, you will want to examine technical elements such as whether a website exists in Google’s index or if it is just the home page. Does a website have advertisements and links within its pages?
When it comes to the authority of a website, there is either page authority or website authority (or domain authority). Based on the Google PageRank Algorithm, a webpage with the maximum number of links redirecting to it has the highest page authority within a website.
The problem here is Google does not formally calculate that authority scores. Authority scores may be calculated by other SEO tools, however, and allow people to better understand where they stand.
A website with higher authority will rank higher on Google. Certain high-authority websites may be great for link placements, but certain link placements on low domain authority websites could be beneficial in some cases.
Where you place a link can have an enormous impact on whether your visitors will click it. A link at the top of a page will be much more likely to earn a click than one that is in a sidebar of footer.
People cannot afford to ignore the importance of anchor text that is just the text that will be leveraged to place a backlink to a website. Anchor text will not only give people context about the contents of a webpage, but it also helps search engines understand what webpages are about.
It is important to understand that Google considers excessive use of anchor text to be a violation of its guidelines. Websites could be penalized for overuse of anchor text, so be smart about your applications.
Do-Follow Vs. No-Follow
A no-follow link allows a person to build a link to their website from another website but will signal to Google not to crawl the target web page. The link will usually be marked no-follow with a rel=”nofollow” attribute, and rel=“UGC” attribute relates to user-generated links such as blog comments and forum posts while rel=“sponsored” are links related to advertisements, sponsorships, or compensation agreements.
Even when a no-follow link is not crawled by Google bots, a person can still avail them in case they get links from high-authority sites such as Forbes. No-follow links from high-authority sites will help improve the credibility of a website in the eyes of search engines.
Do-follow links are the complete opposite of no-follow links in that these links invite search engine bots to crawl, index, and rank the target web page by passing link juice. Do-follow links are beneficial in boosting PageRank scores and lifting websites in search engine result pages (SERPs).
SerpStat is an SEO management platform that allows people to get backlink analysis of a website. Backlink profile analysis will allow a person to evaluate the value of links pointing to a website by looing at the linking domain and anchor list to ensure that there are no spammy anchors or suspicious websites in the backlink analysis report.
SerpStat will let you launch “Backlink Analysis” and select its “Backlink Dashboard.” There will be a “Referring Pages” graph that displays the backlink number growth dynamic during the entire domain history over the past 120 days.
Before placing any backlinks on your website, you will want to ensure that your links are not dealing with any search engine penalties. The Moz Spam Score can be a tremendously helpful metric that indicates whether a website may be penalized by search engines.
An important aspect that is frequently overlooked during traffic volume analysis will be the total number of indexed pages that bring a company the amount of traffic previously calculated. While two completely different websites might have the same number of monthly visitors, the amount of indexed pages of the two websites may vary.
Average page attendance can be another indicator of website quality. It is also important to pay attention to the date of a website’s latest update.
If you are dealing with any kind of web design and development issue, SERP Matrix will be able to help you get answers to all of your most pressing problems. We emphasize search engine optimization (SEO) strategies for all of our clients and help them earn the best possible Google ratings.
SERP Matrix specifically handles link-building issues, and we know how to incorporate the key performance indicators (KPIs) relating to effective link-building. We can conduct a complete audit of your website to deliver a comprehensive report to you.
Do not wait to call us today for online help. You can call (713) 287-1134 or contact us online to schedule a free consultation.
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