Building backlinks can be super time consuming. Trust us – we know. The Gorilla team has spent countless hours chasing down links, doing all we can for them apart from begging…
…okay, there might have been some begging.
Without the proper background info about backlinks, it might seem like a pointless endeavour. I mean, what’s the point of building links? What’s the value in crawling the web for potential links? Is it worth all the trouble?
The answer is a resounding YES!
Backlinks are a valuable element of SEO and without them, reaching the top of Google’s search results are slim. It’s going to take eons without them!
We want to emphasise the importance of backlinks in our SEO efforts. We’ve thrown together three reasons you need juicy backlinks for higher search engine rankings, plus some tips on how to get them. Read on!
#1. Backlinks are one of Google’s number one SEO ranking factor
In 2016, Search Quality Senior Strategist at Google, Andrey Lippatsev, revealed that Google’s top three ranking factors include backlinks, content, and RankBrain, Google’s artificial intelligence which uses machine learning to filter results and improve how web pages are positioned in search engine results.
In the past, the top ranking websites just had to generate massive amounts of backlinks from other websites, regardless of the quality. This lead to businesses link building through spammy websites with black hat SEO strategies (i.e. violations of Google’s terms of service).
Google got burned with this aimless link building, so she decided to do something about it. You know this algorithm change (and for a few of you, this change tanked your site) otherwise known as the Penguin Algorithm.
Google has now learned to distinguish the bad links from the good. Building lots of links will still result in a higher score, but on one condition – the links must be from a number of diverse and authoritative domains.
Check out the graph below from SEO genius, Neil Patel.
I know what you’re thinking.
“100,000 backlinks?!? You’re joking! I QUIT, EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY!”
The message of this graph isn’t to build hundreds of thousands of links. Instead, it’s to build as many links as you can, because the more links you have, the higher you’re likely to rank.
However, it’s not much use building hundreds of links if they’re all low quality. Google cares about the quality or domain authority of links, too.
The domain authority is a search engine ranking score developed by SEO gurus, Moz, which predicts how well a website is going to rank in search results via linking root domains and total number of links built.
Google cares as much about quality as she cares about quantity, so make sure to build lots of high-quality links in order to see more impressive results.
#2. Backlinks represent a vote of confidence from other websites
Backlinks are a signal to search engines that other websites like your content. So in turn, if multiple other websites link to your page, search engines can see your content is worth linking to, which means your page must be authoritative, trustworthy, and popular.
The more links you have, the more authoritative Google will think you are, and the more likely you are to appear in search results.
Earning backlinks can have a positive effect on your ranking position. Want to pick up some easy, local links? Check out our blog post on supplier and business contact links. There could be backlinks hiding in your contacts list!
#3. Backlinks can improve the amount of traffic coming to your website
Website traffic goes hand-in-hand with conversions. The more people zooming around your website, the more chances there are to purchase, sign up, call, or enquire.
It’s as simple as that – the exposure itself is worth the effort of building backlinks!
Still wishing there was a fast, fun and simple method of building links without having to lift a finger? Consider adding more news items, blog posts and content to your website.
According to Hubspot, companies that blog have 97% more backlinks than those who don’t, and 8 out of 10 people will click to read your content if you just get the headline right.
Plus, the more often you update your website with fresh articles and new web pages, the more often Google will stop and have a look. When search engines look at your site more frequently, you have more opportunities to rank higher based on the quality of the content.
What are you waiting for? Get writing!
How long before I see results?
Ah, the question of the century!
Most people expect to see ranking results as soon as our SEO efforts have started. However, SEO takes a lot of time and patience, especially when it comes to link building.
According to Moz, it takes an average of 10 weeks to see one rank jump, which is why it’s important to build lots of links over time. Also, note in the graph below there are drops in rank – these are normal! Google’s continually looking at rankings, so don’t get too stuck on your ranking dropping one place this week. It’ll likely rise in the next two months.
As we mentioned earlier, domain authority plays a major role in the performance of backlinks in SEO. In the graph below, you can see how the higher domain authorities between 26 – 50 out of 100 caused rankings to climb faster than low ranking domain authorities from 0 – 25.
Between general link building and high domain authorities, the results could come rolling in sooner than 10 weeks. However, don’t sit around waiting to reach the top of Google’s search results. Link building is an ongoing process.
Backlinks are fuel for your rankings!
Yes, building backlinks can be time consuming.
Yes, sometimes it seems like the results just aren’t coming in (or they aren’t coming in fast enough!)
However, it’s important to remember backlinks are one of Google’s top ranking factors and while results might not be immediate, over time your website will start climbing the ranks.
Who knows, backlinks could even help you reach the top of search results.
Want to talk more about backlinks with one of our SEO specialists? Get in contact with the Gorilla team and find out how we can help build links to your site.
