Are you a new business owner struggling to attract customers to your website? Or an inbound marketer looking for smart ways to improve your client’s search engine ranking?
In either case, understanding inbound links could be the saving grace for your digital marketing strategy.
In this post, we’ll cover the following topics:
• What Are Inbound Links?
• Why Building Link Profiles Matter to Your SEO
• Understanding the Role of PageRank in Inbound Linking
• What Does a Good Inbound Link Look Like?
• When Do Inbound Links Become Harmful?
• Tips on How To Get Inbound Links
What Are Inbound Links?
Inbound links, also known as backlinks or external links, are hyperlinks from other websites that lead to your site.
These links are crucial for search engine optimization (SEO) as they act as “votes” of confidence for your website, signaling to Google (and other search engines) that your content is high-quality and trustworthy.
In the past, the number of inbound links was the primary factor in determining a website’s ranking. This led to people resorting to spammy tactics, such as buying or exchanging links, to boost their rankings.
Google has since updated its algorithms to prioritize quality over quantity when it comes to inbound links. In short, having a few high-quality inbound links is better than having numerous low-quality ones irrelevant to your website’s content.
Now that we know what are inbound links, let’s discuss how they affect search engine rankings.
Why Building Link Profiles Matter to Your SEO
An inbound link is the most weighted element in Google’s local search algorithm. Inbound links pass “link juice” from the linking website to your own, which essentially means the value or authority of that website is passed onto yours.
Now, this can be done in two ways: reciprocal linking or one-way inbound links.
• Reciprocal linking: When two websites agree to link to each other
• One-way inbound links: When only one website links to another without any reciprocation
But why does all this matter for your overall SEO strategy, and how does it relate to building link profiles?
First of all, having a strong and diverse link profile greatly improves your website’s visibility on search engine result pages (SERPs). This is because Google considers the quality, relevancy and diversity of inbound links when ranking sites.
A diverse link profile means you have a mix of different links, such as editorial links from high-authority websites, social media mentions, directory listings and even links from forums or blogs.
This shows Google that your website is being referenced and recommended by various sources, making it more trustworthy and authoritative in their eyes.
Understanding the Role of PageRank in Inbound Linking
Beyond link juice, PageRank should also be considered when building link profiles.
Introduced by Google’s co-founders, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, PageRank assigns a numerical value to each webpage on the Internet. This value isn’t arbitrary but depends on the quantity and quality of the inbound links pointing to that page.
It’s the backbone of Google’s search algorithm, helping to determine which pages appear in the search results and what order.
In essence, every inbound link that doesn’t carry a “nofollow” attribute passes PageRank from the linking page to the linked one. Therefore, earning high-quality inbound links is pivotal in enhancing your website’s PageRank and, consequently, its visibility on SERPs.
What Does a Good Inbound Link Look Like?
For an inbound link to positively impact your SEO, it needs to meet certain criteria. In general, a good inbound link should have:
1. Relevance: The linking website should be related to your business or industry. Relevant backlinks show Google that your website is part of a relevant network within its niche.
2. Authority: It should come from a reputable and authoritative website. Links from high-authority sites carry more weight and have a stronger impact on PageRank.
3. Anchor Text: This is the clickable text within a hyperlink. It should be descriptive and provide context to users and search engines on the linked page.
4. No “Nofollow” Attribute: A “nofollow” attribute prevents the link from passing PageRank. Therefore, you want to ensure that your inbound links don’t have this attribute.
5. Natural Placement: Links should be placed within the natural flow of content and not forced or over-optimized.
6. Diversity: A diverse link profile with links from different sources, such as blogs, news articles and social media platforms, is ideal for building a strong online presence.
Hitting most, if not all, of these criteria will ensure that your inbound links are valuable and contribute to your website’s SEO efforts.
When Do Inbound Links Become Harmful?
Inbound links can also negatively impact your website’s SEO if deemed low-quality or spammy.
After years of schemes and tactics to manipulate their search results, Google has implemented strict guidelines for identifying manipulative links.
In general, Google considers the following as harmful inbound links:
• Paid links
• Links from irrelevant or low-quality websites
• Links from link schemes or networks designed to manipulate rankings
• Link exchange or reciprocal linking
• Links from adult or gambling websites
Sometimes, these links can result in a manual penalty from Google, causing your website to drop rankings or even get deindexed. Other search engines like Bing and Yandex have similar guidelines and penalties for manipulative links.
For this reason, it’s essential to regularly monitor and disavow any harmful inbound links that may be pointing to your site.
9 Tips on How To Get Inbound Links
If you’re found guilty of using manipulative tactics to obtain inbound links, you can face severe consequences that could jeopardize your website’s visibility.
This is where white hat link building comes in.
A white hat link building service uses ethical and legitimate link building tactics to acquire relevant and high-quality inbound links. This approach may take longer, but it ensures long-term success for your local SEO efforts.
Here’s how to get inbound links using white hat link building practices:
1. Create High-Quality Content That People Want To Link To
Earning natural and relevant backlinks is one of the most effective link building tactics. When you provide valuable and informative content, others are likelier to share and reference it on their websites.
Creative campaigns designed first as content marketing and second as link magnets are one way to build natural backlinks. These link building campaigns take many forms, such as write-ups of interesting research, interactive media and anything you could see being shared well on social media.
2. Build Relationships With Other Website Owners and Bloggers
Networking can open doors to guest blogging opportunities, where you can contribute a high-quality article in exchange for a backlink to your site.
If you have yet to establish a solid network, seeking the help of link building experts can assist you in identifying potential networking opportunities to enhance your inbound marketing strategy.
3. Get Listed on Online Directories and Industry Associations
Online directories like Google Business Profile (GBP), Yelp and Yellow Pages provide valuable backlinks to your website. Industry associations may also have directories or member listings in which you can participate.
Just ensure that the directories and associations you’re listed in are credible and relevant to your business.
4. Collaborate With Influencers and Conduct Interviews
Influencers have a large following, and partnering with them can help increase your brand’s visibility and earn relevant backlinks from their websites or social media platforms.
Conducting interviews with influencers or industry experts and featuring them on your website can also lead to valuable inbound links.
5. Leverage Social Media Platforms
Sharing your content on social media can lead to others sharing it, providing opportunities for inbound links. You can also engage with other businesses or influencers in your industry through social media to build relationships and earn their backlinks.
6. Avoid Black Hat Link Building at all Costs
The practice of black hat SEO, a term derived from old Western movies where the ‘bad guys’ wore black hats, involves using aggressive SEO strategies that do not adhere to search engine guidelines and focus solely on search engines rather than a human audience.
Techniques such as keyword stuffing, cloaking and using private link networks are often employed in black hat SEO. These tactics provide a quick fix to increase your website’s ranking but, in the long term, lead to your website being penalized or banned by search engines.
Stick to white hat link building services to ensure the sustainable growth and authenticity of your website’s local SEO performance.
7. Check Your Competitor’s Link Profile
As the saying goes, “Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer.” In this case, it means analyzing your competitor’s link profile to identify potential opportunities for your inbound marketing strategy.
While you should refrain from copying their links directly, looking at their strategies can give you insights on improving your link building campaigns. Have they tapped into specific areas of the local market, or have they received links from more local businesses and organizations?
Utilize tools like Ahrefs, Majestic or Moz to analyze and compare your link profile with your competitors. Then, reach out to potential link sources they have yet to tap into and build relationships to earn valuable inbound links for your business.
8. Audit Your Backlink Profile Regularly
Your link profile will continue growing over time, so you should always continue acquiring inbound links.
However, it’s crucial to regularly audit your backlink profile and disavow any harmful or low-quality links pointing to your site.
A quarterly timeline is a good rule of thumb for running link-building campaigns and conducting an audit of your backlink profile. This ensures that any outdated links can be removed and new opportunities can be pursued.
If you notice any harmful inbound links during your audit, use the disavow tool in Google Search Console to dissociate your site from them.
9. Consider Hiring Link Building Consultants
Backlink management takes time, effort and expertise.
If you need help to earn quality inbound links, consider hiring link building consultants. These link building experts employ white hat strategies and have the knowledge and tools to help improve your website’s link profile.
They provide valuable insights into optimizing your content for link building opportunities and assist with other digital marketing solutions like search engine marketing (SEM) and HARO link building.
Overall, their white hat link building service helps boost your website’s online presence and contributes to its long-term success in search engine rankings.
How Many Inbound Links Do I Need To Rank?
It depends.
It can vary based on multiple factors, with the most important being the number and quality of inbound links that the top-ranking pages for your target keyword have and the overall authoritativeness of their website.
By analyzing these factors, you can gauge the general range of inbound links that you should aim for to rank well.
However, there is no magic number and it’s always best to focus on acquiring high-quality, relevant and diverse inbound links rather than just aiming for a specific number.
Build a Strong Backlink Profile With Thrive
White hat link building is a digital marketing strategy with bits and pieces not easily acquired in a single online resource. That said, entrusting your backlink management to professional link building services can provide a strong foundation for your website’s SEO efforts.
Thrive Internet Marketing Agency is a full-service digital marketing agency specializing in creating and executing effective link building campaigns for businesses of all sizes.
From HARO link building services, local citations and guest blogging to link reclamation and more – our dedicated SEO specialists can handle your backlink management and optimization needs.
Get in touch today to learn how Thrive can help you achieve sustainable growth through an ethical inbound marketing strategy.
