Hey everyone, welcome to Web Tip Wednesday: Website Edition – Episode 3.
Last time we talked, we went over the topic of how to rank on google. This gave us some good insight into on-page and off-page SEO.
Today we are going to expand on an off-page SEO strategy and talk backlinks. Backlinks are an important part of your SEO strategy, but tragically, they are often forgotten.
We hope to answer 3 main questions about backlinks, which will in turn, help you drive traffic to your website.
So, let’s start with the obvious, what are backlinks?
Last time I told you that off-page SEO can be boiled down to one thing, “reputation”. Backlinks are one of the most effective ways to build your reputation online, because a major hint to what they are is in the name. Back links. This is just an easier way to say, “links back to your website”. And they are just that. Other websites that link to your own website.
If reputation matters when it comes to SEO, then it really matters which websites are linking back to your website. When browsers start crawling the internet for websites, they are logging how safe they think a given website is. The safer and better the website is that is linking back to your website, the more that can help your rankings. The more “toxic” sites that link back to your website, the more that can hurt your rankings.
For example, if you are looking to go eat at restaurant and someone you know gives you a recommendation, you might believe them or you might not. But what if someone else that you know also recommends that same restaurant? The more people that start recommending that restaurant, the more you will believe that it’s a good place. It’s the same with google. The more sites that Google trusts who recommend or link to your site, the more Google likes you.
So, here’s the real question. How can I get backlinks?
Well, like most things in SEO, it takes time and work. Backlinks can come from all sorts of sources. The best place to start is with social media. You probably post to your Facebook account already, so why not add in links to your website? You could also get links from your local news outlets by issuing press releases and advertisements. But make sure they are a reputable source because that is the most important part of backlinks.
If you need help with your SEO strategy, reach out to us and we’ll help you get started.