Backlinks are the lifeblood of search engine optimisation. It always was and always will be that important to rank on search engines. Algorithms and rules have and will continue to change through the years but you can still see that a lot of SEO practitioners and experts all rely to some extent on what backlinks bring to the table.
Before we proceed, a quick refresher on what a backlink is. A backlink is defined as a link that brings incoming traffic from one website to another. It takes “lifeblood” to a whole new, literal level too. Think about it, something that gives something nourishing from one part to another, that’s literally what blood does to living organisms. So right there, you know, you should be thanking backlinks for the success of your website.
It’s great and all but things are not as simple as before. A decade or so ago, there were so many ways to get a good backlink that can help in any off-page SEO content. Page directories had the time of their lives and even some social media platforms traded backlinks with reputable websites. With all the new algorithms in place, it has become increasingly difficult to get the really good backlinks that sends would-be customers to your company’s website or whatever your intended website is.
And while we did say it has become difficult, it’s not impossible to get good backlinks
- Take a Dig at your Competitors
Take a dig at what your competitors have done and see the results it has brought them. Just because you plan on doing the same thing doesn’t mean you have to do everything identical. Find ways how you can change things up and make some modifications with how you would be inserting backlinks to your page on the website of your choice. Find your own ways on improving what others in the industry have already done, because it obviously works for them!
- Revisit your old backlinks and assess
If you have done some guest postings in the past, you may want to look at how it has been doing and how it has helped your website or your SEO campaign. You need to check on the health of the backlink, do it. Another reason why you need to check on your backlink’s health is because you need to know whether it’s causing more harm than good for your website as well as your campaign. At least, you would be able to do damage control and stop the link from further harming your website.
- Make Genuine Connections
When you are building a backlink or doing a backlink campaign for your website, you or any of your team members will start connecting with other people including bloggers and webmasters or even owners. It is important that you create a good connection with these people and not just because you need to be in their good graces so they could put in your links onto their website. You can create genuine connections and you can start developing a strong sense of collaboration which in turn could lead to stronger ties and better campaigns in the future.
- Recycle or Repeat
When we mention recycling or repeating, we do not mean you continually use the same source to put in your backlink. Instead we mean, revisiting past collaborations with other websites who have accepted your guest post or backlink placement. See if the website has grown and if the webmaster or owner is still amenable to work with you for another backlink at another part of the website.
- Research
Researching what the competitors have under their backlink arsenal will really play a crucial role. Sure it would take a lot of time and effort, but the effects it could put in the table can be really satisfying. Researching competitor backlinks is different from out right emulating them however. The former will rely more on you getting a clear view of what they have done for their SEO campaign and planning your own. The latter is more akin to the first item in this list.
Research and examine what aspect of the SEO campaign needs to be tweaked. As we mentioned earlier, you need to be on top of things especially backlinks. Having a bad backlink coming from a website with a bad reputation can be detrimental for your overall goal, which is to rank for a certain keyword.
Following or considering these pointers won’t just prove that backlinks play an important role for SEO campaigns and enriching a website; it also means that you are strengthening the website and the campaign from being snapped away out of existence by competitors. It could also help you be the one to turn all your competitors into dust. So give it a try today and look at what your backlinks are doing for your site and business.