Backlinks Basics: What Do Backlinks Do For You?

We’ve talked about these magical little things called backlinks a few times now, but we really have gone over the power of them. You see, backlinks are SEO magic. They’re used to boost everything for your website, from credibility all the way up to sales and traffic. Before we jump into everything, let’s go over the backlink basics first.

What is a Backlink?

A backlink is simply a link that isn’t on any of your websites that points back to you. Have you ever done research and found that a study is embedded into the article? That’s a backlink!In the SEO world, they’re a key component of your website’s ranking, traffic, and discoverability. Basically, the more backlinks you have, the more likely people are going to discover your business, your product/service, and your website. We have an entire blog about backlinks, which you can read here.

Why Are Backlinks Important?

Backlinks are key criteria for three things that we mentioned above: rankings, traffic, and discoverability.

Rankings

The more good backlinks your website has, the more likely it is to appear on the first page of Google. It’s really that simple, in terms of the algorithm at least. However, you’ll want to make sure those backlinks are good and actually are worth your time and investment in them. You see, you can have 10,000 backlinks, but if only 100 of them are from good websites, then your SEO ranking won’t be very good for very long. Google’s algorithm ranks websites based on a number of different criteria. So having your website featured on 9,900 “meh” websites won’t really do you much good. In fact, it may even hurt you in the long run. But we’ll get more into that later in this blog — more specifically in the “Do Backlinks Happen Organically?” section.

Traffic

Backlinks lead to traffic. Links are clickable for a reason — they allow the user to go from one site to another to find out more about what interests them. To you, that means more referral traffic.Think about it this way: you get your link place on a website that gets about 10,000 views per month. Their blogs generally get about 5,000 views per month. That means you have the opportunity to attract those same 5,000 people to your website. On the flip side, getting your link on a website with nonexistent traffic won’t do much good for you. This is why auditing your backlin opportunities through tools such as Ahrefs is so important. You’ll be able to see which website is trusted, is building relevant keywords, and is viewed by a realistic number of people each month. If all of those things don’t match up, then it’s probably better to try and get your backlink from elsewhere.

Discoverability

Search engines are constantly crawling the web to find new content to offer. Backlinks help search engines figure out what you do. So if you have 50 backlinks for cat food, and then 150 for dog food, then Google is probably going to think you’re a pet food supplier without ever needing to crawl your website (though it will anyway). It is also tied back to what we discussed in the “Traffic” section above. The more opportunities people have to find your website, the more people will find you! It’s the SEO version of “If you build it, they will come.”

Do Backlinks Happen Organically?

Yes and no. Most of the time, you won’t have people reaching out to you and asking to put your website link in one of their blogs. It may happen without your permission, but you shouldn’t rely on this to grow your SEO profile, unless, of course, you’re an industry powerhouse already. It's like us linking to this page: sell your home fast. That's an organic backlink, but it's a random choice we made to post it. As a business owner, you can't always bank on other businesses randomly/naturally/organically linking back to you. If you’re looking to grow via backlinks, you’re going to need a consistent and targeted campaign. This involves finding relevant websites with all of the criteria we mentioned before. Oh and the kicker? Those websites have to allow guest posting as well — meaning they have to be okay with someone writing for them, or for someone asking for them to insert a link into one of their existing blogs. It helps if you have a budget to back up your ask — most reputable websites won’t do this for free, as they know they’re helping promote your business or your agenda.

Getting Started with Backlinks

So the first step is to find an amount you’re willing to spend each month. A healthy budget starts around $150 — good websites to place a backlink in aren’t cheap! Next, find the website(s) you want. This is the hardest part if you don’t have a pre-existing mastersheet with various industries, hundreds of websites that accept guest posts, and their estimated price for guest posting. Trust us, it can take forever to find the right fit. It takes even longer to hear back from some. Then reach out, wait, and hope. Once you hear back, write the article, insert your link, and make sure everything is kosher before sending it off. They’ll ask for payment once the link is live. Check everything over on their website and then send payment. That’s it! We’ll admit, on paper, it sounds easy. However, there are a ton of obstacles in this process, including:

• Creating the timeline that works for you
• Finding time to prospect, write, and send the blog
• Learning the best way to introduce yourself, your ask, and the proposed blog
• Finding current and relevant websites that allow guest posting
• Having a list of backups to reach out to if you don’t hear back
• Staying consistent with this process each month or each quarter
• Meeting the various requirements of each website

So, in short, don’t only rely on organic backlinks. It’s a job you’ll have to work yourself. Or call us at Helix House! We have a team of content creators who have a time-tested backlink building process. So give us a call and we’ll be happy to help you get those sweet backlink benefits rolling in.