You know inbound links are a big part of SEO, but why?
Generally, you can think of SEO as two main realms of operation: onsite optimization, which involves structuring your site and writing content to improve your search rankings, and offsite optimization, which involves building links and offsite mentions to boost your authority further.
But why are inbound links so important for SEO anyway?
Page Rank and Authority
Since the early days of Google, links have been the search engine’s primary way to determine which sites are trustworthy and which ones are not. The idea is that sites with lots of backlinks pointing to them from different sites are more authoritative than sites with few, if any links. Though the process Google uses to evaluate link quality has changed quite a bit, this fundamental principle remains in place.
The higher your perceived authority is, the higher you’re going to rank for relevant searches. In general, the more links you have, the higher that authority is going to be—but it’s not always that simple. There are a variety of factors that affect how much and what kind of authority you get from a given link, including:
- The source of the link. The more authoritative the source of the link is, the stronger the link will be. It should also be relevant to your business.
- The anchor text. The anchor text you use for the link can affect how it’s interpreted.
- The diversity of your link profile. You can’t keep building links on one source; you need a diversity of different sources to keep reaping authority.
- The types of links you use. You also can’t point all your links to the same internal page; you need to vary it up.
These are just a few of the factors worth considering; link building is a deceptively complex process, and without it, it’s highly unlikely that your rankings will grow. If you need help getting started with link building or SEO in general, contact Quez Media today!
