For those steeped in the world of SEO, the term ‘backlink’ is as familiar as the air we breathe. Yet, remember, every expert was once a beginner, eagerly soaking up the fundamentals of digital marketing.
So, let’s dial it back and lay down the basics:
Imagine a backlink as a digital nod of approval, a virtual handshake if you will. It happens when one website tips its hat to another by mentioning it and providing a clickable pathway back to its digital domain.
But here’s where it gets exciting:
Think of high-quality backlinks as the secret sauce to climbing the ranks in the Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs) for your chosen keywords. These are not just mere links; they are votes of confidence, telling search engines, “Hey, this content is credible, valuable, and worth a look! Rank it god damnit!”
But why do backlinks hold such sway? How did they ascend to such heights of importance in the SEO community?
Join us on this journey as we uncover the historical roots and the pivotal moments that cemented backlinks as a cornerstone of effective SEO strategy.
Why Link Building Works
All of us are familiar with using search engines. You open up Google, type in what you’re searching for, and sift through the outcomes, aiming to uncover precisely the information you need.
They use highly sophisticated algorithms, considering hundreds of algorithmic factors to rank and present the most relevant and useful results.
These search indices are meticulously compiled by continuously crawling (and re-crawling) billions of web pages. The aim is to align the content of these pages with the search terms in their database to deliver the best results for the user.
However, back in the 1990s, the situation was quite different. Search results were often subpar because the algorithms back then were rudimentary, lacking the complexity they have today.
Finding high-quality results was a stroke of luck, given that the widespread tactic of keyword stuffing was surprisingly effective during that era.
What is keyword stuffing: “Keyword stuffing” refers to the practice of loading a webpage with keywords or numbers in an attempt to manipulate a site’s ranking in Google search results. Often these keywords appear in a list or group, or out of context (not as natural prose). Filling pages with keywords or numbers results in a negative user experience, and can harm your site’s ranking. Focus on creating useful, information-rich content that uses keywords appropriately and in context. (Source)
However, that was all about to change…
In 1996, Google’s founders, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, conceived the blueprint of the PageRank algorithm while working on a research project at Stanford University.
You might wonder, what exactly is PageRank?
PageRank was designed to sort the vast expanse of the internet using certain criteria, predominantly based on links.
PageRank operates on the principle that link value, or ‘link equity’, can be transferred between sites. This transfer occurs when one site links to another, and it doesn’t just apply to external links from other websites, but also internal links within the same site. However, this process incorporates a ‘dampening factor,’ meaning that not all of the link equity is transferred through an external link; it’s more of a proportionate share rather than the full amount.
The foundational document for the PageRank system is still accessible here: http://infolab.stanford.edu/~backrub/google.html
PageRank relies on the uniquely democratic nature of the web by using its vast link structure as an indicator of an individual page’s value. In essence, Google interprets a link from page A to page B as a vote, by page A, for page B. But,
Google looks at more than the sheer volume of votes, or links a page receives; it also analyzes the page that casts the vote.
Votes cast by pages that are themselves “important” weigh more heavily and help to make other pages “important.”
Within a few years, PageRank firmly established itself as a cornerstone in the SEO world, swiftly becoming the golden metric for determining the worth of a backlink. And by the mid-2000’s everybody was using PageRank as the main metrics for link value. The quest for ‘high PR links’ was akin to a digital gold rush.
And the easiest way to generate them were blog comments, trackbacks, and forum posts or profiles.The halcyon days of SEO.
Tools like Scrapebox and xRumer were the SEO craftsman’s trusty hammers, capable of propelling any basic website to the top of search rankings. All it took was a barrage of thousands of blog comments and forum posts, with your main keywords anchoring the links. Good times…
But as with any system prone to exploitation, this golden era of easy rankings was destined to be temporary.
Search engines, particularly Google, are in a constant state of evolution, improving their algorithms to weed out spammy tactics and ensure users receive the highest quality search results. This evolution led to more sophisticated systems that look beyond mere quantities of backlinks, demanding relevance, quality content, and genuine user value – a significant shift from the early days of SEO.
Subsequently, Google had to introduce the nofollow tag back in 2005 as a measure to prevent blog comment llnk spam.
From now on, when Google sees the attribute (rel=”nofollow”) on hyperlinks, those links won’t get any credit when we rank websites in our search results.
This isn’t a negative vote for the site where the comment was posted; it’s just a way to make sure that spammers get no benefit from abusing public areas like blog comments, trackbacks, and referrer lists.
The Death of Pagerank
Despite the rampant comment spam, PageRank remained the essential metric for evaluating backlinks for a while. However, recognizing the manipulative tactics that SEO professionals were employing with PageRank, Google took decisive action to curb the misuse.
In a defining move to disrupt the way SEOs used PageRank, Google ceased displaying the public PageRank score in their toolbar. This action effectively shrouded PageRank from public scrutiny.
With the disappearance of visible PageRank scores, the concept of “high PR links” lost its resonance within the SEO community. It was dead.
There was no longer an official and direct method to gauge the authority of a link with precision.
Yet, the lack of transparency didn’t render PageRank irrelevant. Quite contrary.
Google continues to use PageRank as part of their ranking algorithm, only it became an internal metric, concealed from the outside world.
This ongoing commitment to PageRank by Google was highlighted when they filed a patent in 2018 titled “Producing a ranking for pages using distances in a web-link graph,” which bears the hallmarks of the original PageRank concept.
Soooo…
Although PageRank is no longer a public metric, its principles still underpin the foundations of link valuation and ranking to this day. SEO experts had to adapt, finding new ways to interpret a website’s authority and the quality of backlinks without relying on the previously visible PageRank score. This shift necessitated a deeper understanding of SEO best practices and a more holistic approach to building a website’s reputation and authority.
Yes, we do use PageRank internally, among many, many other signals. It’s not quite the same as the original paper, there are lots of quirks (eg, disavowed links, ignored links, etc.), and, again, we use a lot of other signals that can be much stronger.
— 🍌 John 🍌 (@JohnMu) February 24, 2020
What makes a backlink good?
Authority & Link Equity
With the demise of public PageRank, SEOs sought alternative methods to evaluate the quality of backlinks.
The demand for such metrics grew quite fast and several third-party companies stepped in, developing their own systems intending to replicate the efficacy of PageRank.
Some early attempts were quite effective, though as the SEO landscape grew in complexity, only a handful of these metrics have stood the test of time. The leading indicators that have emerged are Domain Authority (DA), Domain Rating (DR), and Trust Flow (TF).
In essence, these metrics serve as a barometer for a website’s perceived authority from the perspective of search engines. A high score in Domain Authority, Domain Rating, or Trust Flow is generally indicative of a robust backlink profile and substantial site authority.
Subsequently, links coming from such websites are highly coveted in SEO circles. They are regarded as strong endorsements from domains with established authority, thereby signaling to search engines that the content being linked to is likewise credible and valuable.
These metrics have directed the focus towards the quality and trustworthiness of linking domains, aligning SEO practices more closely with the goal of providing users with relevant, high-quality search results.
- A metric by Ahrefs, DR also measures the strength of a website’s backlink profile on a scale of 1-100.
- DR is calculated based on the quantity and quality of backlinks to a website.
- Unlike DA, DR pays more attention to the quality of linking domains. A few high-quality links can be more influential than numerous low-quality links.
- Key Point: DR is an Ahrefs-specific metric and, like DA, is not a direct ranking factor for Google.
Domain Rating (DR) shows the strength of a website’s backlink profile compared to the others in our database on a 100-point scale.
Think of DR as a relative term in the sense that it’s dependent on not only the total number of high-DR sites that link to you, but also on how many other websites these high-DR sites link to. (Source: Ahrefs.com)
Relevance
Backlink relevance is a critical factor in the efficacy of link equity and attaining favorable rankings in search engine results.
When a backlink comes from a website that is closely related in subject matter to your website, it sends a strong signal to search engines about the contextual alignment and authority of your content.
This relevance amplifies the trust and value passed through the link, much more than an equivalent link from a less relevant source.
As search engines have evolved, they have become adept at discerning the topical relationship between the linking and linked pages, prioritizing those connections that demonstrate a high degree of relevance.
Therefore, for effective SEO, getting backlinks from reputable sources within your industry or niche is not just beneficial but imperative.
Best Backlinks
As we have learned, the best backlinks are those that come from high-authority (>>> high DR/DA/TF) and relevant websites within your industry, as they pass the most significant link equity and demonstrate to search engines the credibility and relevance of your content.
To procure such esteemed links, you should first identify authoritative websites within your niche that align with your content’s subject matter. This can be done through a thorough competitor analysis, using tools like Ahrefs to see where your competitors are getting their links from (e.g. backlink gap analysis), or by searching for top-performing content in your sector to understand where high-quality links originate.
To make it easier for you we outlined the most impactful links for 2024 in the tables below
Editorial Links
Editorial links are the gold standard in backlinking, often originating from leading publications like The New York Times, Forbes, and Vogue.
These links are earned when such esteemed outlets feature content that naturally includes a reference and link to your website. With their incredibly high Domain Rating, editorial links from these publications pass a substantial amount of link equity, significantly improving the authority and trustworthiness of your site in the eyes of search engines.
The endorsement implied by an editorial link from a major media outlet is invaluable for enhancing your website’s reputation and visibility.
- Description: These are links from high-authority publications obtained naturally due to the quality of the content.
- Characteristics: Very high Domain Rating (DR), substantial link equity, highly reputable sources.
- SEO Impact: Exceptionally beneficial for SEO due to their authority and trustworthiness. They can significantly boost a site’s credibility and rankings.
Digital PR Links
Digital PR links are obtained through online public relations efforts that aim to gain high-quality media coverage.
These links come from strategic storytelling and leveraging newsworthy content, events, or campaigns that attract the attention of journalists, bloggers, and influencers who will write about your brand and provide valuable links back to your site.
Digital PR links typically appear on well-regarded news sites, industry publications, or influential blogs, each contributing to your site’s domain authority and increasing its visibility to new audiences. By positioning your brand in the context of compelling stories and useful information, digital PR can secure authoritative links that not only boost your SEO but also enhance brand recognition and credibility.
- Description: These are links from high-authority publications obtained naturally due to the quality of the content.
- Characteristics: Very high Domain Rating (DR), substantial link equity, highly reputable sources.
- SEO Impact: Very impactful, as they are hard to obtain.
Guest Posts
Guest posting involves writing articles for other high-authority websites within your industry. This strategy allows for the creation of content that is highly relevant to both your niche and the linking site’s audience.
Guest posts on sites with high Domain Rating offer significant link equity. Selecting the right sites and crafting quality content that resonates with readers is key to maximizing the value of guest post backlinks.
- Description: Links acquired by writing articles for other relevant websites.
- Characteristics: Generally high DR, content relevance is key, mutual benefit for both parties.
- SEO Impact: Valuable for building domain authority and diversifying the backlink profile with relevant content.
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Link Insertions
Link insertions, also known as niche edits, involve adding backlinks to existing, aged content on high-authority sites.
The key here is topical relevance; the pages where your link is inserted should be closely related to your industry and content topics. Since these are aged pages, they carry more weight with search engines due to their established history. High Domain Rating combined with relevance ensures that link insertions can effectively enhance your backlink profile.
- Description: Adding links to existing content on other authority websites.
- Characteristics: High DR, relevance to the page’s topic, often on aged pages.
- SEO Impact: Effective for improving rankings due to topical relevance and the established authority of the host page.
HARO links
HARO (Help a Reporter Out) is a platform that connects journalists and blogs with relevant expert sources. In context of SEO, HARO backlinks are the links that one gets from the articles where they have served as the expert source.
When the article featuring your insights is published, it often includes a link back to your site. This is a legitimate way to build high-quality backlinks, improve website ranking and increase organic search traffic.
- Description: HARO is a platform where journalists request information and quotes from experts in various fields. In exchange for providing useful information, experts can earn a mention or a link in the journalist’s article.
- Characteristics: These links can range from moderate to very high in Domain Rating (DR), depending on the publication. The content is highly relevant and credible as it is used by journalists in their articles.
- SEO Impact: HARO links are highly valued in SEO for their authenticity and the high credibility of the sources. Bonus, often branded anchors are used.
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PBN Links
Private Blog Networks (PBN) links come from a network of websites created for the sole purpose of link building.
If constructed meticulously with no discernible footprints, PBNs can pass along considerable link equity. The art of a successful PBN involves ensuring the sites appear as legitimate, independent websites, often with high-quality content and a natural backlink profile.
When executed correctly, PBNs can be a powerful tool in an SEO arsenal.
- Description: Links from a network of websites created for the sole purpose of link building.
- Characteristics: If well-managed, they leave no footprints and can have a high DR.
- SEO Impact: Can pass significant link equity, but risky as they can lead to penalties if detected by search engines.
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High Performance Links
These links are placed statically on high-authority websites, often within headers, sidebars, footers, or within content. When these links are carefully chosen and properly filtered to ensure high authority they can be very impactful.
The effectiveness of theselinks largely depends on strategic placement and avoiding overuse, which can lead to diminishing returns.
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Press Releases
Press releases are official statements issued to media outlets to announce a range of news items, such as product launches, company updates, events, or awards. When distributed through various channels and networks, press releases can yield backlinks from news sites, online publications, and syndication platforms.
Although the primary goal of a press release is to generate media coverage, the secondary benefit lies in the potential backlinks that come from the coverage.
These backlinks can help in increasing online presence and improving SEO, provided that the content is genuinely newsworthy and captures the interest of journalists and readers alike. It’s important to note, however, that press release backlinks should form only a part of a broader, more diversified link-building strategy.
- Description: Brief, compelling stories send to journalists in request for a link back to your site.
- Characteristics: News Distribution to high authority outlets.
- SEO Impact: Low to medium, as a lot of the syndication will be with nofollow or rel-canonical tags. But still net beneficial.
Link Roundups
Link roundups are curated lists of resources, articles, or content pieces for a particular topic, often shared on blogs and websites.
Being featured in a link roundup can drive targeted traffic as well as increase relevance, as these roundups are typically aligned with specific topics or industries. To be included in roundups, your content needs to be high-quality, informative, and valuable to the curator’s audience.
- Description: Regular posts by bloggers or website owners that link out to their favorite content during a specific timeframe.
- Characteristics: Usually high relevance, can drive targeted referral traffic.
- SEO Impact: Beneficial for traffic generation and enhancing relevance, can also help in building relationships within the industry.
Link Swaps
Link swaps or link exchanges involve two parties agreeing to link to each other’s sites. This reciprocal linking can be beneficial if used sparingly and wisely.
The key is to exchange links with websites that are relevant and offer value to your audience. Overdoing link exchanges or partnering with low-quality sites can harm your SEO, so it’s crucial to be selective and maintain a natural-looking link profile.
- Description: Mutual agreement between two site owners to link to each other’s sites.
- Characteristics: Requires careful consideration to maintain relevance and quality.
- SEO Impact: Can be beneficial if used judiciously and wisely to ensure quality and relevance.
Citations
Citations are mentions of a business’s name, address, and phone number on local listing sites, directories, and business profiles.
While they are essential for local SEO, citations also contribute to branding, anchor text diversity, and can improve rankings in local search results or Google’s “Snack Pack.”
They help establish the geographical relevance and legitimacy of a business, which is especially important for businesses targeting local markets.
- Description: Mentions of a business’s name, address, and phone number on local directories or websites.
- Characteristics: Great for branding, helps in anchor text diversity, beneficial for local SEO (especially in Google’s “snack pack”).
- SEO Impact: Supports local ranking factors and enhances local online presence, but also great for national sites.
Link Overview
| Service | DR/DA | Relevance | Characteristics | Impact on SEO/Ranking |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Editorial Links | Very High | High | Ton of link equity, prestigious publications | Very High |
| Guest Posts | High (usually) | High | Relevant sites, crafted content | Very High |
| Link Insertions | High (usually) | High | Topical relevance, aged pages | Very High |
| PBN Links | Variable | Variable | No footprints, appears natural | Very High |
| High Performance Links | Variable | Variable | Correctly filtered, impactful placements | Medium to High |
| Citations | Low to High | High for Local SEO | Great for branding, anchor diversity | Medium for Local SEO |
| Link Roundups | Variable | High | Drives traffic, relevant exposure | Medium |
| Link Exchanges | Variable | High | Must be used sparingly and wisely | Medium |
| Digital PR Links | Very High | High | Media coverage, brand presence | Very High |
| Press Releases | Variable | Variable | News distribution, potential syndication | Low to Medium |
| HARO Links | Very High | High | Organic mentions, expert positioning | High |
How to use tiered link building
If you want to take your link building up a notch, you need to learn about “tiered link building”.
The crux of tiered link building lies in constructing a multi-level framework of backlinks where each successive layer funnels link equity up to the layer preceding it. Ultimately, the apex layer- tier 1 – directs this accumulated equity straight to your main website.
Easiest way to understand is to visualize this as a pyramid.
Tier 1 – the apex.
Each tier of backlinks forms a level of the structure, with the apex – the most influential and authoritative backlink – residing at the top, tier 1. This tier includes powerhouse links from methods like HARO, editorials, digital PR, press releases, guest blogging, link insertions, and well-maintained PBN (Private Blog Network) links. These direct backlinks are pivotal, serving as the direct conduit for passing on maximum link equity to your main site.
Tier 2 – the support.
Descending to the pyramid’s midsection – tier 2 – you’ll find a supportive layer of backlinks. These should be cost-effective yet contextually rich links, including more guest posts, link insertions, and secondary PBNs. High performance links also work great here
The role of tier 2 is to add more link equity to tier 1, amplifying the flow of link equity upward, thereby magnifying the authority passed to your primary backlinks.
Tier 3 – the last link layer.
At the pyramid’s base – tier 3 – is where you deploy the highest quantity of lower-value links. These backlinks target the second-tier, ultimately cascading the link equity further up the pyramid. Options such as cheap PBNs or economical guest posts can serve well at this level. But we wouldn’t focus too much on this layer, tbh.
By thoughtfully crafting each layer of your backlink pyramid, you create a resilient and dynamic SEO asset that can withstand shifts in the digital ecosystem and drive long-term growth for your site.
There really are no ‘bad’ backlinks – just bad link strategies. If you properly structure your link building campaigns, you can use any and every link you can find or buy.
