The Importance of Website Backlinks Explained

Backlinks are links from other websites that point to your website. In other words, it's when websites mention your site and provide a link from their site back to yours. That's it, really.

But not all backlinks are created equal. It's important to know how to identify bad or spammy backlinks that can harm your site’s ranking on Google. 

Understanding backlinks and how they work is a really useful thing to know. Because even if you don't intend to get into all the technical SEO stuff, there are always opportunities out there to have other sites mention yours.

Every business owner can be on the lookout for backlink opportunities, especially once you know how important they are. So, let's learn more about how backlinks benefit every website owner looking to rank in the search engines.

Bad backlinks can have a detrimental effect on your website's search engine ranking. It is important to understand the risks associated with bad backlinks (also known as black hat link building tactics) and how you can avoid them.



High-quality backlinks are essential for improving your site’s ranking on Google, but what type of links will actually harm your website?

A bad or spammy site is a website that violates search engine guidelines and engages in practices that are intended to manipulate search engine rankings. These sites often use unethical tactics to try to trick search engines into ranking them higher in search results than they deserve. You want to make sure you're not getting backlinks from sites like this.

Some common characteristics of bad or spammy sites include:

1. Low-quality content: These sites often have thin, low-quality content that is poorly written or copied from other websites.
2. Keywords galore: These sites use excessive amounts of keywords in their content or meta tags in an attempt to manipulate search engine rankings.
3. Link schemes: These sites engage in unnatural link building practices, such as buying links or participating in link farms.

Getting backlinks from a bad or spammy site can be harmful to your own website's reputation and search engine ranking. If you have a lot of backlinks to your site from spammy sites, the search engines will assume you're trying to manipulate your search engine rankings. This is against all search engine guidelines.

Search engines will often penalise websites with backlinks from spammy sites, potentially causing them to lose rankings and traffic. So, it's really important to avoid these sites and instead focus on getting backlinks only from high-quality, reputable sites.

Backlinks from social media can be great for websites in a number of ways. But they may not directly affect your search engine rankings.

So, go ahead and get lots of relevant mentions and endorsements on social media, if you can. These links are called "social signals". 



It's worth noting that not all social media backlinks are created equal. Backlinks from high-authority social media platforms such as LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook are generally more valuable than those from lesser-known platforms.

Just remember that social media backlinks are typically considered "nofollow" links, meaning search engines do not follow them for the purpose of ranking a website.

Overall, backlinks from social media can be beneficial for a website in terms of referral traffic, brand visibility, and social signals, but they should not be relied upon as the sole source of backlinks.

(Further reading: Social media strategy for NDIS providers)

Backlinks are an essential part of SEO and can be extremely beneficial for a website’s ranking on search engines. That's why we include backlinks in our Jump Start SEO package.

High-quality backlinks from authoritative websites, also known as inbound links, help to increase the authority of your domain and build trust with Google.

Quality backlinks come from relevant sources that offer value to your target audience. Here are a few tips about obtaining high-quality backlinks:

• You want to ensure that the anchor text used (the hyperlinked words that link back to your website) in each backlink is natural and descriptive; generic phrases like “click here” or “visit this page” are to be avoided.
• Social media sites such as Twitter, Facebook, Instagram etc., are great places to start looking for potential linking opportunities - are there complementary businesses out there who can give you a shout-out?
• If writing is your thing, consider guest blogging on other high-authority sites within your niche or industry - this will not only generate referral traffic but also give you some valuable "link juice". (Or check out our blog post packages - you could use the blog posts we write for you as guest blog posts on someone else's site on the understanding that they link back to your website).
• Another way to get quality backlinks is by creating content worth linking to on your own site; write blog posts or create videos that offer unique insights into topics related to your business/industry. If people find it useful enough they may choose to link back naturally which will improve the overall strength of your website's authority in Google's eyes. 
  

Backlinks are essential for SEO since they show search engines that your site is reliable and relevant, leading to improved rankings on SERP listings. Backlinks can also bring more visitors to your website as they follow the links to discover information about products or services you offer.

Finally, backlinks help build relationships with other businesses by showing them that you value their content enough to link it on your own website.

Examples of backlinks may include guest blogging on other websites (with a link back to your website underneath your guest post), referencing content via social media such as Twitter or LinkedIn, and being cited by a reliable source like an online industry magazine. Backlinks should be high quality and come from reputable sources for maximum impact.

A great place to start is with high quality business directories in your industry, or general directories such as Yellow Pages or local council directories. Once you know how important backlinks can be, you'll see opportunities everywhere. Be on the lookout for opportunities to list your business online and create share-able content on social media.

We're glad you asked! There are lots of great disability sector directories and websites out there that offer both free and paid backlinks to your website, as well as listing your business contact details. We've created a useful guide on the best websites that offer backlinks to NDIS service provider websites.

Oh, and every NDIS Service Provider that has their website built by 2Brownies gains a backlink from us when we list your site in our design portfolio.

Having quality backlinks from other websites is essential for small businesses in Australia to rank higher on search engine results. It’s important to understand the different types of website backlinks and why you need them, as well as what type of links can lead to penalties. With a little research and effort, your business will be able to benefit from increased traffic through organic searches with high-quality website backlinks that are relevant and helpful.

Are you a small business looking to build your reputation and make your mark? We create awesome websites, social media content, blog posts, SEO and Google Business profiles for small businesses across Australia. Call us on 1300 608 114 or book a chat here: https://calendly.com/2brownies/chat. Our General Manager Vanessa would be happy to answer your questions.