External SEO – Why Backlinks Are Important for Google Rankings
What are backlinks?
Backlinks are external links to your website. A backlink is created when a website refers to your own page with a link, or a tag in the HTML code. The link can be in text, an advertising banner, a button or even an image.
The most valuable backlinks are usually those that connect two pieces of content on the same topic as naturally as possible. The quality of backlinks is also significantly influenced by the value of the linking site.
This page is part of the Search Engine Optimization Guide, which you can find here: SEO Guide – Ztips.org.
Since the beginning of search engine optimization, backlinks, or links from external sites, have been one of the most important ranking signals for Google. They measure the trustworthiness and popularity of your website, and Google uses links to decide how much value to place on your site.
But what do backlinks mean? Where do you get links? What is the difference between a nofollow and a dofollow link? What are anchors, backlinks and how is the value of links determined? The importance of links for search engine optimisation is officially acknowledged by Google, and they have a big impact.
Think of backlinks in simplified terms
You go to a new city, and you ask people for the best restaurant. Five people who eat a lot of pizza recommend you Marku’s Pizzeria, so you’re probably convinced it’s a good place. Search engines evaluate links in exactly the same way, and rank pages based on their popularity.
Links within a site also matter to Google. The more internal links point to a particular page within your site, the more important Google considers it to be in your site’s hierarchy. Of course, internal linking should be done in an orderly and natural way. Link spam is never a good solution.
How do backlinks affect search engine visibility?
Good quality backlinks bring reputation and popularity, while poor quality links can reduce it. They act like votes for your page. High authority and popular pages carry more weight than small, new pages. The subject of the page you are linking to also affects the value of the link, and common subject areas increase the value of the link.
Read more: Ways to Get and Build High Quality Backlinks
You can find lots of different ways to get good backlinks by searching Google, for example: “How to get high quality backlinks“.
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