Just like the classic “chicken or egg” scenario, backlinks and content often go hand in hand when deciding what comes first. Established sites obtain more organic backlinks. You need backlinks to increase your PA and DA and establish your site as credible.
It’s quite the predicament. Assuming you’re already publishing great content (more on that later), achieving an authority-building content strategy will naturally mean you’re putting a large focus on backlinking. For that, you’ll need to get good ones. And yes, there’s definitely such a thing as a bad one.
No need to guess which backlinks are desirable and which to avoid. All you need to do is keep reading.
Are backlinks really necessary?
When you think of backlinks, you might immediately imagine those spammy pages that load up with as many links as possible because they think it’ll help. It won’t.
Backlinking is a strategic approach to increase traffic, not something to leave to chance. When done well, it leads to improved SEO performance, helping businesses build brand and topical authority within their specific industry.
When you focus on gaining good backlinks, the payoff is solid. The more backlinks you have, the more search engines start to trust the quality of what you’re publishing. And the more they trust you, the more likely you are to show up higher in search results.
Why is backlinking important for content strategy?
Do a quick Google search around backlinks, and you might find yourself down a rabbit hole containing a lot of perspectives on what to do and what not to do. What should you believe? What should you do next?
When someone links to a page on your site, it shows that they found your content so valuable that they wanted to share it as reference material with anyone who comes across their content. This shows search engines that your content is relevant, educational, trustworthy, and shareable.
The reason metrics matter
When more people link to your page, it raises both your Domain Authority (DA) and Page Authority (PA). These metrics are created by Moz, and they predict how well a domain or specific page will rank in search engine results. Both are rated on a scale of one to 100. The higher the score, the more likely your site or page will appear higher in a search, compared to relevant competitors.
This matters because, as websites obtain higher metrics, they become more reputable in terms of SEO and GEO (Generative Engine Optimization). When relevant, trusted websites with a high DA score link to your website, it shows that they like what you have to say. Their backlink to your site is a vote of confidence, saying, “Hey, this is a credible, valuable source of information, and we, a highly trusted source, approve.” In turn, that improves your own DA/PA score and increases your authority in your niche.
Opportunities for collaboration
As the digital landscape continues to evolve and shift, many creators have come to realize that collaboration beats competition. Business owners who share the same audience and offer slightly similar, or completely different, services may join forces to increase both parties’ visibility.
Networking, collaborating, and building relationships within your industry can help you form a close-knit community that works together for the benefit of the greater good. Skip “strategies” like buying low-quality links from spammers. Instead, invest in solid backlink providers and build genuine relationships with high-quality sites that touch on your key topics.
To find backlink collaborators, the best approach is to lead with value. Reach out to content creators (Look for ones with low spam scores, high traffic, and strong domain authority in your niche.) with compliments on their work and offer to collaborate on valuable content that benefits both of you.
As each individual works to create content for their own business, they’ll create opportunities to strategically incorporate backlinks from their biz buddies, too. This can help increase referral traffic, expand reach, and further establish the website as a trusted source of information within a specific niche.
What makes a good backlink?
So, what does a good backlink look like? When you start plugging links into your content, be strategic about what you use. Here are some of the factors we look for when working with our own backlink strategy:
Where did it come from?
The quality of what you’re linking to can positively (or negatively) affect how your content shows up for others. Make sure you’re getting backlinks from high-quality, trusted sources.
Authority
Using tools like Moz, Ahrefs, or Semrush can help you determine a site’s (including your own) authority among competitors by measuring Domain Authority, Domain Rating, or Authority Score, respectively.
Find backlinks to high-ranking pages from sites already established as trusted voices and reliable sources of information on the topic you’re writing about.
Traffic
When a popular, high-quality site with a lot of viewers links to one of your pages, chances are, you’ll get a lot of those eyes on your content too. Referral traffic via a backlink is SEO gold!
Industry relevance
As we mentioned above, partnering with others within your industry can be beneficial to all involved. Links from websites related to your niche or the topic of your specific content are more relevant than linking to a page that may cover a wide range of topics but fails to show a high level of expertise.
What’s around it?
The backlink itself isn’t the only important consideration. The words associated with it matter as well. Think about association, connotation, and relevancy.
Anchor text
Anchor text is the actual text used in the hyperlink. It’s what you’ll see underlined, sometimes bolded, and in another color. Good anchor text tells the reader exactly what they’ll be linking to before they even click. It provides context and improves the link’s impact.
For example, earlier in this post, we saw this statement:
“When more people start to link to your page, it raises both your Domain Authority (DA) and Page Authority (PA). These metrics are created by Moz…
Because the backlink “These metrics” follows a sentence about DA and PA, the reader can assume that this link will take them to a page where they’ll learn more about those.
Placement
Where a backlink appears on a page affects the weight it carries. Anything within the main body of a post or a web page carries more impact than a backlink within a footer or comment section, for example. Links with context are always more likely to be clicked.
Overall context
All the content that surrounds the backlink serves as context clues for SEO:
- Backlinks placed in relevant, high-quality content identify the link for search engines.
- Google considers the link, as well as the entire paragraph, page, and site on which it appears.
- Users are more likely to follow links embedded in content they trust and find informative.
- Google favors consistency within a site—a reliable indicator of credibility and expertise.
Placing a seemingly random backlink in a body of text serves no purpose; it only creates a distraction. But when the backlink is clearly relevant to the content in which it’s nested, readers see that you know what you’re talking about. Relevant links add value and show respect for your readers. Hello, increased Domain Authority!
What backlinks should you avoid?
If finding good backlinks seems difficult, avoiding bad backlinks might feel easier. Some backlink tactics aren’t viewed favorably, and while they might seem like the easy way to load up your page, they do more harm than good.
Low quality or irrelevant links: Linking to disreputable sources or sites unrelated to your subject matter—even if they’re high quality—work against you.
Low-quality forum backlinks: Spamming forums and comment sections with links to a website is frowned upon. Having a discussion and popping a link where relevant is okay. But don’t throw links around where they don’t belong.
Link schemes: Avoid excessively exchanging links (keyword, excessive), PBNs, and non-newsworthy PR; none of it belongs in your content.
Good backlinks come with good content
Finally, it’s time to talk about that “great content” we mentioned earlier. Focus on the simple idea of creating content that people will want to link to. Be generous with information and provide actionable steps or insights that’ll help them achieve their goals. Show readers that you’re the expert on a given subject and want to help them with the things you know. Naturally, you’ll start to build a name for yourself in your industry, and people will feel good about linking to your content.
Not sure where to start?
We’re not going to sugar coat it–there’s a lot to consider when it comes to content strategy. Backlinks are only a small part of it.
People and organizations often underestimate the deep thought and hard work that go into creating content. And, let’s face it, not everyone is passionate about tactics, metrics, and other “marketing stuff.”
We are passionate about content, making our clients’ lives easier, and helping them create content that results in tangible business success. Let’s start a conversation about your custom content strategy and how we can help.
