Backlinks – Why They Are Important

Written by: Gary Horsman

Internet Search Marketing – Backlinks

You may have heard the term and have an idea that they are important for gaining search position. However, what is a backlink and why are they important?

Let me start by explaining exactly what I mean by backlinks as many people confuse the term or don’t fully understand it.

Links form the relationships between pages on the Internet. They allow people to navigate from a given point on the Internet to other points on the Internet. Many people understand the value of links from this perspective. The problem is not making a distinction between a link and a backlink. If you want to enhance the marketing of your online content then you need to understand backlinks and their immense value.

“Backlinks” describe the links coming into a web page, blog post or document. Therefore, backlinks are the links with the most value to you from a marketing perspective. The links from other locations, linking back into your website, prove the value of your content to people and the search engines.

Why Are Backlinks Important?

Let me illustrate this with an example. You may write a blog post  that is of interest to someone else who then writes a blog post using your ideas with a twist on it for his/her readers and references your blog post by providing a link (a backlink) to your original blog post. This is often done. In fact, if many people do this then your post will be considered to be popular.  As a result your content will be considered worthy by the major search engines. It will be placed higher in the search results when people search using phrases related to your blog post.

The result is increased exposure for your original blog post. This is very valuable for you.

Conversely, if nobody links to your content, then the only practical way to get people to your web page is to make links yourself from other pages on your site or in your control. This is fine – but the really “good” stuff on the internet tends to get linked to from other websites which are outside your control. Moreover, if no one links to your content then the search engines deem it to be of little value and place pages and blog posts with more links higher in the search results. Your content, as a result is lower down in the search results. This is not good for your content or for you.

This is the essence of all Internet Marketing. Users travel around the internet by clicking links. So the backlinks to a page are very important to that page, blog post or document. The number and quality of the backlinks to a page are fundamental to understanding the quality, value or popularity of the page from the perspective of the major search engines.

More Reasons Why Backlinks Are Important

Bearing this in mind, Backlinks are significant for a number of reasons. Such as:

• They can have both a bad as well as good impact of your brand, depending on the sentiment and relevance of the link. If the backlink is going to a page on your site from a page of low quality then this can then have a negative impact in search on your page. Therefore, when working to get backlinks work to get links from reputable and related websites and blogs.
• People follow links to gain more information on a topic. Therefore backlinks help to drive relevant traffic to your site. Therefore, if you get links from high-traffic reputable and relevant websites and blogs you can achieve a nice boost in relevant traffic.
• Search engines treat backlinks as “votes in favor” by considering these links in context. Context includes the content on the originating page surrounding the link, including but not necessarily limited to the text forming the link (called anchor text) and the title of the originating page. To get more “votes” causes your page to rise in search position versus other pages that do not acquire backlinks. This can also results in more relevant traffic.

It is clear that to acquire proper backlinks is vital to ensure that your page is regarded as one of high quality.

Just like any part of your marketing you need to have a plan to acquire backlinks to gain search position and relevant traffic.