Backlink analysis is a process that shows all of the backlinks a site has and gives you a better understanding of the quality of each link. Backlinks are crucial to your overall SEO efforts because search engines such as Google will put a lot of stock in them when ranking your site. Backlinks are a vital indicator of your site’s overall quality and trustworthiness, and they can greatly affect your placements in search engine results pages (SERPs).
Backlinks from trusted, high-quality sites will make it easier for you to rank higher, while spammy links or links from questionable sources will make things harder for you. A backlink analysis can help you identify any bad links you may have and give you a better idea of how much work you’ll have to do to improve your site.
Crucial SEO metrics
Webmasters and SEO professionals are concerned with several metrics when it comes to rankings and tracking the success of a site. Arguably the one that most are concerned with is web traffic, and for good reason. A site that doesn’t generate traffic simply has no chance of being successful.
Organic traffic, or traffic that isn’t the result of paid ads, is particularly important because this represents users coming in directly from search engines. Bounce rates and conversions are also important. These show how many users stayed on your site versus how many left without taking action. Conversions, whether they’re sales, subscriptions, or other actions, are generally the ultimate goals of websites, and SEO efforts should be working toward encouraging as many conversions as possible.
While domain authority isn’t directly used by Google to affect rankings, it’s also important to pay attention to this metric. DA is a score of 1 to 100 that shows how authoritative, or trustworthy, your site is. DA is determined by a variety of factors, similar to Google rankings, and it’s meant to simulate how search engines determine site rankings. Generally speaking, the best way to raise your DA is simply to link to high-authority sites in your own work and also work to have high-authority sites link to your pages. DA is meant as a comparative measure, though, meaning that you only need to outdo your direct competitors.
Earning good backlinks
Backlinks are so valuable because they’re like votes of confidence from other websites, and good ones indicate that your content is worthwhile for users. It’s generally best to earn links through white hat methods rather than trying to pay for links or manipulate search engines.
Image/video links: Users love visuals, and you’ll need to start providing them to really build your backlink portfolio. Many sites will accept video submissions, and making original content to post on these sites will give you quality links. You should also consider image link building through infographics. Users appreciate images that break down complex information, and they often make for more successful links than written content.
Guest blogging: Producing guest content on other sites in your industry is a great way to promote your site to a wider audience and can significantly boost your traffic. A good way to find opportunities is to simply search for sites that accept guest content and see how many relate to your niche.
Dealing with bad links
Building better backlinks is always a good thing, but you’ll also want to address any toxic links you may have. This is especially important for avoiding any search engine penalties in the future, as these can really hurt all your efforts. The simplest way to rid yourself of a bad link is to simply contact the webmaster of the site in question and ask them to remove it. If this proves impossible, you can use Google’s disavow tool, but this is generally seen as a last resort.
While you’re checking your own backlinks, it’s also worthwhile to check the backlinks of your competitors. Similar to DA, this will give you a good idea of how you’re doing comparatively, and you might learn something of use from them.
