For the past years, Google has been updating its ranking factors for websites. This is to provide their users with more relevant results and enhance their user experience (UX). Some domain owners have been focused on keywords in stepping up their search engine optimization (SEO) game.
But this alone does not help your position in search engine results pages (SERPs). In fact, content that is highly infused with keywords may signal low-quality content. This is why keyword stuffing is discouraged by Google. Instead of improving your rank, it may demote your website to a lower position.
So how do you optimize your domain without too much emphasis on keywords? How do you increase the visibility of your domain? How do you push it higher in SERPs? A factor that has remained vital in SEO is the number of backlinks a website has. It is still used by most search engines in their ranking criteria, which makes link building vital for your SEO strategy.
What is a Backlink?
Before we define link building, we must first know what backlinks are. Have you ever come across an article or simply a blog post with links that points you to other websites?
Those hyperlinks, or what we plainly call links, are backlinks. Backlink is the anchor text (clickable text, usually in blue) that is made by a website to direct readers to another page. The process of getting these links is what we call link building.
What is Link Building?
Link building is a method of acquiring several backlinks from other websites to your domain. Since clicking on a link is the only way to get to websites, whether via SERPs or backlinks, it is beneficial as a domain owner to have several links pointing to your domain.
Link building can be done by asking other domain or website owners to have a page point to yours. But it can also be built without you knowing it, which is a win for you. Earning links usually happen when articles mention their sources or when they refer to websites because of the commendable user experience.
As a domain investor, you very well know that with the right SEO strategies in place, you can make your domain more searchable and accessible. There are several benefits of link building that would help you achieve your SEO goals. Read further as we discuss them below.
What are the Benefits of Link Building for SEO?
Strengthens Domain Credibility and Authority
Having quality backlinks prompts Google and other search engines that your domain is credible and relevant, which then ranks you higher in SERPs. Even so, the more backlinks you have does not necessarily mean the higher your position will get.
Search engines look into the quality of these backlinks and not the quantity you acquired. Since the 2022 algorithm update, Google now uses the E.E.A.T. (experience, expertise, authority, trust) acronym as a guideline in determining the quality of the website. This is why not only does the quality of the links matter, but your domain content should also be of high quality. It must be relevant to the website pointing to you to form trust and authority.
Aside from this, it is advantageous to highlight your experience and expertise in the same field as where the link was from. They can also detect if you are using a black hat link or unethical means of link building. This can be through spammy comments, through a dummy web page you created, etc. Keep in mind that Google penalizes those who are caught doing so. Make sure that you use proper link building strategies in attaining those links.
There are also analytic websites that rate your domain authority. The most popular ones are Ahrefs, Semrush, and Moz. One of the metrics they use to rate domain authority is backlinks. Your backlink profile, which is the quality and quantity of backlinks, is one factor to get a higher domain rating in their analytics.
Although your domain authority ratings in these sites do not affect your Google ranking, a number of domain investors use them to determine the value of our domain.
Higher SERP Ranking
Having keywords in domain names used to be a ranking factor in Google search results. But since they have updated their algorithm, it was confirmed by their Search Advocate, John Mueller, that the name isn’t a ranking factor anymore.
In spite of this, having quality backlinks is still being used in ranking. The purpose of their SERP ranking is to give their users the most relevant and high-quality answers to their queries. Provided that your links are also of high quality, it will tell them your domain is credible and authoritative as well, which will lead you to a higher position in SERPs.
Increase Organic Visits
As your position in SERPs goes higher, it is expected that your domain gets more traffic. At the same time, if you have more relevant links, you will possibly get more clicks as well.
As discussed above, you must bear in mind that your link should be relevant to your domain to get more referral traffic and to get organic visitors to explore your site as well. It is also beneficial that the websites or web pages that link to your domain are of high domain authority and have steady traffic.
Spreads Domain Awareness
Backlinks promote your domain. Having these authoritative and trustworthy websites direct their visitors to your domain signals them that your site is worth clicking on.
As expected, this will create awareness of your domain. It is convenient for visitors to click on the backlink relevant to the linking site rather than having to search for it. And again, with the heightened number of referral traffic, not only will it be useful for SEO, but your domain also increases its value.
Creates More Backlinks
A high domain authority with the help of links, makes you acquire more links. As you rank higher in search engine results pages, chances are you also get more backlinks from other sites. Nevertheless, it is important that you have dofollow links.
Otherwise, search engines won’t count the link as a ranking factor. These links are those that point to and pass authority to your domain. You can tell if a link is a dofollow or a no follow by viewing the source code of the anchor text. Inspect the HTML code of the link and check if it indicates rel=”nofollow”, if it does not, then it is a dofollow link.
A dofollow gives you link juice, which search engines use in determining the value of the link directed to your domain. You can also use the backlinks analysis tool from Ahrefs to check the number of dofollow links you have in your backlink profile.
Drops Bounce Rates
Another way of making your domain more authoritative is to have a low bounce rate. Bounce rate is the percentage of visitors who go to a single URL in your site and do not click through other URLs you may have. They bounce away from your domain after viewing one of your URLs.
Having a high bounce rate cues search engines that your website is not relevant to have enough traffic navigating it. It leads them to assume that your content is not of high quality. By building links from credible sites related to your niche, you can potentially lower your bounce rate.
It is safe to say that those visitors who clicked on the backlink to your website are interested in knowing more about that niche. They are more likely to click on your internal links as well.
You just have to acquire high-quality links from suitable and authoritative sites, and you have valuable content. Plus, you must also consider UX to maximize these organic visits. Aside from these, high bounce rates may indicate other SEO troubles. It may be that your site loading speed is slow or it was not optimized for use from other devices.
Builds Connections
One of the link building strategies to acquire links from high authority sites is through link building outreach. It is a method of reaching out to other websites and asking them for backlinks.
Naturally, you will contact those who are related to your niche and those with high domain ratings and steady traffic. This is an opportunity for you to build partnerships within your industry.
By establishing relationships with them, you will have a better chance for more backlinks coming from them. It will also open doors for promotions and collaborations, which is also favorable in increasing your domain awareness.
Key Points
Link building has remained to be an SEO factor in pumping up your SERP ranking. It helps spread awareness of your domain and increase its visibility to web users. A number of high-quality backlinks are better than having several low-quality backlinks.
Remember that domain authority depends on the relevance and credibility of these links as well. You need to have a domain that is not focused solely on gaining more organic traffic. It should also be targeting the right audience through valuable content.
All of the above benefits of link building, not only help you in SEO but also lead to a high return on investment (ROI). Domain authority and credibility generate more organic and referral traffic, which improves your search engine rankings, which then creates more backlinks, which also develops domain awareness.
All of which are essential in raising the value of your domain. Additionally, building links is a way of promoting your domain without paying for it. You’ll significantly reduce the budget you allot for paid ads if you have them.
If you haven’t taken the time to study and utilize link building, now is the time to start. Create a link building strategy that would assist you in acquiring well-placed backlinks.
Aside from helping your domain go up the results pages in search engines, your link building efforts will help you generate more organic visits, get better conversions, and obtain more leads. In link building, not only do you build links, but you also build your domain.