The importance of Backlinks in SEO

Importance of Backlinks
Backlinks are also known as incoming links or inward links and form an important aspect of Search Engine Optimization (SEO). The number of backlinks terminating at a website usually indicates the popularity or importance of that website to search engines.

Website Credibility

A website having a large number of inbound links is given higher reputation on search engine result pages, and also rates these websites as more credible than websites that do not have >backlinks. As a result of this, webmasters have to be careful about the quality of backlinks that they receive as reputation on search engines is also pegged to quality of links.

1.Go for Naturally built links

Naturally built links happen over time and usually link the website to other relevant web pages in the same niche. Backlinks from such websites score highly with search engines as far as reputation is concerned and result in better rankings for your website.

2.Increase Traffic Using backlinks

Backlinks also serve two critical roles when it comes to building site traffic. They point new visitors your way and as a result of increased traffic, a better rank is achieved.

3.Use white hat link building strategies

This refers to strategies that are acceptable as ##Q##legal##Q## in the SEO world and for which your website will not get penalized over. It is also a professional way to boost organic visibility and take advantage of new traffic sources. White hat link building strategies include:

3.1 Submitting to directories

Directories such as DMOZ, Yahoo and business.com receive applications form websites that want to join specific categories in their listing services. For some directories, a fee is charged while other directories are free. Even when choosing directories, it is important to check the quality of the directory to ensure your website is visible to the right kind of people.

3.2 Article marketing and Guest Blogging

Good compelling content can drive traffic to your website. Creating new content and submitting it to various syndication sites can give you a lead in organic traffic. It is noteworthy that the Google search engine algorithm updates do not give this approach as much priority as they did earlier, but the other fact is that compelling content is “sticky” enough to get you repeat traffic.

3.3 Use Social Bookmarking

Social networking is the largest link sharing tool online, and social bookmarks such as Delicious, Digg and Ping allows users to find your websites content and share it with their friends.

By Dr. Ataollah Etemadi