The New Importance of Backlinks for your Website

12 Oct The New Importance of Backlinks for your Website

Why do you need backlinks?

Backlinks have played a pivotal role in search engine optimisation over the years and still do to this day. Although, the role they played has changed as Google updates and guidelines are improved.

Here at Websense Development, we thought we would shed some light on backlinks and how you can use them to rank your website higher on search engines.

Firstly, you might be wondering…what are backlinks? Backlinks refer to the process of websites hyperlinking other websites on their pages. So, when someone places your website link on any page or comments section, they’ve created a link back to your page. Or, when you link another website on your own page, then you’re backlinking for them. This is really important for SEO, but we will explain why soon.

The history of backlinks

Now, it’s beneficial to know how backlinks worked prior to an update Google introduced in 2012.  One way Google knows your website is trusted is because you have limited control over who will link back to your site. Prior to the update, Google did this by the amount of times your website was linked on other websites. During this period, it meant that the number of links was far more important than where they came from.

In 2012, Google released an update called Penguin. This changed the way backlinks were interpreted by Google. Instead of the number of backlinks affecting your site’s ranking, it meant the quality of the backlink was more significant. By quality, it meant if your website was backlinked by trusted or highly authorised websites, then it will build your ranking.

Why did they do this? Because people could easily build dodgy backlinks to their own sites, therefore boosting their ranking. This meant many websites lost their high rankings, which changed Google’s trusted websites. Now, to build your ranking using backlinks, you must do so ethically.

How to use link building

Technically, it is against Google’s guidelines to use link building. They would rather you use natural techniques, yet, you still are able to do them just by using the correct techniques. It is possible to build your ranking by using link-building techniques such as building relationships with other sites, giving testimonies, guest/own blog writing, and linking your site on trusted directories or comment sections.

Lastly, why do you want to gain backlinks to your website? Backlinks are a way to build authority on Google, meaning your website will be more trusted than others. This will help you rank higher on search engines, gain more organic traffic and help users discover your content.

We could give you plenty of other techniques on link building, but we’ll save that for another blog. Hopefully, this article has helped your understanding of backlinks. It is clear that link building is still so important for website ranking, so don’t dismiss it. Do be careful though, as spammy and unethical techniques will get you into trouble, Google has increased its harshness of breaking its guidelines. It is also important to remember that Google is constantly updating or changing their guidelines, whilst it’s great to read other articles on the current state of the situation, remember to do your research on topics like SEO. There can be outdated content or misguided information out there!

If you want help with search engine optimisation, website development or design, feel free to check out our services or get in touch with us to inquire within.