What is a Backlink in SEO? Why it's Important


SEO is a delicate art that requires the incorporation of several ingredients, in a calculated and controlled way, to bear these fruits. One of the most important ingredients is backlinks.

But what is a backlink? How important is it to your SEO strategy? What types of backlinks are to be preferred? Which ones to avoid? We tell you everything!

In This Article

  • What is a Backlink SEO by SEO company Toronto?
  • Backlinks & SEO: two complementary strategies

1 - What is a Backlink SEO by SEO Company Toronto?

Local SEO Toronto explains the Backlink SEO is hypertext links pointing to your site from another website. 

The concept is very simple, but there are still some details to be clarified so that the image is completely clear. 

Indeed, not all backlinks are created equal and there is not one, but several ways to distinguish them.

Follow vs Nofollow backlink

We have so-called “Follow” backlinks. They have a direct impact on your natural referencing bypassing what is called the “Link Juice”. We will talk about this in more detail in the second part of the article.

We also find the “Nofollow” links. 

These are ordinary links from a reader's perspective but contain the “rel = nofollow” attribute or tag. The presence of this tag indicates to Google and other engines not to use Link Juice with this link.

Organic vs Paid

The organic links are so obtained naturally through the use of net linking techniques. The paid links, for their part, are obtained using a fee of net linking services or other tactics, such as sponsored articles. Note that paid links are generally prohibited by the Google guideline.

Backlinks: White Hat or Black Hat?

White Hat backlinks are links authorized by Google and which are obtained legitimately by respecting the search engine guideline. Example: obtaining a backlink following a quality guest post.

The so-called Black Hat backlinks are the results of tactics prohibited by Google and which can harm your site as well as its reference. Example: PBNs or Private / Public Blog Networks. 

2 - Backlinks & SEO: two complementary strategies

"Content optimization is the foundation of your SEO," says SEO Expert Toronto and your net linking strategy is one of its pillars. Like a building, your SEO doesn't exist without one of the two. Knowing what a backlink is a very good thing, but knowing its importance and its influence on your SEO strategy, is essential to build your net linking strategy in the best possible way. 

The importance of backlinks for SEO 

Google uses over 200 factors to index and rank web pages in the SERPs. Backlinks are one of the most impacting factors. To understand why backlinks are so crucial, we have to go back a bit, to the very beginning of Google.

Back then, the search engine was much less intelligent than it is now, and it could only judge a page's match to the entered query by the massive existence of the keywords.

This gave birth to the massive exploitation of the Black Hat technique with Keyword Stuffing. This technique consists of abusing keywords on a web page, whether in its textual content or Meta tags.

To remedy this problem, Google introduced PageRank. This is an algorithm that calculates the popularity of the page and its “merit”, or not, for being better positioned. And this calculation is done in particular through the number and quality of backlinks pointing to the page.

Indeed, these inbound links are considered as votes from other sites on yours and thus contribute to its reputation, authority, and SEO performance.

Influence of backlinks on natural referencing

At this point, you know what a backlink is, and also its importance for SEO. But how does owning it influence your strategy in different ways? 

#Route the Link Juice to your site

The famous Link Juice represents the SEO weight of the link. The higher the PageRank of the page, the more it will transfer you from the Link Juice.

The value of PageRank was easily accessible to everyone, which is unfortunately no longer the case now. However, there are tools like Moz, Ahrefs, and SEMrush, which make it possible to estimate the PageRank.

#Generate more free traffic

In addition to Link Juice, backlinks from pages with a high number of visitors can help drive significant traffic to your site. On this side, Nofollow links are as important as Dofollow links.

We must not overlook the goods from social networks either. They are certainly, for the majority Nofollow, but can be a valuable and free source of traffic.

#Boost the authority and reputation of your site

Imagine that you have two scientific works dealing with the same subject, but having different positions. The arguments of one being as powerful as those of the other. You have to decide between them, but you lack skills and knowledge in the subject. How are you going to do it?

The easiest way is to trust the experts in the field. Indeed, the more a theory is interesting and logical, the more it will be quoted with its author in other works, articles, research… It is the same idea for the content on the Internet. The more your site is mentioned (through backlinks) by other trusted sites, the more your authority and trust will increase in the eyes of Google and Internet users.

Don't worry when your Local SEO Company Toronto is here, your backlinks will be fine.

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