Backlinks and search engines
Backlinks often described as ‘page links’ are critical to the visibility of your web pages in the search engines and attracting visitor traffic. To understand backlinks there are three elements you need to consider, the source from which the backlinks originate, the anchor text of the backlinks and what’s on the page to which the backlinks directs the visitor to.
The volume of backlinks
The quantity of backlinks to a page is one of the elements the search engines take into account when deciding how to position the page in the results displayed to the searcher.
The source of the backlinks
Backlinks are like votes – the higher the number of votes (backlinks) the more authoritative the page is viewed by the search engine. But ‘votes’ cast through backlinks from trusted or authoritative pages to a page have greater influence over the search engines consideration of this page than backlinks originating from pages with less ‘trust’ or authority. Government (.gov) and educational (.edu) sites are prime examples of sites that are authoritative and trustworthy.
Google Page Rank
Google has the concept of ‘page rank’, this is the property it awards to a page it considers to have a history of accumulating authority from backlinks..
The ‘anchor text’
When you see a backlink on a web page it normally has a label a word or text related to the content at the page to which this backlink is pointing, what this ‘anchor text’ says has influence upon the value the search engines award to the link. If the content of the page is about ‘parenting’ and the backlink on the page is labeled or given the ‘anchor’ text ‘parenting’ then the search engines consider this to be of more value to the searcher looking for information related to ‘parenting’ than if the backlink was labeled ‘babycare’.
Common problems
A lot of people screw up their backlinks strategies because they focus on quantity as opposed to quality of backlinks. Having a significant number of backlinks to your page doesn’t necessarily mean the search engines will view your page as relevant.
How to build backlinks
So here is my tried and tested advice for getting backlinks to your pages, great positions in the search engine results pages and the right type of traffic to your site.
- It is essential you get the right keywords before you expend any effort whatsoever.
- Your objective should be to end up with a keyword cloud.
- You should always begin by identifying a key word or phrase which has a high volume of traffic.
- To work out the volume of visitor traffic is being coming from searches for my top level keyword I use the Google keyword analyzer tool.
- The Google tool presents a list of keywords connected to my main keyword and from this list I flesh out my cloud.
- I then create content in the form of articles and videos in which I have embedded backlinks with the correct ‘anchor text’ to my ‘money’ or ‘target’ page and send these to a wide range of content directories.
- My guiding principle is to write content that will attract traffic and persuade them to follow the backlinks to my target pages as well as send backlinks.
Google authority explained and the wrong way to get backlinks
Hmmmm, this is a immersive concept and I need to emphasise it’s not clear cut. But here is what I know in my research at the Backlinks clinic:
Authority – basics
The more authority your site has the better you will rank on Google. Authority means that searchers trust you and your content. The great news is that authorities trusted by people are also trusted by Google. A great example is the .edu and .gov suffixes. These suffixes imply they are credible sources of information and it’s a proven fact that as far as Google is concerned backlinks from these domains to your site will contribute authority to your web pages. Another perfect example is Wikipedia as the web pages here are largely added by by group of humans as opposed to a single marketer.
So it follows that authority is largely influenced by the source of your backlinks and if authoritative web pages link to your site then you inherit their authority and as far as Google is concerned you become more authoritative and so the trust in your content by Google goes up.
How Google determines what is and isn’t authoritative is confidential for solid reasons and aligns with Google’s thinking of “Do no evil”. The last thing the Internet needs is an individual or a group manipulating the methods that Google uses in its efforts to try and regulate probably the most significant technological resource of this period in history.
Backlinking methods you should avoid
In the same vein it’s worth my while stating some underhand sources and practices of creating backlinks that Google not only dislikes but appears to be moving aggressively to ‘’categorize as illegitimate authorities. In no particular order of severity, the common offenders are:
- Paid backlinks – web sites where individuals purchase and sell backlinks
- Comment spam – entries that contain links on blog pages that are just not associated to the main theme.
- Low quality and *duplicate content – ‘scraped’ or copied
- Fast growth – there are a myriad of ways that this is achievable, Google isn’t stupid. Any sudden rise in the amount of backlinks is going to show up on Google’s monitoring systems, specifically if it’s a brand new domain.
- Backlinks from bad reputation sites – these are particularly henous as you are guilty by association – need I say more.
*There is another factor where I may be on dodgy ground, but large news properties appear to get a lot of authority and I have definitely seen significant numbers of the same article over and over again on different portals with no penalties, I am still looking at this, only as some of the results I am seeing go against the normal behaviors I usually expect to see. More on this is in a future post….
Backlinks authority and Google
Hmmmm, this is a immersive concept and I need to emphasise it’s not an exact science. But here is what I have learned in my analysis at the Backlinks clinic:
Authority – simplified
The more authority your web pages have the better you will rank on Google. Authority means that people trust you and your content. The great news is that authorities trusted by people are also recognised as trustworthy by Google. A good illustration is the .edu and .gov suffixes. These suffixes imply they are trustworthy sources of content and it’s an established fact that as far as Google is concerned backlinks from these web addresses to your web pages will contribute authority to your web pages. Another perfect example is Wikipedia as the contents here are mostly added by by tribes of people as opposed to a single marketer.
So it follows that authority is very heavily influenced by the source of your backlinks and if authoritative web pages link to your web pages then you receive their apparent trust and as far as Google is concerned you become more authoritative and so the trust in your site by Google goes up.
How Google pronounces what is and isn’t authoritative is kept secret for good reason and falls in line with Google’s philosophy of “Do no evil”. The last thing the Internet needs is an individual or a group manipulating the methods that Google untilzes in its efforts to try and regulate probably the most significant technological development of this period in history.
How not to get Authority and Backlinks
In the same vein it’s worth my while stating some distasteful sources and methods of acquiring backlinks that Google not only dislikes but appears to be moving aggressively to ‘’categorize as negative authorities. In no particular order of merit, the prime offenders are:
- Paid backlinks – places where individuals purchase and sell backlinks
- Comment spam – entries that have links on blog pages that are just not associated to the main content.
- Low quality and *duplicate content – ‘scraped’ or otherwise
- Rapid backlink growth – there are a large selection of ways that this is achievable, Google isn’t dumb. Any sudden rise in the amount of backlinks is going to register on Google’s monitoring systems, especially if it’s a recently registered domain.
- Backlinks from bad reputation web pages – these are particularly destructive as you are guilty by association – need I say more.
*There is another factor where I may be on shakey ground, but key media properties seem to get a lot of authority and I have definitely seen significant quantities of the same article over and over again on different web sites with no penalties, I am still looking at this, only as a portion of of the results I am seeing defy the normal behaviors I normally expect to see. More on this is in a future article….
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