Backlinks continue to play a crucial role in SEO, often holding more weight than many on-page SEO factors.
A backlink (also known as an inbound or incoming link) occurs when an external website links to your site. Similarly, any external links on your website that lead to other sites are considered backlinks for those sites.
Each backlink serves as a signal to search engines, helping them assess the authority, quality, and relevance of both the referring and linking domains.
Backlinks are vital for SEO because they contribute to building your site’s link equity (often referred to as “link juice” in SEO terms). When search engines detect that authoritative, relevant, and reputable websites link back to your content, they’re more likely to rank your site higher, improving its visibility.
Building backlinks can significantly enhance a site’s rankings and increase organic traffic.
How to Check Your Site’s Backlinks You might think, “I haven’t worked on building backlinks, so I don’t have any.” But that’s not necessarily true!
Once a website is created, external sources can start linking to it. Bots may automatically add your site to RSS feeds or low-quality sites. Reputable sites may also come across your content and find it valuable, resulting in natural backlinks.
If you’re unsure whether your site has earned backlinks organically, there are several ways to check. One popular option is:
- Semrush Free Backlink Analytics Tool
This tool allows you to quickly view your backlinks by entering your site URL in the search box.
- Log into your Google Search Console account.
- In the left-hand navigation menu, click on Links.
- Under the External Links section, click on Top linking sites.
- You’ll be able to see a list of referring domains.
GA4 (Google Analytics 4)
- Open your Google Analytics account.
- Click on Reports.
- Navigate to Acquisition, then select Traffic Acquisition.
- Type “referral” into the search bar and press Enter.
- Choose session source/medium from the drop-down menu.
- You’ll be able to view all the referring domains to your site.
Manual Search Queries
Sometimes, you can find new backlinks by searching for key terms related to your website in quotation marks. For example, search for “[brand name],” “[URL],” or “[author name(s)]” related to your site. Different methods may yield varying results, so it’s recommended to use multiple strategies for a comprehensive view of your backlinks.
How to Evaluate the Quality of Your Backlink Profile
To determine if your backlink profile is healthy, look for these key indicators:
- Domain Variety
It’s better to have backlinks from a wide variety of domains rather than many links from just one. Ideally, backlinks should come from different types of domains, such as .com, .org, and .edu. Backlinks from .org or .edu sites, which are typically from nonprofit or educational institutions, are especially valuable. - Backlink Variety
Backlinks should point to different pages on your site, not just your homepage. Deep links to blog articles, product pages, or service pages demonstrate the value and relevance of your content to search engines. - Diversity of Sources
A strong backlink profile should include links from a range of sources, such as news websites, blogs, industry publications, and social media. This diversity signals to search engines that your content is authoritative and trustworthy. - Contextual and Mixed Anchor Text
Anchor text is the clickable text in a backlink. If the anchor text is too repetitive (like “[brand name]”) or generic (such as “click here”), it becomes harder for search engines to assess the relevance and value of the backlink. Aim for diverse, contextual anchor text to cover a range of related keywords. - Domain Relevancy
While having backlinks from many domains is ideal, it’s equally important that these domains are relevant to your site’s themes and content. Irrelevant backlinks can confuse search engines and may even be flagged as spammy. - Consistent Backlink Growth
Search engines reward consistent backlink growth. Regular new backlinks—whether one per month or several each week—indicate that your content is continuously valuable. On the other hand, sudden spikes in backlinks can signal spammy practices like link farming. - Competitor Analysis
Compare your backlink profile to that of your competitors. Are there gaps where competitors have more high-quality backlinks? Competitor analysis can uncover new backlink opportunities and highlight areas where you can improve your link-building strategy. To explore this, go to the Competitors tab in Semrush’s Backlink Analytics section and compare your profile with your competitors’.
By regularly checking and improving these aspects, you can ensure that your backlink profile remains strong and conducive to better rankings.
What Determines the Value of a Backlink?
Search engines assess various factors when determining the value of a backlink and its potential impact on your website’s rankings. Here’s what search engines look for:
1. Domain Authority (DA) or Domain Rating (DR)
A backlink from a website with a high domain authority (DA) or rating (DR) can significantly benefit your site. Sites with high DA or DR score above 60 are highly authoritative. Backlinks from such sites are more influential than links from low-authority sites. The higher the DA of the referring site, the more impact it will have on your SEO.
2. Domain-to-Domain Relevance
A backlink is more valuable when it comes from a domain or page relevant to your website’s industry or content. A natural connection helps search engines quickly assess the link’s significance, improving your SEO. For example, a link from an authoritative site within your niche carries more weight than one from an unrelated domain.
3. Link Placement
The placement of the link on the referring page also affects its value. Backlinks embedded within the main content of a page are generally more valuable than those found in headers, footers, sidebars, or comment sections. Links embedded in the content are considered more contextually relevant by search engines.
4. Anchor Text
Anchor text is the clickable text of a hyperlink. It plays a crucial role in conveying the contextual relevance of the link. When anchor text is descriptive and relevant to the linked page’s content, it helps improve the ranking for associated keywords. For example, a link to your pet care blog article with the anchor text “dog rope toys” helps search engines understand the topic and relevance of the link.
5. Page and Domain Traffic
The value of a backlink increases when it comes from a page or website with significant organic traffic. Links on high-traffic sites not only benefit your SEO but also bring referral traffic, which can increase brand exposure and drive more visitors to your site.
6. Link Age
Older backlinks tend to have more value than newer ones because they have had time to establish trust and authority. Established backlinks often indicate that content has maintained relevance over time, further boosting SEO. You can check the age of backlinks through tools like the First Seen and Last Seen dates.
Types of Backlinks
Backlinks come in different forms, and a healthy backlink profile includes a mix of various types. Here’s a breakdown of common backlink types:
1. Follow vs. Nofollow Links
- Follow Links: These are the default backlinks that search engines follow. They pass “link equity” or value to the destination site, directly influencing SEO rankings.
- Nofollow Links: These links carry no link equity. They signal to search engines not to follow the link or pass any ranking credit. Despite this, nofollow links can still be valuable for brand awareness, referral traffic, and creating a natural backlink profile.
2. Natural Backlinks
A natural backlink occurs when other websites link to your content organically because they find it valuable and authoritative. These backlinks are the most desirable because they are earned without direct outreach. They help diversify your backlink profile and indicate to search engines that your content is useful and trustworthy.
3. Manually Built Backlinks
Manually built backlinks are intentionally acquired through various strategies like guest posting, influencer collaborations, and resource page link building. While manually built backlinks require effort, they offer more control over the quality and relevance of the referring sites.
4. Self-Created Backlinks
These are backlinks you create by posting links in forums, blog comments, social media profiles, or directories. While they were once effective, search engines now view self-created backlinks as spammy if used excessively. However, they can still be valuable in certain situations, such as when linking from high-authority platforms like Medium.
5. Editorial Backlinks
Editorial backlinks are obtained through media mentions and earned by publishing high-quality, original content. These backlinks are typically placed in the main content area of the site, contributing to both high SEO value and credibility.
6. Contextual Backlinks
Contextual backlinks are those found within the main body of a page’s content. These links are considered highly valuable because they are surrounded by relevant text, which helps search engines understand their importance. Earning contextual backlinks typically requires creating detailed, valuable content that others in your industry want to reference.
By focusing on acquiring a variety of backlinks from authoritative, relevant, and diverse sources, you can build a healthy and impactful backlink profile that enhances your website’s search engine visibility.
Be mindful of spammy backlinks
Every website has its fair share of spammy backlinks because we can’t control who links to our sites. Some features of spammy backlinks include:
- Low-quality site: A spammy backlink may point to a low-quality site where the content is sparse, unoriginal, poorly formatted, and/or overly promotional
- spamm link building tactics like link farming and buying links. These efforts will imprint into the site’s backlink “footprint,” and search engines will eventually catch on and penalize sites for this.
- Overused, over-optimized anchor text: If a site has a suspicious number of backlinks with identical keyword-rich anchor text, it can be a red flag that it’s trying to game the system to rank for that keyword.
If you avoid spammy link building practices and monitor any harmless spam backlinks beyond your control, there’s no need to worry too much about them. There’s an expected amount of spammy backlinks that come with every site. In fact, they give a site a more natural-looking backlink profile.
You can always disavow backlinks if you decide they’re hurting your site or if you’re nervous about search engine penalties.
How are social media links valued as backlinks?
Social media links aren’t valued like traditional backlinks in search engines. Any backlinks you have from social media will be “nofollow” links, meaning search engines won’t pass on authority (or link equity) to your domain.
While that significantly reduces the value of a social media backlink, a lot of indirect value can still come from them:
- Referral traffic: Social media platforms offer a fresh and engaged audience for your content. Direct link clicks to your site will increase referral traffic; even likes, shares, or comments on a post can signal to search engines that your content is valuable.
- Brand awareness: With a properly executed social media strategy, you can create perceived website authority by posting consistently and thoughtfully. Providing beneficial site content can eventually turn into legitimate authority in the form of a higher domain authority or increased site traffic if other outlets pick up on your content and share it as well.
- Quicker indexing: The more a link is shared across social media platforms, the faster search engines can find and index it. This is particularly beneficial for time-sensitive content.
What are footprints when it comes to backlinks?
A backlink footprint is a digital paper trail for your backlink. It comprises various factors, including anchor text, link placement, referring domains, and topical relevance.
Google bots use machine learning to view backlink profiles holistically, which allows them to pull out patterns in your link building methods. These patterns make up your backlink footprint and will clearly show how legitimate (or shady) your link building methods are.
Footprints have been given a somewhat negative connotation because they are typically discussed the most when spammy, risky link building tactics have left a “messy” footprint.
But for anyone using link building methods that search engines prefer, your backlink footprint will organically grow to reflect a legitimate footprint in the eyes of search bots and bolster your value in the SERPs.
Next steps for a stronger backlink profile
Your goal is to have a well-rounded backlink profile. That can include all of the above types of backlinks.
By understanding what each of these backlink types offers in SEO value, you can more strategically create a link building plan that will most benefit your site.