Search engine optimisation (SEO)

One of the most important factors for website's search ranking is the number of high-quality, relevant links to it from other sites. Google in particular uses backlinks to determine rankings in its PageRank system. Yahoo! and Bing also use it as one of several factors affecting their rankings.

What are backlinks?

Backlinks, also known as inbound links, are links from one website to another. However, not all backlinks are created equal. The quality, relevance, and source of a backlink significantly impact your SEO performance.

Website owners should be aware of Google's updates which impacted the rankings of websites that violated Google's webmaster guidelines. These updates banned several 'black hat' SEO techniques. They involved artificially boosting a webpage's rank by manipulating its backlinks.

Quality backlinks

A successful link-building strategy should prioritise quality over quantity. A backlink is most valuable when:

• it comes from a respected site with a high page ranking of its own
• the website is relevant to your own
• it naturally fits into the content, enriching the reader’s experience

Link building tactics

You could build backlinks by:

• Building reciprocal links with partner sites - eg they will include links to you in return for links back to them. Businesses can link to their clients and suppliers through recommendations or case studies. For example, a wedding venue business might link to recommended florists, make-up artists and caterers. 
• Submitting your site to online directories and resource lists.
• Approaching media sites to cover interesting stories or press releases that link to your site.
• Offering to write guest content for other sites relevant to your subject area. Your contribution can include links back to your website. 
• Link baiting - including attention-catching 'viral' content to encourage social media users and online journalists to talk about your brand and link through to your site.
• Employing an agency to build links for you. It's important to choose the right partner, as it can have a significant effect on your success. If they use manipulative 'black-hat' techniques, it could lead to you being penalised or even de-indexed. For more information, see choosing a search engine optimisation agency.

Ultimately, having high-quality content on your site will encourage others to link to it.

Avoiding linkspam

Because of the importance of backlinks, some try to increase the number of links by any means possible, regardless of whether the linking is relevant. For example, by commenting on irrelevant forums just to post links or by using link-building software. These methods are 'black-hat' techniques. They try to manipulate rankings. They are not best practices and should be avoided.

Some search engines may penalise or remove your site for adding too many backlinks in one day. Links from websites considered spam could penalise your website.

Focus only on reputable, relevant websites. Links should appear naturally in the content and useful to users. 

For more details on frowned-upon manipulation tactics, see search engine optimisation dos and don'ts.