10 Factors that Decide Value of Backlinks

Generating backlinks for your webpage is among the most effective ways to both improve rankings on search engines and increase traffic that you receive. But outreach consultants often warn that the effectiveness of a backlink depends on reputation of the host, which means choosing the right outreach contacts is critical for success. While backlinks from high value contacts can significantly boost ratings, those stemming from shady webpages can not only degrade rankings but can get you blacklisted from Google search results altogether.

There are several factors which decide the quality of a high value backlink, which can be referred to whenever in doubt. These 10 factors will not only aid in gaining backlinks but will also allow you to make the most out of outreach efforts.

1. Should Generate Traffic

The main objective of creating backlinks is to direct traffic to your webpage, which in turn increases ratings on Google search results. By measuring the amount of traffic that a webpage receives, the search engine can determine if users are finding the content relevant to their query or not.

Google algorithms factor in the instances visitors click on links and the time they stay on page to determine whether the content was of high quality and captivating for the audience. Even if your page receives minimal traffic through mainstream methods, a few backlinks on reliable and high rated websites on prime locations can create a steady flow of traffic coming your way.

2. Source Should Be Verified

Outreach consultants will often state that the backlink is only as good as the source, which is absolutely correct. Webpages with solid ratings will generally be marked as reliable and verified by Google, so focus outreach efforts on such contacts. Not only will they attract a higher percentage of traffic than normal links but will also achieve greater ratings on Google algorithms.

3. Relevancy Matters

Instead of choosing to extend outreach on all possible contacts, screen out only the relevant ones. It might seem like wasting possible backlink opportunities but in reality, backlinks from sources related to your content works in your favor.

Google algorithms are designed to provide the most relevant results against user’s query, so it is natural that they will be looking for backlinks which provide content for what has been searched. In case you invest outreach efforts on irrelevant contacts regardless of their ratings, user queries will not match that site and your backlinks there will fail to gather traffic.

4. Check PageRank

The value of a backlink depends on the ratings of the page where they are located, and PageRank (PR) is the foremost and easiest way to find that out. Although higher PR indicates a webpage with respectable score, it can be spoofed, which necessitates evaluation from all perspectives rather than deciding on PR alone.

PR for new webpages starts off from 0 and depending on their performance, will either improve or degrade. Although it will be updated over a period of 3 months for general users to view, in reality it continually shifts within the search engine algorithms. This means the PR you get to see is only an estimation of what the algorithms have presented rather than current calculations.

5. Go for In-Content Backlinks

Backlinks inserted with the content itself (in-content) have a higher percentage of being editorial links, which are greatly rated by Google algorithms. Because they are present in the content, it signifies that the editor valued the links and added them personally. Moreover, they are easily spotted by viewers due to high visibility which contributes towards increased click through rate (CTR), drawing more traffic your way. Links inserted within main text, top of content or at the main attraction of the page are all in-content backlinks which you should try to achieve from your outreach contacts.

6. Include Target Keywords in Anchor Link Text

Adding targeted keywords within the anchor text of backlink allows you to optimize it for search engines, which improves their visibility when searched. Instead of choosing the same keyword or phrase over and over again, adapt by switching to synonyms or similar words as they will have the same chances of being searched by users.

7. Increase Your Sources

It has been verified by outreach consultants that the number of unique sources for your backlinks is a significant factor when it comes to deciding rankings on search results. Spread out your outreach efforts to attain maximum number of backlinks from as many relevant sources as you can. Rather than gathering many backlinks from a limited number of webpages, it is better to have a moderate number of backlinks stemming from varying, reliable sources.

8. Choose from a Trustworthy Neighborhood

Sites marked as trustworthy by Google are excellent sources for achieving backlinks because they place you in the same category as them. Sites which act as authority figures for shaping trends boost your rankings symbiotically; they benefit from your content and you get to attract traffic and improve on your ratings.

However, the same applies for sites which are shady in nature. Google does not differentiate between sites and backlinks; if it catches your backlinks originating from fake webpages, not only the site but your webpage will also suffer the consequences. Once a page has been blacklisted by Google, it will fail to appear on search results, draining all your hard invested outreach efforts down the drain.

9. Reciprocal Links – To Be or Not to Be?

Reciprocal links are generated when webmasters agree to provide links on each other’s webpages. Because this tactic was overused and implemented in wrong manners, not only has its significance been reduced but the penalty for low quality implementation is quite serious as well. For backlinks of purest quality, it is advisable to refrain from obtaining them using reciprocal link method.

10. Don’t Pay for Backlinks

Paid backlinks are the easiest of ways to acquire links which will point towards your content. However, the risk far outweighs the advantages they offer, since Google has a strict no-paid-links policy because this practice was also widely abused in the past. Even third party payments are strictly prohibited and if Google sniffs out such activity, prepare to have your page blacklisted from results.

Backlinks – Choose Wisely

Creating backlinks from scratch is no easy task and outreach consultants often advise patience in this matter. Investing in the right contacts and generating high quality links over time is always a favorable strategy as compared to rushing the process and producing those which have a high chance of obliterating your efforts altogether. By consulting with these 10 easy factors, your backlinks will always have the advantage of achieving higher ratings on search engines and generating traffic and reputation for your webpage.

Author Bio:

Komal Parveen is the CEO of Marketing Wind and is an experienced SEO Outreach expert and advertisement specialist. Her interests lie in Digital Marketing Management. She is an internet marketing enthusiast and her specialty is in search engine optimization outreach and content marketing.