Imagine running a business that has no trouble and providing stellar products and services. However, you can’t seem to get your website in front of the right people. Issues like these are why around 20% of small businesses fail in the United States within their first year. Using website backlinks is an amazing way to build website authority and increase your SEO value. However, not everybody understands how the process works.
We’ve put together a brief guide that has the key information you need to know. So, what is a backlink profile? Let’s explore the best way to get started.
What Is a Backlink Profile?
As the name implies, this term refers to the quantity and quality of the links that point to your website. Google uses this as an index of how they should rank your website. For example, let’s assume that your site only had links from shady domains. It also has links from sites that didn’t have much of a presence in their niche. Google would view this scenario as your site having low-quality content since high-quality websites link to them. In contrast, imagine you had a site that had dozens of high-traffic websites linking to it. Your ranking would likely be substantially higher.
Creating Backlinks
There are a few primary ways you can create backlinks for your site. Understanding them will help ensure you take the best steps forward. Listed below are some of the most notable.
Inbound Links
These are links from other websites that point to yours. They generally do so with a relevant anchor text. For instance, the website could link to your cooking blog with the anchor text “learn more about cooking.”
Inbound links are the most important part of the backlink portfolio. Some people develop entire link acquisition strategies to increase the site’s number of inbound links. Aside from Google improving your ranking, these links also show users that your site is trustworthy.
Outbound Links
In contrast to inbound links, outbound links are created by other sites that link to yours. To clarify, the other links in an article that point to your site are called outbound links.
This influences your backlink profile since you don’t want to have a site linking to yours that also links to disreputable resources. In context, this could look like a scam-based website linking to your page while also linking to pages with malware.
Blog Comments
Users can leave these in articles, blogs, or anywhere else they’re allowed to comment (such as forums). This term also plus some comments left on social media platforms. However, comments on blogs are the most notable. These are typically more visible than links on other platforms.
Improving Your Backlink Profile
It’s essential to take steps to improve your backlink profile. It won’t grow on its own, and the amount of time you invest plays a large role in the results you get. Let’s explore the key strategies you can implement.
Create High-Quality Content
This is one of the most important steps you can take. Creating high-quality content gives other websites a reason to link to yours. Quality isn’t the only attribute to consider, though. Your content should also be engaging and useful. How-to guides are great ways to generate a large amount of traffic to your site. This will also help you stand out from your industry competitors. Don’t be afraid to post long-form content, as well.
Use Social Media
When utilized appropriately, social media is one of the best ways to improve your backlink profile. Brands that have a large following can quickly get their content from thousands of users. When your content is high-quality, other people are also likely to share it with their followers on social media. Under the right circumstances, this can exponentially increase the traffic to your site. For example, imagine a user with millions of followers shared one of your posts. Even if a small percentage of their audience followed the link, your site would still have an uptick of thousands of inbound users.
Leverage Paid Advertising
Many people overlook the opportunity that paid advertising provides. Platforms like Google, Instagram, and Facebook allow you to configure paid ad campaigns. Keep in mind that there is a point of diminishing returns regarding what you spend. Budgeting more money doesn’t always equate to better results. There’s generally a sweet spot where you get the most out of each dollar spent. One of the best things about paid advertising is the ability to conduct split testing. Also known as A/B testing, this involves running similar ads that have minor differences.
You can then assess which ad performed better. People commonly run ads that are identical aside from their call to action or thumbnail image.
Monitor Your Profile
Without the right level of monitoring, your performance levels can quickly dip. The last thing you want is to assume everything’s going well and then discover it’s not. Get in the habit of monitoring your backlink profile weekly. This allows you to identify areas of concern and adapt to changes. The sooner you take action, the easier it will be for you to keep your backlink profile as functional as possible. You can use resources to acquire new backlinks if necessary. Working with reputable providers like LinkDaddy goes a long way toward helping you improve your backlink profile.
Use a Backlink Analysis Tool
It can be difficult to assess your backlink profile without the right backlink analysis tool. There are free and premium options available, and it’s best to do your research before making your decision. This will prevent issues from arising in the future.
Don’t Overlook Backlinks
While this may seem like an unimportant detail at first, managing your backlink profile is essential to getting the results you need for your website. Keep the above answer to “What is a backlink profile” in mind so you can get started on the right track.
Our blog has many other articles on how to run a successful business. Be sure to check them out today to see what you can learn!
