Finding customers is one of the most difficult challenges a small business will face. One of the best ways to do it is by showing up organically in search results.

Getting on the first page of Google requires some effort, though. That's why there are so many companies focused on helping businesses with search engine optimization (SEO).

One of the most important SEO factors that every small business should take into account is backlinks. In this article, we will discuss what backlinks are, why they are important, and how to get more backlinks to improve your search engine rankings.

What are backlinks?

Backlinks are often referred to in the SEO world as 'inbound links' or 'external links.' They are links from an external website to a page on your website.

These are different from internal links, which point from one page of your site to another. They are also more difficult to get than internal links, but they are an essential part of any SEO strategy.

How Do Backlinks Work?

Google looks at something called domain authority when ranking sites. Domain authority is established in large part by backlinks. Backlinks can be thought of as votes telling Google that your site is high quality.

A backlink from a referring domain with high domain authority is more valuable in the eyes of the Google algorithm. So Google doesn't necessarily look at the number of backlinks to your site, but rather the quality of the backlinks.

Google also looks at the relationship between your site and the linking site. So, for example, if your site talks about fashion and gets a link from a site that focuses on marketing and business, Google will see this and not favor the link as highly. Therefore, it is important that the backlinks you receive are from sites related to your industry.

Another thing Google looks at is the anchor text of backlinks. This is the text that is visible on the page. If the anchor text uses keywords related to your site, it will help your site rank higher for those keywords.

There are also things called "nofollow" links, which is a way for a referring site to tell Google that they do not want to endorse the site they are linking to. These are no good for the algorithm; you need "dofollow" links. Luckily, the vast majority of links are "dofollow," but it is worth noting that not all links will boost your rankings.

Multiple backlinks from just one website are also not as valuable as fewer backlinks from various sites. The more backlinks you get from a variety of high-quality sites, the more Google favors your content in organic search results.

Why Are Backlinks Important?

In short, backlinks are important because they help you rank higher in organic search results. The more backlinks your site has, the higher your site will rank in Google and other search engines.

One of the biggest factors Google looks at when ranking sites for search results is the quality of a website; high-quality websites rank higher. A key way that Google determines the quality of a site is backlinks.

Backlinks are also an important way to help Google find your site in the first place. Google's algorithm crawls the web, and a link from a trusted site will lead the algorithm to your site. This will help your website appear in organic search results.

Additionally, apart from SEO purposes, backlinks boost trustworthiness and credibility for your small business. When someone that your target audience already trusts links to your site, that tells them that you are also trustworthy. This can help generate traffic to your site beyond organic search traffic.

How to Get Backlinks to Your Site

There are tons of methods for getting backlinks to your site. Briefly, here are a few of the more straightforward ways that work well for small businesses.

Creating Quality Content

One of the simplest ways to generate backlinks to your website is by creating high-quality content that is worth linking to. By creating quality content, you are giving people the opportunity to share that content and link back to you.

The most common type of website content that generates backlinks is blog posts. Specifically, focusing on answering questions like "what," "why," and "how" improves your chances of getting backlinks to your content.

Respond to Journalist Queries on HARO

Another great strategy for generating backlinks from high-quality sources is by using a platform called Help A Reporter Out (HARO). On this platform, journalists look for sources to help them create their content. You can become a source and respond to inquiries for content related to your field of expertise.

By responding to these inquiries, you are not only helping journalists do their jobs, but you are also able to generate high-quality backlinks to your site. There are many big media companies using HARO to find sources, and getting a backlink from one of them can boost your credibility instantly.

Guest Posts

A simple method of generating backlinks is by pitching guest posts to industry publications. This is a win-win situation for you and the publisher. You provide them with high-quality content to share on their platform, and they provide you with a high-quality backlink to your website.

This can be a time-consuming effort, but we provide guest post outreach services to make it simple to generate backlinks to your site.

Backlink Boosting

It is clear that backlinks are an essential part of any SEO strategy. If you want your small business website to rank in organic search results, you have to have a plan in place to generate backlinks from high-quality sources.

We make getting started with backlinks and your SEO strategy simple by providing various services for small business owners like you. Check out our backlink booster to see if it can help your business grow. Or just browse our site to see how we can help turn your website into a marketing machine.