Google was ranked as the domain with the most worldwide referring subnets as of January 2024. Besides, as of July 2023, Google had an 81.95% market share, whereas Bing only had 10.51% and Yahoo had 2.67%. It’s clear that Google is the top choice for any internet user in terms of search engine, and it’s also understandable why so many platforms are trying to look good enough for Google to rank them higher.
To boost your rankings, you need the help of SEO. One of the most commonly used SEO strategies that also offers outstanding results is backlinking. When you add backlinks to reliable, authoritative sites with an established presence online, Google will take it into account through its algorithm and increase your ranking. However, before you start taking advantage of inbound links, you should know the different types. Grab a cup of coffee and read as we unpack what kinds of backlinks are ideal, which ones work, and which one should be avoided.
The Best Types of Backlinks
According to SEO statistics for 2024, the search results with the highest rankings have 3.8 times more backlinks than those with lower results. This is why you should use the right types of backlinks to let people know that you provide a lot of information and value with your pages. Here are some types of backlinks that you should consider for SEO purposes:
Guest Post Links
Guest post backlinks are among the most common links you can get. You obtain them by writing content for another platform and having it published. This website should be part of the same industry or niche, of course, and your content must also bring a lot of value. What’s great about this method is that you not only make others become more familiar with your type of content, but you can also boost the authority of your site and bring more traffic at the same time as well. To make this work properly, you should target the right websites for guest blogging.
Editorial Backlinks
You’ll be surprised to see just how many sites use editorial backlinks. These links are great because no payment is necessary for them. They are obtained based on how good and relevant the content is. These backlinks occur when other websites simply stumble upon your posts and link to them.
Since they’re so great and provide so much value for your platform, helping it rank higher, you should always focus on polishing your content until it reaches or it’s near perfection.
Social Media Backlinks
Social media backlinks are links that come from a social media page or site. What makes them so great is the fact that they boost your platform’s traffic and interactions. Social media inbound links find themselves on user profiles, in comment sections, in posts, or they’re even shared directly from your site to the feed.
Broken Link Fixing
Believe it or not, many websites have broken links. This happens when a link added into a certain piece of content becomes outdated or irrelevant, basically dead or non-existent. Website owners may not always be aware of this, but you can reach out to them and let them know, then suggest a better replacement for the link, which could be your own content. The site owner will be happy that you provided this solution and increase your changes of getting a backlink.
Types of Backlinks That Don’t Work
Despite having so many good options in terms of backlinks, some types should be avoided. While certain ones may not always be ineffective, they bring risks that you don’t want to take when you’re trying to make your platform rank higher. Let’s take a look at some bad inbound links:
PR Release Links
This may come as a surprise to you, but press releases are not always good for backlinks. Now, sure, it can work when you do it right with high-quality news releases, but if not, Google will not be a fan. The search engine dislikes press releases that are filled with non-valuable backlinks. When done repeatedly and when the links are spammy, it will look like you’re simply trying to build your SEO, not provide value for your audience.
Hacked Links
If you’re an ethical site owner, then the idea of hacking someone’s platform to gain access to their pages and insert your content doesn’t even cross your mind. Still, it’s worth knowing that they exist and that they can get you in trouble if discovered. Now, it’s usually hard for the hacked website owner to know that this happened, but if they do actually discover it, they can report it, especially considering hacking is an illegal act in many parts of the world. Never attempt to hack into anyone’s site to insert links, even if the owner refused to link to your site previously.
Paid Links
Buying and selling backlinks isn’t necessarily a bad thing. After all, a lot of platforms do it. However, how you do it will influence how well it works. According to Google, purchasing links or selling them can drag your rankings down. At the same time, they don’t really mind as long as you add the right attributes when inserting the links. Even Google is aware that web advertising sometimes needs these transactions as part of the economy. If you must pay for backlinks or you sell inbound links, always make sure to add the “sponsored” or “nofollow” attributes.
Final Thoughts
Some backlink types are more than ideal for your website, but there are also some that you should avoid. Some of the most common and most effective backlinks include social media, editorial, and guest post links, as well as broken link fixing. Meanwhile, you should stay away from hacked links or paid links, as well as PR release links, as they may get you in trouble and hurt your rankings. Find what works for you and you’ll establish a great backlinking strategy.