What’s a Backlink and Why Do I Need Them for My Website?

If you’re new to the world of website development and online marketing, you may have heard a lot of noise already about backlinks. Everybody always says how important they are, but what’s the real story? What is a backlink and why do you need them for your website in order to be successful?

A backlink, also known as an inbound link or an incoming link to your website, is simply any link from another website, blog or online outlet that leads to one of the pages on your own website. So anytime that you get added to somebody’s links page or blogroll, or anytime somebody references one of your products, services or articles via a clickable link, that counts as a new backlink to your site.

Now, why is it that these are so important? Well, one of the most powerful options at your disposal in order to find new prospects and customers is to be ranked highly in the search engines. That’s not always easy to pull off, particularly when it comes to crowded markets and niches. You’ll find that even with the right keyword selection and on-page SEO, that you still may not be able to crack the top listings.

This is where all of those backlinks come into play. Each backlink that you have leading to your website is like adding a vote or tally to your cause within the search engine’s complicated formulas. Every time that somebody links to you they are basically saying, hey, I vouch for that website, and that increases your value. The more backlinks you have and the better quality that they are, the more this can boost your positioning.

Yes, that means that not all backlinks are worth the same in terms of the push that they can give your own reputation and ranking. Think of it as a politician running for office. Nailing down the head of that big union in your district and getting him to support your cause will be much more valuable comparatively to getting Bob on the street corner to vote for you. Every vote counts, sure, but the backing of a powerful player means even more.

That means the best backlinks you can get for your site are the ones that come from highly reputable sites themselves. Additionally, backlinks that come from related sites as opposed to unrelated sites, and backlinks that are natural as opposed to exchanged, will be worth more as well. So ultimately, while the more links you get the better, certain ones are far more important than others.

The bottom line with backlinks is that quantity and quality incoming links will improve your positioning in the search engines. Your reputation and online presence will grow, and you will be able to find more prospects and convert more of them into customers and repeat clients. For many small websites and businesses, it can be the difference between success and failure, so clearly, backlinks are something that should not be taken lightly.