A link (short for hyperlink) is, technically, a cross-reference within a hypertext and one of the most characteristic features of the Internet. Links serve to redirect from one page to another and navigate through the different subpages of a web page. Consequently, a difference is established between internal links (references to pages on the same page) and external links (references from one page to another).
Link building is an essential factor in search engine optimization (SEO) and can positively influence website managers. SEO measures relating to external links are called link building. However, the permitted methods and especially the most promising ones, have evolved considerably. This article offers you information on the basic aspects of such link building and how you can use backlinks on your web pages.
An overview of link building
As a discipline of SEO, link building is primarily intended to improve the ranking of web pages in search engines. Search engines identify the importance of web pages through, for example, the links that refer to each of their subpages. For Google, Bing, etc., to carry out this measurement in the best possible way (and to be placed at the top of the search engine list), the page must be linked as regularly as possible. This is because the visibility of a web page increases if many quality links refer to it. To achieve this, backlinks are placed on other web pages. These serve as a referral to the website itself and can be understood as recommendations.
A recommendation of such characteristics can be carried out, for example, by an author’s comment on a web page in which he is named and is linked using a link. These marketing measures are included in the so-called off-page optimization since external links are placed outside the website. From the point of view of the manager of the said web page to which the link refers, a backlink is an incoming reference and will therefore be designated as an inbound link.
Measurement methods in search engine ranking
Generally, links increase the visibility of linked web pages in search engines. However, the criteria of the search engines have changed a lot, and, in the past, a high number of inbound links on a web page was an indication of its importance. To measure it, the PageRank tool was used.
PageRank
In the past, this value became one of the most important bases for positioning in search engines: the higher the PageRank of a web page, the greater the importance of the web page for the search engine and the better the position that would get in search results. In short, Google used the PageRank value to assess whether the web page was interesting for many or few readers. In this, the algorithm evaluated the PageRank amount as follows:
the more links to a web page, the more important the page is
the greater the importance of the web page that creates the link, the more benefits the linked page will get.In this purely quantitative measurement, some factors are considered problematic: on the one hand, when setting the PageRank of web pages, neither the quality of the content nor the real interest of the readers are taken into account, but rather just the number of inbound links. On the other hand, PageRank could be manipulated in different ways so that the creation of links led to the presence of spam in search engines and links. In this sense, the well-known algorithms were systematically used with various dubious means to better position.
PageRank abuse
The manipulation of the PageRank is opposed to the organic growth of the links, since in the natural development of the web pages, they influence, above all, their themes and their quality, what is the popularity of the same and what is the influx with which they are link their subpages. The principle behind it is as simple as it is correct: if a web page is relevant to many users, this means that its popularity will increase successively and that the number of incoming links will also increase effectively. In the past, such natural link growth was simulated artificially by various methods to increase the PageRank rating of web pages with buy permanent backlinks.
Web optimization
It is the discipline set that seeks the greatest vertical visibility (via Boolean search in Google and other services). Due to Google’s dominance in the (Western) search market, web optimization largely becomes “optimization for Google,” so the rules (algorithms) that Google uses to rank and display results must be taken into account, even though they are secrets, an attempt is made to decipher its operation by reverse engineering and experience.
PageRank is one of Google’s base algorithms (1997 patent) and analyzes and weighs the value of internal and external relationships between hyperlinked documents, that is, it analyzes the links and mentions between documents of the same domain and between different domains to evaluate the relevance of a document in response to a search query.
Answer to the question
What is a backlink in web optimization and what is its importance?
The word backlinks are used in collective SEO and inbound marketing to designate mainly the valuable links that point to a page of a client domain (or own); in general terms, backlinks will be all known and unknown links that point to the page analyzed.
The ability to know what backlinks exist to a specific page gives SEO professionals the opportunity to (try) to manipulate the quantity and quality of links that “flow” between documents of interest (client or own), said “flow” ends up creating an influence coined in English as link juice (literally “link juice”) that can help to position a specific page better or worse. If we talk about constructive SEO, it will be for the better, that is, manipulating the “flow” to elevate the client (or own project) in the rankings; If we talk about negative or destructive SEO, it will be for the worse, to harm or even sink the competition: this last extreme is considered unethical and degrading for the profession.
Practical examples
In this answer there are 2 types of useful practices in SEO and totally ethical, legal and justified by a practical purpose included in the responsibilities of a good / a.
Useful/complementary links: they provide extra information to the content of this same answer but do not directly provide benefits to the client project or self-interest; However, the quality and usefulness of this type of links are taken into account by Google, so it is a good indirect practice.
In this answer, they are in the form of a footnote, a standard format in academic or encyclopedic documents that provides usefulness but does not miss a significant link juice.
In turn, these footnote links will be considered backlinks to Wikipedia and Google Patents, although of diminished value.
Implanted links: they are part of implementing SEO tactics and have a specific purpose for those who implement them. Sometimes the content that hosts them is nothing more than a reasonable excuse to give them a proper context in the eyes of Google. In this response, they have a direct link format with keywords appropriate to the desired purpose: one point to the freelance SEO services that I provide and another to an entry on my blog, this time 50% promotional and 50% complementary, since it provides the face negative of the backlinks that are double-edged weapons, as I have already commented.
