A backlink, quite simply, is a link from another web site to your page. It is one of the easiest and most cost effective ways of driving traffic to your page and improving your search engine rankings.

It all sounds rather simple but it is not quite as easy as putting backlinks wherever and whenever you can. There is such a thing as a bad backlink which will actually do damage to your ranking. Backlinks in the wrong places, or too many backlinks, can also be problematic. Nothing online stays the same for very long so it is important to keep up to date with changes in this field as well. Google has made many changes to their algorithms and they will continue to do this. Failure to respond to these changes can have disastrous consequences to you ranking.

Let’s take a look at what makes a good or a bad backlink so that you can get the most out of your SEO and online marketing efforts.

Good Backlinks

The quality of the source is vital. The higher the Domain Authority, Page Rank and quality of the linking site, they more effective it will be. The site also has to be relevant and have similar content. Trust is also vital. Certain sites are known to be more trustworthy than others, keep this in mind. Quality over quantity is the key here. One backlink from a quality, relevant and trustworthy site is worth a hundred backlinks on random sites. The more difficult a backlink is to obtain, the more valuable it will be.

Sites that update regularly are much better than a dormant site or one that has not been updated for a long time. Look at the date of the last post to determine how active the site is.

The wording or phrase you use for back link must be the same as, or similar, to the words you intend to improve your page ranking. You also want as many of the links to be on as many unique websites as possible. It is all very well to have many links but if they only come from a small number of sites, it will not be effective. Another factor to consider is the number of backlinks per page, too many on one page and the value of your link will be watered down. The position of the link can also make a difference. Contextual links, those inside the content, carry more weight than footer or a sidebar.

Bad Backlinks

Poor backlinks come from unrelated and untrustworthy sites. Not only is a backlink on a totally unrelated site of little to no benefit to you, Google could actually penalize you for such links.

Web sites can be penalised for violating Google’s Webmaster Guidelines. Check to see if the site has any penalties against it as backlinks from such sites will cause harm to your SEO efforts. This can be done by searching site:domain.com. There are a variety of tools you can employ to analyse backlinks pointing to you. A good example is Monitor Backlinks. Be sure to make use of these tools to check for any potential negative backlinks.

While not necessarily bad, there is little point in linking from sites with poor or suspicious traffic. Take this into consideration before choosing to backlink from such sites. A useful tool to use here is SimilarWeb.

Also utilize tools to determine the domain authority of the site. Use Monitor Backlinks or MozRank to assist with this. Try to aim for sites with a minimum domain authority of 30. As your skills improve, go for sites that have an authority of 50 plus.

The important lesson here is not all backlinks are created equal. Not only is a bad backlink not helpful, it can actually do harm. Understand the difference between the good and bad backlinks and monitor them on an on-going basis in order maximize your SEO efforts.

Author’s Bio:

Simon Hopes is a renowned author and social media enthusiast. If this is all sounding very complicated, look at expert sites such Linkprocessor.com that will be able to assist you in getting your backlinks right.