The importance of external links in the link-building strategy
For search engines (Google, Yahoo, Ecosia, etc.) that track the entire fabric of websites that make up the internet, you could say that the links are the streets, the roads that link the pages. Through these links and the respective algorithms of each search engine, the pages are related to each other.
Since its inception, search engines have refined their algorithm to give more or less importance to the union between web pages through various scoring systems. Links have always been highly rated, but it’s unclear to what degree they are efficient, and that will remain one of the great mysteries of Google.
“Links are not everything in SEO, but search professionals attribute a large part of engine algorithms to link-related factors.” (Source: Moz )A good link-building strategy with other portals and blogs in the sector favors Domain Rank (DR) and Domain Authority (DA). It improves web positioning and relations with other companies or actors.
So much so that authority models, such as the Hilltop algorithm, suggest that links are a perfect way to identify expert papers on a given topic. Thus, we can use the links between our blogs to provide numerical authority and as a method of authorizing that link as quality content.How to Find High DA Backlinks? – Defining Basic Concepts: Backlinks, DR and UR
Before going even further, I think it is necessary to make a small section to define four important basic concepts:
· Backlink: The backlink is a backlink from a web page within that same web page.
· Domain Rank (DR): DR is a widely used metric for SEO and link-building strategies, and it shows the backlink profile strength of a target website on a logarithmic scale of 0 to 100.
· URL Rank (UR) – URL Rank highlights the power of backlinks on a specific landing page on a scale of 0 to 100.
What is the difference between DR and UR?
From Ahrefs, they tell us the difference between DR and UR: UR is a page-level metric, while DR is a domain-level metric. Thus, a page can have a very high DR but a very low UR. Although your domain has a lot of authority, it does not transmit as much authority as a page with both high values or even one with a low DR and a higher UR than our site would. We can take two values into account when measuring the strength of a page, but we must understand them separately.
How do we manage the use of external links?
Before analyzing how we manage the use of backlinks, it is essential to find the ideal tool. In this case, I don’t hesitate to recommend Ahrefs, the perfect link monitoring tool.
Ahrefs helps us discover those links that lead to our domain and our competition. Without a doubt, a great help in our SEO strategy. Among its main functionalities are:
· Inbound domain analysis
· Outbound domain analysis
· Broken domain analysis
· Analysis of new domains
· Tracking of traffic entrance and positioning by that link
Management of the use of external links: key factors to analyze for the success of the link-building strategy
1. Outgoing links
The number of outgoing links you have from your domain is essential. This also measures your URL’s power when linking to another website. The more outgoing links you have, the less power each URL has: 1 divided by ten is not the same as 100.
2. No-follow links
There is a widespread belief regarding SEO and link exchange based on whether links in a collaborative process should include we followed or not follow. It is clear that follow links pass authority to linked websites. With no follow, it is possible to refer to the website above without Google detecting them … but are the no-follow harmful to the DA of our website?
Some opinions indicate this: this mentions that non-follow links negatively interfere with a website’s reputation and that Google could penalize them.
However, we have not been able to find supporting evidence. Of course, most of the websites and blogs consulted agree that you should try to get follow links from those sites that we are interested in taking advantage of. Not only because of the mention itself but also because of the transfer of authority.
By this, we mean that if there is something that we do have 100% clear and demonstrated, we must maintain a balance between do follow and no follow links so that our website has more credibility in the eyes of Google. According to themselves, they indicate …
3. Better for link growth
In the Ahrefs tool, there is a tab called “Best for link growth” within the “Pages” section. This tab shows which pages of your website have been growing at the backlink level in the last 7, 15, and 30 days. In this way, you can also track those pages that you are interested in that are well worked at the link level and keep track of what you have achieved and lost.
4. Naturalness above all
The more natural the inclusion of a link exchange, the better. It is not recommended to get direct links to commercial keywords we are ranking.
When we talk about direct keywords to which there is no problem getting links, we refer to marketing keywords such as “InboundCycle,” for example. This direct link gives us more brand strength and manages to make the website visible and position our brand keyword.
In conclusion: links, yes, but quality. As we have seen, to make a web page attractive to the eyes of the leading search engines, it is essential to study and analyze the types of links on our page. Finding the right tool (in this case, Ahrefs) and a thorough link-building theanalysis will help us recognize which links are quality and which are expendable:
1. Visibility and strength: good visibility figures assure us that our website is healthy. Ideally, we will try to maintain high values also instability.
2. Outgoing links: again, we come across the quality. Each linked URL has less power as outbound links grow.
3. No-follow links: we must try to maintain the balance between following and no-follow links: in this way, we gain credibility in the face of Google.
4. Link Growth: Analyzing backlinks in the past few days is also an essential measurement.
5. The naturalness of the links: it is essential not to force a link. Search engines also reward naturalness.
6. Analysis of the competition links: knowing what type of links and the competition links’ pages.
7. Assessment of collaborations: we must know what the associations we maintain provide us with and assess whether they are fruitful or penalize us.
After this analysis of the importance of the types of beneficial or harmful links for your website, we can conclude that link exchange is essential but always ensures quality. There is no use linking for linking; it can be counterproductive to attract “bad” links to your site’s traffic.