Search engines have always placed great importance on links to assess the credibility of a website. For them, each link is a kind of letter of recommendation. Thus, the more links that lead to a website, the more authentic it is considered to be and the better it is ranked in search results.

Learning how to get backlinks is one of the oldest and most effective strategies for improving a website's Search Engine Optimization (SEO). But while it is one of the most proven methods of obtaining backlinks, one must be wary of the quality of those links.

In the early days of SEO, website owners considered the quest for backlinks as a kind of "game" and used questionable schemes to acquire them. Since then, most updates to Google's algorithms have been aimed at wiping out these somewhat questionable methods.

Today, only so-called "white hat" techniques are considered reliable and ethical. And if you are ready to wet the shirt, it is still quite possible to boost your SEO and your credibility via this method.

This article proposes 6 effective methods to obtain valid and quality backlinks, which will prove to Google and other search engines that your site deserves to be well ranked in search results.

What is meant by "backlinks"?

Backlinks, also known as external links, inbound links, or secondary links, are links published on one site that point to another site.

They play a key role in the referencing of your website by search engines, which consider them as indicators of quality content.

When other Internet sites link to an article or a page on your site, consider that they vouch for your content and rely on your reputation to strengthen theirs. For search engines, this means that your website deserves excellent visibility in their users' search results.

For backlinks to have a positive influence on your natural reach (organic reach), however, they must not only be obtained naturally, but also come from reliable and recognized sources. Although you have little control over the sites that link to yours, there are several ways to improve your chances of creating quality links (link building).

1. Make the figures of speech happy

As in social circles, your reputation in the digital world depends largely on the people who talk about you. When authoritative websites in their content area with a large and loyal user base post a backlink to your site, you benefit from their reputation. Your content is then likely to be perceived as highly credible.

On the other hand, beware of discredited or paid websites that link to yours, as they may relegate you to the spam category. It may be a good idea to invest in a good social network monitoring tool to ensure that your backlinks appear on quality sites that capture a high volume of traffic and have good domain authority.

Identify authoritative websites such as influential bloggers, high-end fashionable brands and news websites known for the accuracy and objectivity of their information. Connect with them and build a mutually beneficial relationship by offering to write for them (allowing you to integrate a backlink to your content).

Regularly search for sites that publish a backlink to your competitors and praise them for your content. Finally, rake the Web to find broken links and identify those that could be replaced by backlinks that point to your content.

2. Choose a good domain name

Do domain names have an impact on SEO? This is one of the questions that hovers over SEO specialists. In a way, yes. But that doesn't mean that you have to register a domain name containing all the keywords .com 😅.

A study on the impact of new domains on SEO suggests that a domain name rich in keywords can help sites get relevant backlinks based on these keywords.

This is good news for companies that want to benefit from natural SEO. For example, if www.boulangerie.patisserie gets backlinks on the anchor text "bakery-pastry", this will eventually affect the site's SEO for the keywords "bakery-pastry".

New domain extensions such as .TECH, .SITE, .ONLINE, .SPACE, etc. can help companies obtain a relevant domain name rich in keywords.

3. Be a leader yourself

To encourage reputable sites to send you their traffic, you need to provide them with content that is worthwhile. In other words, for authoritative sites to be associated with you, you must be authoritative yourself.

Writing interesting and well-crafted content is a must, especially since search engines are increasingly focusing on the quality and authenticity of content to determine their ranking in search results. The content of your site must therefore :

• share useful and accurate information,

• have been rigorously researched and referenced credible sources,

• be creative and visually captivating.

In short, the content of your site must enrich the knowledge of your readers and bridge the gap between their needs and the information already available on the Internet.

Broadening your horizons beyond text articles and creating unique content that other sites can build on is an effective way to gain credible backlinks. Here are some content formats that work effectively:

• glossaries,

• detailed guides on a very precise subject,

• infographics,

• graphs and diagrams,

• case studies,

• comparative analyses,

• ebooks and white papers,

• podcasts and videos,

• image libraries.

4. Stay in the loop

It is impossible to find the magic formula that will improve your ranking on SERPs (search engine results pages), but to stay on top of it for sure, follow the marketing and SEO trends.

Create content that reflects the latest trends and keyword usage. Make sure you are optimizing your content and site structure. Publishing interviews with experts on interesting and current topics is also an interesting approach that contributes to your overall SEO. Not to mention that they also provide content that is very conducive to backlinks.

The same rules apply when you want to update your old content to keep it current, relevant and attractive to users, but also to other sites that can take advantage of your strong SEO strategy to improve theirs.

5. Leverage social networks

In these times when the Internet is flooded with content, it is no longer enough to publish inspiring and informative articles. A lack of visibility on social networks frequently used by your target audience severely limits the reach and potential of your content. And if no one sees your content, it is impossible to get backlinks.

Do social networks have a direct influence on your SEO on SERPs? This question has not been decided yet, but in any case, a solid social networking strategy can only be beneficial. Sharing creative and engaging messages frequently is a 'must' if you want to build brand awareness and expand your audience.

Combined with an effective SEO strategy, social networks can therefore help generate more traffic to your website. You gain reliability in the eyes of search engines and become worthy of backlinks in the eyes of other websites. After all, what's the point of creating quality content if not everyone can easily access and share it?

But publishing on social networks is not enough. To make sure your content gets the exposure it deserves, it's important to address your audience in the right way. This includes responding to their comments and rewarding their sharing and likes by mentioning them in your own publications. The same goes for sites that publish backlinks to yours: give them visibility on your social networks, encouraging them to interact with you even more.

6. Facilitate the creation of backlinks

You can increase your chances of getting external links to your site by making life easier for content creators.

Add a "Link to this site" button or create HTML code snippets underneath your content that your readers will be able to embed directly on their site. This will not only make life easier for those who want to publish your link, but you may also make others want to give you a backlink (simply because it's easy and they wouldn't have thought of it).

Quite often, people will mention the name of your site by paraphrasing or quoting your content without publishing a backlink. In this case, chances are you will get a backlink by thanking them for mentioning you on their sites and asking them to turn that quote into a link 👌🏻

Conclusion

Backlinks are not necessarily among the priorities of SEO specialists, who focus more on the "on-page" aspects (keywords, titles, internal links, site architecture, etc.) over which they have control. However, as part of a solid and effective SEO strategy, off-page practices such as linking to your site play an equally important role. After all, it's better to put all the chances on your side, right?