As we dive deeper into 2023 and the world of search engine optimization, one thing becomes increasingly clear: backlinks are still important in SEO. Backlinks from other sites to our own content have not lost their significance; on the contrary, they remain one of the most effective ways to achieve better rankings in search results and attract more traffic to our sites.
But before we dive deeper into this topic, let’s first examine what “backlinks” actually are in search engine optimization.
What are backlinks?
Backlinks are links from other websites. Good and strong backlinks are important in search engine optimization because they help search engines understand what the site is about and how it relates to other sites.
Why are backlinks valuable?
Backlinks help search engines find the site and help the site rank better in search results. Backlinks can also help the site get more traffic and increase the site’s visibility on Google. They are one of the most important factors in search engine optimization, and they can be extremely beneficial for the site’s ranking and traffic. Backlinks improve “Authority,” which is one of Google’s most important ranking factors. The more backlinks from strong and relevant domains your site has, the easier it will be to rank well with your content.
Dofollow and nofollow links
When we talk about links, it is good to mention dofollow and nofollow links and their difference.
No follow includes “rel=nofollow” in the HTML tag, and it means that nofollow links do not pass link juice and do not help the link recipient rank higher in the search results (SERP). When “rel=nofollow” is marked in the link’s HTML tag, Googlebot does not follow this link. In other words, in link building, always follow dofollow links because they are the most important for gaining SEO benefits.
Link building
Buying links is not allowed in Google’s eyes, and Google can penalize you by excluding your site from Google’s search results. However, this is done in the SEO world by buying advertorial articles whose links are dofollow links, meaning those links provide SEO benefits.
You can also build links organically using various SEO tactics and earn the links. Google appreciates this and rewards with better rankings, and the risk of Google penalizing your site is smaller. One favorite method for this is Outreach articles. It is based on creating such a good data source or study on your site about a subject that the media link to your site organically. This way, you can get many links from different media, and the link power can then be internally linked further on your site.
My experience with the importance of backlinks
Backlinks from strong and relevant domains strengthen your site in Google’s eyes, and your site finds it easier to rank well. External links are still one of the most important ranking factors. In the August Google Core Update, I noticed the importance of backlinks and other E-E-A-T signals in top 3 rankings in practice, on the sites I followed.
I follow three sites daily. Two of these sites (blue and green in the image) have long focused on E-E-A-T signals (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness), while the third site (orange) has rather weak ones. According to Ahrefs ranking data, we see the number of words among the top three rankings for all three sites and their development over time.
Before the August Google Core Update, we do not see a change in the number of top 3 words on the blue and green site. After the August Google Core Update began on August 22, these two sites focusing on improving E-E-A-T signals start to get more and more words in top 3 rankings. When we look at the third site (orange) that does not focus on improving E-E-A-T, the number of keywords in top 3 rankings begins to decrease.
What can we learn from this? Backlinks, brand mentions, author information, and high-quality content are more important than ever if you want to rank among the top three on Google with your keywords. And the number of domains linking to the site (referring domains) is perhaps the strongest factor for a page to rank well.
