Even people who are new to the world of digital marketing and SEO have heard the term ‘backlinks’. It is often touted as one of the most important SEO strategies available today and for a good reason. Backlinks are one of the three most powerful ranking factors set by Google. It ensures your website is more visible on search engine results pages and has a better authority in the industry.

However, it isn’t enough to just add backlinks to your website. This system has evolved and become more refined over the years. You need to build a good backlink profile to see any positive results.

What is a Good Backlink Profile?

When you just look at backlinks, it appears to be a simple enough concept. You create an impressive piece of content or have a stellar product. A third-party website with some authority in the industry mentions your article or product in their content and links to your website. This brings organic traffic and lends you some credibility. It is like a trusted influencer mentions a brand name and increases their overall reputation.

Simple enough to understand, right? A good link profile expands on this concept. It involves a collection of links from a reputed website in your industry. This collection of links connects to different aspects of your site like a few informative blog posts or several different product pages. Your brand is mentioned on many different websites, which increases visibility and brings organic traffic.

A good link profile is much more powerful than a single link from a good website. It shows Google that multiple trustworthy entities view your website has trustworthy, which will significantly improve your reputation.

Consider this example:

You are a clothing retailer that sells beautiful clothes made from sustainable materials. One day, Vogue does a feature on sustainability in fashion and links to an article on your website on different kinds of sustainable materials. That will bring you some attention and bolster your reputation. You have a backlink from a powerful entity in the industry and that can increase your ranking.

Now imagine that you have a strong content marketing campaign and several noteworthy products. You get backlinks from heavy-weights like Vogue, Elle, Glamour, InStyle, and Cosmopolitan. Your articles also get backlinks from smaller fashion bloggers, influencers, and more niche websites in the same industry. Now you have a strong link profile with several reputable entities linking back to your content. Such a link profile is like a beacon to Google, drawing its attention and immediately establishing your credibility.

Why Do You Need a Good Link Profile?

Building a link profile sounds like an intimidating process as it involves creating good content, conducting research on high-authority publications in your industry, and then reaching out to them directly. However, all of that effort is worth it because:

  • Influence in Rankings – According to research conducted by Moz, domain level, and page-level links are the most influential ranking factors. On a scale of 1 to 10 based on influence, Moz asked 150 experienced industry professionals to rank the factors and these two scored 8.22 and 8.19 respectively.*
  • Gaining Customer Trust – If your content and products are mentioned on multiple trustworthy websites, you will certainly gain a customer’s attention. They will be more likely to trust you and recognize your authority in the field.
  • Long Term SEO – Links from high-authority websites hold value for a long time. Once you acquire a good link profile, it can keep you at the top for several months, if not years. The only thing required is maintenance and upgrades to keep the information relevant.

A strong link profile is worth every minute and penny you spend on it. A little effort and good strategy will take your SEO to the next level.