What are backlinks and why are they important?

Backlinks, also often referred to as inbound links or incoming links, are formed when another website publishes a link to yours. It’s called a backlink because it points back to the linked page.

It’s a term you’re likely to hear often when you’re talking about SEO and making your website climb through the rankings of a search engine – probably Google. In the world of SEO, a backlink essentially represents an endorsement from another website.

It’s a vote of confidence which lets a search engine know that your website is worth searching for. The more backlinks there are to a specific website or page, the more Google can be sure that it’s a search result worth displaying, and the more backlinks your site has, the higher it will climb in search engine results.

Backlinks also vary in their quality – those which are earned from high-quality sites like the BBC, Wikipedia, IMDB or another well-regarded website in your industry are worth significantly more than those from lesser-known or lower ranking sites. A web page which is loaded with unnaturally used keywords and plagiarised content, which is verging on spam and not read by many people, isn’t really worth earning a backlink from, but a backlink from a high authority site could seriously help your rankings.

You can earn backlinks in many ways; for instance, you could ask other reputable businesses or influencers in your industry or locale to blog about your services in return for doing the same for them, and linking to their site. However, building seriously high-quality backlinks that make a real difference is time-consuming and requires specialist work.

Here at Excalibur Digital, it’s exactly what we specialise in, and we can take the strain of SEO and building backlinks off your hands. We’re experts in the field with plenty of experience, and we can help your site to gain better visibility in search engines without spending the huge amount of time that you would end up having to do yourself.

If you’re interested in finding out more about the services we offer around website optimisation, SEO, backlinks and more, get in touch today to talk through your needs.