While a backlink might sound like a fancy term for search engine optimization (SEO), the reality is that understanding them is pretty simple. In general, a backlink is just a link between two websites. So, if a page on your website links to another website or vice versa, you officially have a backlink. Because they’re simple to understand and simple to create (naturally), a lot of people with websites don’t understand just how valuable they are for SEO.

Why does SEO like backlinks? Because they prove that you’re a trusted source. If another website refers to you, then you must be (at least a little bit) legitimate. So, when search engines take a look at your website and see backlinks, it gives you an advantage over competitive websites that don’t have these links (or have fewer of them).

Earning Backlinks

A lot of natural backlinks are created without even the slightest understanding of SEO or how these website mentions and links could improve search visibility. Of course, because these backlinks are an effective way to improve SEO, many websites look for ways to get more. One of the best ways (and, yes, there are illegal ways to do back linking so be careful when trying “tricks” and “hacks”) is simply by earning them. This means that your website is recognized as an authority and valuable, so other trusted, popular websites are happy to create links.

Of course, you can also earn backlinks from some not-so-trusted websites, which isn’t initially a bad thing, although it does mean that these links won’t have the same effect in terms of SEO as more valuable ones.

Creating Backlinks

Another way to look at backlinks is creating them yourself, which can help create value and, therefore, boost SEO for your site. By manually adding external links to your website’s pages and posts, you can hep signal to search engines like Google that you are creating content that is helpful. Like earning backlinks, creating backlinks needs to be done thoughtfully; the more trusted the external sites are that you’re linking to, the better it is for your website’s visibility and ranking.

Another way to create backlinks is to look for ways for your website to show up on other website’s pages. Finding opportunities to be added to online business directories is, for example, a great way to do this. You can also look at things like dropping your website’s link in comments on blogs and when leaving a response to threads on forums. However, this has the potential to be categorized as spam, so be careful where you do it and how. Always look at group rules and guidelines before risking dropping your own website URL.

Building Backlinks

Building backlinks is the process of asking other people to link to your page, whether from their website, on a blog post, or via a published article. Having a solid proposal and reason why for this is the only way to make this strategy effective. The best way to build backlinks is to look for guest blogging opportunities because you know the blog owner is looking for content creation.