Backlisting is essential to improve your overall SEO ranking, so people see your site first when they search for a related topic on a search engine.
Backlinks are when another website links to your website, and if done right, and if both sites are legit, this is a good thing. However, there are different types of backlinks.
If you are not sure how many backlinks there are to your site, or if there are any at all, we recommend performing a comprehensive backlink analysis to find out where your website stands.
Let’s look at the different types of backlinks out there to see what you are getting into.
NoFollow vs. DoFollow Backlinks
The first is between NoFollow and DoFollow backlinks.
NoFollow
NoFollow is a tag that can be assigned to backlinks to tell Google and other search engines to ignore the link. These do not pass any sort of value between websites, and for the most part, they are relatively useless as they do not improve your search result rankings.
DoFollow
In this sense, the type of backlink that you want to have is the DoFollow variety. DoFollow backlinks indicate to Google that there is some amount of value being passed between two websites.
Be aware that there are different quality levels. The highest quality DoFollow backlinks are between two highly trusted sites that are viewed as authorities on a given subject, among other factors. High-quality DoFollow backlinks are the best thing that you can have to improve SEO in this sense.
High-Quality vs. Toxic Backlinks
The next distinction that needs to be made here is between high-quality and toxic backlinks.
High-Quality
High-quality backlinks are those that Google respects and views as being legitimate. When these quality backlinks are indexed, they contribute to a higher website ranking within search results.
For a backlink to be considered high in quality, it must meet several criteria, and for the backlink to be rated as the best of the best, it must meet all requirements. First, a quality backlink comes from a source that uses that link for editorial value to provide some sort of information, rather than being inserted into a post simply to manipulate SEO rankings.
Moreover, to be considered a quality backlink, the two websites linked must be topically related; both websites should preferably be regarded as legitimate and trusted authorities. They should have the potential to generate referral traffic.
Toxic
On the other hand, we have toxic backlinks, which are bad, and it will negatively affect your position in a search engine’s results. A backlink can be considered toxic for a variety of reasons.
- If it comes from a website specifically designed for linking out to other sites.
- If it comes from a website that is not trusted or reputable.
- If the backlink has been forced into the footer of the site or into blog comments.
- If it comes from a website that has not been indexed by Google.
- If the backlink exists on all or the majority of pages on a site.
- If many exact match anchor texts have been used.
Types of Backlinks that Benefit SEO the Most
The other thing that we want to touch on is what some of the best types of backlinks are, those that will do the most good for your SEO ranking.
Editorial Backlinks
Perhaps the best type of backlink is an editorial backlink that has been used to link to your site to provide some sort of authority, information, or citation.
Guest Blog Backlinks
Adding an editorial backlink to a guest blog post that you have written for another site, which links back to your own site, can also be very beneficial.
Business Backlinks
If you create profiles for your site or business on business directories, social media, or other related sites, and a backlink to your own site, it can be very good for SEO.
Webinar Backlinks to and from specific webinars are also considered useful for SEO purposes.
Tool Backlinks
If you offer some kind of tool that people need, preferably for free, this can also generate strong backlinks.
Final Thoughts
Now that you know the different backlinks, you can improve your own site to earn as many high-quality DoFollow backlinks as possible. Remember, it’s all about SEO.
