links: also known as Backlinks
In search engine optimisation (SEO) terminology a backlink is a hyperlink that links from a Web page, back to your own Web page or Web site
Just like we’d use a map to find our way to new cities, Google uses backlinks to find, crawl and index pages on your website.
To put this into context, try it out yourself. Which of these sites would you trust more?
1. A site with three backlinks
2. A site with 300+ backlinks
I’ll bet you chose the second option, in fact You, I and Google would all have the same answer—simply because we all think of popular, backlink-rich websites as more trustworthy.
Backlinks are important because they’re used as Google’s reputation tool. Since their main aim is to point searchers in the direction of the best possible result for their query, they won’t point searchers in the direction of a site that no one is interested in.
Instead, they want to point them to a popular website—because a popular website means it has a good reputation and can be trusted.
There are two major types of backlinks , They are the:
- Do follow backlinks
- Do not follow backlinks.
A do not-follow backlink is basically a link that does not pass on the SEO benefits of the source site to the website where the link points to. Although there is some debate on this, no-follow links do not have much or any SEO value, and they will not add up to the link profile that search engines use to evaluate when ranking websites. Search engine bots will crawl on this link, but they will not literally follow where it is pointed to.
A do-follow link, on the other hand, is a link that will pass on the SEO benefits of the website where it is built from to the hyperlinked site. This is the type of backlink that link builders will create for SEO purposes.
Backlinks created from high PR (and high Domain Authority) sources will pass on the link juices towards the hyperlinked website, thereby improving its ranking position among the search engines significantly.
So, when doing search engine optimisation it is important to concentrate your link building activities on sources that allow you to build do-follow links. These links will remarkably enhance your link profile and improve your page rank.
Links can come from a variety of different sources, including:
Further more, there are three types of backlink hierarchies:
- A direct backlink
- A backlink pyramid
- A backlink wheel
A direct backlink is a link between two websites, it is the most common type of backlink and occurs naturally.
A backlink pyramid was one of the first back linking strategies to be developed ever since Google began placing value on backlinks. Like the name suggests it involves creating layers and layers of backlinks between sites of varying authority.
A Link wheel is a circular structure between websites, that looks like a bicycle wheel
Links should always be earnt & not bought
Jim's Group discourages buying back links