How can you grow your business and rank highly on Google’s first page? Well, there are several things you could try, but if you’re looking for the best practices, you’ve probably stumbled upon something called backlinks. Are they relevant in 2022?
Google’s algorithm is constantly changing, so posing the question of relevancy is entirely normal. And yes, the importance of backlinks has shifted a little over time. So should you invest your time in it?
Keep reading to determine if backlinks are one of Google’s primary ranking factors in 2022! We’ll tell you all about link building – what it is, how to attain links, and if you should even be bothered about it.
What Are Backlinks?
A backlink is simply a link from one website to another. However, not all backlinks are considered equal.
The quality of the website linking to your site matters, as does the number of backlinks. Google looks at both when determining where to rank your site in their search engine results pages (SERPs). Because Google takes backlinks into account when ranking your page, an SEO link building service should be an essential part of your marketing strategy.
There are two types of backlinks you should be aware of dofollow and nofollow.
- Dofollow links pass on “link juice” and help improve your site’s SEO. These are the links that you want pointing to your page.
- Nofollow links, on the other hand, don’t pass on link juice and don’t help your SEO. Google has said that they discount the value of nofollow links.
How Backlinks Affect Your Google Ranking
Google has never revealed exactly how they determine the order of their search engine results pages (SERPs). However, they have let us know that backlinks are one of the main factors they use.
Generally, the more high-quality backlinks you have, the higher you rank in Google. That’s because Google sees these links as “votes” for your website. The logic is that if other websites link to yours, it must be worth linking to.
Of course, there are a lot of other factors that Google uses to determine your ranking. But backlinks are still a crucial part of the equation.
Are Backlinks Still Important in 2022?
Google’s algorithm has always been a slight mystery, and it’s hard to uncover its many secrets. While it is often a game of hit or miss, there are certain things that improve your ranking.
As you can probably guess, backlinks are a foolproof way to boost your Google ranking. How important are they? Has their significance gone down?
The answer is: yes, slightly. It’s not time to say goodbye to backlinks and completely forgets about them, but they have decreased in significance since 2021. Namely, backlinks’ weight as a ranking factor has been reduced by 1% – from 16% to 15%. This, however, still leaves backlinks among the top factors. Other relevant factors to consider are:
- Consistent high-quality and engaging content
- High user engagement
- Keywords in meta title tags
- Expertise within the chosen niche
Backlinks are right up there with these critical factors. So, even though they have lost a little bit of significance, they are still very much a priority in 2022.
Something to note here is that Google’s AI is becoming more competent and intelligent, so it’s gradually learning to recognize a website’s quality without relying solely on backlinks. This might lead to a further decline in the importance of backlinking, but for now, it remains relevant.
How to Get Backlinks
Now, let’s talk strategy. How can you get backlinks and the link juice that comes with them? Well, there are a few different ways.
The best way to get backlinks is to create high-quality content. If you produce helpful, informative, quality content, other people naturally want to link to it. You can also encourage other website owners to link to your content by:
- Reaching out to them and asking them to link to your content.
- Asking them to link to your content in exchange for you linking to their content.
- Submitting your site to directories and web listings.
- Creating a social media profile for your business.
- Doing guest posts on other websites and including a link to your website in your author bio.
- Giving away freebies like e-books and white papers in exchange for a link to your website.
The bottom line is this: focus on creating quality content, and the backlinks will come!
How NOT to Get Backlinks
You can get backlinks in several ways, but not all are recommended. A few tactics can get you into trouble with Google, and nobody wants that. These are some practices you should avoid when attaining backlinks.
- Purchasing backlinks – this might be a quick fix, but it is not recommended. Google has said that they discount the value of paid links. And if you get caught paying for links, you could get penalized by Google.
- Using link farms – these are websites that exist solely to sell links. These links will do nothing for your ranking.
- Including too many links in your content – if you have too many links in your articles, it will look spammy.
- Submitting your website to low-quality directories – only submit your website to directories that are relevant to your niche and have a good reputation.
- Keyword stuffing – don’t stuff your keywords into your anchor text and hope that Google won’t catch on. This will look unnatural and could get you penalized.
- Creating thin content for the sole purpose of getting a backlink – this is called link bait, and it won’t help your ranking. It could damage it.
If you’re caught using any of these black hat methods, you could get penalized by Google. And that would mean a significant decline in your website’s ranking, so don’t risk it.
Do You Still Need Backlinks in 2022?
To summarize, backlinks are still an important ranking factor for Google. However, it’s essential to focus on quality over quantity.
A few high-quality backlinks are more valuable than a bunch of low-quality backlinks. So, don’t worry about the numbers. Just focus on creating quality content and building relationships with other website owners in your niche. This will get you much further than stooping to black hat practices.
