If you own an online business or a blog, you must have often heard about backlinks. Your backlink profile determines how well you will rank in Google search results, heavily impacting your position in search engine result pages. Therefore, it is critical to understand the types of backlinks to distinguish between those beneficial for SEO and those that must be avoided.

What are Backlinks?

Backlinks, or inbound links, are links placed on one website pointing to another. Google considers the value and quantity of backlinks to determine the position of a webpage in search engine result pages. The more quality backlinks a webpage has, the higher it will rank. 

Why Backlinks are Important for SEO?

Backlinks offer several SEO benefits, some of which are:

Improved Ranking

Backlinks can significantly improve your SEO ranking. But remember, a few backlinks from high-authority websites are more impactful than tons of backlinks from low-quality, irrelevant websites. Therefore, acquire links from sites that are reliable, authoritative, trustworthy, and relevant to your niche.

Increased Traffic to Your Site

Irrespective of the way of acquisition, all types of backlinks almost always increase traffic to your site. Increased traffic improves brand awareness and conversion rates and helps you acquire more backlinks.

Backlinks Help Google Find New Pages on Your Website

Whenever Google follows a backlink to your webpage, it also tracks all internal links on that page. As a result, Google crawls new pages, making them appear in search results.

Factors Affecting Backlinks Value 

Several factors affect backlinks’ value, making certain types of backlinks more beneficial than others.

The top factors that can be affected by the value of the backlinks are:

Ways of Backlink Acquisition

Backlinks can be acquired in multiple ways, affecting their value. The following are the three major backlinks types based on acquisition methods:

Organic Backlinks: Organic or natural backlinks are links that an author or a web admin manually places because they consider your content valuable and link-worthy. They are the most useful types of backlinks that significantly improve your search engine ranking.

Paid Backlinks: Paid backlinks are links you buy to enhance your search engine ranking. Although buying backlinks is legal, not disclosing they are paid may result in a Google penalty. Paid backlinks should always include the attribute rel=” sponsored”, telling search engines they are sponsored.

Outreach Backlinks: Outreach backlinks refer to links you acquire by contacting web owners or content creators. Guest posts and content substitutes for broken links are examples of outreach backlinks. Links obtained through blogger outreach are valuable backlink types that benefit SEO.

Domain Authority and Page Authority

Domain authority is a metric that forecasts the expected position of a website in search engine result pages. The higher the score, the higher the website will likely rank. Page authority is like domain authority but is associated with a web page.

Google considers high-authority sites or pages trustworthy and valuable. Therefore, backlinks from high-domain authority websites or high-authority pages are more valuable than links from low-domain authority sites or low-authority pages.

Position of Backlink

The position of backlinks plays a vital role in determining the link value. Links appearing at the beginning of the page carry more value. Similarly, the number of links on the page also affects the link’s value. The more links a webpage has, the less valuable each link becomes.

 The following are the types of backlinks depending on their position:

Contextual Backlinks: Links within the text’s body are contextual backlinks. Contextual backlinks are highly beneficial for SEO as they vote for your authority and trustworthiness. They increase your site’s traffic and significantly impact your search engine rankings.

Remember, you can only gain a contextual link if your webpage adds value to the content in which the link is embedded. Therefore, acquiring a contextual link signals Google that your content is engaging, valuable, and useful. Additionally, when a user comes to your site through a contextual link, it signals Google that your page is worth ranking.

Sitewide Backlinks: Links that appear on every page of the linking website are known as sitewide backlinks. Links in the header, footer, or navigation menu are examples of sitewide links. Sitewide links are not suitable for SEO and should be avoided.

Image Backlinks: When a webpage is linked through an image, it is called an image backlink. An example of an image backlink is a clickable banner. Google gives more value to text links in comparison to image links. Text links have anchor texts, which help Google evaluate their relevance. Additionally, they are embedded within the main content, while image links appear in secondary areas, such as the sidebar, header, or footer. 

Relevance of Backlink

The relevancy of a linking site plays a significant role in determining the link’s value. For example, a link from a pet’s site to a food blog is irrelevant. Google also values links from relevant sites only. Although links from unrelated sites may not affect your SEO, they carry no value, making them useless.

Backlink’s Anchor Text

The clickable text in the hyperlink is called anchor text. The link will become more valuable if the referring site uses anchor text relevant to your page’s content. Anchor text helps Google and users understand the content of your page. Generic anchor text such as ‘click here’ gives no information about the page they are linking to. Therefore, backlinks with relevant anchor texts are more valuable for search engine ranking and user experience.

Backlink Attributes

Specific backlinks types carry more value for SEO because of their attributes. The following are the three types of backlinks based on the attributes.

Dofollow Links: Dofollow links impact the ranking of the destination webpage by passing link juice or page authority of the source webpage. By default, all links are dofollow links.

Nofollow Links: Nofollow links do not pass the authority of the source website to the destination website. Although a nofollow link may not impact search engine ranking, it brings traffic and helps increase brand awareness. To make a link nofollow, rel=” nofollow” attribute is required.

Sponsored and User-Generated Links: Sponsored links refer to paid links, and user-generated links refer to links generated by users, such as links in forum posts, comments sections, or reviews. To avoid the Google penalty, paid links must come with the attribute rel=” sponsored”, and user-generated links must come with the attribute rel=” ugc”. Like nofollow links, they do not directly impact search engine ranking but help increase traffic to your website.

Types of Backlinks

Types of Backlinks Advantageous for SEO

1. Editorial Backlinks

Amongst the various backlink types, editorial backlinks are the most beneficial for SEO. Editorial backlinks are organic links from reputable and trustworthy websites having high domain authority. They are precious for SEO but most challenging to get.

Editorial backlinks are embedded within content and link to your article or infographic. You earn editorial backlinks when highly authoritative sites such as Forbes or The Guardian cite you as a source of information. 

High-quality content is the key to acquiring editorial backlinks. It establishes your authority as an industry expert, making your interviews and website content a reliable and valuable source of information.

2. Backlinks from Guest Post

Guest blogging is an effective method of gaining backlinks. In guest posts, you can include a link to your site, such backlink types benefit SEO. However, before  contacting web owners requesting approval for a guest post, ensure the website:

• Is relevant to your niche.
• Has a good number of visitors.
• Has high domain authority.

Outreach emails play a critical role in getting approval for a guest post. I recommend following best practices for outreach emails to increase the chances of securing a guest post.

3. Author Bio Links

Sometimes, websites that accept guest posts do not allow backlinks within the post content. However, every website allows mentioning your website URL in the author bio. Although author bio links do not link to editorial content, they benefit SEO. If your guest posts are high-quality, readers will likely be interested in reading your other articles. Therefore, author bio links serve as a source for those interested in your articles and posts.

4. Acknowledgment Links

Acknowledgment backlinks are links that are placed by a website in response to:

• You sponsoring an event.
• Your donation or a gift.
• You or your representative speaking at an event.

To acquire this type of backlinks, you should analyze your competitors’ backlinks to help identify possible opportunities. SEO tools like SEMrush, Serpstat, and SpyFu will show you your competitors’ backlink profiles, making targeting websites for acknowledgment links easy.

5. Free Tool Backlinks

Everyone loves free tools, and offering a free tool is a powerful way of acquiring backlinks. Web owners link to a free tool because it provides value to their readers. For example, a free domain authority checker is a helpful tool that almost every SEO blog links to in blog posts. Therefore, offering a free tool related to your niche will likely earn you many quality backlinks.

6. Badge Backlinks

Another type of backlinks that is beneficial for SEO is badge backlinks. Badges are small graphics that link to the creator’s website. Badges represent a connection, affiliation, or partnership between the badge creator and the receiver. They may also be created to acknowledge the performance of a brand or a business.

Creating and awarding a badge to a business is a matter of pride for the receiver. The receiver will almost always display the badge on its website. As a result, you will gain a backlink. Since badges are a sign of recognition and appreciation, the receiver website will likely put them at a prominent location, bringing more traffic to your website.

7. Comment Backlinks

Commenting on blog posts is a popular way of acquiring backlinks by including links to your website. However, you should not overdo it to avoid any adverse action by search engines or the site owner. Comment if it is relevant and adds value to the conversation. Although comment backlinks are nofollow, they help establish your authority, improve brand awareness, and increase traffic to your site.

8. Relationship-Based Links

Relationship-based links are editorial backlinks, but they are less organic. Although building relationships takes time, it will help you earn backlinks. You should contact journalists or web owners who have previously linked to your content to acquire relationship-based links.

As a first step, thank them for citing your content and let them know you are also willing to provide valuable information in the future. As a result, web owners or journalists will likely contact you if they need information related to your niche.

9. Press Release Backlinks

Press releases are best for spreading essential announcements such as a product update, a new product launch, opening a new outlet, etc. However, Google only considers press releases of authoritative media sources. Therefore, press release backlinks are ideal for reaching a wider audience if there is a newsworthy announcement.

10. Backlinks in Social Media Posts

Most backlinks in social media posts are nofollow, thus do not impact your search engine ranking. But this type of backlinks does benefit your SEO efforts indirectly. The more social media shares, the more exposure you get, leading to the potential of gaining backlinks.

11. Backlinks from Testimonials and Reviews

Businesses utilize testimonials and reviews to establish credibility and build customer trust. Therefore, writing reviews and testimonials for products or services you have used can get you quality backlinks, generating traffic to your site.

12. Backlinks from Q&A Platforms

Many people use Q&A platforms looking for answers to their queries. Although links from Q&A platforms such as Quora and Reddit are nofollow, they generate traffic to your site, increasing chances of gaining backlinks. Therefore, links from Q&A platforms are among the backlink types that benefit SEO indirectly. 

Types of Backlinks to Avoid

It is not the quantity of the backlinks that benefits SEO; it is the quality. Specific backlinks types add no value to your SEO efforts. Instead, they are considered manipulative and spammy by search engines. The following are the five such types of backlinks you must avoid:

13. Paid Backlinks

Google and other search engines do not like backlinks bought to manipulate the search engine ranking. They ignore paid links while determining the page rank. In the worst case, Google may penalize the website for buying links. Therefore, disclosing paid or sponsored links is wise to avoid Google penalties.

14. Backlinks from Sites Having High Spam Scores

Backlinks from sites having high spam scores are harmful to SEO. These types of backlinks are considered spammy and negatively affect your ranking. Therefore, periodically check your backlink profile and remove all links from spammy websites.

15. Links from Irrelevant Sites

Acquiring backlinks from sites irrelevant to your niche does not benefit your SEO. Instead, such links may negatively affect your ranking because Google values links on their relevance.

16. Non-News-Worthy Backlinks

Press release backlinks benefit a brand or a business only if used wisely. On the other hand, spreading news solely to gather traffic will not help. Therefore, avoid all non-news-worthy backlinks for better SEO.

17. Backlinks from Low-Quality Forums

Forum backlinks are valuable only if the forum is reliable and trustworthy. Google sees links from low-quality forums as spammy and manipulative. Therefore, you should only participate in high-quality forums. Additionally, participate in discussions only if your response adds value to the conversation.

Conclusion

Backlinks play a vital role in establishing your position in search result pages, but certain types of backlinks are more beneficial than others. Understanding backlinks types helps you acquire links advantageous for SEO and avoid harmful links.