Websites rank better than others on Google because they invest in different types of links.
In a gist, links are the glue that holds the internet together. They connect web pages, making it easier to navigate information online. They also help search engines like Google understand each page's relevance and authority.
In other words, the more powerful links you have pointing to your website, the better your search ranking will be.
In this post, we'll explore the types of links for SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and how to get them.
What Is a Link?
A link, also known as a hyperlink, is a clickable word, phrase, button, or image that connects one page to another.
Links are important because they allow users to go from one web page to another seamlessly. They also help search engines determine which pages are worthy of ranking.
When search engines like Google crawl your website, they evaluate the links to other pages on your site, links to external sites, and links from other sites to your site. Doing so helps them understand the content and relevance of each page.
There are three types of links: internal, external, and backlinks. The following section dives deeper into each type.
Types of Links
Internal Links
External Links
Backlinks
Internal Links
Internal links are types of links that connect one page to another within your website. These links are crucial to SEO for many reasons.
For one, internal links help users navigate your website and find the information they need. By having links to related and relevant content, users tend to stay longer on your website.
Internal links also help search engines understand your website's structure and the relationship between its pages. By following the links from one page to another, search engines can determine each page's relevance and how it fits into the overall structure of your website.
Finally, internal links can help distribute PageRank (Google's measurement of a page's value) throughout your website. By linking to your site's content pillars or high-value pages, you can signal search engines that these pages are valuable to users. Consequently, they help boost the authority of your pages.
How to Get Internal Links
Whenever you create a new post on your website, make sure to link to relevant pages on your site. There is no perfect, universal number for this, but five internal links per post are usually enough.
Make sure all of your internal links are dofollow.
Use anchor texts that clearly state what the internal link is about. Ideally, the anchor text includes the post's target keyword.
External Links
External links lead from your website to another.
They provide additional context and value to your content by connecting it to relevant and authoritative sources. This type of link also gives your readers a better experience by offering additional information.
However, you must use external links carefully. For one, linking to spammy sites can harm your ranking. External links can also pass link juice to other websites, so don't overdo them.
How to Get External Links
Whenever you create a new post on your website, link to relevant sources. For instance, you're making a blog post about stress in the workplace. You can link to statistics saying how many people get stressed in the workplace.
Your external links must be dofollow for search engines to recognize that you linked to a resource.
Never use paid links. They will harm your SEO efforts.
Backlinks
Backlinks are types of links from other websites that point to your website. These include editorial, PR (public relations), directory, and forum backlinks. They're also the type of links that have the most impact on a website's SEO.
In particular, backlinks pass on PageRank from one page to another.
Search engines also consider your backlink profile when ranking your pages in search results. To them, backlinks serve as votes from other websites.
As a result, having more high-quality links than your competitors tells search engines that your blog has in-depth, high-quality content. Additionally, if you have a stronger backlink profile than others, they'll struggle to outrank you unless they get more high-quality links.
So the more high-quality backlinks you have, the better rank your pages will get. However, backlinks are the trickiest type of links to get.
How to Get Backlinks
Create better, more relevant content than your SERP (Search Engine Results Page) competitors. To do this, check your competitors' content and make your content way better. This might include writing longer content, adding relevant images and videos, and creating infographics.
Look at what your competitors are doing. Examine competitor backlinks and adapt the best practices for your campaign.
Do a link building campaign. You can contact other websites in your niche and ask them to link to your content because it's better.
Always stick to safe and effective white hat link building techniques. Never use black hat techniques to get backlinks. These include paying for cheap, spammy links.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the 3 types of links?
The three types of links are internal, external, and backlinks.
What are examples of links?
Examples of links are clickable words or phrases that send you to certain pages or websites. For example, you can put a page or website on your blog and change the text to reflect the page’s title or website’s name.
What is a list of links?
A list of links shows hyperlinks to external websites. You can use this to show additional resources, your favorite sites, or other sites you own.
Conclusion
Links are the backbone of the internet. They play a vital role in SEO and help bring organic traffic to your website.
Internal links help users navigate your site and signal which pages are important to search engines, while external links provide readers with more resources and boost your website's credibility. Lastly, backlinks (the most important type of links) help you get that coveted first-page SERP spot.
While high-quality backlinks are fantastic, they're tricky and time-consuming. If you need help getting backlinks for your site, we're here to help.
Tribu LinkBuilding is an experienced link building outsourcing agency helping business owners get backlinks through white-hat strategies that Google won't penalize. Plus, you only have to pay after we get live links. Contact us to jumpstart your link building success now!