Having links within your blog post or article can create a more authoritative look, letting readers know that research was completed, and more relevant information is available if they want to learn more about a subject. If you’re not strategic with links, it could end up making your article look like a mess.

Utilizing backlinks can not only allow you to add relevant sources to your writing, but they can also help increase traffic to your website, which can overall improve your SEO, even if you’re linking to other people’s work.

What Exactly Are Backlinks?

Backlinks are links that, when clicked on, will direct the reader to information from another website or a particular product or service you’re discussing. You may do this because you’ve used certain sites for research, want to add further context to the conversation, or you are recommending a product or service.

In order for backlinks to work for you, you need to implement them carefully and with some type of strategy in mind. Adding backlinks for the sake of having links will not have the intended impact that backlinks are meant to have, meaning your article could get lost in the search engine abyss.

How Backlinks Help SEO

When you link to somebody’s website within your article, search engines are going to capture that action, and essentially, give you credit for leading somebody to that other website. The search engine is going to see that your article has credibility and is worth reading, and is helping to give readers more information to seek out.

Search engines want to make sure they are recommending the articles and posts that are most aligned with the user’s search. The more specific and tailored your backlinks are, and the more useful they are to the reader, the higher up your article is going to climb in the search engine. Thus, more eyes are going to fall on your article, bringing even more traffic to your website.

How To Use Backlinks Wisely

While more links gives you more opportunity to benefit, bad backlinks that link to untrustworthy sites or offer no relevance will squash any potential benefit. Relevancy and quality is key. You should also offer a good lead-in to the backlink or offer a call to action for people to click the backlink. If a reader isn’t enticed to click, the backlink isn’t working in your favor.

As you network more in your industry or niche, you can establish partnerships with brands and companies to help develop a set of backlinks that you can share back and forth to help each other gain a wider audience.

It’s also wise to monitor your SEO with your analytics tool of choice to make sure you are actually seeing results. Otherwise, you might have to change your approach.

Conclusion

Backlinks, when used properly, are an invaluable tool that requires minimal effort to boost traffic to your website. You’ll look really good in search engines for using them intelligently, leading more people back to you and what you have to offer.