Building backlinks is the most important part of SEO. By connecting your website to credible, authoritative sources, you can significantly improve its standing on Google.
Most top-ranking web pages have a collection of premium inbound links. However, you need to choose different types of links for your website.
Diversifying your backlink profile across various types is a strategic approach to enhancing your page’s ranking.
But not all links hold equal weight. In order to create a good backlink profile, you need to select the right backlink types.
In this article, we are going to discuss the 15 unique types of backlinks for SEO.
What Are Backlinks?
Backlinks serve as connections from one website to another, referred to as inbound or external links. These are links on a website that direct people to another website.
Search engines like Google interpret backlinks as validations of trust. Linking to another site essentially signifies your authority. Pages with numerous quality backlinks frequently achieve higher Google rankings.
For example, a website dedicated to astronomy features a section on stargazing events. Within this section, there’s a link to a comprehensive telescope guide that assists beginners.
The telescope guide can be considered to have gained a backlink from the astronomy website. This backlink is represented by the blue underlined text, connecting the first site to the second.
15 Types of Backlinks
Here are the 15 types of backlinks that are important for SEO success:
DoFollow Links
Dofollow is one of the most important types of backlinks. It is the complete opposite of nofollow links. These are standard backlink types that direct people to your website. By default, these links will transfer authority and influence to the linked sources.
DoFollow links represent the standard feature of the majority of backlinks. They don’t require any additional code to function as DoFollow. This type of backlink is often used for SaaS link-building.
SEO strategies commonly prioritize do follow backlinks due to their potential for faster improvements in website rankings. However, a backlink profile consisting solely of do follow links may raise red flags as potential link spam in Google’s eyes. Thus, a healthy backlink profile should include various other essential types of backlinks.
NoFollow Links
Nofollow backlinks are links with an HTML tag, rel=”nofollow.” It instructs search engines to refrain from tracking the link or passing any link authority or PageRank to the linked website.
In the late 1990s and early 2000s, people discovered a way to generate numerous backlinks by spamming comment sections on various websites like blogs. To address this manipulation of search engines, developers introduced the “nofollow” attribute for hyperlinks.
While nofollow links don’t hold as much value as dofollow links, research indicates that well-ranked sites in search engine results possess a balanced mix of both types of links.
This balance contributes to a more natural appearance in the digital landscape. As a result, monitoring the quantity of nofollow backlinks isn’t a priority, given their perceived lesser significance in the ranking algorithm.
Organic Links
An organic backlink occurs naturally when a genuine individual places a link on their website, believing it adds value to their content and benefits their audience. Google perceives such backlinks as endorsements for the linked page, emphasizing their importance.
Google strongly favors organic links, as highlighted in its guidelines. Creating valuable, viral, or evergreen content is the foremost method to attract natural and relevant backlinks to your website.
Common examples of content that gets organic links include original studies featuring unique company data or user surveys, infographics showcasing images, figures, statistics, interviews, comprehensive guides offering valuable resources, etc.
Contextual Links
A contextual link is one embedded within a paragraph of text. This distinguishes itself from links found in menus, sidebars, or widgets. Such links gain relevance from the surrounding information, offering an added advantage.
In the pursuit of authority links, most people prefer contextual links over non-contextual ones. An exemplary instance of a contextual, authoritative backlink is a curated link.
Guest Post Links
Guest posts stand as a favored form of authority links highly esteemed within the SEO community. They involve an agreement between two website owners where one party creates a high-quality guest post for the other party’s website and gets a backlink in return.
You can acquire these guest posts either through payment from vendors or via manual outreach efforts. If you are looking for these links, visit Link Publishers. They offer the best guest post services.
Getting a guest post from a trustworthy and relevant site, surrounded by great content, gives your site a quality backlink that boosts its rankings. Usually, these guest posts have useful info and fit well with the topic.
Sponsored Links
The rel=“sponsored” attribute serves a similar purpose to nofollow, signaling that a link is paid for, not organic. Using this attribute aligns with Google’s recommendation to avoid flagging for violating link schemes.
Previously, nofollow was the go-to for paid links, but now, “sponsored” is the preferred choice. These sponsored links can pop up in paid guest posts, press releases, news articles, sidebar or header ads, and even in footers, clearly marked as “Sponsored links.”
Unlike nofollow links that don’t pass link authority, sponsored links are more about building brand visibility and driving referral traffic rather than SEO benefits.
Press Release Links
Press release links come within press release articles that companies send to media outlets to share significant news or events. These could be about a new tool launch or the opening of a sales office.
However, it all depends on whether the news catches the attention of the media sites you approach. Sometimes, offering a free course or sharing viral news can be more engaging than pushing a product or commercial offer.
While press release links are widely used for promotion, they aren’t favored for link building because Google considers them unnatural. To avoid getting penalized by Google, these links should be marked as nofollow.
Pillow Links
Pillow links are a diverse group of backlinks that add a natural touch to your link collection. They might not directly boost your rankings, especially if you’re in a niche with little competition. Instead, they act as a support system for your other link-building efforts.
These links work best when used early on and throughout the ranking process. They help establish your website’s presence and offer a protective layer. Pillow links come in many forms, like citations, social profiles, forum posts, niche directories, and blog comments.
Most of these links are either free or easy to create if you have the interest and know-how. They’re crucial for website growth, creating a buzz about your site or business. They add relevance and diversity, showing Google that your website is authentic and operational.
Authority Links
Authority links are the heavy hitters in boosting your website’s ranking in search results. They carry significant ranking power, authority, and relevance.
Unlike pillow links, authority links are mostly dofollow. Examples of these impactful backlinks include guest posts, niche edits, PBNs, and editorial links.
PBN Links
PBN (Private Blog Network) backlinks come from a group of interconnected websites, often owned by one main website. While not as popular nowadays, some SEO experts still use them. PBNs aim to boost a website’s authority by having complete control.
SEO specialists start by buying domains and filling them with content. Once the content gets indexed, they naturally include a backlink to their main site from one of these PBN sites. The trick is to avoid repeating this process on every domain to avoid any red flags.
PBN links are seen as a gray area in SEO as they involve manipulating PageRank, which Google doesn’t approve of. That’s why it’s crucial to be careful when considering these types of backlinks in SEO.
Niche Edits Links
Niche edits, also known as curated links, are among our top favorite backlinks. These are powerful contextual links added to existing articles that are already performing well in Google’s search results, specifically related to your niche.
They’re quite similar to high-quality blog posts but with a few differences. The articles where the links are added are not new; they’re already aged. They might even have an existing backlink profile.
The thing about these links is that you can control only your URL and anchor text, not the content around it. However, these links are generally cheaper in comparison to guest posts.
User-generated Links
User-generated backlinks, marked with the rel=”ugc” attribute, show search engines that the content was created by users on a website. These links can come from comments, forum posts, reviews, or other content submitted by users.
Adding the UGC attribute is a good practice. While it doesn’t hugely impact SEO rank, it helps keep your website safe from penalties. Comment links can often be linked to spammy practices in SEO, so using the UGC attribute protects you from potential penalties related to this.
Directory Links
You can find Directory links in web directories, business listings, or niche-specific catalogs online. These links help increase brand visibility in specific markets, naturally.
Adding directory links in a link-building strategy makes sense because relevant directories commonly list sites in various niches. This diversifies your backlink collection and adds a natural touch to your profile.
Author Bio Links
When authors share content on a platform that’s not their own, they often include a short bio about themselves. The links they add to this bio are author bio links.
These links might direct readers to more related content or to the author’s main site or blog, especially if the author is an expert in that field and wants to offer additional information.
Author bio links are like guest posts but without the advantage of being within the content (and sometimes they’re marked as nofollow). Ideally, it’s better for guest post links not to be placed in author bios, if possible.
Editorial Links
An editorial link is a highly valuable authority link, similar to a guest post but more challenging to get. These links come from super authoritative and selective sites, making them quite pricey for most link building budgets.
They usually come from esteemed sources like news publishing sites such as Forbes. Think of it like a reference link in an article written by a staff writer for a prestigious newspaper. Getting one of these links can supercharge a web page’s authority.
Editorial links are essentially links from other websites that one can create by publishing original content. So, getting an editorial backlink is a bit like guest blogging but from top-notch, trusted sites.
Conclusion
Understanding the different types of backlinks is vital for a strong link building strategy. Aim for a varied profile, but focus mainly on earning organic backlinks through top-notch content.
To build a diverse backlink profile, you can use link-building services. Link Publishers is a trusted platform that can help you with this process. They offer high-quality guest post links at affordable rates.
FAQs
What is SaaS link building?
SaaS link-building is the process of acquiring quality backlinks to websites offering Software as a Service (SaaS) solutions.
What are the three types of backlinks?
The three most common types of backlinks include DoFollow, NoFollow, and Organic Links.
Do backlinks improve SEO?
Yes, links enhance SEO by improving your website’s authority and search ranking.
Author Bio:
Het Balar
Het Balar is a super pro at SEO, helping businesses get noticed on Google for over seven years.
He’s the founder of Link Publishers, where you can put your articles on other websites. They’re not just about that; they also rock at getting more links, making your website super easy to find, and even creating and promoting cool content.
He loves talking about the latest trends in SEO and the best ways to do digital marketing. It’s like having a friendly guide to help you out in the online world!
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/het-balar/
