We’ve, previously, gone in to detail about SEO and how it can be important for your business. In this article we’re going to discover the ways in which SEO is measured, calculated and ranked, as well as ways to increase these metrics associated with your brand. The goal with this article is to equip you into being able to speak to your marketing team with confidence about your websites performance.
We’re going to touch on two very important aspects of measuring these “SEO Metrics”. Namely, Backlinking and Domain Authority. Backlinking is considered one of the strong pillars of the website’s visibility and ranking on Search Engine Result Pages (SERPs). Backlinking is known as incoming links that play a significant role in defining a website’s authority in the eyes of search engines, for example Google. Backlinking when combined with the concept of Domain authority, forms a powerful duo that sets a website’s online presence.
Backlinking
When we talk about Backlinking, we are referring to the practice of getting hyperlinks (links to your website) that are hosted on other websites that attract users to your site. For example, we (as web developers) may place a link to our agencies at the bottom of each website we design. It would say something like “Built by Seraflux”, and it will link back to the main Seraflux website. This is a backlink.
What does backlinking do for me?
If we look at most University Papers or Peer Reviewed articles. The credibility of the article comes from the references and citations (bibliography). Backlinking works in a very similar way, by evaluating the website who holds your link, we are able to understand the credibility of your website. Multiple links to your websites spread across multiple high-ranking websites will significantly improve your websites credibility in the eyes of Google. In the same way that any university paper would have citations and references of the source, thereby increasing credibility,
Ultimately, these links are like endorsements that indicate to search engines that your content is relevant, valuable, and trustworthy. Backlinks are like votes of confidence from other websites giving assurance for the quality and relevance of your content. But remember, the factors that influence the impact of backlinks are the quality of the linking site, the relevance of your content, and the context in which the link is placed. Poor quality websites that link back to you are considered “Toxic” Backlinks.
Can backlinking be negative?
It is always better to backlink than to not backlink, but backlinking on every single site you can find can result in spam-like backlinking, which we call “Toxic Backlinking”.
Toxic Backlinking happens when we backlink from a website that is either considered spam, a scam or exceptionally low quality SEO. Basically, backlinking needs to feel natural and exist within websites that make sense to link back to you. You can, however, become victim to a “Negative SEO Attack”, where intentional backlinks are created to try and lower your SEO rankings. Google is pretty good at picking up on this and usually ignores it.
If you feel you have become the victim of a Negative Backlinking Attack, please allow us to help you.
If you would like to understand the who, what and where of your backlinks, you can request a free audit through us, where we can identify every single one of your backlinks, and the influence they have on your credibility.
Domain Authority
Let’s talk about the final metric, one of the most important values for any marketer or business owner to use as a means to understand their SEO progress, “Domain Authority”. This metric shows the rank of a website based on pages visible to the search engine. The score is calculated on a range of 1 – 100, the higher the score, the stronger the authority of a website.
Is Domain Authority an insight into Google Ranking?
It’s important to understand that domain authority is not a metric used by search engines themselves, but rather a valuable tool for website owners and marketers to use in order to calculate overall SEO impact, competitiveness and audience reach. You can use your domain authority rank to track the progress of your SEO.
If Search Engines don’t use it, why should I?
Consistency among the calculation means that you can take the Domain Authority rank of all of your competitors and compare it to yours, thereby understanding who has the competitive advantage without the need of a full website analysis. Domain authority can be calculated of any website (again, just give us a shout here and we’ll provide you with all of this information).
Eventhough Search Engines don’t use Domain Authority to calculate rankings, there is a direct correlation between Domain Authority and ranking.
We also know that websites with higher domain authority (as long as, somehow, related to your niche) are the best targets for backlinking.
In Conclusion
We now understand tha backlinking is a fundamental aspect of SEO strategies that boosts your website’s credibility as well as visibility. Moreover, it also contributes to higher search engine rankings shaping a reputable digital appearance leading to success. We also understand how this can grow your Domain Authority ranking.
Now with a basic understanding of these two, very important, points of SEO. You can, confidentally, approach your marketing team with the right questions.
If you haven’t got a marketing team yet, we can help.
