The age-old SEO question – ok maybe not age-old, but important for digital marketing. How many backlinks do you need and what should your backlink profile look like for a page or site to rank?
SEO is an art. With any good art there is no formula, but a mix of guiding principles and creativity. This being said, there is not 1 answer to this question, but below are some guiding principles that will help you figure this out.
Simply put, your page probably needs a better backlink profile than pages currently ranking well.
A backlink profile is the collection of links that direct users to your site and specific pages within your site. You need to have a backlink profile that is at least as desirable as the ranking pages. Of course, the relevancy, content, and authority of your site plays a huge factor but we are only focusing on backlinks here.
A good backlink profile includes:
- Diversity
- Good anchor text
- Links from authoritative sites
- Links from relevant sites
Diversity
Having a diverse backlink profile means having links from a variety of sites and for a variety of keyword variations. Diverse sources include news, blogs, social media, and more. If your backlinks are mainly form social media, start branching out to get links from relevant and authoritative blogs.
Diversity in anchor text that is related to keywords is also important. For example, if you run a bakery in Colorado Springs, your backlinks should include variations of “bakery” and some should include location.
Diversity in location is also important. Your backlinks should point to your main page, but you should also have links pointed to deeper pages in your site.
Good Anchor Text
Anchor text is an important piece of how search engines understand the content of a link. The worst anchor texts are generic (like Click Here). Good anchor texts are relevant for your keyword and vary in both short and long tail. In the bakery example, this might include “Bakery in Colorado Springs”, “Colorado Springs Bakery”, “Baked Goods” just to name a few.
Links from Authoritative Sites
Your backlink profile should contain a diverse mix of sites, but should contain links for authoritative websites. Links from these types of sites are more trusted by search engines and will boost your results.
Links from Relevant Sites
And finally, your backlink profile should include links from relevant sites. Again, for the bakery example a link from a local automotive dealership might not carry as much weight as a link from a local wedding site.
Understand Keywords and Competitiveness
To understand the backlink profile you need to create, start with understanding the keywords you are going after. Make sure the keywords are quality converting keywords that add real value to your business.
If you have settled on keywords, spend some time understanding the competitiveness of the keywords. Highly competitive keywords may not be worth your time pursuing due to cost and ROI of the investment.
Research Your Competitors
There are a variety of tools (paid and free) that will help you see what keywords your competition is going after. Once you identify your competitors try https://www.spyfu.com/ to get an idea of what they are ranking for.
