What is a Backlink?
A backlink, or inbound link, is essentially a citation to another resource. A backlink, when clicked, connects the user from some other website to the web resource, which may be a website, web page, or web directory. Backlinks are used in Search Engine Optimization or SEO. Backlinks are used as an off page technique to increase the ranking of a website in a search engines results. Having links to other resources is an on page technique. The number of links and quality of the sources where the links are found effect search engines algorithms in determining page rank. Backlinks can take the form of a website URL or Anchor Text.
Benefits of using Backlinks
- Boost organic SEO ranking
- Increases ease and speed of indexing
- Increased traffic from connected websites
Example of a Backlink
Jake writes a blog about digital marketing. On his blog, he references Digital Shift and provides the URL to their website’s homepage. This backlink to http://digitalshiftmedia.com helps Digital Shift with their off-page Search Engine Optimization and helps Jake’s blog with his on-page Search Engine Optimization. Jake could use the anchor text Digital Shift instead of the URL to link to Digital Shift’s website.
