SEO - Are Backlinks Still Vital?

byTimmg203

84 followers

7 years ago

Backlinks are important, even indispensable for ranking in Google. However, the concept of link building may not be as crucial as it once was. Instead, natural back links are appearing more favorable.

A backLink is simply an inbound link for another website. If that other website has a high authority ranking - is seen as extremely relevant and reputable in the eyes of Google - and it links to your site, it gives Google the proverbial headnod that you're a go-to source.

Back in the day the amount of backlinks was the hype i.e. more backlinks the better your rankings. Now the qaulity of authority of the site linking to you is more important. One good back link can be worthy hundreds of crappy ones.

Sure, you can start an outreach campaign and write content specifically for the purposes of getting these big contenders to link to your content, however, other metrics are equally important in my opinion. Further, these other metrics will most likely determine if you get these backlinks naturally, saving you valuable time.

Click-Through-Rate (CTR)

As the name suggests this is the about of times an individual see's your listing and clicks to see your site. Usually, this is where clever marketing skills come into play. If you're headline is good, it should be able to get the click through. The higher the CTR the higher your chances of ranking - why? Because your post will appear more relevant.

Bounce Rate

This guages the amount of times someone clicks your listing only to hit the back button right to the original search query. Google wants to find high quality and high value content. A high bounce rate demonstrates a lack thereof and ultimately, a lack of relevancy to the initial query.

Time On Site

You get the click through - so you got em, but now you got to keep em! This metric determines how long it takes from CTR to bounce. If they stay on your site, chances are it's relevant or you have an amazing ability at keeping an audience attentive. That's why it is good to add pictures and videos - it usually adds to the amount of time spend on your site.

So, are links still crucial? Yes. Are these other metrics vital? Yes. So much so that they will in time create amazing natural backlinks. This is the power of high qaulity and high value content.

Timmy G.