- What is a high quality backlink?<\/a><\/li>
- Our top ten tactics for earning high quality backlinks<\/a><\/li>
- Five other tactics you can use to grab high quality links<\/a><\/li>
- Two \u201cspammy\u201d link building tactics that are currently working (but REALLY shouldn\u2019t be)<\/a><\/li>
- Bonus: the \u2018secret\u2019 to good link building<\/a><\/li>
- Ready to start building high quality backlinks?<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/div>\n
But before we dive into the tactics\u2026<\/p>\n
…let\u2019s have a brief look at what actually makes a link high quality.<\/p>\n
What is a high quality backlink?<\/h2>\n
The quick answer to this question would be that any link which is editorially given could be classed as a high quality link. But that\u2019s also the lazy answer.<\/p>\n
Because if we define \u201cquality\u201d as the likelihood of an individual link improving our rankings, we should consider the following:<\/p>\n
1. Strength of the referring domain<\/h3>\n
Strong domains \u2014 whether you measure that strength in terms of DA, DR, or even organic traffic \u2014 are more trusted by Google. Get a backlink from a strong, authoritative domain and some of that trust will pass over to your site.<\/p>\n
At Seobility<\/a> we calculate a domain rating between 0 and 100 for each website (with 100 being the strongest)<\/em>. Below we can see that seobility.net currently has a Domain rating of 49.<\/p>\n
![\"seobility](\"https:\/\/www.seobility.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/seobility-domain-rating.png\")
<\/p>\n2. Strength of the referring URL<\/h3>\n
A page gets its strength from internal links and backlinks. Simplified, the more internal links and backlinks a page has pointing to it, the more powerful the page, and the more value a link from that page will have for your site. Metrics like PA (Moz)<\/em> and PR (Ahrefs)<\/em> are an indication of the strength of an individual page.<\/p>\n
3. Relevance of the referring domain<\/h3>\n
Let\u2019s say you have a site about dog breeds. Getting links from other sites about dogs will reinforce to Google that:<\/p>\n
- \n
- your site is an authority on the topic, and<\/li>\n
- you should rank higher for dog breed related queries.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
4. Relevance of the referring page<\/h3>\n
Not every site is tied to a specific niche. And even the ones that are can sometimes deviate off topic. So in addition to domain relevance, we should also consider page relevance.<\/p>\n
For example, our hypothetical dog breed site could grab a link from an article about Labrador training on a news site. Even though the site itself covers many topics, the relevance of the linking page would be a good signal to Google.<\/p>\n
5. Location of link on the page<\/h3>\n
Generally speaking, a link from within the content of a page will have the most power. Google has a patent called \u201cReasonable Surfer<\/a>\u201d which (if baked into the algorithm)<\/em> will allow them to assign value to a link based on the likelihood of it being clicked.<\/p>\n
Short version<\/strong>: the more likely a link is to be clicked, the more power it will pass to the linked site.<\/p>\n
6. Text surrounding the link<\/h3>\n
Beyond domain and page signals, Google may also consider the text surrounding a link as an indicator of relevance. For our dog breed site, that means that if the link is included in a paragraph about dog breeds, it may pass more power.<\/p>\n
7. Number of external links on the page<\/h3>\n
The more links on a page, the less value each individual link will pass.<\/p>\n
In simple terms, if there are 10 links on a web page, each link will be assigned 10% of the available “link juice”. If there are 5 links, each link gets 20%.<\/p>\n
Note<\/strong>: The Reasonable Surfer patent suggests that it might not be a straightforward split. For example, a link higher up the page may be more likely to be clicked and receive a bigger slice of the pie. But broadly, the less external links on a page, then more value each individual link will have.<\/p>\n
8. The Anchor text of the link<\/h3>\n
Various studies (including my own<\/a>)<\/em> have confirmed that anchor text continues to have a strong influence on rankings.<\/p>\n
For our dog breed site, a link with the anchor \u201cdog breeds\u201d will help us rank for the keyword.<\/p>\n
<a href=”example.com”>dog breeds<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n
As will a partial match:<\/p>\n
<a href=”example.com”>check out this site about dog breeds for advice<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n
However these should be used sparingly. Overly aggressive anchor text manipulation could trigger a penalty.<\/p>\n
9. Absence of additional attributes which would inhibit flow of link equity<\/h3>\n
While Google now considers the nofollow attribute as a hint rather than a directive<\/a>, it is still likely to be the case that a link without it (example 1 below)<\/em> will have more value.<\/p>\n
- \n
- <a href=”example.com”>dog breeds<\/a><\/li>\n
- <a href=”example.com” rel=”nofollow”>dog breeds<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
Additional attributes such as \u201cugc\u201d (user generated content)<\/em> and \u201csponsored\u201d may also inhibit the flow of link equity.<\/p>\n
Note<\/strong>: Even before Google\u2019s recent confirmation it has always been my opinion that a nofollow link from a trusted site will assist rankings. “Link juice” is not the only factor at play.<\/p>\n
Use Seobility\u2019s \u2018Link rating\u2019 for a quick insight into the strength of a backlink<\/h3>\n
At Seobility we have our own metric called \u201cLink rating\u201d which gives each backlink pointing to a website a score between 0 and 100 (with 100 being the highest)<\/em>.<\/p>\n
We use a number of the factors above to calculate each link rating. So the metric can be a useful overview of the potential strength of an individual link.<\/p>\n
When you run a URL or domain through our free backlink checker<\/a>, you\u2019ll get a link rating score for each backlink in the report.<\/p>\n
![\"seobility](\"https:\/\/www.seobility.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/seobility-link-rating.png\")
<\/p>\nAnd if you’re a registered user, you’ll also find this metric in the “Backlinks” report for your project.<\/p>\n
![\"backlinks](\"https:\/\/www.seobility.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/backlinks-tab.png\")
<\/p>\nOur top ten tactics for earning high quality backlinks<\/h2>\n
So now we know what makes a backlink high quality. Great!<\/p>\n
But how do we actually get them?<\/p>\n
In this section we\u2019ve outlined ten of the most effective ways to pick up super strong backlinks.<\/p>\n
We\u2019ll give you an overview of each method, real world examples, and a short step-by-step summary.<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s start with our #1 link building tactic for picking up links from high DR sites: data viz.<\/p>\n
1. Create an irresistible data visualization<\/h3>\n
Want to attract attention and backlinks from some of the largest media sites in the world? Data visualization<\/a> is the way to go.<\/p>\n
The concept is simple:<\/p>\n
- \n
- Take some complex data<\/li>\n
- Turn it into a neat, easy to digest visual format.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
But there are a TON of ways to do it. And \u201cformats\u201d can quickly become over-saturated and lose their impact.<\/p>\n
So how do you know what\u2019s currently<\/em> working?<\/p>\n
Our suggestion: watch social media like a hawk. And when you see an interesting new data viz format blowing up\u2026<\/p>\n
… it should start light bulbs flashing in your link building brain.<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s a personal example of the power of data viz.<\/p>\n
Building links with racing bar charts (aka \u201clive graphics\u201d)<\/h3>\n
Last year I noticed that \u201cracing bar charts\u201d were starting to go gangbusters on Facebook and Twitter. These things were racking up CRAZY amounts of shares and views.<\/p>\n
One of the earliest examples is this tweet by Matt Navarra from February 2019, which showed how the world\u2019s leading brands have changed over the past 19 years.<\/p>\n
\n
WOAH…! <\/p>\n
Top 15 BEST global brands ranking for the last 19 years…<\/p>\n
Watch big name tech companies take-over at the end!<\/p>\n
h\/t @Interbrand<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/oRdO7QH6js<\/a><\/p>\n
— Matt Navarra (@MattNavarra) February 21, 2019<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
- Our top ten tactics for earning high quality backlinks<\/a><\/li>