Why backlinks don't always improve SEO
- Álvaro Martínez Mateu
- Jul 17, 2022
- 2 min read
Updated: Jul 26, 2022
Backlinks are not always going to improve SEO performance. It is true that these links, due to their nature, can provide us with Link Juice from another website we are linking to, however, it is advisable to be cautious due to possible SPAM campaigns, as they can damage our SEO positioning.
The fundamentals of proper SEO planning should generally be focused on linkbaiting, especially when starting from scratch, therefore, objectives focused on the generation of backlinks or inbound links should be part of the secondary objectives of the strategy.
In case of positioning backlinks as the central objective of the SEO strategy, the evolution of this strategy may tend towards Black Hat SEO methodologies, and ultimately increase the risk of being exposed to penalties by search engines such as Google.
If we position backlink generation as a secondary objective, it can be achieved through the following methods:
Plan a strategy focused on linkbaiting, as it increases the likelihood of generating backlinks with low risk of exposure to search engine penalties.
Have an optimised and well-structured web architecture, as this will make it easier to determine which backlinks are more or less suitable for the specific section of the web architecture.
Have an optimised UX design in place, which will be necessary to increase the naturalness of the linking, and reduce the risk of exposure to search engine penalties.
Establish an evaluation criterion for backlinks, thus reducing the risk of generating low PageRank backlinks and/or backlinks on topics unrelated to those you deal with on your website. This criterion should take into account both the transfer of Link Juice, as the positioning that is granted, and the primary function of which the backlink or inbound link is characterised.
Another important aspect of backlinks is dofollow and nofollow links. The cases in which dofollow links would benefit in terms of SEO positioning would be when Link Juice is transmitted to one's own website from a domain with a high and consistent PageRank, and whose subject of that domain is similar to one's own website. Therefore, nofollow links are useful to prevent the transfer of Link Juice, either from one's own website to an external domain, or from an external domain to one's own website.
Interesting metrics can be obtained from SEMrush, and there are also useful Chrome extensions such as "SEOquake", "LinkMiner" and "SEO Analysis & Website Review".
