In the confusing, acronym-driven world of the Internet, terms like SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and backlinks get thrown around all the time. But what does the term, ‘backlinks’ actually mean? And in terms of the best SEO tips, do backlinks actually matter?
Imagine this scenario: you are going to a conference in a city that you have never been to before. Due to an unusual distant family connection, you are introduced to everybody at this conference by Warren Buffet. You are related to Warren and everyone that he introduces you to associates the two of you together.
Would this make a bigger impression on the people you meet than if you just went alone and introduced yourself? Of course and backlinks partly mimic the real world in this sense.
In short, Google values your site by the other sites that it sees linking to yours – especially for the exact ‘anchor text’ terms (we’ll get to that in a minute) that is the subject of your site.
Anchor text is just the specific words or phrases used in the links on other sites to your sites and is the primary way that Google can figure out which search terms to show your site for.
But from here, the plot thickens.
With regard to SEO tips, you need to comprehend that your site is just not going to rank without a pretty big quantity of backlinks linking back to it from a bunch of different sites (not just three or four) in a bunch of different locations.
And you need to have done your research on exactly what search terms people are already looking for in your niche or sub-niche area. If your site is about Siamese fighting fish, then your anchor text should be researched using the Google Keyword Tool and the Google Wonder Wheel (you can Google those). Links back to your site with Thailand or my favourite fish will do almost nothing for your presence on Google if you are committed to driving traffic to your beloved website.
Just remember, properly researched keywords in your anchor text relevant to your site and lots and lots and lots of backlinks. Simple, huh? Almost.
You should also make sure that the backlinks you are getting are dofollow (Google that term – that’s a whole other article) and are from sites with reasonable PageRank, that’s Google’s measure of the quality of authority of a site: Google, CNN and the White House are PR10, my cousin Jeff’s blog about lizards (it’s really fun actually) is PageRank 0.
Terry Kyle’s The Backlinks Black Belt Report features advanced black belt strategies and resources for ranking on Page 1 of Google (like his 40+ sites), he is also the author of small business books on Amazon and is a massive Cesar Millan fan.
