Backlinks are links from webpages on sites other than your site, that “link back” to pages on your website.
Here is an example of a backlink to a blog post about banking regulations in the USA during WW2.
The image above should help ihttps://interestingblog.ca/banking/usa-bank-regulation-1941-world-war-two/llustrate the idea.
Backlinks are critically important to the success of your SEO.
In the early days of Google, backlinks were THE search signal, and while there are now 220+ (or so) individual search signals, backlinks are one of the most important.
However, don’t expect anyone to link to content that isn’t really good.
You need backlinks for your website authority to rise and for your content to rank, but to do that you need to publish stuff people are willing to link to.
If your website consists of nothing but fluffy light content that doesn’t really say anything, don’t be surprised if no one links to you.
The articles you want people to link to should be your best pillar posts, which should be so good that people don’t mind when they receive a content promotion message from you.
Obtaining backlinks also does not happen overnight, nor does it necessarily happen on its own.
The “recipe” is fairly straightforward, but like all things worth having, takes time and effort:
- Publish quality content.
- Promote it via social media and email.