Should You Buy Backlinks For SEO?

When most people think of search engine optimization, they picture optimized website content. But while keywords are an important part of SEO, they aren’t the only thing that help to determine website rankings in search engines. Google wants to provide the most valuable. Relevant results to web searchers. Even if a website contains keywords that align with the content users are looking for, that doesn’t always mean that the site in question will actually provide what a user needs. To buy backlinks now follow the link.

That’s why Google has numerous other ways to determine the relative value provided by a website. Generally speaking, Google wants to reward websites that are deemed reputable.

One way that Google knows which websites are trustworthy is through endorsements from other websites. If a website in good standing gives a figurative seal of approval to another site, chances are good that Google will view that second site in a positive way.

So what does this have to do with backlinks? When a high-ranking website publishes a link to your site, you stand to benefit from their endorsement.

Sometimes, this process happens organically. If it does, that’s a huge win for you! But in other cases, it might require some legwork on your part.

The question is: should you buy backlinks in order to get ahead? Let’s take a closer look at the importance of backlinks, what makes a good backlink, why you should focus on link building, and whether it’s wise to start buying backlinks for SEO.

Unless you’re brand new to SEO, you probably know what a backlink is. Simply put, it’s a published link on one site that directs to another site. These are also known as external links or inbound links because they’re coming from another source.

Backlinks matter because they’re used by Google to determine the value of a website, particularly in relation to its age and other factors. Just as a business without any online reviews might not convince consumers to make a purchase, a website that has very few “endorsements” from reputable site owners is harder for Google to trust.

According to Ahrefs, 66.31% of web pages have no backlinks at all! Since pages with more backlinks tend to have higher traffic volume, this means your site might not be living up to its potential.

Conversely, a website with high-quality backlinks from relevant and reliable sources will typically be seen as more valuable itself. While this isn’t the only thing that Google uses to determine site value, it can make a difference when all other ranking factors are relatively equal.

It’s crucial to remember that not all backlinks are created equal. In terms of quality, there are different levels of backlinks. A backlink from a highly respected website like Forbes or the New York Times, for example, will carry higher “weight” than even hundreds of backlinks from spammy, low-quality websites.

What’s more, links can contain certain attributes or directives that tell a search engine whether to consider the link to be an endorsement. “Do-follow” links are best for SEO purposes.

Having a certain number of “no-follow” links is fine, but the “do-follow” links are the ones you should be focusing on. These are the types of links that provide the most value, as they’re an actual endorsement of your site; “no-follow” links, on the other hand, imply that a site owner isn’t giving your link their vote of confidence. Therefore, “no-follow” links really won’t help your rankings.

Where Can You Find Your Site’s Backlinks?

Rankers Paradise reports that the number of referring domains for a given page has the highest correlation to Google rankings of any other factor.

But you might not know anything about the backlinks your site already has. Alternatively, you may want to check up on backlinks that you’re hoping to get or ones you’re worried about losing. You can find out all this information by looking at your backlink profile.

While you can manually track the backlinks your site has received in a spreadsheet or other shared document, that process is time-consuming and prone to user error. A platform like Ahrefs can provide you with an in-depth backlink profile for your site (or for your clients’ sites) that shows referring domains, a backlink history, and much more.

Since Ahrefs does require a subscription, working with a white label SEO company like Semify can grant you access to these tools for your clients and allow you to compile backlinking information in a professionally branded report.

With that in mind, what makes a good backlink profile?

Ideally, you’ll want a profile that contains high-quality, diverse links.

The strongest backlink profiles contain lots of links from lots of different reputable sources (including .gov and .edu sites). Although it’s best if most of the links are do-follow, you should have some no-follow links mixed in.