Popular thought is that the more links you build the higher you’ll rank on Google. But, does it really work like that? Well, it’s a truth that links do help with rankings, and there’s no wonder here. You already knew that. However, what’s important here is that there are some types of links that really matter in SEO and some don’t.
So we’ve tested all types of links we know about, as well as different scenarios involving them. We wanted to learn how exactly everything works and how link building can benefit your business. And we came to the conclusion that we need to discuss five of them, and those are:
- Internal Links
- External Links
- Natural Links
- Manually Obtained Links
- Self Created Links
Internal and External Links
To begin with, you need to understand what exactly the link is. And it is a relation between two pages. To put it simply, it connects one web page to another. It can be in the form of text, image, or even video, and all of those work perfectly fine.
Now, the two types of links that are seen very often on websites are internal and external, or outbound links.
Internal Link
The first on our list of types of links that really matter in SEO are internal links. These are the links that you see on a webpage and that navigate you to another page on the same website. They are generally used to allow the viewer to stay on your page for longer as you’re just bouncing them around your domain. This will potentially increase the website authority which will give you higher rankings.
External Link
Outbound or external links are the ones that bring you from one domain to another. There are actually a few ways of using these links, but most often they provide users with further explanations that can be found on other websites.
Know that external links are considered to be the most important criteria for ranking high. Why you may wonder. Well, it is believed that the external links can’t be unfairly controlled and that’s why Google gives them such high privileges.
Backlinks
And with that, we’re done with the links we can see on your website. However, there are types of links that are also important and that cannot be seen on any pages. These are called backlinks and they include natural links, manually obtained links, and self-created links.
Now, backlinks are maybe even better known as inbound links. These ones bring traffic from other websites to yours. The math here, as you can expect, is simple. The more backlinks your website receives, the more relevant and useful it will be according to Google. What this means for you is that powerful backlinks can give you faster rankings.
Natural links
Natural links are links that you receive from another website without you asking for it. This usually happens when your page actually has great content and it is a good indication of that. However, it’s far from easy to achieve. Unless you’re a famous athlete that’s perceived cool so every one gives you attention.
Naturally, these links are very esteemed, so it pays off to have content that is worth sharing. A good thing to remember is that sometimes quality is much more important than the quantity.
Manually obtained links
The next on our list of types of links that really matter in SEO are manually obtained links. The name sounds strange, we know. But, there’s nothing strange about these. You simply have to put in time and energy to get them. Contacting other website owners and bloggers to link and feature a page has become a daily routine for many of us.
This tactic is often seen among small businesses that are still unknown in their own industry. However, success doesn’t come overnight. You can’t expect people to feature your content if it isn’t worth sharing. So, we’re kinda coming back to the root one. Quality content is a must-have.
Also, one more important thing to remember is that the websites you want to be featured on has to be relevant to yours. Google algorithms are getting smarter and smarter, and the link won’t provide much authority and value if it actually doesn’t make much sense.
Why these links matter exactly?
The concept with these links is pretty much the same as with external links. Getting links from other websites tells search engines that your site is relevant and of good quality. That is why these are considered as good links. Which brings the question of bad links. Is there such a thing?
The simple answer here is yes. There is a type of link that is called self-created links and it is designed to fool the search engine algorithms.
Self-created links
This is the only link among these five that actually does not matter for SEO. As the name suggests, self-created links are created by a website owner and their job is to fool the search engines that their links are relevant and important. Fortunately or unfortunately, Google recognizes them very easily so they’re pretty much useless.
And now the difference between good and bad links is obvious. Good ones are made by other people, while bad ones are made by the owners of the websites themselves. There are many subtypes of these, but most people add a backlink on forums or blog comments.
Conclusion
Now you know everything there is to know about types of links that really matter in SEO you can use them correctly and get the best possible results. Just make sure to keep up the good quality and don’t let your website have any broken links. If you have those it is very comparable to having bad quality content which is not good for anyone.