Backlink

How do you tell a good backlink from a bad one?

A good backlink is one another site chose to add on its own, a link customers might actually click to reach you. A bad backlink is one built to manipulate rankings, one you paid for, or one dumped in bulk on sites that have nothing to do with your business.

When in doubt, ask yourself: "Would this link exist even if there were no search engines?" A link in a supplier's client list, a local event listing or a news article is useful to customers whether search engines exist or not.

What kinds of links does Google treat as spam?

Google treats links created mainly to manipulate search rankings, whether they point to your site or out from it, as link spam. Its spam policies list examples like these.

Links from ads or sponsorships aren't banned in themselves. If you mark them with rel="sponsored" or rel="nofollow" to tell Google "don't use this as a ranking signal," you're within policy.

The same goes for sponsored blog reviews and influencer review programs. If anything was given in exchange for the post, the link should carry this tag, and in Korea you also need to disclose the ad or sponsorship in the post itself.

• Placing ranking links in exchange for money, goods or free services
• Excessive link swaps done just to link to each other
• Creating links automatically with software or a service
• Posting links in bulk on low-quality directory and bookmark sites
• Planting the same link across the footers or templates of many sites

How can a small business earn backlinks naturally?

For a small business, most backlinks come from offline relationships. Start by telling the businesses you already work with that you have a new website, and if they have a page introducing partners, ask them to link to you.

When you ask for a link, make it a mention that's useful to the other site's visitors too. If your coffee bean supplier lists you as "a cafe that makes lattes with these beans," or a community center lists "this month's collaboration class," the link tends to stay up for a long time.

1. 01Make a list of businesses you already have a relationship with: suppliers, partners and the shops or platforms that carry your products.
2. 02Pick the ones that have a "Clients," "Stockists" or "Partners" page.
3. 03Prepare your website address, a one-line description and a main photo, then ask for a link.
4. 04When you take part in local merchant association events, festivals, flea markets or community center events, ask them to include your website in the vendor listing.
5. 05When you get an interview or press request, ask whether they can include your website address in the article.
6. 06Post guides that customers find useful, like what to bring to a one-day class or how to keep flowers fresh longer, so people share them naturally.
7. 07Every so often, check the "Links" report in Google Search Console to see which sites link to you.

How do you judge an agency's offer to build backlinks for you?

It's safest to turn down offers that promise numbers and results, like "hundreds of backlinks a month" or "guaranteed rankings." Most ways of building that many links in a short time break Google's spam policies.

Google may ignore such links or, in serious cases, cut your search visibility through a manual action. You could spend money and get nothing, or spend even more effort undoing the damage.

When you hire a web agency or marketing firm, ask them: "Where do you get the links, and how?" If they can't explain the specific sites and methods, don't hire them.

If you've already used a service like this and picked up lots of strange links, stop using the service first. Then check the "Manual actions" report in Search Console for a manual action notice, and if you have one, clean up the links following its instructions.

• "We'll put your link on hundreds of high-quality sites"
• "We guarantee page 1 on Google"
• "The list of linking sites is a trade secret, so we can't share it"
• "Once placed, the effect is permanent"

Do you need backlinks to show up in search?

No, you can show up in search even with almost no backlinks. Google uses links as one of several signals to judge a page's relevance and to find new pages, but links alone don't decide rankings.

So instead of forcing links, the right order is to build pages that are genuinely useful to customers first. Good content is what gives anyone a reason to mention your page.

Links are also a way for customers to find you. Visitors who click through from a local community site or a partner's page are already interested, so they're worth looking at separately in your visitor stats, apart from any ranking effect.

Do links inside your own website (internal links) matter too?

Yes, internal links that connect pages within your own website matter too. Google finds new pages by following links, so a page that isn't linked from any menu or body text may be discovered late.

For the link text (anchor text), words that describe the page it leads to, like "See one-day class prices," work better than "Click here." Google also recommends short, natural link text that's descriptive.

Even if a link looks like a button, it has to be a real link (an a tag with an address) for Google to follow it. If clicking only changes the screen through a script, search engines may not be able to find the next page.

Whenever you create a new page, add at least a one-line link to it from related existing pages. For example, if you create a new "Couple ring class" page, link to it from your class list and from your FAQ answers.