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What Is Link Building and Why Does it Matter?

Links remain an extremely important ranking factor used by Google and other search engines. As such, the process of link building plays a vital role in driving organic traffic via search engines.

When paired with quality content, strong technical SEO, and a great user experience, link building can be extremely effective in the quest of driving more organic traffic to your site.

Let’s take a look at link building in a little bit more detail.

What is Link Building?

In a nutshell, link building is the process of getting other websites to link back to your website.  

A link, also known as a hyperlink, allows users to navigate through the internet. Without links, the internet would be a very different place.

However, links are also important for search engines – they discover new content through links by crawling links between individual pages on your website and crawling through links between entire websites.

Gone are the days of old link strategies where spamming comments and using private blog networks were common practice. These days search engines have advanced to a point where they can decipher what kinds of links are and aren’t useful for users.

Good links are generated by quality, useful and authoritative content. Generally, good links should be:

  • Natural
  • Helpful
  • High quality

Now that we know what link building is, and what determines if a link is a good link, let’s divulge why link building is important for SEO.

Why Link Building is Important for SEO

Good backlinks to your site are like testimonials as to how worthwhile your content is.

White Hat SEO link building brings businesses major benefits, here are the top four:

1.     Increased Web Traffic

The goal of SEO is to increase organic traffic to your site, and one of backlink building’s most prominent benefits just so happens to be exactly that. The more other sites link back to your website, the more opportunities you have to get clicks from their users.

2.     Better Search Rankings

If a high authority site links back to your site, this will signify your authority on a relevant subject. The more authoritative the linking site is, the better potential for increasing rankings for your site.

3.     Increased Credibility and Reputation

Seeing as though links act as third-party indicators to your domain’s potential ranking strength, links provide your website with credibility. 

4.     Improved Relationships Within Your Niche

Link building often involves community outreach, where brands reach out to other relevant sites within your industry. With the common goal of getting a link, outreach can help your brand build long-term relationships with influencers in your industry.