There are many types of backlinks when it comes to search engine optimization. Not all of them are created equal. Below are the most effective types of backlinks in SEO, as well as ones that are not effective and should be avoided.
1. Editorial Backlinks: The Best & The Most Effective
Without a doubt, the most effective and best backlinks for SEO is editorial backlinks. Editorial backlinks come in many forms, such as a high quality and highly regarded site citing your site as source for the information on their site. Another example of an editorial link to your site is when a website cites your website as the creator of a photo or info-graphic.
Editorial backlinks can easily improve your website’s rank. All you need is a handful of high quality editorial backlinks to notice a difference very quickly.
2. Forum Links: The Worst & Least Effective
Forum backlinking is thought of as being a spamming technique, when the sole purpose is to post your content over and over again. For example, a lot of people will visit a single forum and go from post to post leaving a link back to their own content. This is considered spam.
A few years ago, website owners would jump from forum to forum leaving comments and a link back to their sites within those comments. A lot of times, the comments were short and provided little to no value. What’s even worse is sometimes the links were left on irrelevant forums. The bottom line is you want to stay far away from forums, unless you plan on actually providing high quality comments and follow the rules of the forum.
3. Guest Post Bio Links: Good & Effective
Guest post blogging links aren’t always allowed. Some blogs don’t let you post to their site and link back to your own site. However, many blogs allow their guest bloggers to include a link back to their own website via their author bio box. Of course a link inside the post’s body would be preferred, but a link in the bio can do wonders in regards to SEO.
Here’s a tip, find 3-4 quality blogs that are looking for guest bloggers and that allow links within author bios. Ask if you can guest blog 2-3 times in a span of a few weeks. If you do this, your own site’s rankings should drastically improve.
4. Directory Links: Not The Best & Not That Effective
There are a ton of article directories out there. A lot of them are low-quality and allow any old links to be submitted. You want to avoid those ones and try your best to stick to the directories that have a solid reputation and that are considered to be authoritative.
Do note there is nothing wrong with submitting your URL to a few article directories. If you do it every now and then, you shouldn’t have anything to worry about. It’s when you do it all the time, that’s when your site might draw negative attention from Google and other search engines.
5. Newsworthy Press Release Links: Great Backlinks And Can Be Very Effective
Press releases are great for two reasons, with one being you can build up a massive number of backlinks, while spreading the word about the topic you are writing about. Ideally, you want to write a press release when you actually have something newsworthy to share or something very interesting you want people to know about your brand.
After you create your press release, you want to alert media outlets. If they think your press release is newsworthy, then they will distribute it for you. Also, there are third-party companies that can distribute your press release for you and they will contact you when media outlets have picked it up.
6. Paid Links: Horrible And Won’t Work In The Long Run
Paid links are among the worse of the worse backlinks in SEO. These types of links are usually part of link-wheels. These are sites that claim they can get you hundreds of backlinks within a short period of time, all for a low fee. Go ahead and pay for them if your goal is to ruin your site’s rankings because Google has already taken a stance against paid links.
Those are the best and worst backlinks in SEO. You want to choose your backlinking strategy wisely because if you don’t, then your site’s rankings can suffer greatly. If you want to improve your rankings, then stick with a good backlink strategy and try to get links back to your site from some of the above sources.