How to use Backlinks to Increase Your Websites Page Rank

What are backlinks and why should I care about them? Backlinks are often referred to as incoming or inbound links to a website. Essentially, a backlink is any type of link received by any web node (web page, directory, website, or top level domain) linked from any other web node.

Now according to Google, a websites' position in their search results are determined based upon a number of factors designed to provide users with helpful, and accurate results. One of the factors that help determine a website's page rank is the number of high-quality links to their pages.

This means that it is essential to build the right links to your webpage in order to maximize your exposure. One should be careful in choosing their link partners though, as only relevant links should be exchanged. It is truly a case of quality, and not quantity when examined by Google.

From Google: The quantity, quality, and relevance of links count towards your rating. The sites that link to you can provide context about the subject matter of your site, and can indicate its quality and popularity. However, some webmasters engage in link exchange schemes and build partner pages exclusively for the sake of cross-linking, disregarding the quality of the links, the sources, and the long-term impact it will have on their sites.

So how do you start out on a link-building campaign? Your first step in getting other sites to link to your website is to create unique content. Let's be honest, no one is going to link to your site if you have nothing worth linking to. To be "link-worthy", your site should have original and relevant content which will encourage other sites to link back to you.

As the webmaster for your site, you should research websites with similar content to your own. Many of these websites will have Contact Us pages where you can send a note to request a link exchange. A best practice for maintaining link exchange partners is to create a "Links" or "Resources" page on your website. This way you can create reciprocal links between your website and your link partners.