External links can do more for your site than just drive referral traffic. Click here to discover three benefits of backlinks for SEO.

3 Benefits of Building Backlinks for SEO

Ongoing link building is one of the fundamental pillars of a successful SEO strategy. It’s right up there with a robust <a href="https://union.co/services/performance-media/content-marketing">content marketing plan</a> and a solid on-site optimization foundation. Why is link building important? The more high-quality third-party websites that choose to link to your website (these links are called backlinks), the more likely it is for Google to rank your website higher in search results. Check out these three core benefits of link building.

Regardless of the number of updates that Google makes to its hallowed search algorithm (literally<a href="https://moz.com/blog/how-often-does-google-update-its-algorithm"> thousands of updates</a> every year), backlinks continue to be a critical factor in determining your website’s organic search rankings. 
As for the purpose of backlinks, they provide Google with a signal to the quality of your content and its relevance to your target audience. These signals tell Google, “Hey, this is great content. You should start ranking this page higher in search results for this keyword.” 
But not all backlinks are created equal. 
<h3 dir="ltr">The Two Types of Backlinks</h3>
According to our Organic Search Specialist, Ben Perfater, brands need to be aware of two types of backlinks: 
<ul><li dir="ltr">No-Follow Links</li><li dir="ltr">Do-Follow Links</li></ul>
“No-Follow links are a specific tag that some third-party websites use when linking to a website,” Perfater said. “Even though these links may send people to your website and help build brand awareness, they don’t carry over any link equity (known as link juice in the industry). The less link equity a backlink has, the lower its impact on your search engine rankings.”
Do-Follow links, on the other hand, do pass along link juice and therefore can positively influence your website rankings.

(1) Improve organic rankings

Google uses backlinks as a signal that your website is both relevant to a specific audience and that it publishes high-quality content. They tell Google that you are the authority in the space. 
The more authority you have, the more likely Google will rank your website for keywords associated with your area of expertise. 
In addition to building trust with Google, high-quality backlinks can also help build consumer trust in your brand. Backlinks can help provide third-party credibility. When potential customers see your website linked on a website they value, it can help to reinforce your company as a trusted entity for new and existing customers.

(2) Build brand and site authority

Not only will quality backlinks help to drive more organic traffic to your website (the higher your website ranks on Google for your relevant keywords, the more traffic you’ll see from the search engine), but backlinks can also drive more referral traffic to your website. 
Referral traffic is any traffic that comes to your website from a third-party website. Let’s say you were able to secure a link in an article published on Men’s Health. Any traffic that came to your website from that article would be labeled as referral traffic within your analytics platform.

(3) Increase referral traffic

What were once standard link-building practices (publishing to article directories, comment spamming, etc.), are now considered a big no-no by Google and can result in your website being penalized (or even blacklisted) by the search giant. 
That’s why you need an expert strategy in place. A results-oriented link-building strategy is critical to driving SEO ROI. If you’re looking to <a href="https://union.co/services/performance-media/search-engine-optimization">improve your website’s search engine rankings</a>, we can help you earn the backlinks you need to succeed. Schedule a call with our <a href="https://union.co/contact">SEO experts</a> today.

Building backlinks without being penalized

Valtech + Union is a creative &amp; performance marketing agency that creates omni-channel campaigns, unleashing creativity on a data-driven world, helping brands produce memorable, measurable and repeatable results. Obsessed with data-driven performance, we believe every marketing dollar should be viewed as an investment. Our clients expect a meaningful return and we prove the ROI of our work with quantifiable data.