Backlinks are still used by search engines to measure relations between web pages, however, the presence of backlink tells us nothing about its quality. Two different websites can link to one page while the contexts of these links are entirely different. Topics of the pages, reasons of mentioning the destination, placements of links and source quality all matter when we talk about quality of a backlink. This is why quality of backlinks should be evaluated using more complex approach than just counting domains linking to a website.
Another mistake is using the single metric for backlink evaluation. Scores of authority for each domain, calculated by SEO tool, can be used for comparison, however, they don’t provide all characteristics of one specific link. Website with high metrics can still have one page irrelevant to destination. On the contrary, a small specialized website can provide a relevant reference due to the fact that the page discusses the same topic as the destination resource. Evaluation of this page gives us additional information which is impossible to get by just one domain metric.
Evaluation of backlink quality from several perspectives helps to create a full picture. Relevant topics, placement, the context of the link, characteristics of the linking page and its reason of appearing can all help in backlink evaluation process. BacklinkSense brings these aspects of backlinks quality on this page, making them all components of the same evaluation process instead of separate measurements.
Relevance Provides a Context for Backlink
One of the most straightforward approaches to differentiate naturally appearing links from irrelevant links is topical relevance of these links. When a cybersecurity website links to a detailed study of data breaches in order to discuss latest security trends, everyone understands the reason of appearing such reference. In case the same study is linked to from page discussing unrelated consumer issue, the reason becomes much less clear.
Relevance can be multi-level too. While website as a whole covers wide industry, particular page can discuss much narrower topic. This is why considering domain categories alone can miss some information. Page, paragraph and whole context help us to understand the role of the link.
Placement Determines Role of a Link
Links can be placed in editorial paragraphs, author’s biography, navigation menu, footer, sidebar, resources’ list, comment section and many other places. These placements serve different purposes.
Reference which is mentioned as a part of the explanation always has clear connection with the context. Link in the footer, for example, can appear in hundreds of pages regardless of their topic. This doesn’t mean that every contextual link is valuable and every sitewide link is poor. It means that placement provides us with information about the reason of appearing the link and it should be taken into consideration during evaluation.
Same goes for placement inside the main content. Link which is placed in the sentence where it really expands the discussion has clear editorial purpose compared to the link where readers have no reasons to follow it.
Authority Can’t Be Valued Alone
Authority still remains useful when we evaluate backlinks, but it works best when combined with other factors. Established publishers can have strong reputation, big audience and extensive link profile. All these can make reference interesting, but can’t guarantee topical relevance of particular page.
Google itself states that link analysis systems can determine which pages are about what and which of them can be helpful in search queries due to examination of pages links to one another. PageRank still remains one of the core ranking systems of Google, although it changed much from the days of Google’s foundation.
It makes making simplifying assumptions almost impossible. Google uses many systems and signals in order to generate search results, so there is no way any external SEO metric can be viewed as direct measure of how Google evaluates one particular backlink.
Surrounding Context Helps to Explain the Reference
Anchor text gets lots of attention due to the fact that it is clickable part of the link, but context around the link can explain the reason of its appearance better to readers too.
Imagine that reference which is placed right after the explanation of some particular research finding. Even if it has relatively general anchor, paragraph explains destination quite well, because the context around it shows what kind of information should readers expect. Keyword-rich anchor text placed in the context where it doesn’t fit gets opposite problems: it can be descriptive, but the context around it is not.
This is why evaluation of the backlink needs to consider the whole paragraph which contains this link instead of extraction and evaluation of anchor text alone.
Many Backlinks Don’t Mean Good Backlinks
Big amount of backlinks looks impressive in SEO report, but it doesn’t solve problems with relevance, context, placement and quality of the source. Group of editorially relevant references can tell completely different story from thousands of links generated by repetitions and random placements.
There is also a risk in treating links as numbers. Google defines link spam as creation of links for manipulation with search rankings, including some paid links, excessive link exchange, automatic link generation and optimized links in paid advertorial or guest post arrangements.
For businesses evaluating their backlinks this makes reason of appearance of the link crucial. Link which appears because publisher has a reason to use reference is fundamentally different from link which is made just to increase backlink count.
Backlink Quality Needs to Be Estimated Comprehensive
No single characteristic can evaluate the backlink quality fully. Authority without relevance gives an incomplete picture. Relevance without evaluation of the source also doesn’t give us complete picture. Anchor text, placement, surrounding text, editorial purpose and characteristics of the linking page each of them provides us with different information.
Practical approach isn’t search for the single metric which will label every backlink as good or bad. Backlink analysis becomes much more useful when these signals are analyzed simultaneously taking into account circumstances of particular link.
Backlinks still connect information on the Internet, however, they aren’t interchangeable. Their value depends much on where they come from, why they appear, how they are placed inside the content and whether they make sense for readers.
