Backlink Management - A Handy Guide

Studies show that pages ranking first in Google search results have 3.8 times more backlinks than those ranked between 2 and 10.

Managing your backlink profile can help you:

Boost brand presence: Make sure your website ranks on Google’s first page.

Position yourself as a industry leader: Be the first website that users are referred to in your industry.

Increase website traffic: 90% of clicks on Google are from organic listings.

This article explains how to effectively manage links in your website's backlink profile. We'll show you how to choose right tools and then guide you through the audit process.

What Are Backlinks?

Backlinks act as endorsements for websites, similar to how likes serve as validations for social media posts.

Google recognizes your website when another website links to

High quality backlinks ensures that your website appears trustworthy to search engines.

Good backlinks have the following criteria:

Relevance: Your backlinks should come from websites and content that are relevant to your own. There should be clear connection between the linked content and your site.

Authority: Backlinks from reputable websites carry more weight. These sites are considered trustworthy sources, and links from them enhance your website's credibility.

Natural anchor text: The anchor text linking to your site should be natural and contextually appropriate. It shouldn't be stuffed with irrelevant keywords.

Diversity: Incorporate variety of backlink types, such as editorial, social media, and forum links, to give your backlink profile an organic appearance.

What Is Backlink Management?

Websites don’t need your permission to link to your website. This means that bad links might get attached to your website and drag your SEO down.

Bad links typically come from spammy or low-quality sources, such as irrelevant or broken pages.

Backlink management allows you to influence and control these links.

Let’s say you run a blog about child psychology.

If it receives backlink from a harmful or irrelevant website, such as gambling sites, this association can harm your blog’s reputation.

This kind of link also probably will not offer any ranking benefit because it’s not relevant. Worst of all, too many of these links could make search engines think that you’re trying to manipulate their search results.

This goes against their guidelines and could lead to manual actions or penalties, meaning your rankings could be reduced significantly.

Backlink management often involves:

• Removing bad backlinks from your website.
• Replacing bad backlinks by building new ones from more relevant and authoritative sources.
• Controlling which links search engines look at when crawling your site.

Doing this will help your blog maintain a strong and trustworthy online presence.

How to Choose Right Backlink Management Tools

Google doesn’t automatically send you updates on your website’s backlink profile.

You need to set up tools, such as Moz or Google Search Console, and run regular audits on your website’s backlinks to identify and remove bad links.

However, as each tool offers unique features, you may not be able to track all metrics using just one tool.

Here are some tips on how to choose right SEO tools for your website:

• Determine what you can afford
• If you’re just starting out, use free tools and gradually transition to paid-for options as your business grows.
• Start with a user-friendly tool

When you choose first set of tools, make sure they:

• Require little training to use to their full potential.
• Have a user-friendly interface.
• Don’t require complicated setup.

Once you’re comfortable with ongoing backlink management, you can explore more advanced tools.

Google Search Console is commonly recommended for beginners, while tools like Ahrefs, with their comprehensive analytics capabilities, may be more suitable for advanced users.

Read reviews and test tool first

If you jump from one trial period to the next, it will take long time to find right tools.

You can speed this up by reading unbiased customer reviews beforehand. Make sure you look for feedback from independent sources and compare your options carefully.

Pay close attention to their feedback on tool’s customer support on these parameters:

• How responsive are they to customers?
• How knowledgeable are their team members?
• How long does it take them to help customers?

After narrowing down your choices, start your free trials to monitor backlinks. This will help you decide which tools to use to achieve your goals.