Have you ever wondered how backlinks affect your website’s search rankings or why they are crucial for SEO success? 

Backlinks, or incoming or one-way links, are vital in how search engines like Google appraise a website for its credibility and authority. When authoritative websites link to your pages, it signals to the search engines that your content is of quality and trustworthy.

Of course, backlinks differ. There are various types, each with different strengths and degrees of influence on your SEO strategy. Understanding those types and how they work can make a difference in improving your search rankings.

This article looks at 10 essential types of backlinks that can help diversify link-building activity and increase SEO performance. Are you ready to take your backlink game to the next level? Then, let’s dive in!

What are Backlinks?

Backlinks are what direct one site to another with links and are considered like votes or endorsements by those associated with the linked content. They indicate that the content is of value and relevance among other websites, thus showing search engines. In SEO, backlinks would very much matter in valuing your site’s credibility and authority. 

A 13-month study from Semrush showed almost all (92.3%) of the 100 top-ranking domains possessed at least one backlink. This emphasizes the fact that the higher your backlinks are, the higher your chance of improving your search engines. After all, such search engines can assess link quality and trust in a particular website.

Expert opinion

The more backlinks your website has from reputable sources, the more authoritative it can seem to search engines.

Shannon Willoby
Shannon Willoby

Senior Director of Content Marketing, Scott‘s Marketplace

11 Types of Backlinks to Boost Your SEO Strategy

1. Editorial Backlinks

Editorial backlinks are considered some of the most valuable link types in SEO; they are acquired through high-quality, relevant content. An organic link is a naturally occurring link that other websites give to your content when they find it useful without asking for it or being paid to do so.

Such backlinks strongly signal to search engines that your content is of authority and should be trusted. They usually appear on very reputed websites with a DR of at least 80+, like TechCrunch, Forbes, news outlets, etc.

In winning editorial backlinks, focus on creating unique and original content that offers value. Examples include thought leadership, in-depth research, case studies, expert round-ups, and experiments.

  • Important:
HARO and HaB2BW enable you to get in front of journalists seeking expert contributions. Your contribution insights or data-backed perspective can earn you mentions in industry publications; mentions then lead to quality editorial backlinks to your site.

Source: Help a B2B Writer

2. Dofollow Backlinks

DoFollow backlinks are the links that search engines will follow and distribute the link equity to the linked page. By default, all links are DoFollow, and no such attribute is required as rel=”dofollow”.

When authoritative websites use Dofollow links to reference your content, then your website’s credibility automatically increases, which helps your website improve its position in search engine rankings and increase your domain and page authority, thereby strengthening your overall search visibility.

3. Nofollow Backlinks

Nofollow backlinks are kinds of links possessing the rel=”nofollow” attribute, advising the search engine crawlers not to follow the link or pass equity to the page that it hyperlinks. Those types of links do not directly help better the authority and ranking of your site.

But the fact is, nofollow backlinks have value in other ways since they can refer to traffic that’s relevant to your site. Referral traffic and brand visibility can be achieved with nofollow links through their strategic placement on various platforms such as social media, forums, and comments.

Source: Hubspot

  • Opposite view:
While nofollow backlinks can contribute to website traffic and link diversity, some argue that they offer limited SEO benefits since they don’t pass link equity. Without the pass of link equity, which again makes them not as effective as dofollow links in building up authority and improving rankings.

4. Mend Broken Backlinks

Broken link building is a strategy whereby you find broken links on relevant websites and offer your content in replacement for those. You will get backlinks in return because you provide a solution to the webmaster.

Start by identifying dead links in websites within your niche using tools like Check My Links or Broken Link Checker. Then, contact the site owner and recommend your content as a relevant replacement. This tactic has been implemented by industry giants like Brian Dean, who obtained top-tier backlinks without much hustle.

Pro Tip: Create great, unique content that the webmasters will want to link to. Like editorial backlinks, content with “originality nuggets” performs best and encourages natural backlinking.

5. Paid Backlinks

Paid link building means purchasing dofollow backlinks from third-party domains to forward them to your website. According to Authority Hackers, 74.3% link builders pay for backlinks, and the average price of each link costs around $83.

While these figures show the popularity of this practice, buying links is a black-hat SEO strategy. Actually, Google regards this as a link scheme and a violation of its guidelines, probably leading to penalties.

If one intends to do the sponsored link building, make sure that the links are niche-relevant, sourced from legitimate websites and not private blog networks, since an ideal commercial blog has editors who sell links but remain credible.

6. Backlinks From Guest Blogging

Guest blogging backlinks are achieved by writing content for other sites, usually in your niche or industry. This form of backlink helps in two ways: it boosts your website’s credibility in that particular industry and attracts relevant, targeted traffic.

Choose reputable websites that align with your niche to maximize the value of guest post backlinks. Ensure your content is well-researched and provides valuable insights to the host site’s audience, ensuring both SEO benefits and a positive user experience.

7. UGC Backlinks

UGC links are a class of backlinks that occur when users, not brands or companies, create content organically. These usually are non-paid links appearing in social media updates, forum discussions, and blog post comments.

These links contain the attribute rel=”ugc”. Example: 

UGC links signal the search engines not to consider these links or follow them as recommendations to others. It is also one reason that can minimize link spamming-for instance, using poor-quality comments to flood forums linking back to one’s website to manipulate the rankings of your website.

If your blog has user-generated content, mark those links with the “ugc” attribute.

  • Important:
Using Semrush’s Backlink Audit tool, you’ll find spammy links to your website. This tool also allows you to contact site owners directly for link removal requests.

8. Directory Backlinks

Directory backlinks occur when your website is listed in any online directory or business platform. These not only help diversify one’s portfolio of backlinks, but they also boost local SEO and increase your business’s visibility. 

Instead of listing your website in hundreds of directories, you’d be better off sticking with reputable niche-specific ones that serve an active audience likely to be interested in your business. Also, it’s essential to make sure your business information is listed the same across the board, as Google looks for this when trying to rank a local business.

Some quality directories in which you can list your business include Google My Business, Yelp, Better Business Bureau, BOTW, and Spoke.

9. Image Backlinks

Image backlinks mean an image from your site links to another page or site. This kind of link is very efficient in driving traffic and boosting site authority.

Adding images to your pages can make a huge difference in your backlink profile. In fact, according to Semrush, pages with images get 555% more quality backlinks, which is why visuals should play a core role in any link-building strategy.

Certain types of images attract links organically, including, but not limited to, infographics, graphs, product photos, maps, and visuals supporting written content. Use tools such as Google Reverse Image Search to monitor where your images are being utilized. If you find an uncredited use of your image, contact the webmaster requesting proper attribution.

  • Important:
Create high-quality, unique visuals and optimize them with descriptive file names and alt tags, which can improve discoverability and improve your chances of earning backlinks.

10. Video Backlinks

Video backlinks come from video descriptions, comments, or credits whenever your content goes up on YouTube. While each link from YouTube is “Nofollow,” the backlinks still carry weight.

Even though there isn’t any direct SEO link juice from them, YouTube backlinks can improve visibility and attract more traffic. They are also findable via YouTube searches, increasing their visibility to wider audiences.

For maximum effect of video backlinks, optimize your video title, description, and tags with targeted keywords. This way, it will be more searchable and increase the chances of driving traffic from your video content.

11. Footer links

The footer links will appear in the lower section of your website on all pages because it is static. It provides easy access for visitors to find essential pages. In essence, footer links contribute to an enhanced user experience.

Google evaluates whether footer links offer a benefit to the user rather than using them just to obtain some SEO advantages. There should be value for users behind such footer links.

While most links in the footer are internal, there are instances where external links are required. This may include, for example, crediting the company that designed your website.

Conclusion

Backlinks are the building blocks of any SEO strategy. They build a website’s credibility and increase visibility by giving it higher rankings in the search engine. Different types of backlinks, such as editorial, footer, and so on, allow diversification in link-building efforts to boost overall SEO performance.

While some backlinks, such as dofollow and editorial links, directly help raise your website’s positioning in search results, others, like nofollow or UGC links, make essential contributions by generating relevant traffic flow and helping boost brand presence. Each has unique strengths; applied strategically, these can be useful for a website desirous of a higher ranking.

To maximize the effectiveness of your backlink strategy, your primary concern needs to be high-quality, relevant links from authoritative sources in your niche. Continuously creating quality content, optimizing media like images and videos, and properly distributing links across your website will all contribute to your long-term success in SEO.

Frequently Asked Questions

Significant backlinks include editorial, do-follow, guest blogging, image, and directory backlinks. Each form carries a different burden when it comes to search rankings.

Dofollow links pass the link equity directly onto your website to raise credibility, thus improving your ranking in Google searches.

While nofollow backlinks do not transfer link equity, they are still useful in driving traffic from other platforms and raising brand awareness.

You create backlinks with guest blogging by writing content for other reputable sites in your niche, sharing something of value, and optimizing that content for readership.

Image backlinks improve the visibility of your website, lure quality links to your site, and boost the chances of being found on image search engines like Google Reverse Image Search.