Approximately 20% of small businesses in the United States fail within the first year. There is no shortage of reasons this scenario occurs; it’s one of the most common is having a poor online presence.
More often than not, your website is the first point of interaction people will have with your brand. That’s why it’s so important to manage your links going to and from your site.
Backlinks management might seem complicated at first, but it’s easier than most people anticipate. We’ve put together a brief guide with the key information you should keep in mind. Let’s get started.
1. Check Your Link’s Spam Score
Your links’ spam scores have the potential to help or harm your site. As you might assume, links with high spam scores are ones you should avoid at all costs.
If Google discovers that many of your backlinks are from disreputable sites, they could lower your ranking in response. Factors that contribute to spam score include:
- Links from large sites that have few links
- High traffic from countries that normally don’t visit your site
- Poor link diversity
- Spammy blog comments
Assess this attribute every few months so you can take action if necessary.
2. Monitor Competitor Backlinks
To manage your links correctly, you’ll need insight into what your competitors are doing with their backlink strategy. This can guide the type of backlinks you should pursue.
For example, let’s assume you run an independent clothing brand that sells men’s streetwear. You notice that most of your competitors in this space get a large number of their backlinks from authoritative blogs.
You can use this information to create a better backlink strategy and build your link portfolio. You shouldn’t blindly copy your competitors’ links, though.
Not every link to other companies in your industry will be suitable for your business. Keep this in mind when moving forward so you can make the best decision for your needs.
3. Resolve Broken Links ASAP
Having broken links point to your site can be detrimental to your SEO score. If large numbers of links break at once, you might discover that your ranking drops substantially.
The good news is there are plenty of SEO tools you can use to monitor broken or lost links. While there are free ones available, premium options are typically better.
The last thing you want is to mistakenly assume you’ve handled broken links and have them continue to affect your SEO score. The longer you leave broken links unattended, the more of an impact they’ll have. This could prove to be a substantial obstacle that prevents you from getting the results you desire for your site.
4. Check Referral Traffic
Many people overlook the fact that backlinks give you referral traffic. This can substantially improve your site’s performance and even lead to increased sales. The volume and type of referral traffic you get will help you determine if you should keep or remove certain links.
It’s best to get rid of a link that doesn’t bring referral traffic at all. The same is true for links from irrelevant domains or those that come from spammy websites. You should keep links that bring large volumes of referral traffic and those from sites that have relevant audiences.
Think of backlinks as votes of confidence toward your site. When you have a large number of them, more people will trust your site and you’ll generate more traffic.
5. Disavow Poor-Quality Backlinks
If links aren’t meeting your standards, you can disavow them. This prevents them from harming your company’s online performance. To get started, you can use Google’s disavow links tool.
Create a list with the links you wish to get rid of. This list should be in .txt format and have one link per line.
Upload the list and use the tool to select which of your sites you want to disavow the links from. Afterward, check to make sure they’ve been disavowed.
If the links in question are still active, try repeating the process. You can contact Google’s customer support for further guidance if you continue to have problems.
6. Prioritize Sites With High Domain Authority
Sites with a high domain authority will be far more impactful on your search ranking. A site with a domain authority score of 70 or higher will give you a link quality score of 4.
It’s best to strive for this scenario, as it will provide the greatest boost to your SEO score. In some cases, it’s recommended to remove links that have a score lower than four. Doing so helps your backlink profile reach far better levels of performance.
7. Work With a Professional
One of the most important steps you can take when improving your backlink profile is working with a professional. They have the tools and resources to help you overcome the challenges you face. A quick Google search often tells you everything you need to know about their reputation.
Look through their past reviews to see what other people say about the experiences they had. You should also assess how they handle criticism.
Companies that get defensive or aggressive toward negative reviews are ones you should avoid at all costs. A resource like LinkDaddy is a great example of what you should look for
Their pricing is also important to consider. It’s not recommended to choose the cheapest options you encounter. These will likely fall short of your goals due to cutting corners.
However, it’s worth noting that you don’t need to spend as much money as possible. There’s a point of diminishing returns regarding the money you spend. Somewhere in the middle of the price range can help you meet your needs without stretching your budget.
Don’t Overlook Backlinks Management
Without proper backlinks management, you’ll struggle to meet your site’s target performance metrics. The information in this guide will help ensure you make the best decisions for your website.
Looking for other articles on how to run a successful business? Our blog has plenty that you can learn from. Be sure to check them out today!
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