It’s important to understand how to backlink in your blog to optimize your keywords for increased visibility. Many think that backlinking is not needed when writing a blog. However, from my point of view, you are doing yourself and others a disservice if you don’t backlink.

Google is constantly changing their SEO algorithms. For instance, last year alone, Google had about 25 major search algorithm changes, this does not include all of the minor changes that occur throughout the year which usually is about 500-600 changes. It is impossible for people that casually blog to keep up with the changes. However, if you understand the 4 main indicators for Search Engines: Popularity, Authority, Relevance and User Signals, you can create a strong foundation for your blogging practices. Backlinking in your blog supports each of the main Search Engine indicators.

4 Search Engine Signals

SInce Google is constantly changing their algorithms for search, to stay on Google’s good side, you need to have authentic, relevant information and authority within the content and context of your blogs, while optimizing for search. The most important thing you can do is to be in Google’s good graces, this will help you have higher visibility. Staying up to date with all of the algorithm changes being a casual blogger can be challenging. But if you want to stay visible it’s important to be constantly connecting, updating your content and using optimized keywords. One of the best ways to stay visible is to backlink to the keywords you are using in your blog.

Why is Backlinking Important?

• Authority– Backlinking signals authority in an area for Google crawlers. Backlinking signals Google’s crawlers that you are linking back to an authoritative or influential blogger, which is great for SEO. By linking your keywords back to other credible news sites and bloggers, it shows Google that you know important thought leaders in your field. Authority is one of the 4 factors that Google really values online.

• Social Currency- Backlinking provides social currency for others’ that you think create good content. Not only are you blogging for your enjoyment, but for others as well. Therefore, create some connections and give your influencers some social currency. Show your influencers that you appreciate them, and what better way that to applaud them then by helping them with their SEO.

• Further Research– Backlinking gives readers the ability to research further if they choose. Another perk of backlinking is giving your readers the ability to learn more about the topic you are writing about. Through backlinking people can click on the link and discover more about the topic.

• Networking– Backlinking creates connections with other bloggers and hopefully they will return the favor. Through backlinking, you are giving fellow blogger’s a lot of social currency. By giving others social currency, it helps them with their SEO. This is huge. If you give other’s social currency, it is possible that other blogger’s will return the favor and link back to your site. Which is even better for you, because the more people that backlink to you is the best way for you to increase visibility.

• Citations– Backlinking cites information that is not your own thought. It’s always important to give people credit for their intellectual property. The best way to do cite others is to backlink. No one wants to read an APA citation in a blog. Instead, cite others, give them social currency and give your readers the ability to learn more.

Types of Backlinking

There are a number of strategies to backlink. The three most common types of backlinking that I have come across are the Sectional Backlinking, the In-Text Backlinking and a hybrid approach to the two. Personally, I think that In-text Backlinking creates the best user experience, so I teach the In-text Backlinking.

Sectional Backlinking

Some like to have a section in between paragraphs that says Read more here: with a link. Another method, which I think is better for blogging, is In-text Backlinking.

In- text Backlinking

From my perspective, In- text Backlinking is the best way to backlink since you are including the link within the text. The In-text Backlinking includes a streamlined reader experience without disrupting the flow of the reader. Two examples of great In-text Backlinking are the BufferApp Blog and Forbes’ blog. Here are some examples:

BufferApp Blog– The contributors of the Buffer blog do a great job of In- text Backlinking. An example of Buffer Blogs using In-text backlinking is shown in 25 Questions to Help you Define Your Social Media Strategy. The author starts with the keywords they are optimizing their blog with. Next, the author backlinks to the keywords within the first sentence and one more time in the first paragraph, therefore in the first paragraph they backlink to the keywords twice. The author also moves down and backlinks to thought leaders, using them as examples.

Forbes– The authors of Forbes’ provide another successful example of In-text backlinking with their 5 Great Editorial Tools for your Startup Blog. In this Blog, the author backlinks to let their readers’ have the opportunity to learn more about the topic of blogging. Also, the author backlinks to the applications they are addressing in their article. Finally, the author backlinks to a source that they are citing based on a statistic they used in their post.

Hybrid Backlinking

The Hybrid approach of backlinking combines both In-Text backlinking as well as Sectional Backlinking. This new approach to backlinking gives the reader the ability to see the references, however also they have the ability to dig deeper into a certain area with other articles. Mashable, the grandfather of blogging, has really perfected this approach.

Mashable– The contributors to the Mashable blog provide great examples of the Hybrid approach to backlinking with all of their posts. One of their most recent posts of interest comes from Twitter Tests “Instant Timelines”. In this article, Mashable cites the news source which they are referencing through In-text Backlinking, while giving their readers a place to learn more about what Twitter is doing with their “SEE ALSO” area.

Yahoo Parenting– This article about Tom Brady and co-parenting does a phenomenal job at creating a hybrid approach to backlinking. Not only do they create the In-text backlinks, however they also include the Sectional backlinks as well. This is important for the reader especially for Parenting. A lot of parents want to learn more about positive parenting, but want to continue to read the article. Therefore, it’s important to do a hybrid approach to understanding backlinking. By the way, I am a huge Patriots fan and is why I wanted to show this article. Go Pats! #DoYourJob!

How do you Backlink?

There are many different ways to backlink on the various blogging platforms. In most blogging platforms that do not require HTML is usually similar.

Steps to Backlink

1. Highlight the text that you want to backlink (this should be a keyword or a phrase of information).
2. Copy the URL that you want to reference.
3. Click on the link that looks like a paperclip .
4. Paste the link in the space that reads URL.
5. Usually, I press the “Target” and choose the “Open In New Window” option. This way if someone does click on your In-text Backlink, they will not be steered away from your blog post.

That’s it. Pretty simple for something that will help your visibility through SEO tenfold. Good luck and always remember to backlink!