A link profile provides a clear overview of your backlinks. A backlink is a link placed on an external website that—when you click on it—redirects you to your website. In your link profile, you can therefore see exactly which external pages your backlinks are located on. The corresponding anchor texts are also listed here. You build a strong link profile through activities and techniques that fall under link building (an important part of SEO). Below, you can read how this generally works and what you should pay attention to.
Quality vs. Quantity
In your link profile, you can track your number of backlinks. This is an important metric, because in principle, you can assume that the more backlinks you have, the better your link profile is. And that, in turn, has a positive impact on your website’s organic discoverability.
Whereas previously the number of backlinks was still the most important aspect of your link profile—and thus of link building—that is no longer the case. Nowadays, the algorithms of Google and other online search engines place greater value on high-quality backlinks with a high degree of relevance. These factors are determined by the quality and authority of the website from which the link originates. A detailed link profile can also provide further insight into this.
How do you ensure a high-quality backlink profile?
Alright, so to implement a solid link-building strategy, it’s crucial to secure high-quality backlinks. To achieve this, it’s wise to take the following tips to heart:
- Choose external websites that share common ground with your field of work, products, and/or services. These types of websites are ideal for placing backlinks.
- Research the domain authority of external websites. There are several useful tools for this, such as Ahrefs or SEMrush.
- Embed your backlinks in strong, relevant, informative, and innovative articles.
- Do not focus on increasing the number of backlinks as quickly as possible. Google may view this as unnatural and implausible, which could even cause your actions to backfire.
- If in doubt, seek advice from professionals at, for example, an external online marketing agency with proven expertise in link building.
Keep up with updates from online search engines
One of the factors that can complicate your SEO activities is the fact that it is not entirely clear how the algorithms of online search engines like Google and Bing function. On top of that, changes and updates to these algorithms and the guidelines surrounding them occur on a regular basis. In any case, it’s important to stay up to date on these changing guidelines. That way, you’ll be prepared when it looks like adjustments are needed to your SEO strategy in general or your link building in particular.
