Backlinking: A Double-edged Sword for SEO Success

Intro

Ever since the introduction of PageRank in 1998, backlinks have stood as a cornerstone strategy in search engine optimization. Anyone who’s been in the digital marketing space employs some sort of link-building campaign in their marketing approach, and for good reason!

Andrey Lipattsev, a then Search Quality Senior Strategist at Google, said backlinks are one of Google’s three primary search ranking factors. Ahrefs and Backlinko corroborate this by finding a direct correlation between the number of backlinks with organic traffic and search ranking, respectively.

There’s just one problem: not all backlinks sprinkle unicorns and rainbows into your SEO campaigns.

In some instances, the very backlinks that build your SEO can also be the ones that destroy it. In this article, I’ll unmask how backlinking could be a double-edged sword in your quest for SEO success.

What Exactly are Backlinks, Again?

(Before we get down to business, I advise you to approach my above statement with an open mind. Backlinks do still matter in 2024, however, there are contexts when backlinks could damage your domain authority, instead of helping it.)

In the simplest sense, backlinks, otherwise known as inbound links, are hyperlinks from one linking page to the page getting linked to. In your case, a backlink occurs when an external web page inserts a link leading back to your website.

These links serve as pathways, connecting different web pages across the internet. Depending on the links’ rel attributes, Google’s web crawler may use backlinks to explore connections between the referring web page and the target link, and even transfer the luscious SEO link juice.

Aside from being portals for web interconnectivity, backlinks can also impact the overall SEO quality of a website or its web pages.

The Benefits of Backlinking

For over 20 years, SEO professionals and entrepreneurs have continuously integrated link building strategies into their campaigns to reap the sweet rewards of backlinks for their business.

Here are some of the benefits of backlinking:

Improved search engine ranking

Here’s the truth: Google cannot read.

Instead, Google relies on complex algorithms to determine how SERPs will look like. One of those algorithms is backlinks, which Google views as endorsements, referrals, or “votes of confidence” from external sources.

Therefore, the more backlinks, the greater credibility, authority, and relevance that Google assigns to your web page, resulting in a more favorable SERP ranking.

Enhanced traffic and exposure

There’s more to ranking #1 on SERPs than just bragging rights. A higher position on search results directly impacts how much web traffic you receive. Backlinko found that the top organic result gets the lion's share of click-throughs versus other results on page 1 of the SERPs.

To be specific, organic position #1 gets 27.6% CTR, meanwhile position #2 only bags 15.8%. This exponentially decreasing trend continues until the end of Google’s page 1 SERPs. You can expect significantly lesser CTRs for results on pages 2 and beyond.

Increased perceived authority

Grabbing Google’s top spot makes your web page the gold standard for that specific query. This increases your perceived authority among searchers. (Take note of the term “perceived”).

While a higher spot on Google SERPs increases your perceived authority on the subject, it doesn’t necessarily indicate a better command or understanding of the topic. Keep in mind that a high SERP position is a sum of various factors. Quite possibly, one simply ranked for a particular keyword ahead of its competitors. It’s also possible that some sites have written better content about the matter but the top-ranking domain is more popular.

Authority is an arbitrary concept in search engine optimization. While Moz describes domain authority as how likely a website or page will rank highly on Google, there is no “human” way to assign tiers of authoritativeness across websites.

The point is that perceived authority is a function of various interconnected factors, one of which is having a good backlink profile.

The Risks and Challenges of Backlinking

The advantages of backlinking for a website are truly undeniable, but they are not without setbacks. If it were otherwise, Google wouldn’t be updating its link-detection mechanisms to distinguish good links from bad ones.

Newsflash: the bad ones can penalize you.

Below, we’ll look at some of the risks and challenges that make backlinking a double-edged sword in your quest for SEO success:

Some backlinks provide no SEO value

Link building is a costly process and uSERP even reports that most companies spend around $1,000-$10,000 per month to build backlinks. Therefore, any sensible entrepreneur will want to maximize every penny spent. Unfortunately, some backlinks provide little to no SEO value rendering their efforts ineffective.

Remember that backlinks are more than just hyperlinks. There is a complex language beneath the syntax that assigns how much value you get from backlinks.

From an HTML perspective, dofollow backlinks offer the most SEO value as they transfer link juice from the linking page to the page it links to. By default, all links are dofollow, but inserting a different rel attribute to the tag can cancel the SEO value of backlinks.

Here are some backlinks with little to no SEO value:

• No-follow links

Nofollow links are created by adding a rel=”nofollow” to the markup. These nofollow attributes are often added when the linking page does not intend to endorse the backlink. As a result, Google’s web crawler does not explore that backlink, and no link equity is passed from the referring web page.

• Sponsored links

Sponsored links are those with a rel=“sponsored” tag, which are used to tell Google two things:

1. The backlink isn’t spam
2. The backlink is paid

Google has strict guidelines about link spamming and, unfortunately, buying links falls into that category.

While Google recognizes that the sale of backlinks is normal in the digital economy, sponsored attributes act as safeguards to protect the link vendor and vendee. With a sponsored tag, the linking page avoids getting penalized by Google and no link juice is transferred to the linked site.

• Backlinks from unrelated sources

Backlinks must always come from websites relevant to your industry. After all, the main purpose of links is to enhance the search experience of users. Obtaining backlinks from unrelated sources only seeks to impede the user experience. As a result, you may get zero link equity from the referring page, or worse, get penalized by Google.

Some backlinks are designed to hurt your SEO

While backlinks are considered helpful for SEO, it's important to recognize that not all backlinks are beneficial. In fact, some backlinks may unknowingly or intentionally harm your website's search engine optimization efforts. Below are some examples of backlinks designed to hurt your SEO:

• Negative backlinks from SEO attacks

With the increasing competitiveness of the digital marketing landscape, some sites engage in malicious backlink attacks that harm their competitors’ SEO.

These malicious backlinks, often referred to as "toxic" or "negative SEO" backlinks, are deployed to sabotage a website's rankings. They may come from low-quality websites, spammy comments, link farms, or even links paid for by unscrupulous competitors.

• Spammy backlinks

Spammy backlinks refer to backlinks obtained from low-quality sites. In some cases, webmasters may engage in spammy backlinking tactics unbeknownst to them.

It’s important to recognize that not all competitors engage in black hat SEO tactics to outrank their niche rivals. Sometimes, website owners are guilty of creating spammy backlinks for their sites. One example is submitting guest posts on low DA websites may alert Google of engagement in spammy link schemes.

• Backlinks from Private Blog Networks

Private Blog Networks (PBNs) are privately owned or managed websites by a single entity that are used to build backlinks within the network. In other words, they operate to artificially boost the authority of a website on search engines.

Individual sites within a PBN may seem legitimate enough. However, the indiscriminate interlinking among the sites to manipulate search rankings violates the provisions of Google’s link spam guidelines.

As a result, engaging in PBNs is considered a black hat SEO tactic that may penalize participating websites.

Even “good” backlinks may damage your DA

More often than not, entrepreneurs and SEO specialists engage in backlinking with the best intentions. Unfortunately, building backlinks in good faith can still damage your DA when left unmanaged.

But what exactly are good backlinks?

Good backlinks are those links coming from relevant and contextually accurate websites with respectable domain authority. Most good backlinks display a natural backlink profile for Google’s web crawlers. They also use proper anchor texts to provide better context for the user, boosting their search experience on Google.

Unfortunately, good backlinks may not always cut it in Google’s eyes. Below are instances when good backlinks create a negative impact on SEO:

• Link exchanges

Link exchanges are described as barter systems between two sites for links. While Google appreciates naturally produced reciprocal links, link exchanges for the sole purpose of cross-linking may violate its spam policies. These links may result in the algorithmic devaluation of both parties involved.

• Backlinks from non-indexed pages

Non-indexed pages are categorized as such for one of two reasons:

1. Google’s web crawlers have not explored the page yet
2. Google’s web crawlers have explored the page but rendered it unfit for indexation

Either way, backlinks coming from non-indexed pages will provide no SEO value to your site until Google indexes them. Backlinks from these sources are considered dead ends in a web crawler’s journey.

Non-indexed sites are tougher to track since these links exist on the web but not on Google’s database. An index-checking tool may come in handy in determining the index status of linking pages and whether you must disavow the link or not.

Having excessive backlinks from non-indexed sources may alert Google that your website is engaging in spammy link schemes, resulting in penalties.

Wrapping up

At the end of the day, backlinking remains a powerful search ranking factor on Google. However, the threat of backlinks being the source of negative SEO also remains true. As such, it is crucial to equip yourself with the tools to prevent backlinks from working against you.

Ranktracker’s backlink monitoring tool is a powerful ally in analyzing essential information regarding your backlinks. This includes rel attributes, anchor texts, DR and URL rating of linking pages, and countless more.

By managing your link building campaigns, you can rest assured that backlinks work in your favor, resulting in the success of your SEO efforts.