Undoubtably one of hardest parts of the entire SEO process is earning and building high-quality backlinks.

So, when a Bristol SEO agency states to a client we need to be earning more backlinks, well, the client may just be a bit cynical and believe that the seo company is just trying to get more money out of them.

However, here’s the thing, in reality often a business will need more backlinks. The reason for this is backlinks are often what separates a business at the top of Google, and those which are lower down the page.

So why is this so?

Well, in a nutshell some businesses think that SEO is like switching on the lights in your home- by this we mean some company’s think that as soon as start paying, then its like switching on a switch, and then the business appears on the first page of Google like magic.

However, in reality nothing could be further from the truth.

In reality businesses in Bath, England and also Bristol will have often worked hard for many years to get their business onto the first page.

And when we say these two cities, often businesses will have worked with a marketing company like ours for a long time to achieve this.

Then on the other side of the scale you have businesses which appear on a national scale, such as car insurance company’s now the amount of SEO work needed then is absolutely colossal.

But why does an SEO company need to do so much work to get a business onto the first page of Google?

Well, you should think of each business that’s on the first page of Google as a bar chart, that’s to say the business that ranks number one has say 100% of the bar.

Then the businesses that rank below have say less, say business number two has 95%.

Yet to get near those businesses the company must beat those company’s over 200 different factors.

What are these factors?

Well, us SEO agencies call these ranking factors, now a business that’s on the first page here in Bristol may have a serious competitive advantage over all the other businesses, so they are unlikely to give up that advantage without a fight, this is why businesses will often strengthen their SEO so another business cannot overtake the company, that’s even when the business is at the very top of Google’s results.

The reason being is in some industries, just moving down one or two places in the SERP’s could mean that the businesses sales get affected by quite a bit.

This is why SEO is often relentless, it never stops, most businesses will always be working on improving their SEO, never stopping to allow more businesses to take their spot.

So this is why businesses often recruit inhouse SEO consultants, or specialist SEO agencies like us here at Digital Tailors, which are based in Bath and also in the city of Bristol, England.

Why are backlinks so important?

Well, as you would expect most businesses are going to sing from the rooftops how good their products or services are on their own websites.

Yet, there has to be a way of differentiating between which websites are deemed as offering the best information.

So broadly speaking SEO can be split into two separate groups, that’s the onsite seo, so that’s writing all the interesting blog posts that your business publishes on its website for example.

And also improving the following:

·        Meta titles

·        Meta descriptions

·        Alt text

·        Anchor text

·        Internal backlinks

·        Content marketing

·        Speed

And the purpose of onsite seo is to make your website more relevant, so say somebody is looking for a local vets, well if your website offers loads of information about how to care for animals, such as which foods shouldn’t be fed to your dog , well your website could be deemed more relevant for looking after your pet, and also terms relating to vets.

But here’s where offsite SEO is always helpful, it can make your website have more authority by sending what’s called “link juice” to that website.

So digital marketing agencies will build high quality backlinks so that Googlebot can crawl and index these links.

When Googlebot crawls and indexes the backlinks, if the backlinks are high-quality and relevant to your business, then this can improve your rankings.

And what do we mean by relevant?

Well, if you run say a classic car dealership in Bath, in the South West of England, and lets say you sell prestige cars, then you should look to obtain quality backlinks, from websites that are to do with cars, or more ideally websites that are to do with classic cars.

And does a business just need a few backlinks?

No, often what is needed is hundreds, if not thousands of good quality backlinks for the business to get onto the first page of Google.

Notice that we used the wording “good-quality”- well, that’s with really good reason, that’s because if the backlinks are of good quality, then Googlebot and Google’s algorithm will know that the links are of high-quality and that they come from a quality website, such as The Guardian Newspaper for example, that’s a high-quality website.

Yet, if you hire the wrong SEO company in Bristol, or indeed anywhere in the U.K or the world for that matter, and that business doesn’t build high-quality backlinks, well, what can happen is the website obtains a penalty.

Algorithmic penalties and manual penalties   

If a marketing agency was to build low-quality backlinks, or lets say a business was to build low quality backlinks themselves, then the business could incur a penalty.

For example, many businesses in Bristol have built low-quality backlinks, often by buying backlinks, then the business has been hit by a Google Penguin penalty.

This means that the business could be removed from Google, or the  business may see a page or the whole website move down the ranks.

And what do we mean by that.

Well, say the business was on page one of Google, after the business has been hit by a penalty, lets say a Google Penguin penalty, then the business may get ranked on page 10 of Google.

So to avoid such penalties all businesses must adhere to Google’s Webmaster Guidelines, plus all the work implemented must be white hat.

Some Seo agencies here in Bristol will try to cut corners, sometimes this is because they are under pressure from the client to generate results, then the business that is building backlinks may build low quality backlinks, which when noticed by Googlebot and Google’s algorithm will mean that the business receives a Google penalty.

What does link juice mean?

A website that’s widely respected, for example let’s say MOZ, which is a website that SEO’s gain advice from, well this website will have a lot of link juice.

And link juice simply means that the website has a lot of good quality websites which link to that website, which are do-follow backlinks, so link juice is passed over. So for example let’s say the BBC that will have a lot of links following to www.bbc.co.uk/news so this means that there is a lot of good quality link juice following to that site, so when the BBC links to another site, that site may also receive link juice which will  help  to improve that websites seo.

So, in a nutshell, your business will want good quality websites linking to it, which are relevant to your business which can also pass link juice.

The more good quality websites that link to your website, the more link juice and your businesses rankings can improve.

Okay, so your saying the more backlinks the better?

No-  we are not saying that, don’t think that quantity is more important than quality.

Quality is the most important thing that you must consider when building backlinks.

So, for example, if you were to purchase a new car, would you trust a car review from a local dealership that sells just that make of car?

Nope probably not. Would you trust a website that reviews load of different cars, which is impartial and which is widely regarded as an authority on everything to do with the automotive industry?

Yes, you would, and this is what your business should think about, your business has to look to be earning backlinks from good quality websites.

If you are in any doubt as to where you should be earning backlinks from, we would strongly recommend speaking to an seo agency for help.

The reason being is if backlinks are built incorrectly, well, this could mean that the business incurs a penalty, such as a Google Penguin penalty.

Okay, so how should my business be obtaining backlinks?

We would strongly recommend that your business earns backlinks, that’s to say never ever purchase backlinks.

So many businesses that have purchased backlinks have incurred a link penalty. So, with that in mind don’t purchase backlinks, instead earn them.

What do you mean by earning backlinks?

What we mean is using the knowledge that’s within your company to create blog posts, and content marketing that show’s off your company’s knowledge.

So, let’s say for example you run a construction business, and your business specialises in loft conversions and property extensions.

Now you may offer loads of advice on how you build your loft conversions and property extensions on your website, and we think that’s a good idea.

Now this is where some people may well be thinking, good idea! How’s it a good idea to be giving away information for free, if people start building their own loft conversions from the advice I give, well I will be out of business.

Well, here’s the thing, most businesses give away information for free, whether that’s a mobile phone shop reviewing a new smartphone, or a builder explaining how they build their property extensions.

The truth is this, by adding blog posts to your website you could obtain the following:

·        Keep people on your website for longer

·        Reduce your businesses bounce rate

·        Obtain more backlinks

Notice how we mentioned obtain more backlinks, and you’re probably thinking well how is that so?

Well, someone who runs a blog that talks about home improvements, may well be writing an article about how to convert dead space, i.e loft space, into another room within your home.

They may like your article that you have written on your construction website, so they mention your blog post, and link to your article about how to build a loft conversion.

And that’s how you earn links.

Okay, can your business help us with our SEO, we simply haven’t got the time to be working on our SEO

Sure, whether your business requires organic seo, or local seo we can help.

We offer very affordable prices, so why not give us a ring?