Mueller Discusses Natural Backlinks In Depth

Today, SEO companies and webmasters aim to use quality backlinks for their websites. However, most of them are unaware of what quality backlinks really mean. In a Google SEO Office Hours episode, Google’s John Mueller discussed quality backlinks in depth and advised professional SEO companies on some of the best strategies to solve the problem of attracting natural backlinks.

Backlinks are URLs that redirect a webpage to someone else’s webpage. The term “backlink” first emerged when sites engaged in reciprocal link strategies. A webmaster will link their website to another site so that the latter will do the same – a mutual exchange of links to promote each other’s brand.

Sometimes, backlinks are called “inbound links”. SEOs first used this term to differentiate them from “outbound links”, which refers to a link that redirects readers to a different website.

Moreover, the terms “backlinks” and “outbound links” also help to properly distinguish internal links, which refers to a link that points to another webpage within the same website.

Backlinks have different classifications, including reciprocal links, guest post links, paid links, and so on. But it’s also possible to separate them into two main categories: natural and unnatural backlinks. Quality backlinks can be classified as the former.

The SEO who asked Mueller wondered what quality backlinks really mean and how Google distinguishes natural backlinks from paid backlinks.

In response, Mueller told them not to focus on backlinks first because they can easily get stuck in a situation wherein they force themselves to make their backlinks look like quality backlinks.

For instance, some SEOs stress themselves out with making their unnatural backlinks look natural, and it can be easy for them to spend too much time focusing on just that. Instead, Mueller advised SEOs to focus on the website itself first.

Then, he explained that SEO companies and website owners should be always ready to find new opportunities for self-promotion, and this is one of the best ways to make their website get known. According to Mueller, SEOs and webmasters can look for a chance where they can mention their website while advertising other brands. This way, other people can notice their site and begin linking to it.

And from Google’s perspective, backlinks should not be organised, paid for, and or artificially created. Instead, they should come naturally from people who like the website’s content.

Mueller also pointed out the very essence of “build and tell” linkbuilding. Firstly, SEOs need to build. This entails researching what their targeted audience wants to read and or link to, then creating something that links to that content. Secondly, they should tell others what they have created, especially the people who will surely link to that content. These two should go hand in hand because building without telling is not efficient. Moreover, Mueller advised the SEO community to shift their focus on self-promotion instead of focusing on just the links.

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