We have created an assessment methodology for evaluating the benefit of individual backlinks to your website. First, we’ll look at what factors influence a good backlink followed by top sources of backlinks. 

Primary Backlink Quality Considerations

The list below highlights the most important characteristics of a backlink. These should be prioritized in this order when ranking which backlink sources are the most valuable. 

Note: Only the first backlink on a given domain matters. Additional backlinks do not create additive effects but do not hurt you either. 

1. Domain Rating/Google Trust (40%): The domain rating (check with Ahrefs) represents numerically, from 0-100, an estimation of how trusted a website is by Google. The higher the domain rating, the more valuable a link from that site is worth. 
2. Contextual Relevance (30%): The linking website must be directly related or highly correlated to your website. The Google Algorithm prioritizes links from websites within your niche because they are seen as more authoritative and beneficial. 
3. Anchor Text (15%): The clickable text (hyperlink) should be relevant to the page it is linking to. It is crucial to avoid over-optimizing the anchor text, but strategically placed anchor text goes a long way. 
4. Link Placement (8%): In most cases, links placed within the main body of the website are worth more than links in the footer, sidebar, or navigational menu. Additionally, the higher up a link is found on the page, the better.
5. Site Usability and Performance (7%): The linking site should be mobile friendly, have a fast loading speed, and navigational ease.

The Best Backlink Sources of 2024

The table below highlights the top backlink sources of 2024. These are ranked by the overall benefit to your website per 1 backlink acquired from each source. 

Note: Factors may change based on the specific company chosen underneath a source type. In ranking which websites to pursue backlinks on, Social Media sites are excluded because links are typically “no follow”, meaning they do not count as a backlink. 

Backlink Evaluation Examples

In this section, we’ve taken some example backlinks and assessed their value based on the algorithm. 

First Page Sage Link to Focus Digital

First Page Sage recently included us in their article, The Top Healthcare SEO Agencies. Let’s evaluate the overall benefit of the backlink to our website. 

Overall Benefit for Focus Digital: Very High

This backlink was perhaps among the highest quality obtainable because it is from a company in our industry with a high amount of contextual relevance and Google Trust. Also, First Page Sage placed our link inside specific anchor text (“Focus Digital”), near the top of the body of the page, and their site is very user-friendly on desktop and mobile. 

Tracebit Link to Chris Farris

On the Tracebit blog, they linked to Chris Farris in the acknowledgment section of a blog post on AWS account IDs. Here’s the evaluation:

Overall Benefit for Chris Farris: Low to Moderate

Given Chris Farris has a domain rating of 32/100 at the time of writing, it is unlikely that Tracebit’s link gave him any sort of overall lift. However, the pooling of many backlinks such as this one would be moderately or even highly impactful for Chris’s website. 

Crunchbase Link to Microsoft

Crunchbase hosts an organization page about Microsoft in their database. Here is how we evaluated the effect for Microsoft:

Overall Benefit for Microsoft: Low

Even though Crunchbase has a high domain rating, linking to Microsoft from a database will not help Microsoft much because the database is not directly related to computer software, which is the primary focus of Microsoft. Also, Microsoft already has a high trust score from Google, so the additive effect of the Crunchbase link makes virtually no difference. 

High-Quality Content – The #1 Best Practice for Acquiring Backlinks

In this section, we’ve included actionable steps to building high-quality backlinks. The best practice for doing so will be publishing high-quality content, but there are some other helpful practices included. 

• Consistent Publication of High-Quality Content: The most important factor in building backlinks is consistently publishing content worth linking to by other websites. Content should be unique and highly satisfying to the search intent of the user.
• Creation of Data/Metrics Pieces: Proprietary industry data published on your website has the highest chance of being linked to by other websites.
• Visual Content: Custom infographics, tables, and charts drastically improve the web experience on your page and incentivize other websites to link to your site.
• Industry Forums: Engagement in relevant online communities will allow you to show off your content to others who may link back to your website.
• Broken Link Building: This practice involves finding broken links from other websites within your niche, then reaching out and suggesting they replace it with a piece of relevant content from your website.
• Outreach to Relevant Sites: If you see a particular site that needs a piece of information provided on your site, reach out and suggest it as a resource.
• List Your Site in Reputable Directories: Listing your site in well-known industry-relevant directories can be beneficial.
• Regularly Update Content: Ensure your content is fresh and regularly updated to ensure people view it as a current and reliable source.

Next Steps

If you are looking for a partner to create and publish high-quality content and data pieces in your industry, consider a partnership with us. Start the conversation on our Contact Us page.

Sources:

First Page Sage