Why are backlinks so damn important?

Backlinks are the backbone of search engine optimization. But before we go into detail about their importance, we need to understand how search engines like Google work. The main purpose of search engines is to provide users with the most relevant and highest quality information. And to do that, they rely heavily on backlinks.

A look at Google's algorithm

From the beginning, Google has judged the value of a website based on the quantity and quality of links pointing to it. This has been demonstrated in their groundbreaking PageRank algorithm clearly. This algorithm compared websites with scientific papers. The more references (backlinks) a scientific paper has, the more important it is considered to be. The situation is similar with websites.

Relevance and authority

Backlinks help search engines to determine the relevance and authority of a website.

Example: Imagine you have a blog about "vegan lifestyle". If renowned health and nutrition sites regularly link to your blog, search engines will recognize that your content is relevant and trustworthy.

Organic traffic

A high-quality backlink is like a recommendation from another website. It not only increases your ranking in search engines, but also brings direct organic traffic.

Example: A backlink from a popular recipe site can bring you thousands of visitors looking for vegan recipes.

Diversification and resilience

With a large number of high-quality backlinks, you strengthen the resilience of your website to algorithm changes. If a backlink source loses value, you still have many other valuable links.

Example: A link from a news website and another from a reputable blog will give your website a diverse link profile.

Sources

1. „How Google Search Works.“ Google. Link
2. Brin, S., & Page, L. (1996). „The anatomy of a large-scale hypertextual Web search engine.“ Computer Networks and ISDN Systems, 30(1-7), 107-117.
3. „The Value of Backlinks.“ MOZ. Link