What Are Natural Links and How Do They Affect Your SEO?
Natural links are links other websites give to your content without your incentive or manipulation. They are a sign of trust and authority and can boost your SEO rankings and traffic. In this post, you will learn what natural links are, how they affect your SEO, how to tell them apart from unnatural links, and how to earn them with quality content.
What are natural links?
Natural links are links placed by other website owners or editors to your content because they find it valuable, relevant, or interesting for their audience. External factors, such as money, gifts, favors, or requests, do not influence them. They are also not created by automated tools or bots.
Natural links are also called organic links or editorial links. They are the opposite of unnatural links, which are links that are created or obtained by violating Google's Webmaster Guidelines. Unnatural links can harm your SEO and result in penalties from Google.
How do natural links affect your SEO?
Natural links affect your SEO in several positive ways. They can:
· Increase your domain authority and page authority, which are metrics that measure the quality and popularity of your website and its pages. The more natural links you have from high-authority websites, the higher your authority scores will be.
· Improve your relevance and diversity, which Google considers when ranking your website for different keywords and topics. The more natural links you have from relevant and diverse websites, the more likely Google will see your website as a trustworthy source of information.
· Drive more traffic and conversions, which are the ultimate goals of any website owner. The more natural links you have from websites with a large and engaged audience, the more potential visitors and customers you can attract.
How to tell natural links apart from unnatural links?
It can be challenging to tell natural links apart from unnatural ones, especially if you are unfamiliar with the websites that link to you. However, some signs can help you identify unnatural links, such as:
· The link is placed on a spammy or irrelevant website with nothing to do with your niche or industry.
· The link is placed in a hidden or manipulated way that is not visible or natural for the users, such as using white text on a white background, CSS tricks, or JavaScript redirects.
· The link is placed in an over-optimized or keyword-stuffed anchor text that does not match the page's context or content, such as using exact-match keywords or phrases unrelated to the topic.
· The link is placed in an excessive or unnatural number or pattern that does not reflect the normal distribution of links on the web, such as having too many links from the same domain, links with the exact anchor text, or links from low-quality websites.
If you find any unnatural links pointing to your website, you should try to remove them or disavow them using Google's Disavow Tool. This will help you avoid any negative impact on your SEO.
How to earn natural links with quality content?
The best way to earn natural links is to create quality content that provides value, relevance, and interest for your target audience. Quality content can be in any format, such as blog posts, videos, podcasts, infographics, ebooks, etc. However, regardless of the format, quality content should have some common characteristics, such as:
· It should be original and unique, meaning it should not be copied or duplicated from other sources. It should also offer a fresh perspective or insight on the topic.
· It should be informative and valuable, meaning it should answer a question, solve a problem, teach a skill, or benefit the readers. Facts, data, research, or examples should also back it.
· It should be engaging and entertaining, meaning it should capture the attention and interest of the readers. It should also use clear and compelling language, tone, and style.
· It should be optimized and accessible and follow the best SEO and web design practices. It should also use appropriate keywords, titles, headings, meta tags, images, videos, etc.
Creating quality content that meets these criteria will increase your chances of earning natural links from other websites that appreciate and value your content. You will also improve your SEO performance and achieve your website goals.
Conclusion
Natural links are one of the most critical factors for SEO success. They can boost authority, relevance, diversity, traffic, and conversions. However, natural links take work to get. You need to create quality content that attracts and satisfies your audience. Avoiding unnatural links that can harm your SEO and reputation would be best. Following the tips and guidelines in this post can earn natural links and improve your SEO results. Contact us for more SEO assistance.