In search engine optimization (SEO), your success is dependent on your ability to effectively strategize and execute that strategy. There are many ways you can plan incorrectly or set the wrong goals, and there are many ways you can incorrectly execute your vision.
You can evaluate your progress by studying a number of different metrics. You can check your search engine rankings for your target keywords, your organic traffic and, among other things, your backlink profile. But what exactly is your backlink profile, and why is it so important for SEO?
Your “backlink profile” is an overview of the backlinks currently pointing to your website. These backlinks may come from a variety of sources, including publishers, nonprofit organizations and partnered institutions, but they all point to your domain in some way. Using the proper tools, you’ll be able to see how many links you have, where those links are coming from, the strength of those links and other factors.
Why are backlinks such a big deal?
Google’s ranking algorithm is complicated, and we don’t know everything about it, but we do know that it preferentially ranks domains and pages that have been evaluated as authoritative or “trustworthy.” The higher the authority of a site or page, the higher it’s going to rank for relevant terms.
So how do you get that authority? One of the best, most direct methods is to build backlinks. A backlink from a website is viewed as a kind of trust signal — a vote of confidence that the destination site is valuable for an audience member. The more backlinks you earn, and the stronger those backlinks are, the higher you’re going to rank.
Of course, the downside is that if you’re caught manipulating your rank by building unnatural or spammy backlinks, you could face a significant penalty.
Backlink profiles, therefore, are indispensable tools to help guide your link earning and building practices — and to help you weed out “bad” links that could otherwise bring you down.
How do you evaluate your backlink profile? The easiest method is to use a backlink checker tool, which will give you a breakdown of every link pointing to your site. All you’ll have to do is provide your domain, and the tool will take care of the rest.
What exactly should you be looking for?
You’ll want to check a number of variables, including:
If you want to see the best SEO results, it’s important to conduct a backlink profile analysis at least once a month, if not more often. This way, you can keep tabs on the links you’re building, ensure you’re not violating Google’s terms of service and address issues before they become severe enough to threaten your SEO strategy.
Originally appeared in Entrepreneur