Here’s a list of ten important link metrics that you should check before building backlinks. Learn about the complete link-building checklist with this guide. This article is written by Het Balar, an SEO expert.
Link building is an important part of SEO and helps to increase the credibility of your website.
However, you cannot just add links to your website. Before you take part in building backlinks, you need to know the value or equity of the potential link.
Link metrics can help you do this. We have various metrics for measuring SEO success. Similarly, we have link metrics to measure the quality of the link.
Knowing these metrics will help you determine whether the link is worth it or not. Moreover, it will also help you with link profile analysis.
Remember that Google only promotes websites with high-quality links. So, if you want your site to get a better ranking, it is important to understand link metrics SEO.
In this article, we are going to discuss the important metrics for link building you should check before adding any backlinks.
About Link Metrics
Link metrics are a group of criteria that help you to measure search results. It includes a set of important factors which you need to measure when link building.
These metrics show the health of a website, including domain authority, relevance, and credibility. Knowing these metrics is important as they help in determining the value of potential collaborations with other websites.
10 Important Link Metrics You Must Check Before Link Building
While there are many link metrics, here are the 10 most important ones you must check.
1. Domain Authority
Domain authority is a simple method for assessing a domain’s strength concerning other domains. It operates on a scale of 0 to 100, with 100 representing the highest level.
Derived from various signals, it allows you to check a domain’s potential performance in search results. The DA metric for link building offers a rough estimation of a specific domain’s strength.
If you are looking for websites with good domain authority to build links, visit Link Publishers. They offer the best link-building services and a strong network of websites with good domain authority.
2. Page Authority
Merely checking the domain authority isn’t sufficient for link building success; the page authority is also crucial. This metric is essential when aiming to get a link from an existing page rather than a new one.
Let’s say your website is about dog toys and could be added to an already existing list of the best places to buy dog toys in California. It’s crucial to assess the page’s strength before working hard to obtain the link.
Page authority focuses on a single page, not the entire website. The higher the page authority of the page you want a link to, the more it can help your SEO efforts.
3. Anchor Text
Anchor text is the clickable text that holds a link to your site. It tells Google what the linked page is about. For example, if a page is linked with the words “gardening tips,” it shows that the linked page has information on gardening.
Google uses this information to boost the linked page’s rank for keywords like “gardening tips.” Make sure to use keywords naturally in the anchor text without using too many of the same kinds of links, especially from low-quality websites.
4. PageRank
Google calculates PageRank based on the quality and quantity of links directed to a webpage. This metric operates on a scale from 0 to 1, with 1 signifying the highest rank.
Every indexed and ranked page on Google’s search results is assigned a PageRank score. It is continually updated in real-time.
Although the Google Toolbar previously estimated PageRank, it stopped in 2016, making it an unusable metric.
However, PageRank remains crucial for Google’s internal workings and significantly impacts its search algorithm. Because of this reason, it is essential to check the PageRank before creating backlinks.
5. Number of Links
Checking the number of links is crucial when assessing your website’s performance. It’s not just about keeping count of your own links but also about seeing how your website compares to others.
The total number of links leading to your website is a significant signal for ranking. However, it’s important to note that link quality is just as, if not more, essential than quantity.
Using the number of links helps you measure how well your link-building efforts are working.
You can also use it to compare your website with competitors. By comparing the number of your links to those of your competitors, you can discover differences that might affect your rankings.
6. Type of Link
The two most common types of links used are do-follow and no-follow. Do-follow links are the ideal choice as they create a connection and let search engines explore the web to see how sites link to each other. It also passes on-site authority or link juice from one site to another.
A no-follow link, on the other hand, has a code instructing search engine bots not to follow it. No-follow links, in Google’s opinion, don’t provide the connected website any PageRank or link juice. Therefore, if these links lead to your website, their presence doesn’t really affect your ranking.
7. Linking Root Domains
Linking root domains shows how many different domains link to your website. This is a crucial metric to check when it comes to link building.
For instance, even though there are five links coming from the same website but blogs to your website, it only counts as one linked root domain. On the other hand, if two blogs from different websites link to you, that counts as two links and two linked root domains.
Since it more accurately represents the popularity of your website, the number of linking root domains is more significant than the overall number of links. Having links from multiple domains is preferable to having links from only one.
8. Position of Links on the Page
Think about this situation: You live in California and run a blog about gardening. You want to share a link to a great local gardening shop with your readers. Where’s the best place to put this link on your page?
For your readers to easily see it, it’s best to put it in a noticeable spot, like in the main part of the page, preferably near the top. Putting it within content that talks about how great the gardening shop is will make more people notice it.
But putting the link in the footer isn’t a good idea. Many users might not scroll down that far, and they don’t expect important links to be hidden in the footer.
9. Relevance of Linking Page
There’s been debate about how important it is for a linking page to match your website’s topic when Google rates a link. It makes sense because similar websites usually link to each other.
Imagine the CNN homepage linking to your gardening website. Even though CNN isn’t about gardening, it’d still be unwise to turn down that link.
Apart from getting links, the main goal is to bring interested visitors to your site who might become customers. So, it’s crucial to put your links where potential customers visit. Right now, the best plan is to focus on good-quality links that pass along their strength and to aim for links from places that match your audience.
10. Age of Referring Page
How long a page has been around matters for a website’s trust and authority. If your website has many strong links that have been there for a while, it’s a good sign for people to trust your site.
How Do Link Metrics Work While Doing SEO for Financials?
Link metrics play a crucial role in boosting financial services SEO. These metrics gauge the relevance and authority of websites linking to financial content. Search engines view quality backlinks as votes of confidence, impacting a site’s ranking. For financial services SEO, it’s vital to acquire links from reputable finance-related sites.
The number of links, their quality, and their relevance contribute to a site’s credibility. Monitoring link metrics helps SEO professionals assess the effectiveness of their strategies.
Conclusion
These are the 10 most important link metrics that can affect your link-building efforts. Understanding and evaluating these metrics will help you build a strong online presence and authority for your website.
If you want to meet all the important link-building criteria, Link Publishers can help. They offer the best guest posting services in the USA and will help you secure links from authority sites to boost your search ranking.
Author Bio:
Het Balar
Het Balar is an SEO expert with over seven years of experience helping businesses rank higher on search engines.
He is the founder of Link Publishers, a guest posting marketplace that offers guest posting, link building, SEO, content writing, and content marketing services. He loves to write about SEO trends and best practices in digital marketing.
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/het-balar/