Getting SEO Backlinks From Authority Sites

Not all backlinks are suitable for your website’s SEO. Search engines see spam and unrelated links as red flags for content quality. That is why one common tactic SEO agency experts use to help websites is to assist clients in building their backlink profiles from authoritative websites.

This guide talks in depth about the relationship between backlinks from authority sites and SEO.

• An introduction to backlinks and SEO
• The concept of authority and how Google determines it
• Three ways to start building your backlink profile today

There’s a lot to discuss, so get ready to take notes.

Let’s go!

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What Are Backlinks and Why Do They Matter in SEO?

A backlink is an external link on another website that points to your website and refers to your content. It signals that you are a source of valid and valuable information on a subject. Users and search engines use it to figure out which websites are trustworthy and authoritative.

Similar to how you vet your resources for content, your audience wants to know that your content provides accurate and verifiable information. That ties into the idea that users must love you first for search engines to love you. After all, you do SEO primarily for the benefit of users.

Backlinks from authority sites add to your website’s authority because people trust those sources to have stricter content guidelines and to conduct their due diligence when citing outside works. Users will know they can trust your website and content if it has backlinks from reputable sites.

How Google Determines Authority

Regularly producing new content is one factor Google uses to determine website authority. Information is constantly changing, and stale content tells search engines and users to look elsewhere for reliable information. That is why having a proper content strategy is essential for SEO success.

Google also has a complicated and detailed way of figuring out if your content meets users' needs. The part you should be most aware of is experience, expertise, authority, and trustworthiness (E-E-A-T), which sets the gold standard for high-quality content.

Here is a brief explanation of each E-E-A-T factor and what it means for you:

• Experience is the new addition to Google’s rating, introduced to separate thoughtful and unique content from purely AI-generated ones. This facet of E-E-A-T comes from the first-hand experience you share with readers to guide them.
• Expertise measures your knowledge of the subject and how well-researched your content is. In a nutshell, your information must be verifiable against the consensus of leading experts, scientists, and other professionals in the field.
• Authority refers to your reputation as a dependable source of information more than anything else. Having your content posted in many places is the best example of this criterion in practice, especially in the case of news outlets or expert blogs.
• Trust results from fulfilling the first three criteria rather than being a standalone criterion itself. Why? That is because context matters just as much, if not more, as any of the above in determining which content meets E-E-A-T standards.

3 Strategies to Build Backlinks

Typically, SEO agency experts recommend writing consistently high-quality content. That approach is usually enough to secure backlinks from reasonably reputable websites. However, other more effective and efficient link-building strategies are available for anyone to follow.

To get the attention of highly authoritative sources, such as news outlets and thought leaders, you need to rethink a little. These people want specific types of content that are not always doable without extensive effort. Of course, the compensation is more than worth the trouble.
Below are three expert-level strategies you can put into action right now for quality backlinks.

     1. Be a Source of Valuable Information

Putting out good content is without a doubt the best way to get backlinks from high-quality sites. Although they are often large companies with expendable resources, getting ready-made information is still important to them. Cutting down on research time is a top priority.

It happens most with news outlets that work within strict deadlines and compete to cover the latest happenings in every sector of daily life. Addressing this niche need takes many forms, from publishing relevant statistics to covering recent developments in your industry.

For instance, usage and production statistics are always vital to writing business and economic news. On the other hand, being the first to address trends, such as successfully adapting to AI in the workplace, can make you the go-to for companies as well as bloggers and journalists.

     2. Connect and Collaborate for Content

When opportunities for link building are scarce (or even when they are not), you can take the initiative to make some for yourself. You have many options here, particularly ones that rely on networking. This concept functions similarly to the influencer marketing strategy.

The major difference is that, rather than paying someone to promote you, both parties benefit from working together. Writing guest posts for other reputable blogs or appearing as an expert on a webinar are prime examples. Best of all, this strategy builds long-term partnerships.

Collaborations also present you with different opportunities for backlinks. External links in blog posts aside, links to your website can also appear in webinar description boxes or social media posts. These backlinks contribute to website traffic, which passively builds your authority.

     3. Devise a Strong PR Outreach Plan

As repeatedly mentioned, news outlets are prime real estate for backlinks. They are generally a trusted and respected source of information for the wider population. That puts them at the top of the authority ratings of search engines, so their backlinks can greatly benefit your SEO strategy.

Create a PR outreach strategy as part of your off-page SEO plan and put it to work immediately. Excellent PR ideas include anything that you can call newsworthy, such as charity or community work. However, it can be as simple as joining networks such as Help a Reporter Out (HARO).

The goal of outreach is to find ways to connect with mainstream media outlets and journalists to get your name in the news. For instance, when browsing through Forbes, you might notice that the thought leaders of the Forbes Business Council are themselves individual business owners.

Summing Up

While backlinks are necessary for powering SEO rankings, search engines are picky regarding their quality, and so should you be. Bought, spammy, and irrelevant backlinks can ruin your reputation, resulting in a loss of authority for your website. Backlinks from authority sites do the opposite.

Need help building your authority site's backlink profile? Contact us to learn how we can help.