Until a few years ago, most marketers valued quantity of backlinks over quality. Their approach was that there couldn’t be too many backlinks a piece of content.
Then Google upgraded its algorithm and went after spammy backlinks as a shark goes after delicious prey. Google’s Penguin update is a part of the core algorithm and it hunts down irrelevant links, spammy links, and links with over-optimized anchor wordsin real time.
This brings up the question of quality vs. quantity of backlinks and how much is too much. This article will hopefully answer all of your questions in that regard.
What Do We Mean by Quality?
Many marketers focus on the quality of the backlinks, but what does that mean and how do you determine an inbound link is good?
It all comes down to the Domain Authority of the originating website. High-quality links come from high-authority websites. These websites have Google’s trust, a feature on the first few results of the SERP often, and are well-known to your target audiences.
For example, big publications like Entrepreneur, Forbes, Inc.com, etc, are some of the most high-authority websites in the sphere of business and marketing. Even a couple of links from these websites will bring high-quality, consistent traffic.
These websites have an established reputation, a good audience base, and are considered trustworthy. They have a great deal of influence over the market and can set trends.
You can utilize one of the many Domain Authority Checkers available online to understand the authority of a particular website. Some of the best tools include Moz Link Explorer, Website Authority Checker, Domain-Authority Checker, Domain-Authority Checker by Small SEO Tools, and Bulk DA Checker.
High-quality links come from websites with the highest authority in the industry. These links are highly valuable and require a lot of time and effort.
What Do We Mean by Quantity?
Many people think marketers are arguing in favor of spam links when they mention quantity, but that isn’t always the case. In fact, most marketers now avoid spammy links like plague. However, they aren’t focused on high-quality links from high domain authority websites.
These marketers believe links from good websites with low to medium domain authority also have a lot of value. In fact, they believe the high quantity of links from such websites is more important than high-quality links from big platforms.
They’re less concerned with what is in the link and more concerned with how much traffic those links will bring.
While adding more links will bring in a lot of traffic, the quality of traffic is compromised. Which means you won’t get as much from a single link in this category as you would from a single link from high-authority domains.
1. Quality of Links
Links from low to medium authority websites won’t have stellar quality. They might have thin content, outdated information, and errors.
In comparison, links from high-authority websites will have high-quality links. They’ll have great content that’s up-to-date. Their content will be free of errors and trustworthy.
This has an impact on the quality of traffic. People who are serious about conversions or research will gravitate towards the latter.
2. Speed of Acquisition
High-authority websites get hundreds, if not thousands of backlinks request every day. This means they’re much more selective about who they link. It can take days for them to respond to your request.
You’ll have to approach dozens of great websites hundreds of times to acquire a few links. Many marketers consider this a waste of time and effort. They would rather focus on something easier and quicker.
It is easier to obtain backlinks from low to medium domain authority websites. They don’t get as many requests for backlinks, which means they will be able to process your request quickly.
In the time it takes for you to add a single high-quality backlink, you will be able to add hundreds of low-quality ones.
3. Impact on Ranking and Reputation
Both options will boost your ranking to some extent, but high-quality links will also boost your reputation. You’ll be more visible to your target audience and have a higher conversion rate.
While you might be able to boost your rankings with a large number of links, there is some risk involved. There’s a thin line between acceptable links and spammy links. If you accidentally cross that line, your ranking will make a sharp nose dive and you might even attract penalties.
Low-quality links always carry a higher risk, especially if you get a large number of links to your content. You’ll have to be very careful to ensure there are no poor-quality links come to your website.
Sometimes people will link to your content even if you don’t request it. The best way to keep your position safe is to disavow links from low-quality websites. There are several tools available to help you disavow links. You won’t have to go through them manually.
The debate between quality and quantity is still raging and different people will have different opinions on it. It is important to build a backlinking campaign after conducting an in-depth study of your own audience and priority.
The key is to find the right balance between the two options. Why choose between the two, when you can have the best of both worlds?
You can include one or two high-quality backlinks in your content and then add five or six backlinks from low to medium domain authority websites. This gives you a more balanced link profile and will help you climb the ranks faster.
It is also a good idea to check the health of your link profile regularly to ensure there are no issues. If you see a suspicious drop in rankings, make sure there are no spammy links in the profile. With some care and diligence, it is possible to build a very profitable link profile.
Leave a Reply