Backlinks are hyperlinks back to your website from other websites.

You want your website to be ranked highly by search engines, so your site will be found on the first few search engine pages, and then visited.

How many other websites link to your website (how many backlinks you have) is one of the ways search engines evaluate the popularity of your website.

And backlinks from related websites (topics that are pertinent or similar to your website’s topic or could be connected to your website’s topic) are better than large numbers of links from unrelated sites.

• • Example: if your site is Bob’s Tree Service, you would want backlinks from chainsaw vendors and nurseries more than a link from a roller skating arena, but it is better to exchange links with fellow business partners in your community than not.

Anchor text (the words the reader sees in the hyperlink) are important to your readers and search engines, too.  Put descriptive words for readers to click on and search engines to follow.  Make sure your readers see a connection from the anchor text words they clicked on to the page they reach (or they will think they were tricked and leave).

• • • • Examples:  Instead of a “Click Here” link, use anchor text like “Contact Jax SEO Works“
      • “A Lint Free Vent for a professionally cleaned dryer vent“
      • “Dan’s Floor Store of Ponte Vedra – quality flooring and tile work“
      • “Key Theory develops very impressive websites“
      • “Black Creek Services maintains and repairs small engine-powered outdoor equipment“
      • or “Jennifer Fond, New York & Connecticut Esthetician, for professional Skin Care“.

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  If you found this article helpful, you might also want to read:

  Start a Blog for your Small Business Website

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