Backlinks Quality Assessment (What You Need to Know)

Backlinks help you strengthen SEO rankings, no doubt.

However, you need to consider if a source is qualified for a backlink.

Listen carefully.

Links from qualified sources help you improve search rankings. The opposite scene is more terrible. Imagine.

In this resource, we’re going to address attributes of sources for backlinks. You have to check if a site is satisfying, should be denied, or considerable for backlink opportunities.

Let’s get started.

Backlinks Quality Assessment (Here is what you should Consider)

Relevancy

Links from relevant sources weigh more importance – no doubt.

In this case, don’t count on random, irrelevant sources for links.

There is a rule of thumb.

A single relevant backlink from a source is better than having ten links from irrelevant pages.

So, when compiling a list of proposed sites, make sure, you’ve collected relevant sites. To ensure, visit sites’ home page and see, if relevancy match to your site’s niche. Perfect.

Let’s discuss other ways to figure out, if a link is relevant.

• If one of your competitors is having a link from a site you’re considering, the site is relevant. However, you should confirm.
• If an SEO Tool, such as Semrush – lists the site address under competitors, the site is relevant to your niche.
• The site is relevant, if ranking on the same page your site is ranking, or one of your competitors’ sites is ranking. It shows, the site you’re considering for a link is struggling for the same, relevant keywords. It shows relevancy, no doubt.

Perfect.

Link Location

Listen – location of a link on a page matters.

Based on location, links are categorized in various buckets.

Here is what you should have understood.

• Editorial links
• Sidebar hyperlinks
• Footer agents

The point of impact is, a link’s place on a page affects its link juice. Perfect.

For example, a link placed in the body carries more juice than a link placed in sidebar. Yes, it makes sense.

And, for SEOs struggling to build backlinks, building editorial links requires more efforts. Yes, the links placed in the body are known as “editorial links”. In this case, the site linking to your page has written naturally, about your products or services, and most importantly, editorial links are not sponsored.

So, what should you consider?

Negotiate opportunities for editorial links, if possible.

Instead, if you want to earn natural links, create and publish link-worthy content, detailed resources.

An example of a detailed resource covers important aspects of a subject, a page people always come to for information.

Type of Link (Dofollow vs Nofollow)

Yes – there is a difference between nofollow and dofollow links.

Here, the difference specifically addresses link juice.

As its name suggests, if a link doesn’t pass link juice, the nofollow tag is applied. On the other hand, the opposite case doesn’t contain a nofollow tag.

In simple words, the tag of a link defines, if a link should pass link juice or not to the target page.

In this case, nofollow links carry rel=”nofollow” tag behind the scenes. The tag helps search engines understand, the link should be ignored.

Conversely, a dofollow link doesn’t contain a rel=”nofollow” tag. It doesn’t contain other tags either, such as UGC or Sponsored.

In SEO, dofollow links matter. Search engines follow (Dofollow) links, passing link juice from one page to another.

So, what should you consider?

When building backlinks, a mixture of links can help. However, keep in mind – dofollow links carry more value than nofollow.

In this case, you can quickly figure out, if a site is providing dofollow, nofollow, or sponsored links.

Use extensions in Google Chrome. Once on a page, clicking the extension button helps you quickly see link tags on the page. Simple.

Search Google Chrome Web Store for extensions.

Domain Authority and Page Authority

Domain Authority, refers to as DA, is developed by Moz.

The high a domain has DA, the better a link juice can be for links.

In this case, let’s learn how DA matters.

Domain Authority of a site helps users understand, how well a site can rank on search pages. A number ranging from 1 to 100, represents a site’s DA score.

A domain’s DA depends on how many quality links it has from other sources. In simple words, the more a site has a positive link profile, the more it has a high DA score.

So, links from sites with a high DA, is indeed, helps to improve search rankings.

Let’s talk about Page Authority (PA).

Page Authority, as its name suggests – work on a page level basis.

The PA is developed by Moz, and shows how well a specific page on a site, can rank on search pages. It is also calculated via numbers, ranging from 1 to 100.

A page’s PA is influenced by content quality, a good backlink profile, and seamless experience for users.

In this regard, having a referring domain from a page having a high PA, is indeed, requires your attention.

Organic Traffic

Established sites use to get traffic from search pages.

So, no doubt – links from sites with organic traffic have more link juice, as compared to cold sites with no traffic from search pages. Yes, it makes sense.

In this case, organic traffic refers to users coming from search engine pages.

In case you’ve picked a relevant site, Ubersuggest can help you find, if the site is driving organic traffic.

In this case, the more a site drives traffic, the more its link has link juice. So, you can pick sites with traffic, ranging from a few hundreds to thousands.

Organic traffic of a site also shows, the site is not experiencing problems on Google, such as affection from Google recent updates or penalties. In simple words, a site’s organic traffic shows health, backlink quality, and seamless experience for users.

Spam Score

Spam Score – as its name suggests, shows if a site has close relation with spam.

Spam score metric is developed by Moz.

Of course, there are many attributes causing to increase a site’s spam score, such as links from domains having bad reputation, excess of low quality content, or domains participating in bad SEO practices.

So, what should you do?

Links from a site with a high spam score, always affects link juice. There is no alternate option.

So, make sure, when collecting relevant sites for link prospecting, pay attention to finding sites’ spam score. You can safely pick sites having spam score ranging from 1% to 5%.

Anchor Text Distribution

The text of a link is called “Anchor Text”. It is also called Link Text or Link Label.

For example, if the text “SEO Tips” links to a page, in this case – the “SEO Tips” is anchor text.

If a site is linking via diverse anchor text, it helps your site’s SEO. The opposite case can harm, can lead to spam.

In this regard, make sure, you’ve compiled a list of relevant anchor texts for backlinks.

Here is what needs your attention.

• Sometimes – you’ll need to use exact match anchor texts. Let’s say, your page features SEO Tools, you’d like to have a link from a relevant site, via “SEO Tools” as the anchor text.
• Second, anchor texts are related words, helping you define a page’s purpose. When building links, pay attention to related, but relevant anchor texts.
• Third – brand names can play a role. For example, you can link via brand names as the anchor text.
• Last but not least, an irrelevant, but slightly relevant text, showing the context or need of the target page, can play a role as an effective anchor text.

The point is, you should keep anchor texts diverse. Using as specific anchor text, always – can pose spam issues.

Website Indexing Routine

Experts are not talking about a site’s indexing routine, when link prospecting.

Here is what makes sense.

Look, if a site is cold, having no updating frequency, the indexing routine doesn’t make sense.

In simple words, search engines don’t use to crawl cold sites.

In this case, if you have a link from cold sites, chances of indexing links quickly are slim. There is no rocket science.

You need sites with frequently updating indexing routines.

So, how to check if a site is frequently updating and indexing?

Use Google’s SITE operator to proceed. Once entered the proposed site in Google, you’ve to use Filters to see, if a site has been updated recently. Choose “Weekly” to see prominent indexing routines for a source.

The more quickly a site is crawled, the better your site’s links are indexed.

Private Blog Networks (PBNs)

Private Blog Networks (PBN) are dangerous or backlinks. As its name suggests, a site’s network built to create mass links, refers to a Private Blog Network (PBN).

Look – Google, and other search engines don’t like algorithm manipulation. PBNs in this case, are built to build links – quickly, at a scale, and from random sites. There is no relevancy, you can feel the difference. In simple words, PBNs are spam.

Keep in mind, PBN links can harm your site’s reputation, more than expecting positive results.

Here is what you should consider.

• Sources participating in a PBN have similar designs.
• Low quality content is published on PBN sites, pay attention to details when compiling sites for links.
• There is no contact details, real team, or editors behind PBN sites.
• The updating frequency of PBN sites is terrible.
• In most cases, PBN sites are hosted on the same server.

So, pay attention to compiling relevant sites for proposed links.

Permanent Post

You should build permanent links for improved SEO results.

Look, if you’ve hired or involved 3rd parties for links, you need to have a look at the posts’ validity periods.

If – for example, a link is removed after several months, it can harm your SEO rankings. No doubt.

While negotiating link opportunities, make sure to confirm, the link will never be removed.

In this case, you can also check periodically, if the links you have built are still active.

Use Google Sheets to see if a link you made is still active.

In Google Sheets, you can apply dates on specific cells. Once the setup has completed, loading the sheet automatically calculates the age of a backlink.

And – if you can afford to hire developers, you can build automations to check for links. For example, a tool can help you automatically check periodically, if a link you made is still active on a page. On the other hand, SEO platforms can help you check for links, and inform you, if a link you made is missing.

This should make sense to track backlinks’ performance.

Domain Age

Did you know about Sandbox duration?

In simple words, a new domain passes through Google Sandbox, a duration search engines have to consider for new domains.

For example, the first six months of a new domain refer to Sandbox duration. In this case, a new domain has no reputation, so search engines in this scenario – don’t trust much on young candidates.

Listen.

Backlinks from new domains are dangerous. New domains are not established sources, simple.

The point of impact is to check for a domain’s age. The more a domain is aged, the more it is better for a backlink.

In this regard, check a domain’s age in Whois records. The data can help you see a domain’s registration date, expiration time, and updating date.

At least, a domain you’re considering for a backlink should have passed through Google’s sandbox duration – six months.

Domain History

Domain history can harm your backlink profile.

There are two cases.

• If you pick a site for backlinks, from the Google results – you can see its historical record. Use the tools online.
• Second, if a 3rd party source is helping you consider a site, make sure to check for the domain historical records.

Here, the people who provide backlinks can build sites via expired domains.

The purpose of buying expired domains is to secure its existence, domain authority, and existing backlink profile.

However, it hurts backlink’s relevancy.

So, you should have an eye on the domain’s history.

You can use online candidates to find a domain’s historical records. It also helps you explore a site’s past niche.

Domain Expiration

As described above, make sure a domain is not going to expire soon.

It can hurt your efforts for backlinks. You can also lose link juice.

For example, once you’ve built a link on a source, expiring the domain can harm expected results, no doubt.

In this case, as described earlier – make sure to check a domain’s Whois records. The who is data can help you decide, if you should sign up for a backlink source.

Subdomain, sub-Folder

There is a simple rule.

As compared to root domain, having links from sub-domains have less link juice.

Sub-domains are used for less-important purposes, such as random file storage. You can feel the difference.

In this case, make sure, when negotiating backlink opportunities, the host page should never belong to a sub-domain. It makes sense.

Status of Domain (Passing through Google Penalty)

If a domain is passing through a Google update, getting a backlink may not make sense.

It happens.

So, how to see if a site is experiencing Google update?

Plugin the site’s URL in an SEO tool, such as Ahrefs or Ubersuggest.

Assess the site’s traffic over several months. If you see a uniform status of traffic, you can ensure and proceed further.

Make sure, use various tools to help you confirm, a site is not going through Google penalty.

Responsiveness

If a site has responsive issues, a backlink may yield no positive results.

How?

In most cases, a site with issues like responsiveness, affects how Google displays search entry. It hurts users’ experience on search pages. Finally, Google can depreciate rankings for pages with responsiveness issues.

So, getting a backlink from pages, not displaying properly on various screens, is risky.

In this scenario, pay attention to responsive design, when choosing sites for backlinks.

There are candidates online – helping you check a site for responsive issues. Give Google search a try.

Internal and External Linking Strategy

A link from one page to another page on the same site is referred to an Internal Link.

Similarly, if a page is linking to external page on a different site, the link is called an external or outgoing link.

In case you’re considering a site for backlinks, a site’s internal and external linking policies can affect your backlink’s worth – no doubt.

Here is how.

Look, a site can link to illegal sources on the Internet. For money purposes, or shady SEO tactics, sites used to link to objectionable sources. It falls under a site’s policy for external linking. It happens.

Similarly, a site’s internal links can also affect your site’s link campaign outcomes.

For example, if a site doesn’t implement proper internal links, search engines can fail to find your link’s host page. In this manner, the links you build may take longer to discover.

Remember – while you’re compiling a list of sites for backlinks, make sure to check for internal and external link policies.

Bounce rate of the Host page

Let’s talk about host pages.

In backlinks, a site that holds a link is referred to as a backlink’s host page.

Bounce rate – on the other hand, is a different thing in SEO.

Once a user clicks on a search entry on Google SERPs, the percentage of users leaving the page quickly, is referred to as the page’s bounce rate. It hurts a site’s overall SEO stats.

So, in this regard, if your link’s hos page has a high bounce rate, don’t consider for a backlink opportunity.

Now, how can you find a page’s bounce rate?

Well, online sources can help you estimate a page’s bounce rate; however, original stats are hold by site owners, only.

Do your home work and proceed accordingly.

Thin host page

Thin pages have less content.

In simple words, thin pages don’t deserve rankings.

However, there are specific reasons why Google ranks thin pages. For example, if a thin page belongs to a discuss, Google can rank the page.

For backlinks purposes, considering a thin page for a backlink is not recommended. A thin page in this case, has a low page authority.

If you’d like to consider one, you should see if a thin page is ranking on search pages. If yes, you can proceed further.

UGC page

A page created by random users, such as ones exist on forums, are called User Generated Content (UGC).

Hence, anyone can join a discussion forum, can create content threads, and place links openly, links from a UGC page weighs less value.

Considering a UGC page for a backlink can yield less value.

Even, if you do – don’t build too many links on UGC pages. It can trigger spam filters.

On the other hand, if a forum is premium, and allows paying users only, a link from such forum can yield positive results.

Link age

In backlinks, the age of a link can matter.

In this case, you should have understood, why picking sites with a good reputation, and most importantly, a frequent crawl budget is important. It helps you quickly crawl your links.

In this regard, the age of a link can start from the date search engines discovers a host page, listen carefully – my friend.

So, in this case, even if you’ve built a link a month ago, search engines can start counting its age from the day of discovery.

You should keep in mind, aged links can increase link juice.

Let’s describe more details.

If you want to measure a link’s age, you’ll need to save data from day one.

The day a link has been earned, should be noted in a Google Sheet. Simple.

Link Density

Link density can affect a link’s juice.

In simple words, a page hosting countless links, can provide less link juice for outgoing links. An example of a page’s link density is a “resources” page. Normally, a resource page contains links to favorite pages, services, and partners.

In simple words, having more links on a page shows, the site is used to link to other sites. There are no feelings of uniqueness.

Technically, link density shows the ratio of links on a specific page or paragraph.

There should be a rule of thumb.

You can’t include more links, if the number of links don’t make sense or provide value to users.

In simple regards, you can feel, how the number of links on a page can affect a link’s juice.

So, you should have taken the fact in consideration, when building links for your site.

Unique Referring Domains

In SEO, a source linking to your page is a referring domain.

Here – there is a difference between referring domains and backlinks.

Let’s dive deep into the details.

A domain having more backlinks pointing to a site is a referring domain, while – the number of pointing links is referred to as “backlinks”. So, a single site can link countless times to a page, refers to as a single “referring domain”.

In this regard, a host site’s referring domains affect the link juice of your link.

For example, if a site has unique referring domains, links from the site weighs more importance for you. In simple words, the more a site is unique, the more a link from the site has value for you.

So, how should you figure out, if a site has unique referring domains.

You can use SEO candidates, such as Ubersuggest, Ahrefs, or Moz.

Once plugged in a site’s URL, the tool can help you find referring domains. Perfect.

There is no rocket science, my friend.

The results page can return complex data about referring domains – however, you shouldn’t dive deep. Here, the point of impact is to see if a site has unique, more referring domains.

Links from a Top Page

Look – there are top pages on any website.

A top page, in this case, refers to a page driving more traffic.

Let’s consider more details.

If a top page points to your site, chances of crawling the link becomes high. It helps you quickly index backlinks.

So, here is what you should consider.

When considering a site for a backlink opportunity, makes sure, you target the top pages on site. It helps you increase a link’s juice, even more.

Of course, if a page ranks and driving traffic, its page authority score shows, the links on the page carry more value.

Trust signals

Trust signals help you understand if you should consider a site for backlinks.

There are multiple trust signals.

For example, here is what you should have considered.

• User experience
• Organic traffic
• Page speed
• Quality of content
• Updating frequency
• Indexing routine
• And – most importantly, the relevance of the site to your niche.

Technical attributes, such as user experience and organic traffic, is assessed by SEO Tools. However, you can assess attributes manually, too. For example, pay attention to content quality, updating frequency, and indexing routine.

Simply put, the more a site has trust signals, the better its link juice is for sites.

Indeed, trust signals don’t contain social shares only, other aspects make more sense for backlinks.

Link Context

Google favors links surrounding from a valued content.

For example, a paragraph helping define a link’s content carries more link juice. It helps search engines understand the context of a link. It helps readers as well, helps users understand if a link is relevant.

So, links supported by content snippets, paragraphs, and content are better for backlinks.

The practice of genuinely define a link’s content is favored by Google, even addressed by a Google Update. You can feel the importance of link context.

In this scenario, incoming links from external source should have quality context.

In case you’ve written a guest post for a link, you can control the context of a link on page.

Summary

A link carries juice, if checked for relevant aspects. Don’t build orphaned links, doesn’t make sense.

There is a simple, rule of thumb.

The more you check for link quality measures, addressed in this resource, the more you can earn link juice for search rankings.

Seriously, checking for a link’s measures requires efforts – however, results positive outcomes if you’re looking to increase organic visibility.