Backlinks have been a valuable asset in SEO and it has had its ups and downs. In the old days certain tactics and strategies worked admirably, but today, those procedures might get you penalized by the search engines. Here is why we need to look at the value of what backlinks are and how you can better be at an advantage.

First of all you need to do some evaluation of your website. If you have backlinks coming in that aren’t beneficial then you’re in jeopardy. What the search engines are looking for now are backlinks that come from relevant sites, sites that provide organic traffic, and sites who have authority and good standing.

If you’re getting links coming in from a backlinks network like a web-ring, you need to get busy cleaning it up right away. These sites used to be useful but are a clear sign to Google and the other search engines that you’re just trying to gain advantage unfairly and providing the surfers with less than valuable content. These kinds of inbound links might be on websites no longer monitored or maintained and that calls for some real work. If you can, get them removed, if you can’t, well here’s to hoping.

Backlinks that come from sites or relevance that are of kindred niches, is far more important. They provide organic traffic that means surfers are actually looking for what your website has to offer. They won’t have to dig around to find something of value, the organic link takes them to what they’re looking for. Google sees this as important and that your site is providing a service to others. Get as many of these kinds links as possible but do so in ratio to the following variables of authority and good standing.

Sites that have proven themselves to their niches and are popular gain what is called authority and good standing, and trust. This level of character carries a huge amount of value. They’ve proven themselves over time to be trustworthy and ethical. To be linked to from them adds your site to that level. People who trust the authority site will see that the site trusts you. It’s a platform that means you’ve somehow earned that accolade and that will turn into lots of organic traffic and boost your chances of sales, leads, and conversions. It’s the best backlinks strategy you may want.

Don’t even think of coming up with or applying black hat tricks to your backlinks strategies. Google’s SE algorithm is getting better by the day. The old adage of “honesty is the best policy” is going to be the hallmark of SEO from now on. It thus behooves you to analyze your site, every site that is linking to you and get busy optimizing things so you look good in Google’s eyes.

So it’s not a matter of how many backlinks you have anymore, it’s a matter of relevance and authority, and trust. Without these you’re just asking for trouble. Just one major penalty and you could spend months or years getting your reputation and standing back. That’s why you use an SEO professional who can manage and fix backlinks. They usually know the tools to resolve the really tough problems.

Remember, backlinks are like testimonials are to one’s character. Getting the good ones means you’ll be looking good across the board.