Backlinks

An important and often misunderstood aspect of a strong SEO plan for any website is backlinks. Backlinks are the powerful resource that connects different websites to each other in order to authenticate their knowledge. Your ranking in a Google search is only as powerful as your brand or company’s perceived authority on the given subject that is being searched. If Google doesn’t see you as an authority on a subject, then your site will fall lower in the search priority.

So, how many times do you search something and scroll to the third or fourth page? How many times do you even go to page 2? This illustrates the vital importance of appearing on that first page of a search.

How do you get there? Your brand authority is one piece of that puzzle. If you’re Ben & Jerry’s, you’re an authority on ice cream. But if you’re Ted Drewes Frozen Custard, you’re an authority on ice cream in St. Louis. If you Google “ice cream” Ben & Jerry’s is in the top three responses. But if you Google “ice cream St. Louis” Ted Drewes pops up in the top three. This modest, cult-favorite frozen custard stand has incredible authority in the St. Louis area with incredible word of mouth advertising and a loyal following among those in the know. Ted Drewes gets talked about in St. Louis… Ted Drewes appears in hundreds (probably thousands) of travel sites and lists of recommendations, all of which link back to tedrewes.com.

Now Ted Drewes might not currently need this help because they are an established institution, but if I was going to start a NEW ice cream shop in St. Louis, how do I climb that search ladder? I’d have to work to establish my brand authority with backlinks to my site. With a concentrated PR campaign, I’d hope my opening was covered by local media outlets and that each of them would backlink to my site. Each one of those backlinks adds to Google’s impression of my authority on the subject of ice cream in St. Louis. And the more Google believes in me, the more they’re going to boost me in the search rankings.

At Loodon we can help you increase your backlinks to improve your SEO which, in turn, raises your web visibility and increases your audience and business.