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Backlinks: A Popularity Contest
Not all backlinks are created equal
Remember those days back in high school, where ‘being popular’ was your life ambition? Hate to break it to you, but if you’re trying to rank your website on Google then that popularity contest is still right by your side.
As a kid in high school, you can have a few nerdy friends — they’ll count, but they won’t make you very popular. However, if you manage to make connections with the most popular kid in the class, you’re instantly among the top!
Surprisingly, it’s not so different with Google.
Backlinks
One of Google’s biggest ranking factors is backlinks. These are links on other websites that point to yours. If other websites think you’re important enough to link to, then obviously you have some value on your site — and so your ranking rises.
However, it’s not just about numbers. A site with 10,000 backlinks doesn’t automatically rank higher than a site with 100, although it will help them.
Low-Quality Backlinks
Most of the backlinks will usually be from ‘the nerdy kids’ — or worse. Did you know that there’s a whole market out there selling links? The vast majority of these links will be from terrible websites that often don’t make…
