How to Analyze the Quality of a Potential Link Building Website

Backlinks are an integral part of Search Engine Optimization. If you are studying SEO or working in the SEO industry then you will understand the importance of backlinks to rank a website in SERPs. Google algorithms look for natural backlinks that were built slowly over time. This is because search engines want websites to have a level playing field and reduce link manipulation. Moreover, it’s very hard to influence a search engine with external backlinks from other websites. This is also a reason why not the quantity but the quality of the backlinks matter the most.

Regardless of being a search engine optimizer or a business owner trying to improve your website’s performance in Google, you might find it harder to determine the quality of a potential link building website. The main reason behind this problem is there are countless websites that look good but lack quality. Building links from a low-quality website is actually worthless and it can be very harmful to your website’s ranking.

Analyze the Quality of a Potential Link Building Website

There are billions of websites out there and the number is increasing every minute. So irrespective of what niche your website is about, you will find tons of websites that are willing to link to you. So you don’t have to worry about the quantity but you have to choose the websites that are good and will have a positive impact on your SEO. Here I have discussed some important metrics that will help you analyze the quality of a potential link building website.

Design of a Website

First impression is very important. There were times when design of a website was not important. But things have changed and now design plays a very important part in your online strategy. People nowadays are more visually-oriented, so a website that wants to be successful has to appeal to the user. So when you are trying to get backlinks from a website make sure it has a professional design, matching colors, consistency in style and high-quality images are used. Well, website design is not a Google ranking factor but, usually, a good looking website means that somebody cares about it and upgrades it constantly.

Relevance

Nowadays Google cares more about relevance and their algorithm is getting smarter at determining it. So while you are looking for a potential link building website make sure it is relevant to your website. Check the relevance of the articles and the reputation of the blog. If the blog owner is a well-known influencer in the industry then the audience will surely check out your post (guest post). Moreover, the audience may use your information and if they click through your links in the article then it signals Google that it’s relevant.

Content

Have you ever heard the phrase “content is the king”? If so then you will understand the importance of quality content in SEO. So, when looking for backlinks from websites, check the contextual quality of it. You can easily determine the quality by checking the content and if it holds true value for the audience. Moreover, check if the content is relevant and ranks for keywords or not. Check the ranking of keywords; it will help you understand if it’s worth gating backlinks from that website.

Indexation of Website

While you are trying to get links from websites to make sure all your links come from websites that are indexed and not penalized by search engines. Check if the website is indexed in Google, it will help you determine whether the website is penalized or not. You can check the indexation of a website very easily by following search query in Google: site:domain.com. Replace “domain.com” with the URL of the site that you are checking.

Brand Value

Brand value is not a ranking factor but has an impact on SEO. Search the potential link building website by its domain name and see if it ranks first position in Google. It will help you understand if the website has a high authority or not. If the website is not ranking in the first position for its own name then the website is not very reputable in Google’s eyes. Moreover, if the website doesn’t rank on the first page for its own domain name then a link from that website will not have any good impact on your SEO.

Consistency of Content Publication 

A great way to identify a good website is to check how often they publish content on their website and how often they update their existing content. Because consistency of content publication is an indication that the webmaster cares about his website and there is a very little chance he will abandon his website. Check the blog and see if they post 2/3 times per week or every two weeks. If a website has not published anything new for more than six months then the site is probably abandoned and no point investing time on it.

Audience Engagement

If you are planning to publish a guest post on a potential link building website then it’s very important to check the audience engagement of that website. Since an active audience is a signal of a good website and you will find some referring traffic through your guest blog. You can easily check the audience engagement of a website. You can start from the comment section. Check the average number of comments every article has and when was the last time a comment was published. Don’t ignore social media engagement. Check how many likes and share they have. All these will help create a buzz around your brand quickly and can bring the audience to your website.

SEO Metrics

After analyzing all the above elements, if you think the website is a good one then it’s the time to check the SEO metrics. These are some of the most important SEO metrics to check:

• Trust & Citation Flow – websites that have a score below 10 is usually considered as bad and not worthy.
• Domain Authority & MozRank – A website with a Domain Authority above 20 is considered as good and can help you with SEO.
• Backlink Profile – Check the backlinks profile of the website and how the site is linking to third party websites. Check the nofollow/Dofollow ratio. A website with nofollow links is useless for SEO purposes.
• Spam Score – This SEO metrics is provided by Moz and it can tell you how likely the site is analyzed to be flagged as SPAM. A higher spam score will suggest that the website is bad.

The Closure

Finally, there are many ways you can create backlinks and boost the ranking of your website and promote business. While the number of new blogs is increasing every month, with the right research you can choose the best ones for your website and use them to develop your online strategy. I hope this guide will help you understand how to check or analyze a potential link building website and select the best website to get backlinks.