Types of Links in SEO: Building Links the Right Way

In today’s world of search engine optimization (SEO), understanding different types of SEO links is crucial for improving a website’s rankings and authority. Google’s algorithms now prioritize link quality over quantity, emphasizing the importance of high-value, relevant backlinks. This guide will help you navigate the essential types of SEO links to focus on, including editorial links in SEO and advanced techniques like broken link building, to craft an effective and ethical link-building strategy.

Why Links Matter in SEO

Backlinks, or inbound links from other websites pointing to your website, serve as “votes” of confidence in your content. When a high-quality, authoritative website links to yours, search engines interpret this as an endorsement, boosting your site’s credibility and search rankings. However, not all backlinks are equal. Google penalizes websites with backlinks from low-quality or spammy sources, so focusing on quality links is essential. Understanding the different types of SEO links will help you make strategic choices that enhance your site’s visibility and authority.

1. Natural Editorial Links

Among the various types of SEO links, editorial links are considered the most valuable. These are natural backlinks that other websites provide without any prompting from you. Editorial links occur when someone finds your content informative or valuable and chooses to link to it within their article or resource page. Since these links are earned based on merit, they carry significant SEO value.

For example, if you publish an in-depth guide on “best practices for email marketing,” and a well-regarded marketing blog references and links to your guide, that’s a natural editorial link. These types of backlinks indicate authority and trustworthiness, enhancing your SEO more effectively than links obtained through direct requests.

How to Earn Editorial Links in SEO

• Create high-quality content: Producing valuable, comprehensive, and relevant content is key to earning editorial links. High-quality content is more likely to be shared and referenced by others.
• Outreach to influencers and bloggers: Although editorial links are typically earned naturally, sharing your content with influencers and bloggers can increase visibility and the likelihood of getting linked.
• Optimize for shareability: Adding social share buttons to your content encourages readers to share it, which can lead to more editorial backlinks over time.

2. Manual Outreach Links

Manual outreach links involve reaching out to website owners, bloggers, or industry influencers and requesting that they link to your content. While this approach requires more effort than earning editorial links in SEO, it remains a widely-used method for gaining high-quality backlinks, especially for new websites.

For outreach to be effective, it’s essential to provide value rather than simply asking for a link. Explain how your content can benefit their audience, personalize each message, and ensure that your content aligns with their site’s focus.

How to Build Outreach Links

• Identify relevant websites: Use tools like Ahrefs or Moz to locate websites within your niche with high domain authority.
• Personalize your outreach: Write tailored messages explaining why your content is valuable for their readers and avoid using generic templates.
• Offer collaboration opportunities: In addition to requesting a link, you could suggest other ways to collaborate, like guest posts or joint content initiatives.

3. Guest Blogging Links

Guest blogging is another powerful tactic within types of SEO links. It involves writing articles or blog posts for other websites in exchange for a backlink. Guest blogging helps you reach new audiences, build industry relationships, and earn valuable backlinks, provided the content is high-quality and relevant.

To succeed with guest blogging, focus on reputable sites within your industry. Google discourages low-quality guest posts done solely for SEO purposes, so prioritize meaningful content that genuinely benefits the readers of the host site.

Maximizing Guest Blogging Links

• Target high-authority websites: Aim to contribute to reputable websites in your niche to secure valuable backlinks.
• Create insightful content: Make sure your guest posts provide real value and avoid over-optimization with keywords or anchor texts.
• Build relationships: Guest blogging isn’t only about backlinks; it’s also an opportunity to foster lasting relationships with site owners and readers.

4. Non-Editorial Links

Non-editorial links are those you create without any editorial involvement from the website owner. These types of links were once more common but have decreased in value due to Google’s algorithm updates. The Penguin update, for example, targeted websites using manipulative link-building practices like buying links or creating backlinks from low-quality directories.

Examples of non-editorial links include:

• Forum signatures: Adding a link to your site in the signature section of forum posts.
• Blog comment links: Leaving a link in the comments section of other blogs, though this is often seen as spammy.
• Directory submissions: Submitting your site to online directories that may not add much SEO value.

While these links can be useful when used sparingly, they’re generally less effective for SEO and may even harm your efforts if overused. Focusing on editorial links in SEO and quality outreach is often a more sustainable strategy.

5. Broken Link Building

Broken link building is an advanced tactic that can yield high-quality backlinks while also helping other website owners. This approach involves finding broken links on reputable sites and offering your content as a replacement, benefiting both parties.

To implement broken link building, use tools like Ahrefs, Screaming Frog, or Google Search Console to scan for broken links on websites within your niche. Once you find a broken link, reach out to the site owner and suggest replacing it with a link to your relevant content. This strategy allows you to gain backlinks by helping other sites maintain a good user experience, making it a mutually beneficial practice.

How to Succeed with Broken Link Building

• Identify broken links: Use SEO tools to locate broken links on high-authority sites.
• Create replacement content: If you already have content that fits, perfect! If not, consider creating new content specifically for this purpose.
• Reach out to website owners: Politely inform the site owner about the broken link and suggest your content as a suitable replacement.

Broken link building provides value to both you and the website owner, increasing the likelihood of earning a quality backlink.

6. Reclaiming Lost Links

Over time, websites can lose valuable backlinks due to URL changes, site migrations, or link decay. Link reclamation is a process of recovering these lost links, ensuring you maintain or restore your site’s authority.

For instance, if a site that previously linked to your content removed the link due to a broken URL, you can reach out with the updated link and ask them to restore it. This approach not only strengthens your backlink profile but also helps preserve link equity.

How to Reclaim Lost Links

• Monitor your backlinks: Use tools like Ahrefs or Google Search Console to track your backlinks and identify any lost or broken ones.
• Reach out to website owners: If a link has been lost due to a URL change or update, contact the site owner with the correct link.
• Fix internal broken links: Check for any broken links within your site, as this will improve user experience and SEO.

7. Contextual Links

Contextual links are backlinks embedded naturally within the content of a blog post or article. Search engines consider these links valuable because they provide additional context, supporting the content’s topic and offering readers further information.

To earn contextual links, focus on creating comprehensive, link-worthy content. The more relevant and valuable your content, the higher the chance that other sites will reference it.

Getting Contextual Links

• Write guest posts: Contribute guest posts on high-authority sites, embedding a natural, contextual link back to your content.
• Create linkable content: Publish original research, case studies, or guides that naturally encourage other sites to link back to your work.

Conclusion

Building a strong backlink profile involves understanding the various types of SEO links and implementing a balanced strategy. While editorial links in SEO and contextual links offer the most value, leveraging broken link building, guest blogging, and link reclamation can help diversify and strengthen your link profile. Avoid over-relying on non-editorial or low-quality links, as these can lead to penalties and undermine your SEO efforts.

By focusing on building relationships, creating high-quality content, and prioritizing link quality over quantity, you can improve your website’s authority and boost its rankings sustainably. Each of these types of SEO links contributes uniquely to a successful SEO strategy, making it essential to balance them effectively.