Once upon a time, backlinks were both the backbone and the very essence of SEO. It did not matter where the links were coming from. What mattered is that you had a lot of links–context had absolutely nothing to do with anything. As the Internet has evolved, search engines have come to value contextual backlinks over other types of backlinks. All backlinks are not created equal. For the best ROI on an SEO strategy, sites need to look for high-quality links that come from authority sites that are somehow relevant to your site and your business. Here’s how to get started building better link-building strategies for your business. 

What Are Contextual Backlinks?

Contextual backlinks are embedded in the content of a website, excluding the site map or directory. When another website places a backlink in a top services list or blog post that is relevant to the content of your website, it’s called a contextual backlink. All of the content of the text explains the backlink and where it’s pointing. Their purpose is to create a better user experience and to show users the context of a link to offer more relevant search results. Contextual backlinks work for the user as well as for the search engine’s algorithm by providing great search results. This combination increases the amount of traffic to the search engine.

How to Get Contextual Backlinks?

Getting these tasty links takes a great strategy and a little elbow grease. There are several ways to go about drumming up backlinks, but one of the best strategies by far is to provide high-quality and valuable content that appeals to your audience. Another methodology for gaining contextual backlinks is to guest post on other sites. Scouring the Internet for broken links on high-ranking websites in your niche is time-consuming but can certainly pay off in a big way. Once you find a broken link, you reach out to that site informing them and offering a link to your content instead. If your content is one in a million, they’re likely to gladly oblige. Editorial links and interviews are other backlink avenues to take.

Why Are Contextual Backlinks Important?

This particular type of backlink is important because search engine algorithms prefer them and value them more so than other types of links. The thought process here is that getting a backlink within an article or blog post means that the author is attempting to add value to their piece by referencing your site or content. It’s a trust thing. The algorithm is trusting that other content creators know what they’re talking about when they refer you. With high-quality backlinks, that means they come from high-ranking websites and domain authorities, your business should expect to see:

• More site traffic.
• Increased visibility.
• More backlinks.
• More authority.
• Increased credibility.

Quality and relevance are what’s most important with contextual backlinks. They help to show that more people than just you find your content relevant and valuable. The more people who also create quality and valuable content find value in yours, the higher your page ranking, and the more traffic you will experience. It’s never too late to start earning contextual links. Even with algorithms constantly evolving, backlinks are important when link building and offer great results for any SEO campaign.