Editing Backlink (section)

== Backlinks and search engines ==
[[Search engine]]s often use the number of backlinks that a website has as one of the most important factors for determining that website's search engine ranking, popularity and importance.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.searchenginejournal.com/content-not-ranking-google/232831/|title=How to Push Great Content that Isn't Ranking Well|last=Jones|first=Kristopher|website=searchenginejournal.com|date=2018-01-24|access-date=2020-05-27}}</ref> [[Google]]'s description of its [[PageRank]] system (January 1998), for instance, noted that "[[Google]] interprets a link from page A to page B as a vote, by page A, for page B."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ilpubs.stanford.edu:8090/422/1/1999-66.pdf|title=Google's overview of PageRank|access-date=6 October 2014|archive-date=10 March 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200310034512/http://ilpubs.stanford.edu:8090/422/1/1999-66.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref> Knowledge of this form of search engine rankings has fueled a portion of the [[search engine optimization]] (SEO) industry commonly termed [[linkspam]], where a company attempts to place as many inbound links as possible to their site regardless of the context of the originating site.<ref name=ent>{{cite web|url=https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/295099|title=The Invisible Threat of 'Black Hat' SEO to Your Company's Reputation|last=Misra|first=Parth|website=[[Entrepreneur (magazine)|Entrepreneur]]|date=2017-01-27|access-date=2020-05-27}}</ref> In January 2017, Google launched [[Google Penguin|Penguin 4]] update which devalued such link spam practices.<ref name=ent />

The significance of search engine rankings is high, and it is regarded as a crucial parameter in online business and the [[Conversion marketing|conversion rate]] of visitors to any website, particularly when it comes to [[online shopping]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/331693|title=How Entrepreneurs Can Beat Amazon at Organic Search|last=Chasinov|first=Nick|website=[[Entrepreneur (magazine)|Entrepreneur]]|date=2019-04-05|access-date=2020-05-27}}</ref> Blog commenting, guest blogging, article submission, [[press release]] distribution, social media engagements, and forum posting can be used to increase backlinks.

Websites often employ SEO techniques to increase the number of backlinks pointing to their website. Some methods are free for use by everyone whereas some methods, like [[Link bait|linkbaiting]], require quite a bit of planning and marketing to work.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fWgaAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA171|title=Give Your Marketing a Digital Edge|page=171|last=Taylor|first=Gabriela|publisher=Global & Digital|year=2013|isbn=978-1-909924-30-7}}</ref> There are also paid techniques to increase the number of backlinks to a target site. For example, private [[blog network]]s can be used to purchase backlinks. It has been estimated that the average cost of buying a link in 2019 was $291.55 and $391.55, when marketing blogs were excluded from the calculation.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.sociallyinfused.com/marketing/buy-backlinks/|title=What's the Cost of Buying Links in 2020? We Contacted 1,950 Blogs to Uncover the Truth|last=Bucciachio|first= Vincent|website=sociallyinfused.com|date=2019-12-08|access-date=2020-05-27}}</ref>

There are several factors that determine the value of a backlink. Backlinks from [[Domain authority|authoritative]] sites on a given topic are highly valuable. If both sites and pages have content geared toward the topic, the backlink is considered relevant and believed to have strong influence on the search engine rankings of the [[webpage|web page]] granted the backlink.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.prweek.com/article/1586848/does-modern-pr-professional-look-2019|title=What does the modern PR professional look like in 2019?|last=Griffin|first=Fran|work=[[PRWeek]]|date=2019-06-07|access-date=2020-05-27}}</ref> A backlink represents a favorable 'editorial vote' for the receiving webpage from another granting webpage. Another important factor is the anchor text of the backlink. [[Anchor text]] is the descriptive labeling of the hyperlink as it appears on a [[web page]].<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rqZmCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA129|title=Social Media Made Me Rich: Here's How it Can do the Same for You|page=129|last=Loop|first=Matthew|publisher=Morgan James Publishing|year=2016|isbn=978-1-63047-793-6}}</ref> Search engine bots (i.e., spiders, crawlers, etc.) examine the anchor text to evaluate how relevant it is to the content on a webpage. Backlinks can be generated by submissions, such as directory submissions, forum submission, [[social bookmarking]], business listing, blog submissions, etc. Anchor text and webpage content congruency are highly weighted in [[search engine results page]] (SERP) rankings of a webpage with respect to any given keyword query by a search engine user.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-10-03 |title=Anchor Text As A Google Ranking Factor: Everything You Need to Know |url=https://www.searchenginejournal.com/ranking-factors/anchor-text/ |access-date=2023-06-25 |website=Search Engine Journal |language=en}}</ref>

Changes to the algorithms that produce search engine rankings can place a heightened focus on relevance to a particular topic. While some backlinks might be from sources containing highly valuable metrics, they could also be unrelated to the consumer's query or interest.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=y9XValwmetIC&pg=PA80|title=Searchial Marketing:: How Social Media Drives Search Optimization in Web 3.0|page=80|last=Glazier|first=Alan|publisher=Author House|year=2011|isbn=978-1-4567-3892-1}}</ref> An example of this would be a link from a popular shoe blog (with valuable metrics) to a site selling vintage pencil sharpeners. While the link appears valuable, it provides little to the consumer in terms of relevance.