Anyone familiar with the world of SEO can tell you that it is a vast sea of head spinning directives. If you are not careful, you can get penalized in a flash. The constantly changing nature of Google’s algorithms means there is no easy button for SEO. You must put in the work to reap the rewards. It takes dedication, perseverance and research but these three tools can help you master optimization. One of the most valuable tools in the toolbox is backlinks. Valuable backlinks can be a powerful ranking tool if they are set up properly. Here is a look at some of the best backlinks that will help improve your site’s rankings almost immediately.

Inbound Links

Incoming hyperlinks from other websites are one of the three most important ranking factors. Before you run out and start buying backlinks you should know that quality matters over quantity. If Google doesn’t like the quality of the backlink you have, your site may be penalized instead. One valuable backlink from a well-established site will do more for your rankings than ten other backlinks from new unestablished sites. Link diversity is important but there is a fine line and the sites linking to you must be quality sites to add value.

Of course, you must ensure that you are creating valuable content that people are interested in. Once this has been established then you can start searching for those valuable backlinks. Check your competitors and see what sites are linking to them. Look for trendsetters in your industry. They will have a lot of engagement in their comments section or on their social media pages. These are the sites you want to reach out to and ask them to link to your site. You may have to provide a guest post to win them over, but it will be worth it in the long run.

Outgoing Links

Although inbound links are the most important, outbound links do play a factor and shouldn’t be ignored. Outbound links are links from your site to another. One great way to do this is to link to some sort of research or authority in your industry. If your content is offering value to your visitors, then linking to an authority in the field shouldn’t be too difficult. Don’t overdo it. You don’t want outbound links all over the place. Remember, quality over quantity. It is better to have just a few quality outbound links to help establish authority and credibility than to have ten that don’t add any value.

It is also best to configure outbound links so that they open in a new window. It is easy to do, plus it leaves your tab open in case your visitor wants to navigate back to your site. Instead of hitting the back button or possibly even closing everything out, they can easily explore your site in the open tab.

Structural Links

Structural links are internal links that go to other pages on your site. They help visitors find related content so that their visit to your site lasts longer, which can also help with your site’s rankings. Additionally, they help the search-bots crawl your site. Internal links allow the search-bots to see how your site is built, understand how content on different pages of your site is related and it helps them identify different pages on your site. All of this stuff will help boost your site’s rankings if it is done properly.

It is also important to use keywords relevant to the destination in the anchor text. Don’t use generic texts like “click here” because they won’t help your cause. It is a good idea to try to vary the anchor text as well because this will help your site rank for different queries and searches. Pretty soon your site will be climbing in the SERPS and easily found.