Using reputable backlinks can both boost your SEO significantly, while also giving your site credibility. Think of it as success-by-association. If you connect yourself to a successful site via backlinks – Google will recognize your page as being on a similar level…and so will your readers.
You will essentially be gaining SEO credibility and reputation through the sheer action of associating your site with, what google deems to be, a well-established site with a large following. However, you can’t simply backlink-at will…there are some guidelines that should be followed so your efforts don’t have a reverse, and negative effect.
 
Here are some tips to make sure you thrive with your backlinking efforts:

  • Relevancy is key  Always keep it relevant. Don’t just backlink to a popular page that has a vague connection to your topic – this can result in penalty points from Google Algorithms. Keep your backlinks focused and relevant to your topics at all times. It’s better to have a relevant backlink to a slightly less popular page, than a backlink to a wildly popular, though completely unrelated page.
  • Build your backlinks gradually  Search engines notice when a site builds backlinks too quickly, and penalizes sites who appear to be rigging search engine rankings. When setting up backlinks, take the slow, natural route – the penalties aren’t worth the risk. Remember who won the race between the Tortoise and the Hare…
  • Who links to your competitor sites?  With a little bit of research, you can find perfect sites to link your pages to, ie: your competition’s link hosts. Open Site Explorer and ahrefs are excellent resources to do a little digging into potential backlink targets.
  • Use keywords as anchor texts  Exact-match anchor texts, or anchor texts rich in keywords, are an excellent way to boost SEO results. Again, this should be executed in a natural way, keeping with the flow of your article. Keywords, especially exact match anchor texts, should never just be dropped into a post – they should be worked into your content as smoothly as possible.