What Should My Backlink Profile Look Like? Here is the Answer You Were Looking for
Editor / January 4, 2025
What should my backlink profile look like? By asking this question, you’ve proven that you’re serious about your backlink profile.
The problem is there are backlinks and backlinks, and not all of them are useful. Some backlinks will sabotage your SEO campaign instead of helping it.
In this FastLinky blog post, you’ll get both sides of the tale: signs of a healthy as well as an unhealthy backlink profile.
I’ll also give you 7 practicable tips to build a healthy backlink profile to boot.
Ready? Let’s roll.
Some Relevant Technical Terms and Their Meanings
| Technical Term | Meaning |
| Backlink | A link to your website from other websites. |
| Backlink Profile | A backlink profile of your site is the quality, quantity and relevance of the backlinks your website has. |
| Link Building | Building a healthy backlink profile for a site. |
| Link Juice (also known as link equity) | The value a webmaster attaches to your pages when he gives them backlinks. |
| Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) | The process of helping a site get a higher ranking in search results is called SEO. |
| SERP (Search Engine Results Page) | The pages Google returns against a query are called SERPs. |
| Dofollow Backlinks | Backlinks that recognise your authority and tell Google to pass on the link juice are called dofollow backlinks |
| Nofollow Backlinks | Backlinks that tell Google not to follow it and pass on the link juice are called nofollow backlinks. These backlinks are worthless so far as SEO is concerned. |
| Editorial Backlinks | Backlinks coming from authoritative publications like newspapers are called editorial backlinks. |
| Anchor Text | The text in a link that viewers see and click is called the anchor text of that link. |
| Referral Page | A page that has a link to your site is called the referral page. |
| Destination Page | A page that gets a backlink from the referral page is called the destination page. |
| Link Scam | Unethical practices to get backlinks. For example, PBN. |
| Private Blog Network (PBN) | An unethical technique where someone owns several sites that exchange backlinks among them to trick search engines into ranking them higher in search results. |
| Link Farm | An unethical link-building practice where some websites clinch a deal and give each other backlinks. |
| UGC (User-Generated Content) Backlinks | UGC links are backlinks coming from content that users generate, like comments on blog posts etc. |
Backlinks and Their Importance
Let’s start with the basics.
What is a backlink?
A backlink is a link on a webpage that directs its audience to your website for additional and relevant materials, related to the information they are looking for.
If you carefully analyse this definition you’ll see that a backlink has the following three key characteristics.
- Webmasters of other domains will give you backlinks. You cannot generate it.
- They won’t unless your pages have outstanding content, valuable to their users.
- You and the webmasters giving you backlinks belong to the same niche business otherwise your content cannot be relevant to their viewers. In short, they are your competitors.
So to build a healthy backlink profile you will have to rely on people who are your competitors–who, given the fierce competition in this digital landscape, are likely to uncork champagne bottles if you turn up your toes.
Tough job. And here lies the importance of backlinks in SEO.
Importance of Backlinks
If you can accomplish this seemingly impossible objective, it tells Google that your authority, knowledge and efficiency are of such a high standard that even your enemies are being forced to refer their valuable audiences to your content.
That is why despite the wholesale malpractices in link-building Google still considers a healthy backlink profile a key ranking metric.
I’ll answer your question, what should my backlink profile look like, shortly. But first, let’s get these two important items related to our topic out of the way quickly.
What is a backlink profile?
The backlink profile of your site is the collective name of mainly the quality, quantity and relevance of the total backlinks it gets from other domains.
Read this definition carefully. It summarises the answer to your question. In the rest of this post, I’ll only elaborate on it.
Benefits of a Healthy Backlink Profile
- A site with a great backlink profile usually gets a higher SERP ranking.
- A higher SERP ranking improves its online visibility.
- An improved online visibility provides it with greater brand awareness.
- A greater brand awareness may yield more leads, conversions and profits.
- Increased profits will help its owner make it even better.
- A site with a great backlink profile is a valuable source of information that ultimately helps those who matter most–the users.
What Should My Backlink Profile Look Like?
Okay, we’re now ready for the answer to this pertinent and vital question that intelligent businessmen like you do and should ask: what should my backlink profile look like?
You know, there are many types of backlinks. To make things easier for you, I’ve structured this post like this:
First, I’ll tell you the characteristics of a healthy backlink profile. Then I’ll tell you the characteristics of an unhealthy backlink profile. Finally, I’ll round it off with 7 tips to build a great backlink profile.
Characteristics of a Healthy Backlinks Profile
It Has Backlinks from Relevant Sources
The first and foremost feature of a healthy backlink profile is that its links come from sources that are relevant to its niche or topic.
If a steel merchant gets lots of backlinks from a frozen food dealer, Google will be amused first, annoyed later and finally alarmed.
It has Dofollow Backlinks
These backlinks have a “dofollow” attribute in their HTML code that tells Google to follow the link and pass on the link juice to it.
In short, through this backlink, the webmaster recognises your page’s value, relevance and authority, which are key ranking parameters.
So, these dofollow backlinks help your site get a higher SERP ranking, which is the ultimate objective of all SEO campaigns.
It Has Editorial Backlinks
Publications like newspapers and reputed blogs educate and inform people. They are considered authoritative sources of information.
Backlinks coming from these sources are called editorial backlinks. These are the most sought-after and difficult-to-get backlinks.
Its Backlinks Come from Recognised Sources
Backlinks coming from recognised, reputed and authoritative sites in your niche are high-quality backlinks.
One answer to your question, what my backlink profile should look like, must be that it should show several backlinks coming from reputed authoritative sites in your niche that provide you with a healthy dose of link juice.
Its Backlinks Come from Diverse Sources
If you get a lot of backlinks from only a few sites, Google may consider it a red flag.
The best backlink profile is one that has several high-quality backlinks from diverse sources.
It Has Some Nofollow Backlinks
Nofollow backlinks don’t give link juice and hence they don’t help SEO much. But their complete absence may indicate something is wrong.
A healthy backlink profile should have a balanced dofollow-nofollow presence. It is impossible to please everyone. So logically your pages should have links that don’t provide link equity.
It Has Backlinks with Relevant Anchor Text
Google understands the relevance of the destination page to the referral page by scanning the anchor text of the backlink.
So a healthy backlink profile will have backlinks with relevant anchor texts.
Characteristics of an Unhealthy Backlink Profile
To answer your question, what should my backlink profile look like, I’ll now tell you what your backlink profile shouldn’t look like.
I’m adding this section to wise you up on some malpractices that take place in this link-building thing.
Because backlinks are crucial to a site’s rankability, site owners many a time get carried away and fall prey to fraudulent agencies who flood their pages with backlinks that search engines hate.
Far from helping your site rank high on the SERPs, these backlinks will sabotage your SEO campaigns and give your brand a bad name.
Remember also that Google comes down on sites featuring these backlinks like a ton of bricks. If your site shows such backlinks, Google may even remove it from the SERPs altogether.
So here are the features of an unhealthy backlink profile.
It Has Backlinks from Low-Grade Sites
If a site gets lots of backlinks from low-grade sites, it has a bad backlink profile. It can’t get far up the SERPs.
It Has PBN Backlinks
Sites that give each other PBN backlinks are all owned by the same person. He builds link profiles for his sites by promoting an inter-linking mechanism among them.
Each site gives backlinks to the other and the link juice keeps circulating inside the PBN.
This is a clever trick, but Google is cleverer. It can easily detect this practice and usually punishes the practitioner adequately.
It Has Backlinks from Link Farm
Link farm is another link scam similar to PBN. Here, several site owners bring their fertile brains together and exchange backlinks among them.
However, they are not so brainy as to trick Google. Google detects and punishes such sites.
It has Too Many UGC Links
Googlebot ignores UGC backlinks as they are usually nofollow links. But their overwhelming presence may make it take a long look at your site with eyebrows raised abnormally high.
Avoid such links if you know what is good for you.
How to Analyse Your Backlink Profile
Next up in my answer to your question, what should my backlink profile look like, I’ll tell you how to analyse and evaluate your backlink profile.
You should periodically analyse your backlink profile to keep it aligned with Google’s backlinking guidelines.
To do so, you may use a backlink analysis tool like Google Search Console. Take the following steps to analyse your backlink profile.
- Count the total number of backlinks from high-value sites.
- Count the total number of backlinks from low-grade sites.
- Count referring pages. Backlinks from different referral pages are a sign of a healthy backlink profile.
- Analyse the backlinks’ anchor texts to know how relevant they are to your niche.
- Check out the balance between dofollow and nofollow links. The absence of nofollow links is a sign of an unhealthy backlink profile.
How to Build a Healthy Backlink Profile
Well, I’ve answered your question, what should my backlink profile look like.
Before I go, I’ll give you 7 time-tested tips that will help you build a healthy backlink profile for your site.
1. Create Linkable Content
Create content so good that webmasters of other domains in your industry can’t but refer their users to your pages for more information on your niche topic.
2. Use the Skyscraper Technique
This technique involves the creation of content better than other high-ranking sites in your industry to outrank them on the SERPs.
3. Do Some Guest Blogging
Write some good posts on other reputed blogs in your niche with links to you in the author’s bio or the main body of the content.
Blog owners usually appreciate high-value guest posts on their blogs and allow this link-building strategy.
4. Analyse Your Backlink Profile
From time to time analyse your backlink profile to get rid of low-grade spammy backlinks. They are a nuisance and should be kicked out of your site.
5. Write Evergreen Content
Content that can retain its usefulness and value for a long time is called evergreen content. For example, an in-depth how-to guide.
Such content may yield valuable backlinks for a long time due to its validity.
6. Publish Research Work
If possible, publish some original research on your site. Original research is unique and valuable to the relevant sites.
Webmasters will link their pages to it if it is relevant to their niche as they won’t get such content anywhere else.
7. Reach Out to Others
Build strong bonds with leaders in your niche. Reach out to them. Post thought-provoking articles and comments on their sites.
Then politely request them to give you backlinks.
If your content is great and relevant, there is no reason why they shouldn’t comply. Remember, this game is not for the introvert.
Conclusion
To conclude this post that addressed your question, what should my backlink profile look like, let’s do a quick recap.
Backlinks are valuable in SEO as they have the potential to bump your SERP ranking. But they should come from diverse authoritative peer sites.
To build a healthy backlink profile, you must focus on creating great content, reaching out to your industry leaders and prefer quality to quantity.
Your backlink profile should look like a hallmark of your expertise and authority, recognised by leaders in your industry.
FAQs.
Q. What is a backlink?
A. A backlink is a link with which other websites refer their users to your pages.
Q. What is a backlink profile?
A. The quality, quantity and relevance of your total backlinks together make your backlink profile.
Q. What is guest blogging?
A. Guest blogging is writing content for other sites. Guest blogging can bring in some good backlinks.
Q. What is link equity?
A. The value a webmaster attaches to your content when he gives you a backlink is called link equity or link juice.