How many times have you asked yourself “What is..”. This link building glossary provides you with the most common key terms and definitions. Link building is a fundamental element of SEO and this post will help you navigate the complexities of link building with ease.
Hence, It will help you improve your website’s search engine rankings and visibility. Whether you’re a beginner or an experienced marketer, understanding the terminology used is essential.
Here we go!
A
Algorithmic Penalty: A penalty from search engines for violating their guidelines, such as acquiring spammy backlinks.
Anchor Link: A link that directs users to a specific part of the same page or another page.
Anchor Text: The clickable text in a hyperlink that directs users to another page or site.
Anchor Text Diversity: The variation in anchor text used when acquiring backlinks, helping to make a backlink profile look more natural.
Authority Site: A site with high domain authority, usually due to its credibility and trusted content.
B
Backlink: A link from one website to another, often considered a vote of confidence by search engines.
Black Hat SEO: Unethical SEO practices that violate search engine guidelines in an attempt to manipulate rankings.
Broken Link Building: A link building tactic where you find broken links on other websites and offer your content as a replacement. Hence unbreaking the broken link and obtaining a link for your site.
C
Citation: Mentions of your website’s name and URL on other websites, which can improve local SEO.
Citation Flow: A metric that measures the quantity of links pointing to a site.
Cloaking: The act of showing different content to search engines than what is shown to users to manipulate rankings.
Competitor Backlink Analysis: A strategy that involves reviewing the backlink profile of competitors to identify potential link-building opportunities.
Content Curation for Link Building: The practice of aggregating and sharing content from various sources to build links.
Content Marketing for Link Building: Using valuable content as a tool to earn backlinks naturally.
Content Syndication: Republishing content on other sites to attract backlinks and expand reach.
Content-Length for Link Building: The optimal length of content that is likely to attract backlinks, typically longer and more detailed posts.
Contextual Link: A backlink that is naturally embedded in the content of a page, providing better SEO value.
Contextual Link Building: Gaining backlinks by placing links within relevant content (contextual links).
D
DoFollow vs. NoFollow: The difference between backlinks that pass link juice (dofollow) and those that don’t (nofollow). Check below for definitions of DoFollow links and NoFollow links.
Dofollow Link: A link that passes link juice, contributing to the SEO of the destination website.
Domain Authority (DA): A metric that predicts how likely a website is to rank in search engine results.
E
Editorial Calendar: A schedule used to plan and manage content and link-building efforts over time.
Editorial Link: A natural link given by a website owner based on the quality of your content.
External Linking: Linking from your website to an external site.
G
Google Penalties for Links: Penalties imposed by Google for using unnatural or spammy link-building practices.
Guest Blogging: Writing articles for other websites in exchange for a backlink to your site.
Guest Posting: Writing and publishing content on another website with the purpose of gaining backlinks. Almost like guest Blogging.
H
High-Quality Link: A backlink from a trustworthy, authoritative, and relevant website.
I
Inbound Link: A link pointing to a website, also referred to as a backlink.
Indexing: The process by which search engines add pages to their index, making these pages eligible for ranking.
Inlink: A backlink that points to a page within your own website from another page.
Internal Linking: The practice of linking to other pages within the same website.
K
Keyword-Optimized Link Building: Acquiring backlinks that include targeted keywords in the anchor text to improve SEO.
L
Link Acquisition: The process of gaining backlinks to improve search engine rankings.
Link Audit: A process of reviewing your existing backlinks to identify any harmful or low-quality links.
Link Audit Tools: Software used to analyze and audit a website’s backlinks.
Link Bait: Content that is designed to attract backlinks naturally because of its quality or uniqueness.
Link Building: The process of acquiring backlinks to improve a website’s search engine ranking.
Link Building Automation: The use of tools or software to automate the process of acquiring backlinks.
Link Building Ethics: The adherence to ethical practices in acquiring backlinks, focusing on quality over quantity.
Link Building Ethics: The practice of following ethical guidelines when acquiring backlinks, ensuring the links are from trusted and relevant sites.
Link Building Outreach: The act of contacting other website owners, example via email, to request backlinks.
Link Building Strategy: A comprehensive plan designed to acquire backlinks in a structured, ethical and sustainable way.
Link Building Tactics: The methods used to acquire backlinks, including guest posting, broken link building, and content marketing.
Link Building Tools: Software designed to assist with acquiring backlinks, managing outreach and analyzing link profiles.
Link Claiming: The process of claiming backlinks that mention your brand or website but haven’t yet been linked to your site.
Link Decay: The loss of link value or traffic over time as a result of outdated or broken links.
Link Depth: Refers to the number of clicks it takes to reach a certain page from the homepage.
Link Distribution: How backlinks are spread across a website, ensuring they are strategically placed to improve SEO.
Link Exchange: The practice of exchanging backlinks with another website for mutual benefit.
Link Farm: A website that exists solely for the purpose of generating backlinks, often violating search engine guidelines.
Link Flow: The flow of link juice from one page to another, impacting SEO rankings.
Link Intersect: A strategy for identifying backlinks that your competitors have, but you do not.
Link Juice: The value or authority passed through a backlink to the destination website.
Link Magnet: Content designed to naturally attract backlinks due to its value, usefulness, or shareability.
Link Profile: The collection of backlinks that point to a website, reflecting its overall link strategy.
Link Prospecting: The process of finding websites or pages where you can build backlinks.
Link Prospecting Tools: Tools that help identify websites or pages for potential backlink opportunities.
Link Reclamation: The process of reclaiming backlinks that were lost or unlinked by the original source.
Link Relevancy: The relevance of the website that links to your content. More relevant backlinks even better for your SEO.
Link Request: A formal or informal request made to website owners to gain a backlink.
Link Rotation: The act of rotating backlinks to ensure they appear natural and don’t look spammy.
Link Roundup: A method of building backlinks by contributing content to a curated list of resources on another website.
Link Sculpting: The practice of controlling the flow of link juice to certain pages of a website.
Link Spam: The practice of creating low-quality, irrelevant backlinks in large quantities.
Link Swapping: Exchanging backlinks with another website for mutual benefit.
Link Tracking: Monitoring backlinks to assess their impact on SEO performance.
Link Value: The impact a link has on SEO, based on the authority and relevance of the linking page.
Link Value Calculation: The process of evaluating the worth of a backlink based on factors like authority, relevance, and placement.
Link Velocity: The rate at which a website gains backlinks, which should be natural and not appear spammy.
Link Velocity Monitoring: Monitoring the rate at which backlinks are acquired to ensure they follow natural patterns.
Linkable Assets: High-quality content on your website designed to attract backlinks, such as infographics, case studies and resources.
Local Link Building: A strategy focused on obtaining backlinks from local or geographically relevant websites to boost local SEO.
Low-Quality Link: A backlink from a spammy or irrelevant website that offers little SEO value.
M
Media Mentions: Mentions of your brand or website in media outlets that can result in backlinks.
N
Natural Backlinks: Backlinks that are acquired organically (in a natural way) because of valuable content.
NoFollow Link Building: The practice of building nofollow links to diversify a link profile.
Nofollow Link: A link that doesn’t pass link juice and doesn’t impact the SEO ranking of the destination website.
O
Outbound Link: A link from your website to another external website.
Outreach Email: An email sent to website owners or bloggers to request a backlink or content collaboration.
P
PBN (Private Blog Network): A network of websites used to build backlinks for the purpose of manipulating search rankings, often considered a black hat tactic.
Page Authority (PA): A metric that measures the strength of an individual webpage and its likelihood of ranking.
Paid Links: Links that are purchased to improve SEO rankings, often violating search engine guidelines.
R
Reciprocal Linking: The exchange of backlinks between two websites, often for mutual SEO benefits.
Referral Traffic: Traffic that comes to your site via links from other websites.
Rel=”Canonical” Link: A tag used to prevent duplicate content issues by specifying the preferred version of a webpage.
Reputation Management: Managing the perception of your website or brand through backlinks from reputable sources.
S
SEO Link Building Campaign: A structured approach to gaining backlinks over time, targeting specific websites and content types.
SEO Link Building Strategy: A tactical plan for acquiring backlinks that align with SEO goals.
Social Media Backlinks: Links shared through social media platforms that can drive traffic and improve SEO.
Spammy Links: Low-quality or irrelevant backlinks that can harm a website’s SEO.
T
Tiered Link Building: A strategy where backlinks are built to other backlinks to increase their effectiveness.
Topical Relevance: The alignment of the linking site’s topic with the content being linked to, increasing backlink quality.
Trust Flow: A metric that measures the trustworthiness of a website based on its backlink profile.
U
Unnatural Links: Backlinks that violate search engine guidelines, often resulting from manipulative tactics.
W
White Hat SEO: Ethical SEO practices that comply with search engine guidelines.
Final words
With this link building glossary, you’re equipped with the foundational knowledge to enhance your link building strategies. Start implementing these terms today and watch your SEO efforts grow!
Are you ready to start implementing these strategies and take your SEO game to the next level? Link building is a powerful tool—make sure you’re using it to its full potential. Make sure to check out, why Link Building Matters.