What Are Backlinks, Why Do They Matter for SEO, and How to Earn Them Safely
What backlinks are, which links carry value, which risk breaking Google's policies, and natural ways for Thai businesses to earn them.
You have been writing articles on your company website for months. The content is good and genuinely answers customer questions, yet you are still on page three of Google while a competitor with similar content sits on page one. One difference you cannot see on the page itself: more websites refer to them. Those references are called backlinks.
What are backlinks?
A backlink is a link from another website pointing to yours, for example a news site writing about your shop and linking to it, or an industry blog citing your article. Such links help search engines in two ways: they help them discover your pages, and they are one signal that others found the content useful enough to cite.
Importantly, backlinks are only one of many factors. Content that answers questions well, site speed and user experience also matter. Lots of links cannot rescue poor content.
Which links carry value
- Relevant to your topic: a link from an accounting site to an accounting firm means more than one from an unrelated site.
- From sites people actually read: media, professional associations, universities or blogs with a following.
- Placed naturally in content: a link inside a sentence explaining why to click beats links piled at the bottom of a page.
- Clear anchor text that says what the destination is, rather than repeating stuffed keywords.
Which links are risky
Google Search Central's spam policies list examples of link spam, including:
- Buying or selling links for ranking purposes.
- Excessive link exchanges, or partner pages made only for cross-linking.
- Using automated programs or services to create links to your site.
- Links from low-quality directory or bookmark sites.
- Forum comments with links inserted to manipulate rankings.
The same policies say paid links are not a violation if they carry a rel value of sponsored or nofollow. If you run advertorials with media outlets, agree on this clearly in advance.
Be especially careful if someone offers a cheap package of many backlinks with guaranteed rankings. Such links usually come from sites built to sell links, which do not help in the long run and can damage your site's credibility.
The best backlink is one someone wants to add, because your content helps their readers.
Natural ways to earn backlinks
1. Create content people want to cite
For example, a guide more thorough than others, a downloadable checklist, or information you gathered from hands-on experience. Example: a solar installer writes a guide to the permit process for home installations, kept up to date with government announcements. Sites writing about energy have a reason to link to it.
2. Use relationships you already have
Suppliers, corporate clients, trade associations or events you sponsor often have partner pages or news posts where a link makes sense.
3. Comment as an expert
Media and industry blogs often look for people to quote. If you reply quickly with substance, your name and site may be cited.
4. Find unlinked mentions
Search for your brand name. If you find an article that mentions you without a link, send a thank-you and politely ask them to link to the relevant page.
How to measure
Use Google Search Console's links report to see which sites link to you and which pages get the most links. Track this alongside rankings and clicks for your key pages. Do not measure link count alone: a few links from relevant sites can be worth more than many unrelated ones.
How to start
- Pick the one or two pages that matter most to your business.
- Improve each into the best page you can make on that topic.
- List ten sites whose readers would benefit from that page.
- Reach out specifically, explaining how the content helps their readers.
- Check the links report in Search Console monthly.
Learn how to write articles people can find in Writing blog posts that rank on Google. If you are interested in an SEO career, read SEO career basics or browse partner courses in courses.