Backlinks - How Important Are They?

Do you need to get backlinks?   Well no, not really BUT if you want to get found you'll need them!

When I first started Squidooing my backlinking strategy was very hit and miss.   I would hear about a site and my most recent lenses would be submitted and then I'd forget about it!   Despite this 'I can't really call it a tactic' some of my lenses have done well.

Yesterday I looked at my top lenses and they had lots of backlinks, I looked at my bottom lenses - guess what's missing?

Now luck or good SEO has helped me pick up what I think are the best backlinks - organic ones.   It's getting organic backlinks that make people think as long as their SEO and content is good people will automatically link to them and so they don't NEED to add backlinks themselves.   I have certainly found that this can work, but how much better would the lens have performed with more backlinks?   After all people have got to find your lens before they can link to it.

Some sites are better than others and you can check out your existing backlinks and see what ones are showing up to determine the best sites to submit your lenses too.   If you remember last year's HIMYM tee experiment Xomba and She Told Me proved that they were must have backlinks (although she told me doesn't appear to be doing as well these days).

There are so many sites available that it's hard to know where to start.   Some sites are what is called Do Follow and some are No Follow.   A lot of people will tell you that you need to only use Do Follow backlinks, but in all honesty I think the more links to your site from out there in Cyberspace the better regardless of their follow attributes.

HOWEVER

One thing to keep in mind - don't list too many sites in one go because Google will get spooked and may penalise your lens.   The best thing to do would be to make yourself a worksheet that you follow for ever lens ie

Day 1 = submit to Xomba, She Told Me, Squidu
Day 2 = Submit to Isle of Squid, Squidom, Best Reviewer
etc

Submitting Your Backlinks

With some sites that you submit your links to a description is required.   Now you could copy and paste the first few sentances of your lens, but I have found it's better to write an original synopsis using the same keywords that are in your lens - check what you've written in the Google SERP tool before submitting.

Articles for Backlinks

Articles can also create backlinks to your lens.   For the best results take a topic like How to Cure Eczema as your lens.   Next you can write articles such as Do You Have Eczema? or Signs and Symptoms of Eczema and link these articles to your lens on How to Cure Eczema.   Remember to submit your articles to the same sites as your lens (where applicable) ie Xomba, She Told Me etc.

Now right another article or a hub if you're on Hubpages  on The Top 5 Natural Remedies for Eczema and link back to your lens for more information.

Checking Your Backlinks

I usually use Squidutils to check my backlinks, but one thing you should be aware of is that it doesn't mention the links within Squidoo, but Google does rate these.   This is why it's important to interlink your lenses AND make the most of the discovery module.

I've been pretty bad at checking my backlinks lately, but I am going to get more organized again now especially with my new (and so much faster) computer!   What I used to do was have a look at what sites are linking back to me and if I liked them and I thought they looked good (do not do this with all of the sites or it will lose it's effectiveness) I would tweet them.   Giving their site a push will (hopefully) help your lens.

Don't forget to check out the Squidoo Directories that we looked at last year.