Incoming Links and SEO

At Echidna, we’re often asked by clients – does adding a “Links” section or a “Resources” section to my website increase my website’s ranking in search engines?

The answer is no. What really helps increase your ranking in search engines is incoming links – other websites that are linking to your website because you provide valuable information and content.

Incoming links (also known as backlinks, inbound links, inlinks and inward links), are the best way to get search engines, like Google, to find your site and keep coming back to it because the number of incoming links is viewed as a sign of popularity or importance.

So how do you get incoming links to your website? A few ways to increase the number of incoming links to your website would be to participate in forums, blogs or Twitter. If you provide useful information or newsworthy content – people will begin to use your website as a resource and link back to your site for the valuable content. We don’t suggest using link farms or your website may be tagged as spam.

Outgoing links are not a bad thing to add to your website, especially if you swap links, which results in an incoming link. Additionally, outgoing links can be a great way to lead your readers to more information so you’re not repeating content, and can be a great way to show your expertise or credentials by linking to your university or a recent project you’ve completed.

But, if you’re looking to increase your SEO or page ranking - incoming links are the way to go.