Backlinks are one of the important factors in search engine optimization. In the early days of mass communication using the internet, search engines ranked the pages based exclusively on the content and presence of the search queries or key words in the page. However, when people started taking undue advantage of the ranking process by excessively stuffing keywords on the page, the overall quality of the search results started to decrease. So, more and more pages that just stuffed the keywords on their pages, got ranked while the genuine websites which had the information relevant to the query of the searcher got lower rankings. This, in the long run resulted in a subpar experience for the users.
In order to put a check on the websites that stuffed the keywords on their pages, Google and other search engines came up with another unique factor that can be used to identify the unique and genuine content. This way search engines can serve the pages that are relevant for the person who is making the search.
History of Backlink as a Ranking Factor
Backlink is when a website links another webpage citing it as a source of information or as the page that is ideal with the right information for a query. Instead of taking the responsibility of checking each and every page and verifying the authority of the page individually for all these pages, search engines like Google have essentially made the process as a community driven one. So, when a large number of websites ink back to a webpage, Google can assume that the website is genuine and has the right content that is relevant to the search query.
Slowly, the number of websites that are linking back to a webpage has become an important indicator of the authority of the webpage. This is how search engines have successfully thwarted the attempts by SEO to cheat the system and rank their web pages by keyword stuffing.
However, search engine optimization experts found another loophole in the system and started to get paid backlinks from many websites. Or in some cases, they have created multiple websites from which they link to other websites that they are promoting. So, when people started to find out How much do backlinks cost, it became pretty simple to find out that it was easier to get a backlink from other sites when you link back to them.
Soon enough all SEOs were using cheap ways to get bogus backlinks from other websites. Again the overall experience for the searches started to fall. In a short period of time backlinks were not a reliable factor to judge the relevance and authority of the web page. Again search engines had to find another way to correctly find out the right factors for ranking the web pages according to their relevance.
Backlink as an Important Ranking Factor
Then search engines started to rank the pages on the basis of topical relevance and also analyze the websites that were linking to the web pages. For instance a website that has content about photography linking to a healthcare website is not the same as a website that is in the domain of health and fitness. The relevance of the website and the topical authority of even the linking website is considered in the new attribution model. Similarly, links also have “do follow” and “no follow” pointers that show whether the linked web page is trustworthy or not. So in short the latest ranking models have many checks and balances in the system to ensure that the ranked webpages are really the ones that give the right information for the respective search queries.
However, even with these upgraded ranking algorithms, SEOs found a loophole to rank their webpages. Instead of finding high quality websites that can link back to their websites, they have started to build a network of websites that they can use to boost the authority of the web pages they are working for. This network of websites is called the private blogging networks or PBNs. These are relatively easier to build as we can quickly build a website with multiple content pieces in the relevant topics that provides the topical authority. Again search engines found a way to disown these links and weed out unnecessary and bogus backlinks. The real cost of building a good quality backlink that can boost the authority of the website is much higher than you think.
The Real Cost of Backlink
Today the real cost of backlink creation is much higher than what it used to be a few years ago. Stringent measures by search engines in selecting backlinks and measuring a number of other factors like topical relevance, topical authority, and freshness of the content all play a huge role in the final ranking factors. So, no matter how much do backlinks cost, they are completely worth the price that one needs to pay for the same.
If you are someone who is looking to boost your ranking and improve your business, then you need the best people in the industry to work for your website. The cost of building a high quality backlink that augments the ranking for your website and at the same time increase its visibility is high. It requires proper planning of content on multiple websites, posting schedule, proper and complete attribution and any other important factors.
If you are someone who is working in the highly profitable but competitive niche like health and fitness, finance and money management then the effective cost of building a backlink is much higher than other domains. It is because Google rates these websites as YMYL domain websites and have more stringent measures in place to find the quality backlinks. So, depending on your domain the effective cost of backlink could be anything from just a few dollars to hundreds of dollars. Again these are just ballpark figures and the exact numbers can be even higher. In spite of all the inflation in prices, these backlinks are totally worth their price.