Getting relevant backlinks is becoming increasingly important for successful link building campaigns in 2024 and beyond. Google’s algorithm continues to evolve towards evaluating quality and relevance of links to determine trust and authority.
This comprehensive guide will cover what exactly makes links relevant, why relevant links have grown critical for rankings, and actionable tips to build more high-quality and topically relevant backlinks to your site.
What is Link Relevance?
Link relevance refers to how topically related and useful the context of a backlink is from the site linking to your page. The more relevant the content of the linking page is to the destination, the more valuable signal it passes in Google’s eyes.
There are a few dimensions to consider regarding relevance of links:
Domain to Domain Relevance – How closely related are the overall topics and niches of the two sites? An SEO blog linking to marketing tools sites has decent relevance.
Domain to Page Relevance – Even if entire sites have little overlap, individual pages/posts can be very relevant for backlinks. An outreach blog linking to guest posting tips page is very relevant.
Page to Page Relevance – The deeper content relevance between two pages indicates higher quality signal. A post on inbound marketing tips linking to posts on optimizing landing pages specifically is incredibly relevant.
Link Anchor to Page Relevance – The anchor texts provide significant contextual signals. Descriptive text like “inbound marketing guide” adds greater relevance.
Optimizing relevance across all layers transmits significantly stronger signals of a high quality and natural link, which Google rewards correspondingly with better rankings.
Let’s move on to discussing specifically why building relevant links has become so critical for SEO success.
Why Relevant Links Matter for Rankings
Google’s algorithm has advanced considerably over the years to focus heavily on relevancy and quality signals to determine authority and trustworthiness. This core evolution is why building relevant backlinks has become absolutely vital for SEO success.
In many ways, links act as “votes” to indicate a page offers useful information on a specific topic. The more niche-relevant links a page earns, the more Google sees it as an authority site worthy of ranking highly in search results.
Some key reasons why relevant backlinks matter:
- Google Assessing True Quality – Irrelevant links from shady sites are more likely manipulative links, so the relevance helps Google determine true quality.
- Prevent Penalties – Too many low-quality, irrelevant links can get flagged as unnatural and attempted manipulation, leading to manual actions and penalties.
- Signals Expertise – Getting links from niche-specific sites indicates greater trust and endorsement for search rankings.
- The Future of SEO – Google shows no signs of deemphasizing links or relevance for judging authority sites so both will only grow more important over time.
The bottom line is that when creating your overall link building strategy, improving relevance needs to be a primary focus in everything from outbound outreach targeting to optimizing anchors and landing pages.
How to Measure Relevance of Backlinks
Determining the relevance of your existing backlink profile and any newly acquired links is crucial for gauging SEO success. There are a few key metrics to assess:
Topic Relevance – Evaluate how closely the content of the referring page aligns with your site’s niche. Granular topic alignment indicates higher quality.
Domain Authority – In addition to relevance, the trust and authority of the site linking impacts value. High DA sites pass more equity.
Page vs Domain Relevance – A relatively irrelevant site could still have highly relevant deeper pages. Always check page-level content.
Anchor Text Diversity – Varied anchors with niche keywords indicates more natural links, while exact match anchors can seem manipulative.
There are a number of backlink analysis tools that help evaluate these factors at scale across your entire link profile:
- Ahrefs – Full backlink data including anchor text patterns, dofollow/nofollow, and page content
- SEMRush – Backlink audits by page as well as entire domain analysis
- Majestic – Historic index of backlinks with filters for niche site relevance
- Monitor Backlinks – Alerts for new links so you can immediately vet for relevance
Regularly analyzing your latest links, including manually checking a sample for quality and relevance, is vital for ensuring your SEO efforts stay aligned with Google’s evolving algorithm.
Tips to Build More Relevant Backlinks
Getting relevant links needs to be a priority for any successful link building campaign in 2024. The key is ensuring relevance and topical authority is front and center when researching and outreaching for backlink opportunities.
Outreach Targeting
Conduct manual research and identify potential sites for outreach across:
- Niche targeting – Identify 10-20 seed sites in your space and mine their backlink profiles for prospects
- Site relevancy – Vet each manually checking site topic and page content
- Domain authority – Apply DA filter minimum (generally 40+)
For higher efficiency, leverage backlink data tools:
- Ahrefs (organize by relevance)
- Pitchbox (find contact data)
- Outreach database building
Optimizing Linkworthy Content
Focus on creating content designed specifically to attract relevant sites:
- Laser focused on subtopics in your niche
- Extensive research and data
- Fill obvious gaps from Google and competitors
- Promotional assets (i.e. infographics)
Anchor Text Optimization
For guest posts and earned placements, provide optimized but natural anchor text:
- Short 1-3 relevant keyword descriptor
- Help integrate anchors into context
- Vary phrasing – avoid identical repetitive text
Common Pitfalls to Avoid
It’s just as important to avoid actions that directly hurt link relevance as it is to actively build high-quality backlinks. Here are common mistakes that can undermine an otherwise solid link building campaign:
Irrelevant Niche Outreach
While it may be tempting to cast a wide net with outreach, focusing on irrelevant sites not closely aligned to your niche is unlikely to move the needle for rankings and risks poor quality links. Always thoroughly vet sites for topical relevance before outreaching.
Over-Optimized Anchor Text
Repeating exact-match anchor text links comes across as manipulative to Google. While you want to incorporate relevant keywords, make sure to vary the phrasing and keep anchors concise yet descriptive.
Buying Links from Low-Quality Sites
There can be a place for paid guest posts and sponsored content to expand your link profile, but always thoroughly vet sites. Make sure domain authority meets a reasonable threshold (~40 DA+) and site content aligns with your niche.
Manipulative Link Acquisition
Avoid any link building tactics that come across as overly manipulative or “spammy” just to gain backlinks. Tactics like link exchanges, low-quality directories, manipulating comments/forums, and anything else that doesn’t feel natural or authentic.
The key is gaining relevant links through authoritative sites in your space because they find your content and expertise genuinely useful for their audiences. That leads to sustainable growth in organic rankings.
Monitoring Relevance of Your Backlinks
Gaining initial relevant links is just the first step. Maintaining relevance in your overall link profile over time is crucial for sustainable rankings growth.
Here are tips for continually monitoring and evaluating backlink relevance:
Link Tracking Software
Leverage link tracking software to get alerts for new backlinks so you can quickly evaluate:
- Site relevance
- Page content
- Anchor text
Sample Check New Links
In addition to alerts, manually check a small sample of latest links periodically to review relevance and quality factors Google is assessing.
Backlink Profile Audits
Conduct full backlink profile audits 1-2x per year assessing metrics like:
- Domain authority distribution
- Anchor text patterns
- Site overlap/concentration
- Identify potential risky sites
Monitoring relevance helps avoid “link rot” where new low-quality or irrelevant links undermine the growing authority you’ve built.
Conclusion
As Google continues evolving its algorithm, building relevant backlinks only grows in importance. By focusing on relevance in your outreach, content, and optimization, you set your campaigns up for maximum sustainable impact.
What tips do you find most useful for getting relevant links? What other strategies work well? I’d love to hear other effective tactics for building more relevant backlinks.
FAQs About Building Relevant Links
How many backlinks should be relevant?
Ideally the vast majority (80%+) of your backlinks should come from sites considered reasonably relevant to your niche in order to reinforce your authority and relevance to search engines.
Do a few irrelevant links hurt?
A small percentage of tangential or irrelevant sites linking to you is usually not an issue, especially if the rest of your profile has very strong relevance signals. But try to minimize these.
Can competitor backlinks be relevant?
Absolutely. While you don’t want competitors to make up a large chunk of your backlink profile, referrals from closely aligned sites in your space can indicate strong relevance.
Should all my anchor text exactly match my keywords?
No, having too much exact match anchor text looks overly optimized and unnatural. Have some variance using short keyword phrases and descriptors. The focus should be on descriptive relevance over keyword targeting.
How often should I audit relevance?
Conducting full backlink audits specifically checking relevance at least 2-3 times per year is a good baseline. Set calendar reminders to evaluate seasonally.
