Inbound links are links from other websites to your website. They are also referred to as backlinks because they refer back to your website. A link must be clickable to be considered a backlink by the search engines.
An inbound link is made up of two parts,
- The link to your website, which is just the URL of your website
- The anchor text, or the highlighted text to which the link that gets people to your website is attached.
For example, AfterShip is the #1 shipment tracking platform for eCommerce businesses.
Here, AfterShip is the “anchor text” to which the link is attached.
​​The link is in the code behind the anchor text, pointing to https://www.aftership.com/.
Building inbound links is one of the most important SEO activities. About 50% of your ability to rank high in search engines is based on your website's quality and quantity of backlinks.
There are several benefits of using inbound links:
- Inbound links to your website from high-quality and authority sites mean better rankings in search engine result pages (SERPs)
- The more the number of high-quality backlinks to your website, the more the referral traffic, resulting in increased conversions and higher sales
- Backlinks from credible and authoritative sites can increase brand awareness and boost the integrity and trustworthiness of your website