Everybody knows backlinks are a valuable commodity when it comes to SEO. The more links you have, the better your site will rank in Google and other search engines. In fact, people go to great lengths to get their hands on as many backlinks as possible.
However, backlinks from low-traffic websites are less effective than you think. And the reason is simple – Google and other search engines emphasize quality over quantity. So a link from a 50 DA site with 500 daily visitors is worth more than a link from a 10 DA site with 50 hits per day.
This article looks at the potential downsides of low-traffic websites and why you should focus on quality over quantity when building backlinks.
Why Low Traffic Websites Don’t Usually Make Good Backlinks
Most website owners will agree that sourcing backlinks can be a real pain. It’s time-consuming, challenging, and expensive, especially if you choose to pay for link placement.
That’s why some website owners take shortcuts and source backlinks from low-traffic websites. After all, any link is better than no link, right?
Wrong.
While it’s true that any link is technically better than no link, connections from low-traffic websites are often not worth the effort. Here’s why:
1. Low-traffic Websites Tend to Have Low PageRank
PageRank is a metric used by Google to determine the importance of a website. It’s based on several things, but the quality of links pointing to a website is one of the most critical factors. So a website with many high-quality backlinks will usually have a high PageRank, while a website with mostly low-quality backlinks will have a low PageRank.
And guess what? Google places more emphasis on websites with many high-ranking pages when it comes to SERP placement. So if you want your website to rank well, you need to focus on building backlinks from ranking pages.
2. Low-traffic Websites Tend to be Less Relevant
Relevance is another crucial factor that Google considers when determining search rankings. So a website that’s relevant to your niche is more likely to help your site rank higher than a website that’s not in the same niche as yours.
A good example of this is if you have a website about car parts. A link from a website about cars would be more relevant (and therefore more valuable) than a link from a recipe website.
Ideally, you should be aiming to get backlinks from websites that are both relevant and have high PageRank. But if you can only choose one, go for relevance over PageRank.
3. Low-traffic Websites are Often Spammy
Unfortunately, many low-traffic websites are nothing more than link farms or spammy websites. And getting a backlink from one of these sites could hurt your ranking.
So how can you tell if a website is spammy? There are a few things to look out for, including:
- A large number of low-quality backlinks pointing to the website
- Little to no original content on the website
- Lots of pop-ups and other intrusive advertising
- A domain name that’s trying to game the system (e.g., carparts4u.com)
If a website has any of these red flags, it’s best to avoid getting a backlink from it.
4. Low-traffic Websites are Often Short-lived
Another downside of low-traffic websites is that they tend to be short-lived. This is because many of them are created solely to build backlinks. They don’t have any real value beyond that.
So if you get a backlink from a low-traffic website, there’s no guarantee that the website will still be around a few months later. If the site does disappear, your backlink will go with it.
5. Low Traffic Websites Reflect Poorly On Your Business
If you’re linking to a low-quality site, it reflects poorly on your website. That sends the wrong signal to your search engine.
It’s the same thing in real life. You don’t want to be seen associating with shady characters, as it will make people question your own character. The same goes for websites. You want to be associated with high-quality websites, as it will make people think more highly of your site.
Should You Avoid all Backlinks from Low-Traffic Websites?
Ok, here comes the controversial part – I’m not saying you should avoid all backlinks from low-traffic websites.
There are some exceptions to the rule. For example, any link will be better if you’re running a new website with no backlinks. So, in that case, getting a backlink from a low-traffic website is still better than nothing.
The same goes for websites in highly competitive niches. If you’re up against some big players who have a lot of high-quality backlinks, getting a few low-quality backlinks can still help you rank higher in the search results.
However, you want to choose a promising website when looking for easy linking opportunities. Look at the PageRank data, traffic history, and relevance to your niche. If the website seems like a good quality website, go ahead and get a backlink from it. The site might grow over time and become a valuable backlink source.
However, identifying potential linking opportunities is half the battle. The other half is getting your link onto the website, which can be difficult if the website doesn’t have a blog or isn’t open to guest posting.
In that case, consider paying for a backlink. But be careful – there’s a fine line between paying for a backlink and engaging in link buying, which is against Google’s guidelines.
To avoid getting into trouble, only pay for backlinks from websites that offer sponsored post opportunities or other types of advertising that are clearly labeled as such. And make sure you’re only paying for a backlink, not an entire post or advertisement.
Paying for backlinks is a gray area, but as long as you’re careful, it can be an effective way to get high-quality backlinks from websites with high traffic.
Identifying High-Quality Backlink Opportunities
Now that we can all agree that low-traffic websites are generally not worth your time or money, let’s move on to finding high-quality backlink opportunities.
The best way to find high-quality backlink opportunities is to start with a list of websites already linking to your competitors.
You can use Ahrefs or SEMrush to find websites that link to your competitors. Just enter your target URL into the tool, then generate a list of all the websites that link to them.
Once you have your list, it’s time to start reaching out to those websites asking for a backlink.
The best way to do this is to find contact information for the website’s owner or editor and send them a personal email. In your message, introduce yourself and explain why you think it would be beneficial for their website to link to your website.
For example, you might say something like, “I noticed that you’re already linking to Competitor X. I think it would be beneficial for your readers if you also linked to my website because we offer a similar product/service but with a unique twist/better quality/lower price.”
You should also include a link to your website so they can easily check it out.
If you don’t hear back from the website owner or editor, try reaching out again a few days later. If you still don’t hear back, stop reaching out to that particular person because they are clearly not interested.
It is important to note that webmasters and editors usually receive many requests and can only respond to some of them. So don’t take it personally if you don’t hear back – move on and focus on other opportunities.
Getting Links from Other Language Websites
If you’re having trouble getting links from high-quality websites in your language, consider looking for opportunities in other languages.
For example, if you have a website in English, you could reach out to sites in Spanish, French, or any other language.
The process is the same – you’ll need to use a translation tool like Google Translate to translate your email into another language.
This might seem like a lot of work, but it’s easy once you get the hang of it. And it can be a great way to get links from high-quality websites that you wouldn’t be able to get otherwise.
The issue with online translators is that they could be better, so there’s always a chance that your email will be confusing or difficult to understand.
You should keep your email short and to the point to reduce this risk. You can also include a link to your website in the email so the website owner or editor can easily check it out, even if they don’t speak your language.
How Many Backlinks Per Month is Safe?
There’s no exact answer to this question because it depends on many factors, such as the quality of the backlinks and your website’s performance.
In general, most experts agree that 5-10 new backlinks per month are safe for most websites. Anything above that can start to look suspicious to Google and could result in a penalty.
Of course, there’s always a chance that you could get lucky and get away with more than that. But it’s not worth the risk – it’s better to play it safe and stick to the 5-10 per month range.
If you’re wondering, you should focus on getting 1-2 backlinks per week. That might seem like a lot, but it’s easy if you put in the time and effort.
And remember, quality is more important than quantity. So, it’s better to have five high-quality backlinks than 25 low-quality ones.
What’s the Best Way to Get Backlinks?
There are many ways to get backlinks, but some methods are better than others. Here are a few of the best ways to get high-quality links:
Guest Posting
This is where you write an article for another website in your niche in exchange for a link back to your website. It is one of the best ways to get high-quality backlinks because it allows you to get links from websites that are highly relevant to your niche.
Just make sure that you only guest post on high-quality websites. Otherwise, you could end up with a bunch of low-quality backlinks that won’t do you any good.
Broken Link Building
This is where you find websites in your niche with broken links and then let the website owner or editor know about them. Most of the time, they’ll be happy to replace the broken link with a link to your website.
This is an effective method because it allows you to get links from websites already linking to similar content. So it’s likely they’ll be happy to link to your website for free.
Resource Page Link Building
This is where you find websites with resource pages in your niche and then reach out to them and let them know about your website.
If your product is a good fit for their resource page, they’ll usually be happy to add your link. This can be a great way to get high-quality backlinks from websites that are relevant to your niche.
These are just a few of the best ways to get backlinks. If you put in the time and effort, you should be able to get high-quality backlinks from websites that are in the same niche as you.
Final Thoughts
It’s not just the quantity of links you get but also the quality. And getting high-quality backlinks from websites with low traffic can be difficult – if not impossible. So focus on getting backlinks from websites that are relevant to your niche and have a lot of traffic. That way, you’ll know they’re worth your time and effort.
The general idea is that a link from a high-traffic website is worth more than a link from a low-traffic website. But don’t get too hung up on the numbers – focus on getting quality links from websites that are relevant to your niche.