IS IT IMPORTANT TO BUILD BACKILINKS?

Websites have become incredibly common today, and with the rise of digital marketing, even non-coders can build and maintain them with ease. But having a website is just the beginning — making it visible is a whole different challenge.

As a freelance digital marketer and digital marketing expert in Malappuram, building backlinks for my portfolio website was one of the most exhausting parts of my learning journey. I wasn't fully aware of how continuous and demanding this process was. Even AI tools had their limits — all they could do was point me in a direction. The real journey was mine to figure out. Keeping this up consistently for three to seven months? It will absolutely wear you down.

What Are Backlinks?

A backlink is simply when another website links to yours — commonly called "inbound" or "incoming" links. Building backlinks means getting your website mentioned and linked across the web through outreach strategies, content placements, and various submission methods. This signals to Google that your website is trustworthy, which drives organic traffic and improves your search ranking.

Backlinks fall under off-page SEO — unlike on-page or technical SEO, off-page SEO requires ongoing effort to maintain and improve rankings. SEO as a whole remains one of the strongest career paths in today's job market, but it does come with its share of risks depending on how you approach it.

Basics of Backlinking You Need to Know

Before submitting your site anywhere, understand its current value. Check your Domain Authority (DA), Page Authority (PA), and Spam Score (SS). When I started, my DA and PA were low and my spam score was unexpectedly high. As a rule, target sites with a higher DA and PA than yours, and a spam score of 15% or below.

Also keep your focus on:

• Relevant websites within your niche
• Sites with real, organic traffic
• Avoiding spammy directories and PBNs (Private Blog Networks)
• Skipping irrelevant websites entirely

Since it's your first attempt, you'll be tempted to take whatever comes easily — but cutting corners creates problems you'll have to solve later.

Types of Backlinks

Throughout my backlink-building journey, I came across several key methods:

🔗 Bookmark Submission — Sharing your website on public bookmarking platforms to attract visitors and boost SEO. Each site has its own rules — I once had my account suspended by Akismet Anti-Spam for bulk submissions, so be mindful of terms of use.

🔗 Image Submission — Promoting your brand or services through image-sharing platforms. A smart way to expand reach, though terms and conditions apply here too.

🔗 Blog Submission — Submitting blogs to various websites. They insist on original, non-AI, non-plagiarized content — and most won't accept content already published elsewhere.

🔗 Article Submission — Writing and submitting unique, niche-relevant articles to article directories, each containing a backlink to your website.

🔗 PPT & PDF Submission — Creating presentations or documents about your services and distributing them across platforms. Note that some prefer PowerPoint files, others PDFs.

🔗 Classified Submission — Posting your website on ad submission sites. Some featured listings can get you faster responses and visibility.

🔗 Directory Submission — Getting your website listed in online directories categorized by niche, making it easier for users to discover your content.

🔗 Quora & Reddit — Engaging actively on these platforms and linking back to your site through relevant, helpful answers drives genuine traffic.

Beyond these, Guest Posting and Infographic Submission are also valuable methods worth exploring.

Real Problems I Faced

• Most sites don't allow the same article to be submitted twice, making it hard to scale.
• Each platform demands unique content tailored to their preferences — exhausting for beginners.
• Some niches you're asked to write about are completely unfamiliar territory.
• On certain free submission sites, submitted content simply disappears with no traceable backlink.
• Competing with experienced SEO professionals as a beginner is genuinely discouraging.

Beginning something new was not as easy, and for someone who didn't even think about switching a career , it is more exhausting. 

Conclusion

Building backlinks is never instant or effortless. It demands consistency, patience, and a focus on quality over quantity — a lesson I learned the hard way. There are no shortcuts in off-page SEO. But those who stay consistent with their backlink strategy will always hold a meaningful edge over their competition.