Are backlinks enough by themselves to get ranked?

[bitnig]

Hello everyone, I'm currently trying to rank for a webpage in my country and so far I have been unsuccesful. I have backlinks from very high authority websites (keep in mind I'm usually the only website linked by them), so it seemed weird that I wasn't ranking anywhere near the first page. I have seen a trend from my traffic that I was only being ranked for terms I actually had many posts for. I was dumb not to have posted them earlier so I started chain posting right now in order to fill them up. My question is more or less preemptive, can there be a case that I don't get ranked for the terms that I'm pulling backlinks for. My backlinks far outweigh my competitors so I really do expect something. Is it usually the case that backlinks aren't enough by themselves (Yes I have done on-page seo etc. I'm only wondering if I will have to go buy pbns or reside to other off-page methods to get ranked)

 

[vijurj08]

Backlinks is important but as we know already content is king. you should have quality content though to rank.

 

[hideath]

be aware of the anchors used,
a high percentage of exact and partial matches could make you stuck no matter how many links you add sometimes

 

[Starblazer]

You need both on-page and off-page SEO. Apart from backlinks, you need great content, branding, social media presence, brand mentions etc. Google might be having some hidden metrics which they don't reveal us.

 

[getivan]

Hello everyone, I'm currently trying to rank for a webpage in my country and so far I have been unsuccesful. I have backlinks from very high authority websites (keep in mind I'm usually the only website linked by them), so it seemed weird that I wasn't ranking anywhere near the first page. I have seen a trend from my traffic that I was only being ranked for terms I actually had many posts for. I was dumb not to have posted them earlier so I started chain posting right now in order to fill them up. My question is more or less preemptive, can there be a case that I don't get ranked for the terms that I'm pulling backlinks for. My backlinks far outweigh my competitors so I really do expect something. Is it usually the case that backlinks aren't enough by themselves (Yes I have done on-page seo etc. I'm only wondering if I will have to go buy pbns or reside to other off-page methods to get ranked)

1. How long has the site been LIVE, and how long have you been building links?
2. How many referring domains are going towards your pages-of-interest?
3. Are you connected to Google Search Console, and if so, how many impressions and clicks does it show over a 3-month to 1yr time period?

Without a doubt, the answer to your problem is amidst those three'ish questions...

 

[Nixenk]

If the links are really better than those of competitors, then the point is in the content - it is not optimized enough for search queries

 

[GenesisOne]

Hello everyone, I'm currently trying to rank for a webpage in my country and so far I have been unsuccesful. I have backlinks from very high authority websites (keep in mind I'm usually the only website linked by them), so it seemed weird that I wasn't ranking anywhere near the first page. I have seen a trend from my traffic that I was only being ranked for terms I actually had many posts for. I was dumb not to have posted them earlier so I started chain posting right now in order to fill them up. My question is more or less preemptive, can there be a case that I don't get ranked for the terms that I'm pulling backlinks for. My backlinks far outweigh my competitors so I really do expect something. Is it usually the case that backlinks aren't enough by themselves (Yes I have done on-page seo etc. I'm only wondering if I will have to go buy pbns or reside to other off-page methods to get ranked)

If your backlinks are as valuable as you say, it's a matter of time that you rank for your keywords.
Just don't expect this to happen overnight even if you have done your on-page right.

 

[ShashiKumaar]

No! social signals are must. When GG sees you gaining authority it acts as trust factor than just relying on links. It had worked for me at least when Im able to still sustain for consistent traffic flow and KW rankings from past 2019. The more the popular you are the more gg consider you as a trusted on that particular niche.

 

[HustleTong]

Optimize the content for further long tail clusters
You can always go back and tweak older posts

 

[bitnig]

1. How long has the site been LIVE, and how long have you been building links?
2. How many referring domains are going towards your pages-of-interest?
3. Are you connected to Google Search Console, and if so, how many impressions and clicks does it show over a 3-month to 1yr time period?

Without a doubt, the answer to your problem is amidst those three'ish questions...

1. about 8 monhts or so, although I started getting my backlinks only currently
2. 20-30ish. All are ******** links and go towards it and none towards anything else really (idk if this is a problem would be very happy if you helped in this regard)
3. I am, it shows about a couple thousand impressions and %40 ctr. They have spiked and fallen down for low volume/competition queries that I simply posted a lot for


I'm starting to think that it may have to do with me not having posted enough content earlier. It's a porn site and I assumed google simply takes backlink authority and ranks you that way accordingly with the seo keywords you optimised.

 

[Conjecting]

Generally no, unless the competition is super low. Usually backlinks are something you add in addition to good on-site SEO

 

[Luke22]

be aware of the anchors used,
a high percentage of exact and partial matches could make you stuck no matter how many links you add sometimes

Any tips what to do if i got trapped in such situation?

 

[Willyfish]

The content should be better than your competitors at serving the intent of the audience.

Google takes the dwell time as a ranking factor.

If the user experience is better than your competitors and you have more quality backlinks, you will be fine.

I have an unpopular opinion that dwell time is becoming even more important than backlinks today and it will for sure be in the coming years.

One of my mentors is an expert in storytelling and I saw in his case specifically that his dwell time is always so high comparing to his competitors that he crushes them without having more backlinks...

So it's worth mentioning the importance of dwell time and having a clear structure to keep the user engaged and interacting with your page.

 

[Nixenk]

Any tips what to do if i got trapped in such situation?

This is my subjective advice. In a month, on each page, the domain is added from 5% to 14.1% of links - ahrefs research. If you have 3 links on the page, then after 3 months you have to put another link. If there are a lot of anchors, then build up links without text. I.e, after 3 months, add one link without text to this page. If there are 100 links on the page, then add 5.

Another tip is to just reject the links in GSC if it is too complicated. In combination with age and gradual build-up, the first option looks better.

 

[nsore33]

You need on page and off page( backlinks) to rank better

 

[leechesBleechin]

I have an unpopular opinion that dwell time is becoming even more important than backlinks today and it will for sure be in the coming years.

One of my mentors is an expert in storytelling and I saw in his case specifically that his dwell time is always so high comparing to his competitors that he crushes them without having more backlinks...

So it's worth mentioning the importance of dwell time and having a clear structure to keep the user engaged and interacting with your page.

I wouldn't call this an unpopular opinion. I've also started to figure this might be the case. When the masses are so adamant that it isn't important, You can be sure it is. Also, I've seen things with my own eyes that lead me to the same conclusion.

 

[Seo_hub]

Always use good quality backlinks & quality content both are important for ranking.

 

[getivan]

1. about 8 monhts or so, although I started getting my backlinks only currently
2. 20-30ish. All are ******** links and go towards it and none towards anything else really (idk if this is a problem would be very happy if you helped in this regard)
3. I am, it shows about a couple thousand impressions and %40 ctr. They have spiked and fallen down for low volume/competition queries that I simply posted a lot for


I'm starting to think that it may have to do with me not having posted enough content earlier. It's a porn site and I assumed google simply takes backlink authority and ranks you that way accordingly with the seo keywords you optimised.

1. That's a decent site age, but if you just started building links, then I dunno why you are concerned.
   Despite quick jumps, in some cases, it can take about a year to see longterm gains from any given link-building effort, I'd argue.
2. That's about three links per month... you're barely moving, dude... don't expect to move much, if you aren't doing at-least 10+ referring domains per month.
3. Your CTR sounds good, but your impressions are really low if that's for the whole 8-month period.
4. I have a site where it's just a landing page, so pretty much no content, and I just build links to it, but it has acquired over 150k impressions over the last year.
   So, yes, you can definitely just focus on your backlink strategy, but you need to be building more links.
5. If it's porn, I don't wanna help with that, but that's also gonna be a problem, because that's the abominable prince of spammy niches.
   You would be much better-off getting into niches for legitimate trades and industries.
   Make the switch, and things will be much better for you... farewell!

 

[getseoonline]

You say your links are better than your competition but are they relevant? and what about onpage have you got that right?

 

[bitnig]

1. That's a decent site age, but if you just started building links, then I dunno why you are concerned.
   Despite quick jumps, in some cases, it can take about a year to see longterm gains from any given link-building effort, I'd argue.
2. That's about three links per month... you're barely moving, dude... don't expect to move much, if you aren't doing at-least 10+ referring domains per month.
3. Your CTR sounds good, but your impressions are really low if that's for the whole 8-month period.
4. I have a site where it's just a landing page, so pretty much no content, and I just build links to it, but it has acquired over 150k impressions over the last year.
   So, yes, you can definitely just focus on your backlink strategy, but you need to be building more links.
5. If it's porn, I don't wanna help with that, but that's also gonna be a problem, because that's the abominable prince of spammy niches.
   You would be much better-off getting into niches for legitimate trades and industries.
   Make the switch, and things will be much better for you... farewell!

About the landing page one - I assumed google would just rank it with keywords but I suspect its more sophisticated. It may be understanding that a page is a landing page and rank it accordingly, whereas it would consider a porn site differently -- check if it actually like, has content lmao.