Are You Checking What Google Ranks Before Doing Backlinking?

root.samth

root.samth

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I have made a habit to check what Google actually ranks before putting efforts and money into creating backlinks, especiuially if Google does not rank similar pages for that query.
 
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Yes, I always do that before creating backlinks. If Google is already returning poor results for the page, then there's usually no use in trying to add more backlinks.
 
I also check the SERPs before building backlinks. If Google is not ranking similar pages its better to understand the content and search intent first.
 
root.samth said:
I have made a habit to check what Google actually ranks before putting efforts and money into creating backlinks, especiuially if Google does not rank similar pages for that query.
Click to expand...
If Google isn’t ranking similar pages for that query, I’d question the search intent or content fit before spending money on backlinks.

Backlinks can help, but they won’t fix the wrong type of page.
 
root.samth said:
I have made a habit to check what Google actually ranks before putting efforts and money into creating backlinks, especiuially if Google does not rank similar pages for that query.
Click to expand...
yes, I too would do the same. If there are no relevant pages listed by the google search engine for a particular keyword, I would not first think about the backlink.
this is because it is very imprtant to have the right relevance and page type.
 
yes i do the same thing too i believe that is part of what should be checked before going for the next step
 
root.samth said:
I have made a habit to check what Google actually ranks before putting efforts and money into creating backlinks, especiuially if Google does not rank similar pages for that query.
Click to expand...
Worth looking at the format while you are in there, not just how strong the competition is. If page one is all listicles and you are pointing links at a product page, nothing you build changes what google has decided to show for that query.
That one check on its own saves a fair bit of wasted budget
 
Same here, and I go one step further than just looking at the URLs. I check what type of page is ranking (listicle, tool, category page, forum thread) and who owns it. If the top 10 is mostly Redit, Quora and big brnds, links alone rarely move a small site for that term.

Then I look at referring domains for positions 3-10. If they're rankng with only a handful of RDs, the gap is usully content and intent, not links, so I fix the page first and build links after. Saves a lot of wasted budget.
 
root.samth said:
I have made a habit to check what Google actually ranks before putting efforts and money into creating backlinks, especiuially if Google does not rank similar pages for that query.
Click to expand...
the importance of verifying the SERP before anything else should not be underestimated. it is not always the case that ur page should get additional backlinks. sometimes u may discover that ur page does not really fit the search intent. u may spend some time anallyzing the types of pages nd the angle of content from the top ranking sites before starting any outreach campaign.
 
I do this too, one thing I'd add is don't just stare at page one. Scroll to page two and see who's sitting there, if it's thin forum posts and weak affiliates you can usually break in there pretty fast and work up from there. Also worth checking how old the ranking pages are, if everything ranking is a ten year old authority domain you're probably not taking their spot anytime soon no matter how many links you build.
 
root.samth said:
I have made a habit to check what Google actually ranks before putting efforts and money into creating backlinks, especiuially if Google does not rank similar pages for that query.
Click to expand...

That’s a smart habit, It’s better to match the search intent first, then build links only if the page is already competitive.
 
Absolutely. I think checking what Google already ranks is one of the first things to do before investing in backlinks. If Google isn’t ranking similar pages for the query, I’d first question the search intent, content angle, and whether the page actually matches what users are looking for. Links won’t fix a relevance problem.
 
Look at the SERP features too, since ads, videos, images or other results can reduce the space for normal listings.
 
I have a question, do you get results quickly as you already analyzed the results for the desired keyword, you might have analyzed the backlinks as well.
 
Look at how stable the rankings are, because some keywords change a lot and are harder to judge quickly.
 
100%. Building backlinks to a page that doesn't match the SERP intent is just burning money. Google won't rank an e-commerce product page for an informational query no matter how many links you throw at it.
 
Sometimes the problem is not links at all, the page may simply be targeting a keyword that does not fit the content.
 
same here, serp first. if the top 10 is tools or category pages for the keyword no amount of links moves an article there. i only build links to pages where google already shows the same page type
 
Yea I always check the SERP first. If Google isnt ranking pages similar to mine building a pile of backlinks usually wont fix the real problem
 
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