If you’ve dabbled in SEO, you probably already know about backlinks. We really can’t overestimate how important they are, but what most people don’t understand is that some backlinks are better than others. If the site your backlink is on is wrong, it can damage your rankings and all you’ll have to show for your work is wasted time. On the flip side, if the site is good, you’ll benefit from it.
But how do you separate gold from gravel? You’re looking for sites that are already reputable, have strong domain authority, relevant content, and consistent traffic. To spot them, you’ll need some research skills, SEO tools, and a sharp eye.
Let’s see how it’s done!
What Makes a Site High-Quality?
In short, a site that’s high quality is the one that search engines trust and reward with high rankings, so if you’re looking for a place for your niche edits, that’s the ideal one. But to find them, you’ll need some tools to check their metrics.
The first thing that indicates whether the site is high-quality or not is its domain authority (DA), and then domain rating (DR). You can use Moz or Ahrefs to check them. The higher the score, the better the site, but keep in mind that you shouldn’t focus on numbers only.
Traffic volume and its sources are just as important. A site that’s ideal for backlinks is the one that keeps receiving organic traffic from reputable sources, not spikes resulting from paid ads or bots. Relevance is another factor – you want the site to be in line with your industry or niche. So, if you’re selling tractors, don’t put niche edits on a beauty blog. Engagement metrics is another factor to check. This would be comments, social shares, and reader interactions. You’ll need to check how active the site is and how interested its audience is in it.
In the end, you should also check if there are any signs of spam or shady link-building tactics in the site’s link profile. A healthy link profile means search engines consider the site trustworthy, which means you’ll get more benefits from your backlink.
How to Find and Evaluate Potential Sites for Niche Edits
Take some time to do your research and don’t rush it just to get your backlinks. If you choose the wrong site, it will do you more damage than good.
Here’s what to do.
- Manual Search Using Keywords
One of the simplest ways to find potential sites is to use Google search operators. These are advanced search commands that help you narrow down results and show which sites could be useful. For example, use an operator like “site:websitename.com your keyword” and Google will find pages that are focused on specific topics.
You can add terms like “write for us” or “guest post” to see which sites are open for collaboration.
- Analyze Backlinks from Competitors
One of the best ways to get to high-quality sites is to analyze backlinks from your competitors. You’ll need tools for this, like Ahrefs or SEMrush and they’ll show you where your competitors are earning backlinks.
Focus on sites that are linking to multiple competitors because this shows that they’re open to external contributions and niche edits. Of course, you want only reputable sites with a strong backlink history.
- SEO Tools
Platforms like Moz, SEMrush, and Ahrefs make the process of finding appropriate sites much easier. They’ll give you metrics like DA, DR, organic traffic levels, and backlink profiles. Use the tools to cut out low-quality sites, and then you’ll be left with ones that have clean link profiles and strong content.
If you use tools, you’ll need a lot less manual work and you’ll get more information on the quality of the particular site.
- Check Site History and the Quality of the Content
Before you secure a niche edit, check the site’s history and the quality of its content. You can use Wayback Machine to see how the site has changed over time. If you see that it has spammy or irrelevant content, look elsewhere.
- Check Legitimacy and Stay Away from Link Farms
Every legit site has clear contact information with professional email addresses and active profiles on social media. If you stumble upon a site with aggressive outbound linking or links that are all over the place, it’s probably a link farm. Link farms exist only for profit and they’ll harm your rankings.
You can also pay for placements, but if you want to buy niche edits, buy them from a trusted provider that has real, reputable sites.
Conclusion
Niche edits aren’t shortcuts, and when it comes to SEO, you should never take any. Search engines are too smart and they’ll mess up your rankings if you try.
So, instead of trying to save time and get instant gratification, do your research, take as much time as you need to find the right sites, and then place your niche edits. They can do a lot for your site if you go about it correctly.
