SEO is much simpler than anyone thinks. If you’d asked an SEO specialist in 2004, “How do you rank high on Google?” they would have said:

• Create quality content
• Build quality backlinks

In both points, we have two words—“content” and “backlinks”—connected by a key term: “quality.” Yes, SEO is much simpler if you focus on quality over quantity.

Since 1996, Google, which was then known as PageRank, used to consider the references a page had on other pages and thus rank them higher. These references are popularly known as backlinks, inbound links, external links, or referring links of a website.

Back then, the more links you got, the better your chances were to outrank others and claim the number one spot.

Here come the SEO professionals—they saw the opportunity and nailed it. Yes, I’m talking about the SEO professionals, or so-called SEO experts, who saw it as an opportunity. They used to build a lot of different types of backlinks to rank a website higher. It worked years ago, but we are in 2024, and search engines have evolved over time.

When we talk about Google, having a lot of backlinks isn’t the only thing you need to rank higher. You need relevant and quality content, good website speed, a user-friendly interface, and many other ranking factors. The right combination makes you rank higher.

Let’s discuss more about backlink types and how crucial they are for SEO success in 2024. Before I proceed further, let’s briefly answer common questions an SEO person usually has.

Are backlinks the only way to rank on Google?

Definitely not. You need to cover other aspects as well. For instance, your website should have relevant pages for the keywords you want to rank for, and backlinks can help increase your SERP visibility.

Do I need 20+ backlinks a month to rank?

Definitely not. There’s no set amount of backlinks required to rank. Ranking on SERPs is one thing, and getting backlinks is another.

Can I rank without backlinks?

Yes, you can rank without backlinks if you regularly publish extremely useful content.

Can backlinks hurt SEO?

Yes, low-quality or toxic backlinks can hurt your SEO. You need to ensure your links are relevant and high-quality.

Backlinks are crucial for a website, but that doesn’t mean they’re the only thing your website needs. Think about salt, and imagine your favorite recipe without it. Hehe, I hope this example is enough to show how crucial backlinks are, though there are lots of other important factors as well.

How many types of backlinks are there in SEO?

When one page of a website is connected to a page of another website, we call it a backlink. If Reputepost.com has a link on Facebook, CNN, and ScamAdvisor, we would have three different types of backlinks pointing to our website!

Now, let’s discuss the types of backlinks a bit more.

1. Forum Backlinks

In the early days, when search engines were not sophisticated, forums helped people ask questions and get answers from relevant or experienced individuals. Forum backlinks were the most authentic and relevant backlinks at that time because they appeared in content where many people were discussing a topic.

• A good forum backlink is when people are naturally discussing something, and someone leaves a link as a reference.
• A bad forum backlink is when the forum is about well-being, someone asks a random question, and another person adds a link to their insurance agency website!

In 2024, forum links can still be good for a website, but there are only a handful of good forums and communities left. You should focus on building the best backlinks for SEO growth.

In short, work on different types of backlinks and do not solely rely on forum backlinks! If you do, excessive "UGC" tags from forum websites will definitely hurt your website’s organic growth.

2. Directory backlinks

Directories were once one of the main ways people discovered websites, and search engines used to give them a lot of value. The core idea behind directories was to list relevant websites so that people could easily find them under one roof.

Building a directory backlink was a simple and easy process. You’d sign up, add a little information about your website, and that’s it—you just built a directory backlink for your website.

• A good directory backlink is when a website is listed in a reputable, relevant directory with strict guidelines.
• A bad directory backlink is when a website is listed in a low-quality, spammy directory with no review process.

While directory backlinks were once among the main types of backlinks in SEO, it is not a good option to consider them as your go-to strategy. Directory backlinks in relevant sites can be good for branding, but excessive links in irrelevant sites can potentially harm your organic SEO performance.

3. Comment Backlinks

It is natural for people to interact and comment whenever there’s relevant information or a query. Just like you comment on Facebook, many websites allow you to comment under an article.

Comment backlinks are considered spam nowadays and are viewed as a shady link-building practice. Furthermore, comment backlinks aren’t considered the best for SEO either!

Many websites do not approve comments if there’s a link. Also, the "UGC" tag is applied to most comments, signaling to search engines that the backlink was generated by the user and not the content publisher.

However, in many micro niches with extremely little competition, comment backlinks—while spammy—could still work.

Real SEO specialists do not recommend or focus on these types of backlinks, as they can drag you into the danger zone. You might get a small benefit from these backlinks, but a spam update could be devastating for your website!

4. Social Bookmarking Backlinks

Social media websites began to gain popularity after Facebook. A social bookmarking backlink is when you add your website or webpage to a social platform like Reddit, Quora, Facebook, and others.

Social bookmarking backlinks are not among the best backlinks for SEO due to several factors. These types of backlinks are easier to build, so people have used them to trick search engine algorithms.

Search engine algorithms have become much better at detecting unusual or unnatural links and can penalize a website based on such practices.

While social bookmarking backlinks aren’t the best for SEO, they can sometimes help a website.

• A good social bookmarking backlink is when your article contributes to an ongoing discussion and people like or upvote it.
• A bad social bookmarking backlink is when your article is on a page or thread that has received only one or a few comments in the last seven years!

So, instead of focusing on social bookmarks, build genuine content that people will link to and share naturally.

5. PBN Backlinks

PBN backlinks worked in the past and they work now as well. However, this is an extremely risky tactic that you should only choose if you can handle it correctly.

For instance, Google and other search engines have already caught and penalized many PBNs. A Private Blog Network is typically owned by a single entity to build backlinks to a primary website to improve its search engine rankings.

The tricky part is that most SEOs can’t determine if Google has already placed that PBN on its spam list. While a certain PBN may have helped a website in the past, it doesn’t guarantee that it can help yours as well.

Professional SEOs do not list PBN backlinks among the main backlink types that can help a website grow organically. While building PBN backlinks is risky, it can help you achieve your goals if you do it the right way.

6. Editorial Backlinks

Editorial backlinks are among the best SEO backlinks everyone wants to build for their website. A website gets these types of backlinks when it publishes quality content.

Let’s say you have an article on “websites that are using AI for content creation” and that content is performing well on search engines. When that article is performing well, it can attract the attention of editors or authors who write for bigger publications like CNN, BBC, USA Today, or many others.

When those editors include a link to your website, it helps you gain authority, link juice, and referral traffic. Search engines give a lot of value to these factors, which can help your page and website rank higher.

Editorial backlinks can be natural or sometimes sponsored. There’s no doubt that these are among the best SEO backlinks every website owner would want to build.

7. Guest Post Backlinks

Almost every website builds backlinks via guest posts. While many other backlink types don’t work anymore, guest posts have been around for a while.

If you observe the backlinks for any website, you’ll see a lot of backlinks, and many of them are built via guest posts. Guest posting is when you reach out to other relevant websites in your niche and offer them content, value, or money, and they publish your content on their website.

If done the right way, guest posts can be enough for a website to gain more visibility on search engines. However, many webmasters find it difficult to understand what makes a guest post quality.

Search engines, especially Google, warn webmasters not to build links via guest posts. In reality, Google can’t determine if a backlink is coming naturally or from a guest post!

Some people on social media platforms try to demonize this tactic and warn you to stay away, but this is something that works all the time.

• A good guest post is when your article is published on another relevant website and you leave no footprint that it is a guest post.
• A bad guest post is when your article is published on a website that is general, has a DR of 60+, no traffic, and your links are in a promotional way.

We at repute post believe guest posts will continue to remain one of the best backlink types for SEO growth in 2024.

8. Image Backlinks

Image backlinks are also among the main types of backlinks you can build for your website. You can do image link building in two ways:

1. Create extraordinary images and implement image SEO so that people can link to them.
2. Outreach to relevant websites and offer them quality images to use within their content.

Both methods are effective, and the best part is that this technique is used rarely.

• A good image backlink is when you have an image related to social media tactics, and it is placed in a relevant article discussing the same topic.
• A bad image backlink is when an image of a dog breed is inserted in a top tour destination article on a general website!

9. News Backlinks

News backlinks are among the most powerful backlink types and are related to editorial backlinks as well. However, there are slight differences that one must know.

These are backlinks coming from news articles, reports, or press releases within a news website. The best thing about news backlinks is their media coverage or reporting.

News backlinks are highly valuable due to the authority of news sites, and they help increase the brand visibility and authority of a website.

• A good news backlink is when a popular and authoritative news publication discusses you while giving you a reference back.
• A bad news backlink is when a low-quality news website discusses you without any purpose or depth and provides a follow link back.

10. Web 2.0 Backlinks

Dead, yes, you heard it right. Web 2.0 backlinks do not work anymore and are considered a spammy tactic by low-quality websites.

SEOs used Web 2.0 backlinks a lot in the past, and they tended to work, but search engines have changed a lot. The majority of search engines tend to ignore such links.

Web 2.0 backlinks involve creating a subdomain on a larger website like Medium, Blogger, or WordPress, and starting to publish content. The majority of white-hat SEO specialists don’t recommend or practice this method of building backlinks, as it can have a negative impact on your organic performance.

• A good Web 2.0 backlink doesn’t exist.
• A bad Web 2.0 backlink is every backlink you create.

11. Broken Backlinks

The broken backlinks technique was extremely useful, as SEOs used to use it to build quality backlinks instantly. You just had to find pages on your relevant sites, look for broken links, and ask them to include yours!

Broken backlinks have either become extremely difficult to gain, or for most people, it doesn’t work anymore. This is because many services and tools help webmasters find such issues, or they fix them themselves.

But still, the links you acquire by following broken link building tactics can be extremely authoritative and valuable.

Let’s assume you have a website offering content writing services. Search for all the pages and guides related to content writing, such as beginner's guides, expert tips, or anything relevant.

Look for the broken links these pages have and find if you have the same page to ask them to include and remove the broken link.

The success rate for broken link building tactics is constantly declining. Getting a few links using this method is worth more than dozens of spammy or low-quality links.

12. Footer Backlinks

Footer backlinks used to work a few decades back as they were a quick way to get a lot of backlinks. These types of links were either paid or came from another website of a company.

For instance, a website with a writing tool would try to approach websites creating content on writing and ask them to include a link in the footer. Or, the same website with a writing tool might include their SEO tool in the footer so that their audience can also find it, and the website gets some quick referral traffic.

Just like you can find Kompyte.com’s link in the footer of Semrush.

As search engines have evolved and SEOs have been forced to change tactics, footer backlinks are a good way to bring in referral traffic, but their SEO benefits are narrowed.

13. Niche Edits

Niche edits or link insertions are quick and perhaps one of the best ways to acquire curated links. A curated link is when you manage to include your website’s link in highly relevant existing content.

Niche edits are powerful as they are the quickest way to increase the authority of your website. A guest post tends to work a bit slowly, but niche edits are a quick way to pass page rank and link juice to the linked website.

• A good niche edit is when your relevant page is included in another relevant page that has visitors and keyword rankings.
• A bad niche edit is when your page is included in another page that is irrelevant and the website also has no visitors or authority.

If you’re planning to buy niche edits, make sure those websites are relevant to your industry. Besides checking for relevancy, find if its organic performance is getting better with time. In case a website is constantly going down, stay away from it.

14. Contextual Backlinks

Contextual backlinks are not a specific type of backlink the way we have niche edits, guest posts, or broken links. Contextual backlinks are those that Google or other search engines focus on a lot.

This type of backlink comes from within the content and works as an authoritative reference. While search engines put so much emphasis on contextual links, they can also be good or bad for a website.

• A good contextual backlink is when a writing tool is included in an article related to writing tips and techniques on an authoritative website.
• A bad contextual backlink is when a writing tool is included in an article on a website with no authority or visitors.

Backlinks you get from niche edits, guest posts, and broken link building tactics are part of contextual links. Almost every SEO specialist recommends building contextual links to grow your website organically without resorting to spam.

For SEP agencies, it is becoming more tougher building high authority backlinks at scale. This is where our white label link building services come in handy. SEO agencies can automate quality backlinks for their client’s SEO by outsourcing through our services. We also allow individuals and freelance off-page specialists to find quality link building opportunities through our link building marketplace. Don’t forget to check - it’s free. 

15. Podcast Backlinks

Ever listened to a podcast by Joe Rogan or Jay Shetty? Podcasts can be an extremely good way to build backlinks and brand the right way.

Podcast link building is part of SEO and SEM strategy in which you create a podcast yourself or be a guest on others' podcasts.

Let’s say you have a website focusing on digital marketing.

• A good podcast backlink will be when your podcast is about writing or digital marketing with a unique agenda.
• A bad podcast backlink will be when your podcast is about horse riding, and you include your links to digital marketing content.

This type of backlink is authoritative and can increase the organic visibility of a website quickly.

Do I need to get all types of backlinks?

No, you don’t have to get all types of backlinks. Your focus should be on the few tactics and ways that help you build quality links. You don’t have to spend your time finding pages and commenting like a nerd, never seeing your comment go live. Just don’t waste time creating spam; instead, build fewer but quality links.

What are quality backlinks?

A quality backlink is when:

• The website is relevant and niche-focused
• It has visitors and authority
• The content is relevant to your linking page
• The content is useful and helpful for others
• The context of the content is clear
• The website isn’t linking to the entire web
• The anchor text isn’t forced but natural

And a lot of other attributes make a backlink a quality backlink.

Wrapping up

I discussed the different types of backlinks in SEO, and a lot of them are outdated. Some types are so outdated that they were not even working in 2018, let alone 2024.

Search engines, and especially Google, have matured a lot. They are getting better at understanding when a link is placed contextually or when it is just a forced effort.

While SEOs warn you not to buy backlinks, buying backlinks is actually the first thing they do. Acquiring external links naturally has become so much more difficult because Google does not consider new websites immediately.

It would take months to evaluate a website before starting to rank it. And, when your competitors have external links, it won’t rank you higher than them.

So, the best way is to understand why you want to build backlinks and to what extent you could go. If your ideal goal is to get referral traffic, and you don’t care about spam, go ahead and build thousands of comments and forum links.

But, if you want to grow your company website, blog, or business online, focus on what is working and only go after quality. That way, you can ensure your website will never be under any threat by search engines.