Backlinks, explained

This article will explain what a backlink is and how to use the Backlink feature in BuzzSumo.

E
Written by Evan Ahlers
Updated over a week ago

Understanding how content gets amplified is an important insight for marketers. It helps to focus efforts on the channels and relationships most likely to grow your brand's awareness while lowering your spend and improving ROI. 

Content can be amplified in a number of ways - by individuals who share content and by the sites that link to the content. 

BuzzSumo's Backlink feature allows you to see the webpages linking back to a domain or specific site page so you can analyze your most valuable content or that of your top competitors. 

A backlink is created when one webpage links to another. This forms an "anchor point" on the web where individuals can access your site by clicking on this link.

Backlinks help search engines like Google to determine the importance and relevance of content on the internet. 

If a website has a high number of quality backlinks, a search engine may consider it to be more relevant, more authoritative than other sites. This can result in higher search rankings. 

Knowing which sites drive high quality backlinks and why can help you cresate more linkable content for your own site.


How do I use the Backlinks feature?
Start by entering a domain (eg. buzzsumo.com) in the search bar.

Click "Search" and BuzzSumo will display the most recent and most shared backlinks this site has received.

This can help you understand what is working site-wide for your domain and your top competitors. 

You may also want to further refine your search, either to a single piece of content or within a particular time period. 

For example, replace the domain with a specific URL (e.g. buzzsumo.com/blog/content-trends-2018) and change the targeting to "Links to exact page."

Now we can see only the backlinks pointing to this report. This is incredibly useful if you are trying to assess the impact of a recent campaign or article. 


Use filters to track backlinks within a date range or address a targeted list of backlink sources. 


Did this answer your question?