Building Authority Links: What Are They And How to Get Them in 2024

Think of authority links as your website’s best friends — the ones who have a great reputation and can make you look good just by association.

These are not just any links; they’re endorsements from the web’s top players, boosting your site’s credibility and Google ranking.

Wondering how to win over these influential friends?

This article dives into what authority links are, why they’re SEO gold, and shares practical strategies to earn these prestigious nods from the web’s leading voices

Key Takeaways

• Authority links are high-quality backlinks from reputable sources, such as educational institutions, government entities, and industry leaders, that enhance your site’s credibility and search engine rankings.
• Various tools measure the strength of a website’s link authority, including Domain Authority by Moz, Domain Rating by Ahrefs, Trust Flow by Majestic, Authority Score by Semrush, and Alexa Rank by Amazon.
• You can acquire authority links through strategies like publishing original research, creating linkable assets, engaging in digital PR, joining HARO, writing ultimate guides, guest posting, and making expert roundups.

What Are Authority Links?

Authority links are links from websites that are considered reputable, credible, and trustworthy on the internet.

These sites have established a high level of credibility and popularity in their respective fields or industries, often due to their age, size, quality, and the amount of content they provide.

Think of links from major news outlets like Forbes and The Guardian, educational institutes, government websites, and top industry websites like Ahrefs and Healthline.

What is an Authoritative Website?

An authoritative website is a site that is recognized as a trusted, reliable, and credible source of information within its industry or niche. Such websites typically have a high domain authority, which is a metric used by SEO platforms to estimate the site’s strength and potential to rank well in search engine results. The characteristics of an authoritative website include:

1. High-Quality Content:

Originality and Depth: Authoritative websites consistently publish original, well-researched, and comprehensive content that provides real value to their audience.

• Consistency: They update their content regularly and ensure it remains relevant and accurate over time.

2. Strong Backlink Profile:

• Inbound Links from Other Authoritative Sites: These sites have a large number of backlinks from other reputable and authoritative sites, indicating trust and credibility within their domain.
• Natural Link Acquisition: Their backlinks are typically earned naturally, rather than through manipulative practices like link buying.

3. High Domain Authority:

• Scored on a Scale from 1 to 100: Authoritative websites generally have a high domain authority score, often above 60 or 70. This score is influenced by factors such as the quality and quantity of inbound links, the site’s age, and its overall SEO performance.

4. Strong Social Signals:

• Engagement on Social Media: These websites often have a significant presence on social media platforms, with content that is frequently shared, liked, and commented on by a large audience.

5. Trustworthiness and Security:

• Secure (HTTPS): Authoritative websites prioritize user security, often indicated by an HTTPS connection.
• Transparent and Ethical Practices: They follow ethical content practices, such as clearly disclosing sponsorships, avoiding misleading information, and citing reliable sources.

6. Industry Recognition:

• Awards and Certifications: Authoritative websites are often recognized by industry bodies and may have received awards, certifications, or endorsements from respected organizations.

The Importance of High Domain Authority Links

Authority links are highly valuable because they can significantly impact the search engine rankings of the website receiving the link.

When a high-authority site links to another website, it passes on some of its credibility, which signals to search engines that the content on the receiving site is also valuable and trustworthy.

This concept is rooted in Google’s PageRank algorithm, which was one of the first to use the quality and quantity of inbound links to a webpage as an indicator of its importance.

While the specifics of search engine algorithms have evolved and become more complex over time, the principle that reputable incoming links contribute to a website’s authority and search rankings remains a cornerstone of SEO strategy.

Factors That Influence Website Link Authority

Link authority, often gauged by the impact a link has on a website’s search engine ranking and domain authority, is influenced by several key factors.

These factors determine the value and trust that search engines attribute to a link.

Some factors that influence link authority, include:

• Source Domain Authority: Links from websites with high domain authority and a diverse backlink profile are generally more valuable. A link from a well-respected, authoritative site (like a major news outlet or an academic institution) carries more weight than one from an obscure or rarely visited website.
• Relevance: Links from sites that are closely related to your site’s industry or topic are more beneficial than links from unrelated sites. The context in which the link appears (such as the surrounding text or the page’s overall content) also influences its authority.
• Link Placement: Links embedded within the main content are typically more powerful than those placed in the footer, sidebar, or navigation menus. This is because links within the main body of a page are more likely to be editorially placed and contextually relevant.
• Anchor Text: The clickable text in a hyperlink (anchor text) influences the authority of the link. Anchor text that is descriptive and includes relevant keywords can provide search engines with additional context and help improve the linked page’s search rankings. However, anchor text overoptimization can appear unnatural and should be avoided.
• Link Attribute: A “nofollow” link attribute tells search engines to not pass authority (link juice). While nofollow links can still drive traffic and have indirect SEO benefits, they don’t contribute directly to link authority in the same way “follow” links do.
• User Engagement: The engagement level of users with linked content can indirectly influence their perceived authority. If users click on a relevant link and engage positively with the content (such as spending time on the page, sharing the content, or linking to it themselves), it can signal to search engines that the link is valuable and relevant.
• Temporal Factors: Links from longstanding, well-established pages may carry more weight than newer links. However, fresh links can signal that the content is still relevant and valuable. You can learn more about this topic in our link-building velocity guide.

Understanding Website Link Authority: Key Metrics and Tools

Domain Authority (DA) & Page Authority (PA) by Moz

• Domain Authority (DA): This domain authority metric score ranges from 1 to 100, with higher scores indicating a greater ability for the entire domain to rank on search engines. DA is calculated by evaluating multiple factors, including linking root domains and the total number of links, into a single DA score. It’s useful for comparing websites or tracking the ranking strength of a website over time.
• Page Authority (PA): Similar to DA but for individual pages. The PA score also ranges from 1 to 100, predicting how well a single page will rank on a search engine results page (SERP). The score is calculated based on various metrics, such as the number of backlinks, their quality, and the overall strength of the linking sites.

Domain Rating (DR) & URL Rating (UR) by Ahrefs

• Domain Rating (DR): Ahrefs’ DR is a comparative metric that gauges the strength of a website’s backlink profile. It’s shown on a scale from 0 to 100, with higher numbers indicating a stronger domain authority.
• URL Rating (UR): This is a page-level metric, similar to PA from Moz, and it evaluates the strength of a page’s link profile on a 100-point scale. Higher UR values indicate a stronger likelihood of ranking well in search engine results. Also, link insertions in pages with high UR can be very powerful.

Trust Flow (TF) & Citation Flow (CF) by Majestic

• Trust Flow (TF): This metric measures the quality of links pointing to a site. It’s based on the premise that trustworthy sites have high editorial standards and will only link to other trustworthy sites. A high TF suggests that a site has links from authoritative and relevant sources in its field.
• Citation Flow (CF): CF measures the influence of a site based on the number of links pointing to it, irrespective of the quality of those links. A high CF indicates that a site has many links pointing to it, suggesting it has some degree of influence or authority.

Authority Score (AS) by Semrush

SEMrush’s Authority Score is a compound metric that grades the overall quality of a domain.

It combines data on backlink profiles, website traffic data, and other key metrics to provide a comprehensive view of a domain’s authority.

Like other metrics, it operates on a scale from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating higher authority.

Alexa Rank by Amazon

This is more of a popularity metric than a direct measure of authority, but it’s often used in conjunction with other metrics.

Alexa Rank indicates how a website stands in terms of traffic compared to all other sites.

It’s based on estimated traffic and visitor engagement over the past three months.

While not a direct authority metric, a high traffic volume and engagement level can be indicators of a site’s influence and relevance.

How to Get Backlinks from High Authority Sites

1. Publish Original Research

Original research acts like a magnet, attracting authoritative links much like a beacon draws moths in the dark.

Unveiling new data and insights gifts the world with valuable knowledge that others will eagerly cite and link to.

Whether through industry surveys, in-depth analyses, or comprehensive market studies, original research position you as a primary source of information.

When journalists and bloggers seek solid ground for their stories, they turn to your research, rewarding your efforts with citations and editorial backlinks.

To maximize this strategy, finding a trending topic and presenting the results in a blog post format, enriched with embeddable visuals, can make your study an irresistible source for backlinks.

2. Create Linkable Assets

Linkable assets are high-quality, valuable pieces of content that naturally attract links from other websites.

The key is to create content that is not only informative and useful but also engaging and shareable.

Case studies, tools, and visually striking infographics are particularly effective for link-building, often serving as the cornerstone for links from credible websites looking for resources that resonate with their readers.

3. Utilize Digital PR

A successful digital PR campaign can transform your online presence, turning the spotlight onto your brand and drawing in a wave of website traffic and high-quality backlinks.

By sharing data-driven studies, creative campaigns, or expert insights with the media, you can captivate journalists and earn your place in their stories and, by extension, their backlinks.

4. Join HARO

Help a Reporter Out (HARO) is a platform where journalists and content creators seek expert insights and quotes for their upcoming stories.

By joining HARO and responding to relevant queries, you can get your expertise and website featured in various media outlets, earning valuable backlinks in the process.

To charm the journalists on HARO, your responses should be precise, showcase clear expertise, and offer content that’s ready for the press.

Regular participation can lead to connections with journalists, opening the door to an ongoing stream of HARO backlink opportunities and heightened visibility.

5. Create Ultimate Guides

Ultimate guides are comprehensive, in-depth resources that cover a topic extensively.

By creating content that serves as the go-to resource for a particular subject, you position your site as an authoritative source.

Such guides earn quality links because they provide exhaustive information on a topic, making them valuable for other websites to reference.

6. Guest Posting

Writing articles for other websites in your industry can be an excellent way to build backlinks. Guest posting allows you to share your expertise with a new audience while securing external links to your site.

When choosing sites for guest posting, prioritize those with high authority and relevance to your niche to ensure the quality of the guest posts backlinks.

7. Create Expert Roundups

Expert roundups involve collecting insights, tips, or opinions from various industry experts on a specific topic.

These roundups are not only valuable to your audience but also encourage participants and other industry stakeholders to reciprocally link to the content.

Since roundups feature various experts, they are more likely to be shared and linked to within the industry.

Understanding Link Relevancy vs Link Authority

In the context of SEO, both link relevancy and link authority are crucial factors that influence the value of a backlink, but they serve different purposes and are evaluated differently by search engines.

Link Relevancy:

• Contextual Alignment: Link relevancy refers to how closely the content of the linking page aligns with the content of the page it is linking to. For example, a backlink from a tech blog to a page about software development is highly relevant, whereas a link from a gardening site to that same page might be considered less relevant.
• Keyword Relevance: The keywords used in the linking text (anchor text) and the overall topic of the linking page play a significant role in determining link relevancy. A link is considered more valuable if it comes from content that closely matches the topic of your page.
• User Intent Matching: Relevancy also considers whether the link is likely to meet the expectations of users clicking on it. If the link leads users to content that directly answers their query or meets their needs, it is considered highly relevant.

Link Authority:

• Strength of the Linking Domain: Link authority is determined by the domain authority of the website providing the backlink. A backlink from a high authority site, even if it’s not perfectly relevant, can still pass significant SEO value due to the trust and credibility of the linking domain.
• Page Authority: Besides domain authority, the authority of the specific page providing the link also matters. A link from a high-ranking page on a well-respected site will typically carry more weight than a link from a less authoritative page on the same site.
• Historical Performance: The linking site’s history of ranking well for related search terms, the quality of its backlink profile, and its overall performance in search results contribute to its link authority.

Balancing Relevancy and Authority:

• Optimal Backlink Profile: An ideal backlink profile strikes a balance between link relevancy and link authority. While high authority links are valuable, their impact is maximized when they also come from relevant sources.
• Strategic Link Building: In link-building strategies, it’s essential to pursue both relevant and authoritative links. A highly relevant link from a medium authority site can sometimes be more beneficial than a highly authoritative link from a less relevant site, depending on the context.
• Context-Dependent Value: The value of link relevancy versus link authority can vary depending on the specific SEO goals. For example, in highly competitive niches, link authority might take precedence, while in more niche markets, relevancy might be more critical.

Understanding the interplay between link relevancy and link authority helps in creating a robust backlink strategy that enhances both the relevance and credibility of your site in the eyes of search engines.

FAQs

What is the authority of a URL?

The authority of a URL typically refers to the domain authority of the website, which is a ranking metric developed to estimate the potential of a website to rank on search engine results pages (SERPs).

This metric is scored on a scale from 1 to 100, with higher scores indicating a greater ability to rank. Domain authority is influenced by various factors, including the quality and quantity of backlinks, the overall trustworthiness of the site, and its relevance to its niche or industry.

Essentially, the authority in a URL is a measure of the website’s strength in search engine optimization (SEO), helping to determine how well it is likely to perform in organic search rankings.

What is a high authority link?

A high authority link is a backlink from a website that has a strong domain authority, meaning it is considered highly trustworthy, reliable, and influential in its industry.

These links are typically from well-established websites with a large volume of high-quality content, significant traffic, and a strong backlink profile of their own. Examples of such websites include major news outlets like The New York Times, The Guardian, or Forbes.

Acquiring a high authority link is valuable for SEO because it not only passes on “link juice” that can help improve the ranking of the linked site but also signals to search engines that the content is credible and worth ranking higher.

What exactly is domain authority?

Domain authority is a metric developed by SEO platforms like Moz to predict how likely a website is to rank in search engine results. This score ranges from 1 to 100, with higher scores indicating a stronger ability to rank. It is calculated using various factors, including the number of linking root domains, the quality of those links, and the website’s overall content quality.

While domain authority itself is not a direct ranking factor used by search engines like Google, it is a useful comparative metric for understanding the relative strength of a website’s SEO. It helps digital marketers gauge the competitive landscape and devise strategies to improve a site’s visibility in search results.

How can original research contribute to link-building?

Original research can be a powerful tool in link-building because it provides unique, valuable insights and data that others in your industry may want to reference.

When you publish original research, whether it’s a study, survey results, or a detailed analysis, it serves as a credible source of information that bloggers, journalists, and other websites may cite in their own content.

Each time they reference your research, they typically include a backlink to your website as the source. This not only helps build your backlink profile but also positions your website as an authority in your niche, further enhancing your SEO efforts.

Are nofollow backlinks worthless for SEO?

Nofollow backlinks are not worthless for SEO, even though they do not pass on the same “link juice” as dofollow links.

While nofollow links don’t directly contribute to improving a site’s search engine rankings, they can still offer significant value in other ways. For instance, they can drive traffic to your site, increase brand exposure, and help diversify your backlink profile, which is important for maintaining a natural-looking link profile. Additionally, nofollow links can sometimes lead to dofollow links over time, especially if the content being linked to is highly valuable or engaging.

Therefore, they should not be ignored in a comprehensive SEO strategy.

Conclusion: Understanding High Authority Link Building

Securing authority links can be a game-changer for your site’s SEO and credibility.

While we’ve laid out the groundwork and shared key strategies, remember, every site’s path is unique.

If the idea of boosting your site’s authority feels daunting or you’re curious about custom strategies, we’re here to assist.

Consider booking a free 15-minute consultation with our link-building experts.

We’ll dive into your site’s specifics, brainstorm strategies, and set you up with actionable steps to elevate your link profile with our customized backlink packages.

Don’t let this chance slip by — book your free consultation today and start your journey to SEO excellence!