As anyone who’s ever wandered the mean streets of the internet knows, not all websites are created equal. Some sites are substantive and packed with up-to-date information. Some are outdated, sketchy, or spammy. And somehow, Google and other search engines have to distinguish between authoritative sites with trustworthy, meaningful content and those that are less helpful—or outright junk.

Referring domains and backlinks are two of the factors that search engines consider to determine how authoritative a particular website is. So, what exactly are backlinks and referring domains?

Backlinks vs. Referring Domains 101

A backlink is a single hyperlink from one website to another. Backlinks are important for a couple of reasons. First, they drive traffic to your website. Someone is merrily reading along on another website when they come upon some interesting text that contains a link to your website, which they then follow—even though a moment ago, they had no idea your website existed. Another reason backlinks matter is that they help to increase your website’s domain authority—more on that in a moment.

A referring domain is a unique website that contains at least one link, or perhaps more, back to your website. A backlink from another website to your site is like a vote in favor of your content; the website itself, the referring domain, is the voter.    

A referring domain may “vote” multiple times, by creating multiple links that point to your website. But not all backlinks, or referring domains carry the same weight. In general, it’s better to have a few backlinks from high-authority sites (like, say, your state bar association or a respected legal publication) than it is to have many backlinks from low-authority sites (like your cousin Mel’s blog about his pet ferret). 

Furthermore, it’s better to have backlinks to your website from a variety of referring domains than from just one or two. That suggests that there’s broad consensus about the value of your website’s content, which of course is good for search engine optimization (SEO). 

What is a “High-Authority” Referring Domain?

A high-authority domain is one that is likely to rank on search engines such as Google. A website has a “domain authority number” from 1-100, based on backlink quantity and quality, the number of referring domains that link to that website, the age and trustworthiness of the site, the quality of its content, and the level of engagement that content gets. 

For example, The National Law Journal is known for high domain authority in the legal sector. The website for the American Bar Association also tends to have high domain authority (exact numbers fluctuate, but scores tend to be in the 90s, which is considered very high—a major authority). These websites have been established for a long time, they get a lot of traffic and engagement, and their content is widely seen as a reliable, trustworthy resource for those in the legal community. 

Domain authority is just a metric; it isn’t an official Google ranking factor. But backlinks from high-authority domains can help your law firm website’s SEO. While it would be nice to get backlinks from the ABA or the National Law Journal, that might be something of a tall order. The good news is that you don’t have to have backlinks from the very highest-authority domains for your SEO and your own website domain authority to benefit. So how do you get backlinks? 

Avoid “Black Hat” Backlink Building

It’s not hard to get backlinks, but as we’ve already established, not all backlinks, and not all referring domains from which they come, are created equal. Getting backlinks to your website just for the sake of having them won’t help your website traffic, SEO, or domain authority, and may well hurt them. 

“Black hat” SEO strategies include buying backlinks; using “link farms;”  automated backlink building using bots; and too much reciprocal linking between sites (more than would appear natural). Another common tactic is utilizing“link exchanges,” which is when two websites agree to link to each other’s content. While this can be ok in certain cases, it can be flagged as spam if not used with care (more on this below). A good rule of thumb is that if something feels like a manipulative practice, Google will probably frown on it. Using unethical practices not only wastes money and time, but it can damage trust and reputation, and cause your website to lose rankings or be removed from search results altogether.  

So why do people still use these strategies? There are a couple of reasons. One is that they may not know better. More commonly, they may understand that there is some risk to black hat practices, but deem that risk acceptable because it feels easier than earning backlinks the old-fashioned way…through quality content that other sites want to share.

Best Practices for Building High-Quality Backlinks

The single best thing you can do to earn backlinks is to create and share high-quality, substantive content on your website. Paige Silver, Director of Marketing at The Modern Firm, puts it bluntly: “Quality content is king. There’s really no substitute for having engaging, well-written content on your website that people find helpful and want to read.”

Other best practices include ensuring that your name, address, and phone number (NAP) are correct and consistent online. Legal directories like Avvo, Justia, Lawyers.com and FindLaw are high-domain authority legal websites; when your firm is listed in these directories, they typically include backlinks that help search engines recognize your law firm as reputable.  Of course, these directories also drive traffic to your site from potential clients who may be searching for services you provide. 

Additional options for backlink building include seeking out guest posting or contributor opportunities for reputable legal blogs or online publications; in addition to gaining a new audience for your knowledge and insights, you will earn a backlink from a site that may have high domain authority. 

Sharing useful content on social media sites such as LinkedIn, YouTube, and Facebook is a way to promote organic links back to your site. If you have the opportunity, participating in legal webinars and podcasts can also help you earn backlinks; these shows frequently include backlinks in their show notes. Interested viewers and listeners often want to learn more about guests and presenters in these forums.

While excessive reciprocal linking is frowned on by search engines, there’s nothing wrong with giving a shout-out to a trusted colleague or local business on your site, even as they do the same for you. Think of relevant, natural relationships—say, a local real estate agent if you are a real estate attorney, a financial planner if you are an estate planning attorney, or a fellow attorney with an adjacent but non-competing specialty. 

Admittedly, earning backlinks the right way involves work. If you have too much already on your plate to build backlinks, The Modern Firm can help. 

How TMF Helps with Backlinks

The Modern Firm’s Marketing Department is actively involved in helping our clients cultivate backlinks to their websites, and tracking those backlinks’ performance. When we do quarterly and end-of-year reports, we track how many visitors are coming to our clients’ sites from various referring domains. We also help our clients to grow those numbers by creating content for their blogs; our writers, all of whom are or were attorneys, know how to write substantive, engaging legal content. This content strategy lays the foundation for organic link-building.

For our SEO clients, we also take a more direct approach to backlink acquisition. In addition to tracking the number and sources of backlinks, our Online Marketing Managers craft customized emails to develop relationships with website owners whose readers might benefit from links to our clients’ sites. While many organizations send out hundreds of emails trying to gather backlinks for their clients, TMF takes a more selective approach. Paige Silver notes, “We’d rather send out ten customized emails at a time to build backlinks than send out dozens of boilerplate ones that are much less likely to be effective.”

Cultivating these relationships and building backlinks organically takes time, effort, and a plan—but the results are usually worth it. To learn more about backlinks and referring domains, or to get help creating substantive content that earns quality backlinks, contact The Modern Firm to schedule a consultation with one of our marketing professionals.