So many factors affect your website’s search ranking, but one of the big ones is called “backlinks.” Backlinks are simply links on other websites that link back to any page on your website.

Backlinks can occur as a result of many things, but here are the main ways:

• Our favorite—Media Mentions. This is when a reputable media organization features or mentions you and/or your business including a link to your website in their article. This can also include being a guest on a podcast, radio, TV, or other video segment.

• Your business is listed in a (quality) web directory. For local businesses, that means directories such as Yelp, Google My Business, Yahoo Local Works, Bing Places, NextDoor, Yellow Pages, BBB, and so on. For national businesses, there’s some overlap; it depends on the industry and types of offerings.

• You’re a guest blogger or otherwise mentioned on another website. You can also submit your own articles to a fairly reputable article submission site like ezinearticles.com.

• The worst way: Unethical marketers put spammy links in all sorts of places, like Comments sections of blog posts, social media, or sketchy “review” sites.

Not all backlinks are created equal. Search engines count “quality” backlinks higher in their algorithm than sketchy backlinks. Here are a few examples:

• A Media Mention link to your site from a national or local media organization or your favorite trade magazine is going to get you much better algorithm points than a link from ridiculousreviewsite.com (don’t bother, it’s not real).

• A Media Mention link from average joe-blogger or podcaster will count less than a quality backlink from usatoday.com, but it’s still decent.

So yes, backlinks from Media Mentions are definitely superior to many other kinds of backlinks (as long as it’s a legit media organization). The more you have, the better your search ranking. The better your search ranking, the more people find you organically.

It’s smart for any artist to reach out to their local media agencies and podcasters to ask for coverage of a special launch or event. You can also sign up for free services such as HARO (Help a Reporter Out) and do a daily scan to see if reporters are looking for perspectives from artists for their stories!