Referring Domains: Best Practices and Extra Tips to Increase It

Referring Domains: Best Practices and Extra Tips to Increase It

Domain authority is one of the most important aspects of SEO. It is determined by a number of factors, including the quality and quantity of links pointing to your website.

In this blog post, we will discuss referring domains – what they are, how to get them, and some best practices for increasing their value. We will also provide some extra tips that you can use to improve your domain authority and rank higher on search engine results pages!

Referring Domains: What are They?

A website can be considered a referring domain if it links to another website. So imagine that two websites are linking to your site: sites A and B. This means you have two referring domains. The number of referring domains is one factor that contributes to your overall domain authority. So, you need to consider this one.

For example, if you have a website about dog training, and you get a link from the American Kennel Club (AKC) – that would be considered a referring domain.

The AKC is a well-respected organization in the dog world, so their linking to your site would increase your domain authority.

In order for a referring domain to benefit your website, it must be a high-quality website itself. A link from a low-quality or spammy website will not improve your domain authority.

illustration of the "website dog", with the leash in its snout. The leash is a scrub for linking.

What are Referral IPs?

You’ve probably heard of referral IPs and you’re confused about what it is. Well, the context is quite simple. A referral IP is the IP address of a server or device that has sent your site a backlink. So if a website sends your site a backlink, you get a referral IP.

Domain Popularity & Link Popularity

Link popularity is the metric that measures the number of external backlinks pointing to a domain, regardless of their source. On the other hand, domain popularity is what measures the number of domains that link to a website.

How Do You Check Referring Domains?

Checking for your site’s referring domains is easy. You just need to use a tool like Moz’s Open Site Explorer, Ahrefs, or Majestic SEO.

Just enter your website’s URL into the tool, and it will show you all of the websites that are linking to yours.

You can also see other information about each referring domain, including its Page Authority (PA) and Domain Authority (DA). The higher these numbers are, the more valuable the link will be for your website.

How Do Referring Domains Affect Your SEO?

As we’ve mentioned earlier, referring domains is just one of many factors that contribute to your domain authority.

Domain authority is a measure of how well your website will rank on search engine results pages (SERPs). The higher your domain authority, the higher you will rank on SERPs.

Domain authority works as a  sort of “scored system.” The higher your score, the better your website will rank.

There are a number of factors that contribute to your domain authority score. These include:

– The quantity and quality of inbound links

– The age of your domain

– The number of pages on your website

– The amount of traffic your website gets

Let’s discuss these factors.

Quantity and Quality of Inbound Links

The quantity and quality of inbound links might just be the top factor in domain authority.

Inbound links are links from other websites to your website. The more inbound links you have, the higher your domain authority will be – but only if those inbound links are from high-quality websites.

A link from a low-quality or spammy website will actually hurt your domain authority score, so you want to avoid those links at all costs!

Improve Your Site’s Ranking

When you get tons of inbound links, you will need a system to drive the link juice you receive across your website. This is where your internal linking system comes in. Internal links act as pathways for the link juice to travel from page to page within your site. Through the Internal Link Juicer, building internal links becomes an easy task!

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Age of Domain

Another important factor in domain authority is the age of your domain.

In general, older domains will have an easier time ranking higher on SERPs than newer domains. This is because Google gives more weight to older, established websites.

Number of Pages on Website

The number of pages on your website is also a factor in domain authority.

A website with more pages will usually have an easier time ranking higher than a website with fewer pages. This is because there is more content for Google to index, and more opportunities for inbound links.

Amount of Traffic Your Website Gets

The amount of traffic your website gets can also affect your domain authority score.

Websites that get a lot of traffic are usually seen as more authoritative than websites that get little to no traffic. This is because people are more likely to link to popular websites than unpopular ones!

Tips to Increase Referring Domains

From our list that increases domain authority, the number of referring domains might just be the top factor that could get you more domain authority. Here are tips that will help you increase referring domains.

Grow Your Network

This is probably the most important part to increase your referring domain. Growing your network means you get known by more people in your industry. You can start by engaging in Twitter chats, leaving comments on blogs, and attending conferences.

This way, you can get natural backlinks as people in your network start to know you. When they see your name around, they will naturally want to check out your website and link to it if they find your content helpful!

Use HARO or Any Other Journalist Service

HARO is a service that connects journalists with sources. If you sign up for their free service, you will get daily emails with opportunities to be featured in major publications.

To increase the chance of getting chosen, make sure to select opportunities that are relevant to your industry and write thoughtful responses that offer value.

If you want to connect to more researchers, HARO offers premium plans that start at $19/month.

Illustration of the Internal Link Juicer mascot that goes for a walk "website dog" in the park. He waves to three other Internal Link Juicer mascots, they look like bloggers, standing to the side.

Reach Out to Bloggers in Your Industry

Another way to get backlinks is by reaching out to bloggers in your industry. First, find popular blogs that are relevant to your industry.

This is a great way to get your name and website in front of new audiences. When you guest blog, you write a blog post for another website in your industry. In return, they usually allow you to include a link back to your own website.

Look for blog posts that are similar to articles on your website. Once you find a few good options, reach out to the blogger and tell them about your article.

Many bloggers will be happy to link to your article if they think it would be helpful for their readers! Just make sure not to spam them with too many requests.

Craft Shareable and High-Quality Content

Writing shareable and high-quality content is also a great way to increase the number of referring domains.

If you write content that is informative and well-written, people will be more likely to share it with their own audiences. This can help you reach new people and get more backlinks!

To make sure your content is high quality, start by doing keyword research. This will help you understand what people are searching for and how you can help them.

Aside from providing information, you also attract attention from search engines since you are using relevant keywords.

Another way to make sure your content is shareable is by adding images, infographics, and videos. People are more likely to share content that is visually appealing.

You can also add social media buttons to your articles so people can easily share your content on their own profiles!

Promote Your Content

Promoting your content is as important as crafting high-quality and shareable content.  If you want people to see your content, you need to put it in front of them!

There are a few ways you can promote your content. One way is through social media. You can share your articles on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

Another way to promote your content is through email marketing. You can send an email to your list every time you publish a new article. This will help increase traffic to your website and get more backlinks!

You can also reach out to influencers in your industry and ask them to share your content with their audiences. If they like what you wrote, they might be happy to help you out!

Remember, an excellent piece of content is nothing if people won’t be able to see it. Make sure to promote your content to get the most eyes on it!

Tap Into Small PR Networks

Small PR networks are a great way to get backlinks. You can usually find these networks by searching for them on Google or social media. Tapping into small PR networks will allow you to get natural referrals from highly relevant websites that are within the same industry as you.

Contribute to Other Websites

Contributing to other websites can also help you get more referring domains. This is because you can usually include a link back to your own website when you contribute.

For example, if you are a writer, you could reach out to websites in your industry and offer to write a guest blog post. Or if you are a designer, you could offer to create an infographic for their website.

This is a great way to get your name and website in front of new audiences while also getting more backlinks!

Refresh Your Content

Refreshing your content can also get new referring domains. This is because when you update your content, people who have linked to it in the past might link to it again. Plus, new websites might come across your freshly updated content and see it as a source of reliable source.

You can refresh your content by adding new information, updating old information, or even changing the format of your article. For example, you could turn an old blog post into a video or an infographic.

Illustration of the Internal Link Juicer Mascot, who is grooming the referring Domains and website

Look for Unlinked Mentions

Unlinked mentions are instances where your website is mentioned but not linked to. This can happen for a variety of reasons, such as someone forgetting to include the link or not knowing how to find your website.

Once you find unlinked mentions, you can contact the website owner and ask them if they could add a link to your website. Most of the time, they’ll be happy to do it!

Ace the Competition with More Referring Domains

You can easily ace the competition when you get more referring domains! By following the tips in this article, you’ll be well on your way to increasing your referring domains and getting more traffic to your website. Keep up the good work, and you’ll see results in no time!

Getting more referring domains means you get more link juice! You can spread these newly-acquired link juice using the Internal Link Juicer! Check it out now.