Tips on Google SEO and backlinks for independent websites in 2026

Will backlinks still be necessary for independent websites doing Google SEO in 2026? Yes, they will remain important in 2026.

According to First PageSage, a leading US SEO agency, backlinks accounted for 13% of Google ranking factors in 2025. This is indeed a decrease from the over 20% percentage in the past. However, the authoritative explanation is that there is a greater emphasis on quality. This may be because there have been too many new websites emerging in the past two years due to the introduction of AI technology, leading to more cheating practices.

However, it still accounts for a significant proportion. Don't focus on building too many backlinks; exchanging backlinks with reputable, large websites is best!

The core principles are: timely posting, frequent updates of high-quality content > well-crafted titles > expertise in the vertical field and user experience. Mobile-friendliness is a must, and page speed should be as fast as possible; visitors shouldn't be unable to see anything within 3 seconds.

How to build backlinks? This has always been a headache.

The first question is, whose backlinks should we get?

First, you absolutely need a GitHub account. I won't go into detail about that; it's the highest level of nofollow backlink.

Secondly, the best practice is to **copy**! Look at your peers, and how high-performing peers get backlinks!

There's a fantastic website in our industry called Backlink Query. This is the best one:

https://ahrefs.com/backlink-checker/

Simply enter the URLs of your role models and peers, and you'll get a list ranked from highest to lowest quality based on your relative guess (DR).

Note that Ahrefs only allows you to view the 20 backlinks with the highest DR (Dependency Reduction). If you need to view all backlinks, for a complete list, you need to use another platform, Semrush, which requires a membership fee.

For example, the site play2048 that my teacher mentioned has a first backlink to Hacker News and a second backlink to parade pornography. Clearly, we can also try visiting this well-known hacker forum. Anyone involved in overseas products is very familiar with this site!

For other websites we're unfamiliar with, we can learn about them. Like Luckin Coffee and Mixue Ice Cream, McDonald's and KFC, the former spends money, resources, and time researching new store locations, while the latter simply follow suit. They post backlinks there, so we do too!

(Note that different communities have very low tolerance for advertising and other similar content, so you need to nurture your account! Interact more, make sure you genuinely want to integrate into the community, and then cautiously and tactfully send links...)

Don't be afraid of nofollow backlinks; they don't completely prevent the transfer of authority, but rather pass on some authority in a small amount.

In short, some websites are difficult to replicate, but pixel-perfect imitation is achievable with a little ingenuity. Even something as simple as "buying them a cup of coffee" would do. Even hiring someone to publish an article would be helpful. Some online communities require registered columnists, which is also worth a try.

High-authority social media platforms like Reddit, Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok are also acceptable. Google recognizes these backlinks. As long as the community has strict review processes, the backlinks are good!

Especially on some self-media platforms, the more exposure your content with these backlinks receives on that platform, the better its quality, and the more Google trusts you.

Of course, external links within articles and content sections are also an option. If there are few comments under the corresponding content, you could try posting a comment with a link! Every little bit helps.

Explore further. If a site's article content links to "dofollow!", you've struck gold! I've collected quite a few. But I won't reveal them; I've only kept them on my blog. These can't be disclosed publicly, because if the webmaster knew, they'd be gone in a flash. But if you browse around, you can find quite a few, mostly from authoritative, seasoned webmasters who lack SEO fundamentals but are lucky enough to be lucky enough to be a niche webmaster. There are tons of these navigation sites; they're waiting for you to mine them!

Additionally, Wikipedia is a top-ranked website with high authority. If a blog can get a backlink from Wikipedia and you can contact the blogger, it's best to contact the site owner to exchange links and try posting comments with your link.

The last resort is to spend money, but I won't go into details about that.