Why Oh Why Do Backlinks and Google Reviews Matter After Launch

26/09/26 • WEB DESIGN, SERVICES, SEO, WEB DEVELOPMENT, NORTH WALES, AFTER LAUNCH SEO

Impatient? Fair enough. Here is the speedy version:

Good on-page SEO helps search engines understand your website.
Backlinks and reviews help us build authority around it.
A smaller number of relevant links is generally more useful than piles of rubbish ones.
Local and industry links can be particularly useful for North Wales businesses.
Backlinks and reviews are things we can build gradually after launch.

Your website can say all sorts of lovely things about your business. Obviously it can. It’s your website.

You’re unlikely to fill your About page with phrases such as “we’re broadly adequate” or “answers emails eventually”.

Search engines therefore also look beyond your own website when trying to understand the authority and reputation surrounding a business.

Two areas that can help us here are backlinks and reviews.

What is a backlink?

A backlink is simply a link from another website to yours.

That might be a supplier, professional association, local publication, business directory, trade organisation, partner or another relevant website that has a genuine reason to mention or reference your business.

Good backlinks can help search engines discover pages and contribute towards the wider authority of the website.

We’re looking for useful links, not just lots of links

Backlink building shouldn’t be treated as a competition to see who can collect the biggest number.

I’d much rather help you identify relevant, credible opportunities than proudly report that we’ve acquired 863 links from websites nobody has ever heard of.

For a North Wales business, opportunities might include:

Regional business organisations
Local publications and community websites
Relevant suppliers and manufacturers
Professional and trade associations
Tourism organisations where appropriate
Partners, sponsorships and genuine local relationships

The exact opportunities will be different for every business, which is why I prefer researching them properly rather than working from a generic list.

Google reviews matter too

For local businesses, Google reviews are another important part of the wider picture.

They help potential customers decide whether they trust you and contribute towards the strength of your Google Business Profile.

Rather than suddenly remembering reviews exist once every two years, we can make gathering genuine feedback part of your normal customer process.

That way the profile develops steadily alongside the website.

Why does all this matter for a new website?

Because this wider authority is something established competitors may already have.

Your new website might be quicker, clearer, better designed and technically stronger, but another business may have spent ten years accumulating relevant links, reviews and online references.

We don’t recreate that overnight. Rome wasn’t built in a day, unless you believe that chap with wild hair on Ancient Aliens. Which I do. So there we are.

What we can do is start building the right signals from launch and continue developing them over time.

Want me to help find backlink opportunities?

I can review your existing backlink profile, compare it with relevant competitors and research realistic link opportunities for your business.

I can also work with you on Google Business Profile optimisation, reviews and wider local SEO across North Wales. Good that innit!

Fill in the enquiry form, email me at kev@kevadamson.com, or call on 07974 697740 and we’ll see what opportunities are out there.

Also in the After Launch SEO series: