You have a nice website, you write for it honestly, and yet you still sit somewhere on the second or third page of search results. Then someone gives you advice: "Buy some backlinks, drop your business into a few directories, and your website authority will shoot up." It sounds simple. But what actually is a backlink, why would Google care about such a thing, and is a Firmy.cz listing really the shortcut it is made out to be? Let me explain it the way I would over a coffee with a friend, no jargon, and no promises that will turn against you in the long run.
Google doesn't rank sites by content alone, but also by trust
Google uses multiple systems to assess relevance and quality, including link analysis. "Website authority" is SEO shorthand, not a published universal Google trust score. A backlink can help content discovery and bring readers; its existence alone does not establish a business's trustworthiness.
What is a backlink? A recommendation from another site
A backlink is simply the situation where a clickable link from someone else's website points to yours. Nothing more. When a local magazine writes about your café and includes a link to your site in the article, you've earned a backlink. When a supplier lists you in a "where to buy us" section and links to you, that's a backlink too.
Not every link is an endorsement. It may be a citation, advertisement, criticism or automated listing. Assess source relevance, link purpose and actual referrals. There is no universal conversion of "one good link equals a hundred weak ones". Manipulative links may be ignored or violate spam policies.
"Domain authority" is a thermometer, not a goal in itself
Once you start reading about SEO, you'll run into abbreviations like DR (Domain Rating) or DA (Domain Authority). These are numbers, usually on a scale from 0 to 100, by which various tools try to estimate how strong and trustworthy your site is, mainly based on the quantity and quality of links pointing to it.
It's important to know one thing: Google didn't invent these numbers and doesn't use them when ranking results. They were invented by the companies that sell SEO tools, to wrap a complicated reality into one understandable number. Treat it as a thermometer. A thermometer will show you that you have a fever, but it won't cure you on its own, and chasing a prettier reading on the dial makes no sense. The goal isn't to have a DR of 40. The goal is to have a site that people and Google trust, and DR describes only part of a backlink profile, not business or content quality.
So don't let yourself be scared by a salesperson waving a chart at you: "your authority is only 8, we'll raise it to 30." You can inflate that number artificially, but it may have nothing whatsoever to do with real trust or with your positions in search. If you'd like to study terms like these at your own pace, you'll find plain-language explanations in the glossary.
Directories like Firmy.cz: when they help and when they're just spam
And now for the thing most people ask about, directories. Firmy.cz, Najisto, a listing on Mapy.cz. Is it worth registering your business in them?
A listing is useful when customers actually search that directory for your service and you can maintain accurate details. Check the link attribute on the actual page rather than assuming every directory uses nofollow. Google treats nofollow, sponsored and ugc as hints. Paid links should be appropriately qualified; do not choose listings solely for an assumed transfer of "authority".
A quality listing on Firmy.cz or Mapy.cz does two other important things:
- It builds local trust. For a business that serves customers in a region, these listings are one of the places where both people and search engines verify that you genuinely exist and where to find you.
- It unifies your details. In the world of local SEO, so-called NAP consistency is crucial, keep the name, address and phone factually consistent with the current business. Different phone spacing is not automatically an SEO issue; an old number or wrong address can misdirect a customer. Directories are exactly the places where you keep this consistency in check. I covered it in more detail in the article on local SEO in Ostrava.
So where's the line between a useful listing and spam? A simple rule: register your business in a handful of established, quality directories that people actually use, and stop there. Firmy.cz, Mapy.cz, Google Business Profile, one or two relevant industry directories. What not to do: register in hundreds of random "business directories" from the other side of the world, just to accumulate links. These mass listings help no one, nobody reads them, and to Google they signal the opposite, that you're trying to game the system.
A useful listing or spam
- Useful listing
- a handful of established directories that people actually use
- Firmy.cz, Mapy.cz, Google Business Profile, one or two industry directories
- an accurate and current name, address and phone
- Spam
- hundreds of random "business directories" from the other side of the world
- listings made only to accumulate links
- nobody reads them
Worked example: Two directory listings, different usefulness
ORIGINAL EXAMPLE · FICTIONAL DATA
Before
- North Workshop / "the best services for everyone"
- No category, location or current contact.
After
- North Workshop / bicycle servicing / Ostrava
- Brakes and gears; service@example.com.
- Listing matches the actual offer.
Fictional listings, not a judgement of a particular directory.
Beware of bought link packages and exchange networks
Sooner or later you'll come across an offer like "100 backlinks for €40" or an invitation into an "exchange network" where sites link to one another back and forth. In the short term it sounds like a genius shortcut. Please, don't do it.
Google lists buying links to manipulate rankings, excessive exchanges and other artificial patterns as link spam. Paid promotion is not itself prohibited when links are qualified according to the rules. Manipulation risks link devaluation or action against the site; its specific impact and recovery time cannot be predicted.
Remember one simple honesty test: if backlinks didn't exist and Google never counted them, would that link still make sense for a human? A link from an article where a local magazine genuinely recommends you makes sense. A link in the footer of some random site where a living person would never end up doesn't. If a link has no value for the reader, in the long run it has none for your SEO either.
How to build authority honestly
Build a discoverable reputation and content useful to a specific audience. These approaches can serve readers, but do not guarantee links, permanent rankings or immunity from other website problems:
Four honest ways to earn links
- Content people naturally link to a useful guide, a clear comparison or an honest case study; the foundation on which all SEO rests
- Natural mentions a guild, an industry association, an "our partners" section at a client, an event that got written up; feel free to ask politely
- Supplier credits only by agreement required or widely distributed footer links can fall under link spam; a credit should be voluntary and appropriately qualified
- Local and industry sites regional news, industry portals, directories with a good reputation; assess the actual audience and referral value
Notice the word "buy" doesn't appear once in that list. Honest authority is a by-product of doing good work and being known for it. There's no shortcut, or rather there is one, but it leads to a dead end.
Worked example: A resource worth linking to
ORIGINAL EXAMPLE · FICTIONAL DATA
| Guide section | Concrete content |
|---|---|
| Topic | Preparing product data for migration |
| Example | SKU ALBA-OR → name → image → variant |
| Check | Preserve identifier and review old URL |
| Citation | "See the guide for the field-mapping process." |
An original content example, not an earned backlink.
Summary: a thermometer, not a race
Judge links by context, policy and usefulness to people. DR and DA are tool metrics, not Google scores. Keep directory details accurate and avoid packages promising ranking manipulation. Evaluate relevant visits and business contacts rather than an increasing "authority" number.
If you're not sure where your site stands with its link profile and local listings, I'm happy to take a look and tell you straight where it makes sense to do something and where it doesn't, no strings attached, through a free SEO audit. And if you want to build authority systematically and for the long term, that's the core of what I call SEO. No tricks, just work that lasts.