Backlink
A link from another site to yours — still a top ranking signal.
What it means
A backlink is a hyperlink from another website to yours. Google treats each backlink as a vote of confidence; links from relevant, authoritative, and editorially-given sources carry the most weight.
How it affects your SEO
Backlinks remain one of the strongest ranking signals. Quality and relevance matter far more than quantity — a few links from trusted sites in your industry can outperform thousands of low-quality ones, while spammy links can trigger penalties.
Backlink — frequently asked questions
Are more backlinks always better?
No. A few links from relevant, authoritative, editorially-given sites routinely outperform thousands of low-quality ones. Spammy links can trigger penalties rather than help.
How do I get high-quality backlinks?
Earn links by publishing original research, useful tools, and genuinely link-worthy content, then do targeted outreach to relevant sites in your industry.
Related SEO terms
Links between your own pages that spread authority and guide crawlers.
The clickable words of a link — they describe the target page to Google.
A third-party score predicting a site’s ranking strength — not a Google metric.
Tells Google which version of a page is the “real” one when duplicates exist.
Is this hurting your rankings?
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