Backlinks
A backlink is a link from another website that points to your own site, and has been one of the most important external ranking signals since the beginning of search engine optimization.
Search engines interpret a backlink as a kind of endorsement: If a thematically relevant, trustworthy site links to your content, it speaks to its quality. It's not just the number of links that counts, but also their origin, the anchor text, and whether the link is marked as "follow" or "nofollow." A single link from an established specialist site often carries more weight than a hundred links from weak directories.
Example: A craft business receives a backlink from the guild, which has 40.000 monthly visitors. Within eight weeks, visibility for the main keyword increases from position 14 to position 6 in Google search results, significantly faster than with ten links from unrelated directories in the same period.
Build backlinks through genuine collaborations, expert articles, and mentions in relevant industry media, instead of buying them. Regularly check your backlink profile in Google Search Console and disavow harmful links using the Disavow Tool.
Back to the glossary