What is a backlink?
When a credible publication links to a smaller website's article, something measurable happens in Google's assessment of that site. That link — an editorial endorsement from an established source — carries weight that no amount of on-page optimization can replicate on its own.
That is a backlink. A hyperlink on one website that points to a page on another. Backlinks are the internet's original reputation system. When Google's founders built PageRank in the late 1990s, the core insight was elegant: if many credible, independent websites link to a page, that page is probably worth something. Two decades later, the algorithm has gotten considerably more sophisticated — but the underlying logic has not changed.
Not all backlinks are created equal
This is where most link-building strategies go wrong. Treating all backlinks as equivalent is like treating all press coverage as equal. A mention in the Financial Times is not the same as a mention in an obscure directory nobody reads.
- Domain authority of the linking site — A link from a government (.gov) or a national news publication carries orders of magnitude more weight than a link from a low-traffic personal blog.
- Topical relevance — A fitness website linking to a supplement brand makes contextual sense. A gambling site linking to the same brand sends relevance confusion signals.
- Anchor text — The clickable text of the link. Descriptive anchor text gives Google additional context about the destination page.
- Link placement — A link embedded naturally within the editorial body of an article passes more value than one buried in a footer or sidebar.
- Dofollow vs. nofollow — Dofollow links pass ranking credit (link equity). Nofollow links do not pass direct ranking credit — but they drive referral traffic and contribute to a natural-looking link profile.
Earning links vs. building them
Google is explicit about what it considers legitimate: earning links through content so genuinely valuable that other websites want to reference it. Original research, comprehensive guides, free tools, proprietary data studies.
Proactive link building through outreach — digital PR campaigns, guest posts on relevant publications, credible directory listings — is also legitimate, when the placements are editorially earned. What crosses the line: buying links, participating in private blog networks (PBNs), reciprocal link exchanges at scale, or any automated link scheme.
The practical question I ask clients: what could you publish that journalists and bloggers in your space would want to reference when writing about your topic? That question generates a real link strategy.
Frequently asked questions
How many backlinks do I need to rank?
There is no target number. What matters is whether your backlink profile is stronger and more relevant than the pages currently ranking for your target keyword. Pull up those ranking pages in Ahrefs or Semrush and look at their backlink profiles. That gap is your actual benchmark.
Are nofollow backlinks useless?
No, and I would push back on this framing. Nofollow links from high-traffic publications drive real referral traffic. They build brand awareness. They contribute to a backlink profile that looks naturally diverse rather than engineered. The mix matters.
What is a toxic backlink?
A link from a low-quality, spammy, or irrelevant website that can damage rather than help your rankings. Large volumes of toxic backlinks — especially if they arrived suddenly — can trigger Google's spam systems. Google Search Console's Disavow Tool lets you tell Google to ignore specific links.