What are backlinks in SEO?
Backlinks are links from other sites pointing to your site. They're the main authority factor in SEO: more quality backlinks from trusted domains = higher rankings in Google and Bing. Each link transfers part of the donor's link equity. One strong backlink from an authority publication is worth more than 1000 links from junk directories. Check your backlinks in Google Search Console (free), Ahrefs, Semrush, Moz.
Backlinks are links from other sites pointing to your site. One of the main ranking factors since search engines began (PageRank concept underlying Google).
Why backlinks matter
- "Votes of trust" — Google treats each as recommendation.
- Authority transfer (PageRank/link equity).
- Signal for AI engines (Perplexity, ChatGPT).
- Direct referral traffic.
- Resilience to algorithm updates.
Dofollow vs Nofollow
| Type | Passes equity |
|---|---|
| dofollow | Yes |
| nofollow | Conditionally (since 2020) |
| ugc | Conditionally |
| sponsored | Conditionally |
Quality link signs
- Donor DR 30+.
- Topical relevance.
- Real traffic on donor page.
- Contextual placement (in article body).
- Natural anchor text.
- Link age.
Check tools
- Google Search Console — free, basic.
- Ahrefs — most complete, paid.
- Semrush, Moz, Majestic.
This question is also asked as:
- •what are backlinks
- •backlinks in seo explained
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