Backlinks are links from one website to another. If a respected industry site links to your guide, that link is a backlink to your site.
Search engines treat good backlinks as votes of confidence. They help Google discover your pages, understand what they’re about and judge how far they can be trusted.
This guide explains what backlinks are, the different types, what makes one valuable, how to earn them safely and how to check your own. It’s written from the work we do every day placing clients on real publications at Linkuild.
What are backlinks?
A backlink, also called an inbound or incoming link, is a clickable link on another website that points to a page on yours.
From your side it’s a backlink. From the linking site’s side, it’s an outbound link. The visible, clickable words are called the anchor text.
Here’s a simple example. If a marketing blog writes “this guide to guest posting explains the rules” and links those words to your article, you’ve earned a backlink with the anchor text “guide to guest posting”.
Why backlinks matter for SEO
Links are one of the main ways Google finds new pages and understands how pages relate to each other. Google’s own link best practices describe how it uses links and anchor text for both.
A link from a relevant, trusted site also signals that your content was worth referencing. Pages that rank at the top for competitive searches almost always have stronger link profiles than the pages below them.
Backlinks bring two more benefits beyond rankings:
- Referral traffic: real people click links and visit your site.
- Brand visibility: a mention on a respected publication puts your name in front of new readers, and in front of AI tools that learn from those publications.
Do they still matter in the age of AI answers? Yes, though their role has shifted. We cover that in detail in do backlinks still matter for AI search.
Types of backlinks
Every link carries an attribute that tells search engines how to treat it. Google explains these in its guidance on qualifying outbound links.
| Type | What it means | Typical use |
|---|---|---|
| Followed (“dofollow”) | No special attribute; can pass ranking credit | Editorial links in articles |
| rel=”nofollow” | Asks search engines not to treat it as an endorsement | Links the site doesn’t vouch for |
| rel=”sponsored” | Marks a paid or sponsored link | Advertorials, paid placements |
| rel=”ugc” | User-generated content | Comments, forums, social posts |
Google treats nofollow, sponsored and ugc as hints rather than strict rules. Qualified links still send traffic and brand exposure, so they aren’t worthless.
Links are also grouped by where they come from: editorial links in articles, guest post links, directory and citation links, resource page links, and social backlinks from profiles and posts. Editorial links are by far the most valuable.
What makes a good backlink?
Not all backlinks are equal. One strong link can outweigh hundreds of weak ones, so judge every link on these five points.
- Relevance. The linking site and page cover a topic related to yours, and its readers could plausibly be your customers.
- Trust and authority. The site is established, publishes real content and has its own reputation. Third-party scores help screen sites, but they aren’t Google metrics.
- Editorial placement. Someone chose to link to you inside the body of an article, rather than in a footer, sidebar or link page.
- Natural anchor text. The words fit the sentence. Brand names, descriptive phrases and plain URLs look natural; the same exact keyword on every link does not.
- Real traffic. The page gets visitors, so the link can send people as well as signals.
Good backlinks vs bad backlinks
| Good backlink | Bad backlink |
|---|---|
| Article on a relevant publication with real readers | Site that publishes anything for a fee, on any topic |
| Link placed because it helps the reader | Link stuffed into thin content written to carry it |
| Varied, natural anchor text | Same commercial keyword repeated across many sites |
| Earned through content, PR or outreach | Bought in bulk packages, networks or automated tools |
Google’s spam policies list the link schemes it treats as manipulation, including buying links that pass ranking credit, excessive link exchanges and automated link building. Links like these may be ignored, and large-scale abuse can lead to manual action.
How to get backlinks
Every lasting method follows the same idea: create something worth referencing, then make sure the right people see it.
1. Create linkable content. Original data, detailed guides, free tools and templates attract links over time. Google’s advice on helpful, people-first content is the right standard to aim for.
2. Digital PR. Pitch newsworthy stories, data or expert comment to journalists. Coverage on real publications earns some of the strongest editorial links, as explained in how a digital PR agency builds rankings.
3. Guest posting. Write genuinely useful articles for relevant publications with real editorial standards. Our guide to guest posting in 2026 covers what editors accept.
4. Unlinked mention reclamation. Find places that mention your brand without linking and ask for a link. This works because brand mentions are becoming the new backlinks in their own right.
5. Broken link building. Find dead links on relevant pages and suggest your working resource as a replacement.
6. Resource pages and quality directories. Get listed on curated industry resources and well-maintained directories, especially for local businesses.
7. Media placements. Editorial placements on established publications combine a link with brand exposure, as covered in how media placements drive growth.
For a deeper walkthrough of each method, see our link building fundamentals guide.
How to check your backlinks
Start with Google Search Console. Its Links report is free and shows your top linking sites, most-linked pages and the anchor text Google sees.
For competitor research, use a backlink tool such as Ahrefs or Semrush to see who links to rival sites but not to yours. Our roundup of the best link building tools compares free and paid options.
Review your profile every month. Look for new links worth thanking, lost links worth recovering, and sudden spikes of spammy links worth investigating.
What to do about spammy backlinks
Most sites pick up some low-quality links naturally, and Google is generally good at ignoring them. You usually don’t need to act on a handful.
If you see a large wave of obvious spam, such as thousands of links from unrelated foreign-language or spam-domain sites, document it and consider a disavow file in Search Console for the worst domains. Use disavow carefully, because removing good links by mistake can hurt you.
How many backlinks do you need?
There’s no magic number. Look at the pages ranking for your target search and compare the quality and relevance of their links, not just the count.
A few strong editorial links from relevant publications often move a page further than dozens of weak ones. Links also work best alongside solid content and the wider off-page SEO signals that build trust.
Frequently asked questions
What is a backlink in simple words?
A link on another website that points to your website. Search engines treat good ones as recommendations.
Are backlinks still important in 2026?
Yes. They remain a core signal for discovery and rankings, and rankings feed the pages AI answers draw from. Google confirms the same SEO fundamentals apply to its AI features.
Can I buy backlinks?
Buying links that pass ranking credit breaks Google’s spam policies. Paid placements are fine for visibility when they’re labelled and the link is marked sponsored or nofollow.
Do nofollow backlinks help?
They pass less direct ranking value, but they still bring traffic, brand exposure and often lead to editorial links later.
How long do backlinks take to work?
Usually weeks to months. Search engines need to crawl the linking page and reassess your page alongside everything else.
Earn backlinks worth having
The best backlink strategy is simple to describe and hard to fake: relevant links from real publications, earned with content and outreach that respect readers and editors.
Linkuild places clients on a large, hand-vetted network of top tier publications, from niche trade titles to names like Forbes and Entrepreneur, with editorial approval always respected. See what to look for in link building services, or contact us for the publication list.