// SEO & BACKLINK GLOSSARY

Learn the language of links.

Plain-English definitions of the SEO and link-building terms that matter most. Skim a card, click for a deeper page.

A clickable hyperlink from one website to another. The primary signal Google uses to measure trust and authority.

The visible, clickable words inside a hyperlink. Influences both rankings and click-through rates.

DoFollow vs NoFollow

Two ways links pass (or withhold) ranking signals. Most natural profiles include both.

Domain Authority

A 0-100 score (Moz, Ahrefs, Semrush use variants) estimating a domain's ranking strength.

The SEO value a link passes from one page to another — sometimes called "link juice."

Referring Domain

A unique website that links to yours. 10 links from 10 sites usually beats 100 links from 1 site.

A backlink from a spammy, penalized, or irrelevant site that may harm your rankings.

Google's tool for telling search engines to ignore specific low-quality backlinks pointing at you.

ABC Triangular Linking

A 3-site link pattern (A→B→C→A) used to avoid the obvious reciprocal A↔B footprint.

Niche Relevance

How topically related a linking site is to yours. Highly relevant links typically outperform high-authority but off-topic ones.

The pace at which a domain acquires new backlinks. Sudden spikes can look unnatural.

Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness — Google's framework for evaluating content quality.

Internal Linking

Links between pages on the same domain. Distributes equity and helps crawlers understand site structure.

A link from your site to an external domain. Linking to authoritative sources can build topical trust.

A network of low-quality sites built to manipulate rankings. Google penalizes participation.

Ready to put theory into practice?

Start earning niche-relevant backlinks with the ABC method and AI Watchdog.