Backlink

A clickable hyperlink from one website to another.

Definition

A backlink (also called an inbound or incoming link) is any hyperlink from an external website pointing to a page on your domain. Backlinks remain one of Google's top three ranking factors because every link is essentially a vote of trust from one site to another.

Key points

• Quality > quantity: one link from a respected niche site often outranks dozens from low-authority blogs.
• Both DoFollow and NoFollow backlinks matter — a diverse profile looks natural.
• Search engines crawl backlinks to discover new pages.