Backlink (inbound link)
A backlink is a link on another website that points to yours. For Google, it's a trust signal: the more reliable, relevant websites cite you, the more likely your pages are to rank well.
Definition
A backlink, or inbound link, is a hyperlink published on a third-party site that points to a page on your website. Netlinking refers to all the actions taken to acquire them.
How it works
Google has relied on links since its inception: the PageRank algorithm, described by Larry Page and Sergey Brin in 1998, treats a link as a vote. Not all votes are equal. A link from a media outlet or a recognized site in your industry carries more weight than a link from a content-free directory.
The linking page, its topic, the clickable text (the anchor), and whether the link is followed or nofollow all affect its value.
Why it matters for your site
Backlinks remain rare, and therefore act as a differentiator. According to a 2020 Ahrefs study of one billion pages, 66% of pages have no inbound links, and 90.6% receive no traffic from Google. For a business, a few well-chosen links are often enough to make a difference in a local market.
Backlinks also matter for AI: third-party sources that mention you are the ones ChatGPT or Perplexity consult before recommending a brand.
The We-R perspective
We prefer ten meaningful links over a hundred purchased ones. The best ones come from what the company is already doing: partners, clients, the press, professional directories, and review platforms like Sortlist or Clutch. Buying links in bulk violates Google's spam policies and risks a penalty.
Learn more
See also:Internal linking,AI Citation,E-E-A-T. And to put it into practice:SEO in 2026: what has really changedorour SEO & GEO consulting services.
Sources: Brin and Page, "The Anatomy of a Large-Scale Hypertextual Web Search Engine" (1998) · Ahrefs, study of 1 billion pages (2020) · Google Search Central, spam policies.
Last updated: October 2026.
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