Short answer
A backlink (also called an inbound link) is a link from another website to a page on your site. Google uses links to discover new pages and to understand what a page is about and how useful it is, so a link from a relevant, editorial source is a strong trust signal. Links that are paid for, automated or obtained through link exchanges, however, count as link spam under Google’s spam policies.
What is a backlink, and why is it also called an inbound link?
A backlink is a link from a page on another domain to your site; from the point of view of the site receiving it, the link points “back” or “in” to it, which is why it is also called an inbound link. For the site that places it, the same link is an external link.
The critical distinction in the definition is the domain. Links between the pages of your own site are internal links, not backlinks; that is why the phrase “internal backlink” found in older articles is wrong, and why a definition such as “every link on a site is a backlink” confuses two separate concepts. We cover the role internal links play in a site’s own architecture separately in our internal linking guide.
A backlink has three parts: the page that gives the link (the source), the page it points to (the target) and the linked text itself (the anchor, or link text). Its simplest form in HTML is <a href="https://examplebrand.com/guide">coffee machine buying guide</a>. The rel attribute added to the tag tells search engines about the nature of the link. The references at the end of an article, a link from a product review to the manufacturer’s page, or a link to a study quoted in a news story are typical backlinks we come across every day. The total of all the backlinks a site receives is called its link profile; that profile is defined not by the number of links but by the diversity and subject matter of the linking domains and by how the links were earned.
Why does Google use backlinks as a trust signal?
Google uses backlinks because the way a page is linked to from other pages helps it understand what the page is about and which queries it might be most useful for. Google says so explicitly, both on its link best practices page and under the link analysis systems and PageRank heading of its guide to ranking systems.
The logic is similar to academic citation: writers who read a source and find it worth pointing their own readers to cite it. Links are also one of the main routes to discovery; according to Google’s documentation on how Search works, some new pages are found by following a link from a page Google already knows. Anchor text is part of this information too: in its 2019 nofollow announcement, Google describes the way the words in links describe the content they point to as valuable information that helps improve search.
PageRank is the best-known part of these systems; Google says that this system, used when Search first launched, has changed a great deal since then and continues to be part of its core ranking systems. The phrase “a site’s PageRank value” found in older articles, however, no longer measures anything: in 2016 Google removed Toolbar PageRank, which displayed a PageRank score from 0 to 10. PageRank is still used in internal systems, but it is not a value anyone can see from the outside.
This is also where the word trust reaches its limits. Google does not treat a link as an automatic endorsement: since 2019 it has treated links marked nofollow, sponsored and ugc as hints, and with the link spam update in December 2022 it announced that it uses SpamBrain to neutralise the effect of unnatural links. What works as a signal is not the existence of a link but the fact that it reflects a natural editorial decision.
What are the different types of backlinks?
The soundest way to classify backlinks is by how they are earned and where they sit: editorial content links, resource page links, news and PR links, directory and profile links, user-generated content links, social media links and paid placements. Names found in older lists, such as “article backlinks”, “blog backlinks” or “wiki backlinks”, are other names for these types, but they often overstate their value.
| Type | How it comes about | Typical rel attribute | Assessment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Editorial content link | A writer cites your content as a source | None (normal link) | The most valuable type; it is earned, not bought |
| Resource page link | Industry round-ups, association and university resource lists | Usually none | Valuable and lasting if the topic matches |
| News and PR link | Newsworthy data, a statement or an event | Varies | A strong reputation signal; optimised anchors in syndicated press releases are an example of spam |
| Directory and profile link | Business directories, professional bodies, profile pages | Varies | Selective, relevant ones are useful; low-quality directories are an example of spam |
| User-generated content link | Forum, comment and wiki contributions | ugc or nofollow | Can bring referral traffic; comments with optimised signatures are an example of spam |
| Social media link | Links in profiles and posts | Usually nofollow or ugc | Brings traffic and discovery; its ranking power should not be overstated |
| Paid placement | Advertorials, sponsorships, advertising | Should be sponsored (or nofollow) | Link spam if not marked |
Two older types are deliberately left out of this table. “iwebtool backlink” does not describe a real type of link. Wikipedia links carry no special ranking power either: external links on Wikimedia projects are marked nofollow, and Wikipedia’s rules ask people to avoid adding links to sites they own or represent. Treating Wikipedia as a link source will therefore not meet expectations, and links that are added can be reverted by the community as spam.
What is the difference between dofollow, nofollow, sponsored and ugc links?
There is no such thing as a “dofollow” HTML attribute; in practice, a normal link without any rel attribute is what people call dofollow. nofollow, sponsored and ugc, on the other hand, are values that tell Google about the nature of a link, and since 2019 Google has treated them as hints rather than strict directives.
nofollow was introduced in 2005 to fight comment spam and soon became one of the methods Google recommended for marking advertising and sponsored links. In 2019 Google added two new values and separated four cases as follows.
| Value | When to use it | Google’s approach |
|---|---|---|
| No attribute | Links you editorially stand behind | Treated as a normal link |
rel="sponsored" | Advertising, sponsorships and paid placements | The preferred value for paid links |
rel="ugc" | User-generated content such as comments and forum posts | Recommended for links in user-generated content |
rel="nofollow" | When the other values do not fit, or when you do not want to be associated with the site | General purpose; also accepted for paid links |
That is why the definition “a dofollow link is one that passes trust”, found in older articles, is misleading: what makes a link valuable is its source and context, not its attribute. Likewise, the right way to follow the advice to “tell Google about paid links” is not to submit a request but to mark the link with rel="sponsored". Values can also be combined: rel="ugc sponsored" describes a link that both comes from user-generated content and is sponsored.
Google says it prefers the sponsored value for advertising and sponsorship links, but that nofollow used for this purpose is treated in the same way and that existing nofollow links do not need to be changed.
Are all backlinks equally valuable?
No. A backlink’s value varies widely depending on how relevant the source is to the topic, whether it has real readers, whether the link was placed within the flow of the content as an editorial decision, and how it was earned. The same number of links can contribute very differently to two sites.
You cannot lift sites bigger than yours by linking to them; but when a respected, widely read publication in your industry links to you, it gives both its readers and search engines a meaningful reference about you. A link on an off-topic site, squeezed into the bottom of a page or sitting among hundreds of other links, usually carries no such reference. On the same industry publication, a link offered to readers as an extra resource inside a guide and a link sitting in an “our partners” list are technically identical; but the first reflects a writer’s editorial choice, the second a business relationship.
Scores such as DA or DR are estimates produced by third-party tools; Moz itself states clearly that Domain Authority is not a Google ranking factor. These scores are useful for comparing publications with one another, and you can see a domain’s scores with our free DA PA checker. The criteria we use to assess the quality of a link are set out step by step in our backlink analysis article.
Applying these criteria to your own links starts with knowing where each one is published. In our backlink packages, every link is reported individually with its publication URL, target URL and anchor text, so you can review the sources one by one.
What are the real benefits of backlinks, and where are they overstated?
The real benefits of a backlink are that it makes it easier for Google to discover your page, helps it understand the page’s topic and importance, and brings referral traffic from the readers of the linking page. What gets overstated is timing and certainty: no link, and no number of links, guarantees a particular ranking or timeframe.
When we compare the claims repeated most often in older articles with what we see in practice, the picture looks like this.
| Claim | In reality |
|---|---|
| “A site that gets backlinks quickly climbs to the top.” | Rankings come from many signals assessed together; if the content and technical foundations are weak, links will not make up for it. |
| “The more backlinks you have, the higher you rank.” | What matters is the profile, not the number; irrelevant or artificial links are neutralised or create risk. |
| “A page with backlinks is guaranteed to be indexed.” | Links help discovery; indexing depends on the page’s quality and technical eligibility. |
| “Backlinks multiply sales.” | Visibility and referral traffic can contribute to sales; conversion is determined by the product, the price and the page experience. |
| “A single link from a popular site makes traffic explode.” | Referral traffic depends on where the link sits on the page and on readers’ interest; most links bring a limited number of visitors. |
There is a brand side to the benefit as well: being mentioned in respected publications strengthens your reputation and can also influence how your brand is described in AI answers. We look at the role of links and unlinked mentions in AI answers in our off-page SEO article.
That is why we do not put link building first in every case. If the target page is not indexed or has crawl issues, if it does not answer the search intent, or if a local business’s Business Profile is incomplete, these fundamentals need to be fixed before any link work; otherwise the links you earn point to a weak page and their effect stays limited. These fundamentals are among the technical and content items of monthly SEO work; link acquisition is built on top of them.
What are the most common backlink myths?
The most common misconceptions are treating backlinks as a numbers game, seeing certain domain extensions or platforms as magic sources, and regarding paid links as a risk-free shortcut. Most of these beliefs date from the period before Google started evaluating links instead of counting them.
- “.edu and .gov links carry a special bonus.” Google representatives have explained that a domain extension does not by itself give a link extra weight. If a link from one of these sites is valuable, the reason is the content and the source itself, not the extension.
- “Social media backlinks are Google’s favourite links.” Social shares bring discovery and traffic, but Google’s guide to ranking systems contains no system based on social engagement.
- “Nofollow links are useless.” Nofollow is a hint; these links bring referral traffic and brand visibility, and it is normal for a natural profile to contain a mix of different types.
- “A single bad backlink can sink a site.” Google says it neutralises the effect of unnatural links algorithmically; manual actions for unnatural links come into play with clear patterns such as taking part in link schemes.
- “Paid backlinks are fine as long as they look natural.” Google’s spam policy explicitly treats buying and selling links for ranking purposes as link spam; the policy-compliant approach is to mark paid links with
sponsoredornofollow. We explain why link schemes carry risk in our article on black hat SEO. - “You should copy your competitor’s backlinks exactly.” A competitor’s profile is worth reading to build a list of opportunities; placing links on the same publications in the same way can mean inheriting your competitor’s risks as well.
In backlink work the right question is not “how many links?” but “links from which sources, in what context, and earned how?” We go into the safe ways of earning links built around that question in our guide on how to get backlinks.
Frequently asked questions
Do you need a certain number of backlinks to rank?
No, there is no fixed number. Rather than counting links, Google uses systems that assess the relevance of the source and how the link came about; the profile you need varies with the pages that stand out for the target query and the level of competition. So the place to start is not a numerical target but a review of competitors’ profiles and the gaps in your own content.
Do nofollow backlinks help?
They can. Since 2019 Google has treated nofollow links as a hint rather than a strict instruction to ignore them; their contribution to rankings is not certain, but they bring referral traffic and brand visibility. It is normal for a natural link profile to include nofollow links as well.
Are links from .edu and .gov sites more valuable?
Not because of the extension. Google representatives have explained that a domain extension does not by itself add value to a link. A link from a university or government page is valuable if it is relevant to your topic and given as an editorial decision; the same criterion applies to every domain.
Do social media shares count as backlinks?
Technically, a link on a social platform is also a link from another domain. However, major platforms usually mark these links with attributes such as nofollow or ugc, and Google does not use social engagement as a ranking system. The value of social shares comes indirectly, through traffic, discovery and branded searches.
Is buying backlinks against Google’s rules?
Links bought for ranking purposes and left unmarked violate Google’s spam policy; the policy treats this kind of buying and selling as link spam. Google accepts paid links for advertising and sponsorship as a normal part of the web and does not consider them a policy violation when they are marked with the sponsored or nofollow attribute. Unmarked paid links, however, can lead to lost rankings or a manual action.
Sources
- Google Search Central – Google için bağlantı en iyi uygulamaları
- Google Search Central – Giden bağlantılarınızı Google için nitelendirin (sponsored, ugc, nofollow)
- Google Search Central – A guide to Google Search ranking systems (bağlantı analizi ve PageRank)
- Google Search Central – Google web araması spam politikaları
- Google Search Central Blog – Evolving nofollow: new ways to identify the nature of links (Eylül 2019)
- Moz – What is Domain Authority?
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