What Is A Backlink?

What Is A Backlink?

Backlinks are incoming links to your website or web page. While inbound links were originally important (prior to the emergence of search engines) as a primary means of web navigation; today their significance lies in search engine optimization (SEO).

The number of backlinks is one indication of the popularity or importance of that website or page (for example, this is used by Google to determine the PageRank of a webpage). The quality of your backlinks is also an indication of your importance. For example, a link from The New York Times website to your site will be seen as more important than a link from your best friend’s personal blog. The more “authority” your backlink has, the more perceived authority you will have.

Backlinks can happen naturally, basically one site decides to link to a page on your site without your permission. They can also be acquired through article marketing, guest blogging, link buying, and by requesting that a site owner link to your site.

One-way backlinks are much more coveted then reciprocal links (when you and another site both link to each other). To search engines, it means that another site found value in your content without you having to give something in return.

*This entry is part of Lisa’s digital publishing glossary. To learn more about ePublishing, article marketing, & internet marketing – sign up for Lisa’s weekly insights and strategies for establishing a profitable business online.