Backlinks
A backlink is also known as a hyperlink or inbound link. In SEO, backlinks are incoming links from other pages on the Internet to your own web pages. Google considers these backlinks as a “seal of approval” between two websites. A backlink is also known as a hyperlink or inbound link. In SEO, backlinks are links from other pages on the Internet to your own web pages. Google considers these backlinks as a “stamp of approval” between two websites.
A backlink consists of the following:
- Linked URL and sent to you once you click. This can be another web page or any other online resource (eg a PDF file).
- The text you click on is called “anchor text”. If a link is created on an image, the “alt text” of the image will be used as the anchor text.
How Do Backlinks Work?
Backlinks between websites act as trust signals for search engines like Google, Bing & Yahoo. They are similar to citations in books or scientific research. The linking website sends a value to the linking website called PageRank (i.e. “citing” or “mentioning”).
Backlinks are like peer reviews for web pages. If a book is cited multiple times by various relevant and authoritative sources, it is a sign that it contains valuable information. Similarly, many relevant and authoritative links lead to the web page, this web page contains valuable content.
The more relevant links you have from authoritative websites, the more valuable your website will be in Google’s eyes. But a system where you can get such useful links will not work.
However, it is a good system to have other webmasters influence your authority. This often prevents scammers (also known as Black Hat SEOs) from ranking high on the search engine results page. In fact, Google has confirmed that if you link to other valuable pages, your rankings benefit from that as well.