What are backlinks?
A backlink is a link from another site to yours. Why Google still uses links, which links count, and what nofollow, sponsored and ugc mean.
Updated
A backlink is a link from another website to yours. Search engines treat links as a sign that other people find a page useful, so backlinks from relevant, trusted sites help pages get discovered and rank. Google says links are one of many signals it uses, not the only one.
Which backlinks count?
Quality matters far more than quantity. A single link from a respected site in your field is worth more than hundreds from unrelated directories. Links that are bought, swapped in bulk or made with automated programs break Google’s spam policies; Google says its systems ignore many of them and it can apply manual actions against sites that build them.
What do nofollow, sponsored and ugc mean?
| Attribute | Use it for |
|---|---|
rel="sponsored" | Paid links, ads and sponsorships |
rel="ugc" | Links in comments, forum posts and other user-generated content |
rel="nofollow" | Any other link you don’t want to vouch for |
Since 2019 Google treats these as hints rather than strict rules.
How do you earn backlinks?
- Publish something worth citing: original data, a free tool, a clear guide others reference.
- Get listed where your customers look: industry directories, local business listings, partner pages.
- Answer journalists’ and bloggers’ questions with real expertise.
Example
A bike shop publishes a yearly table of local trail conditions. Local news sites and cycling clubs link to it as a reference. Those relevant, earned links help the shop’s whole site, and they are the kind of mentions AI assistants pick up too.
See your own links in Search Console under Links. Related: internal linking, E-E-A-T.