A backlink (also called an inbound link) is created when another site links to yours. Search engines like Google treat backlinks as votes of confidence — the more authoritative the linking domain, the more weight the link carries in determining your rankings.

Why it matters: Backlinks remain one of the strongest off-page ranking signals in Google's algorithm. A handful of high-quality backlinks from relevant, authoritative domains outweighs hundreds of low-quality links.

Quick tips:

Earn links through genuinely useful content, tools, and resources people want to reference.
Monitor for toxic or spammy backlinks and disavow them in Google Search Console if needed.
Focus on relevance: a backlink from a topically related site carries more signal than a random high-DA domain.

See also: Keywords, Structured Data, Sitemap XML.