What are backlinks? Safe link building vs risky shortcuts
A backlink is a link from another website to yours. Search engines treat links as one way of discovering pages and as a signal of importance: if relevant, trusted sites link to a page, it is more likely to be worth showing. Links are not the only factor, but they still matter.
What makes a good backlink
- Relevance: a link from a site about your topic or industry.
- Trust: the linking site is genuine, well maintained and respected.
- Editorial choice: someone chose to link because your page is useful.
- Context: the link sits naturally within useful content and real visitors might click it.
One link from a respected industry publication is worth far more than hundreds from unrelated directories.
Link attributes
Links can carry attributes that tell search engines about the relationship:
- rel=”sponsored” for paid or sponsored links, including advertisements;
- rel=”ugc” for user-generated content such as comments and forum posts;
- rel=”nofollow” when you do not want to vouch for the linked page.
Paid links without “sponsored” or “nofollow” break Google’s spam policies.
Safe ways to earn links
- Create link-worthy content: original data, useful tools, detailed guides and clear explanations.
- Digital PR: share genuinely newsworthy stories, research or expert comment with journalists.
- Partnerships: suppliers, associations, events and community organisations you really work with.
- Local listings: accurate profiles on legitimate local and industry directories.
- Unlinked mentions: politely ask sites that mention your brand to add a link.
- Guest contributions: genuinely useful articles for relevant publications, not mass-produced posts for links.
Risky shortcuts to avoid
Many older “submission” tactics are now treated as link spam. Google’s spam policies specifically cover link schemes such as:
- buying or selling links that pass ranking credit;
- large-scale article, directory, bookmarking or profile submissions made only for links;
- automated programs or services that create links;
- excessive link exchanges (“you link to me, I link to you”);
- private blog networks and link wheels;
- keyword-stuffed links in comments, forum signatures or widgets.
At best these links are ignored. At worst they lead to ranking drops or a manual action in Search Console.
Checking your backlinks
Search Console’s Links report shows the sites linking to you. Free tools for verified sites can show more detail. If you discover a large number of spammy links you did not create, Google usually ignores them; the disavow tool is meant mainly for sites that have built bad links themselves or have a manual action.
Learn safe, lasting link building in our Off-Page SEO Course.