What is a backlink? A practical guide to links and referring domains

A backlink connects two pages

If a gardening magazine links from its composting guide to your soil-testing instructions, that is a backlink to your website. The magazine article is the referring page; your instructions are the target page. The clickable words are the anchor text.

A link between two pages on your own website is an internal link. Both can help people discover useful material, but they describe different relationships. Google documents links as one signal for understanding relevance and discovering pages. A backlink does not guarantee that its destination will be indexed or rank for a particular search.

Read the link itself

Here is a hypothetical paid placement. The example uses reserved example domains and is not a real publisher or customer result.

<a href="https://example.com/soil-testing" rel="sponsored">soil-testing instructions</a>

Inspect the actual link when possible. An order description or a screenshot cannot establish every detail of the live page.

Backlinks and referring domains count different things

Suppose one publisher links to you from 25 articles. You may record 25 referring pages and one referring domain. A link repeated in a site's footer can appear on many pages while still coming from that same domain. Counts also depend on how the reporting tool handles subdomains, parameters, redirects and duplicate links.

Keep three columns in your own review: referring page, referring domain and target page. This makes it easier to see whether a campaign introduces new relevant sources or repeats existing ones. Never treat a page count as a count of independent publishers.

Evaluate context before quantity

Open the referring page and ask why its readers would follow the link. Is the subject connected to your destination? Is the surrounding copy clear? Can a visitor find the link naturally? Does the destination answer the question raised by the source?

Third-party authority metrics can help you sort a shortlist, but a score is not a substitute for this review. A publisher's country label also does not prove the language or location of its audience. Review the actual page and the evidence available for the intended market.

• Start with a useful destination that loads correctly.
• Look for a clear relationship between source topic and target page.
• Read the anchor in its surrounding sentence.
• Record the publication URL and date you checked it.
• Keep referral visits and search performance separate from publication counts.

Understand earned links and paid placements

An editor may cite your research or a useful resource without payment. A sponsored placement is a commercial arrangement. These are different relationships and should be described accurately. Google's guidance prefers the sponsored attribute for paid links; nofollow remains an acceptable way to qualify them.

Buying a placement is not a purchase of a ranking position. Google's spam policies address links created to manipulate rankings. Assess paid publishing on its actual audience, presentation, disclosure and commercial terms rather than a promised search result.

Start with a small, documented plan

Choose one target page, write down who it helps, and identify what a relevant publisher would add. Then decide which evidence you need after publication: a source URL, the observed destination, link text, attributes and a check date. A simple spreadsheet can hold this baseline.

In the marketplace, backlink placements and sponsored articles are separate formats. Compare their scope before ordering. The ordering guide explains how selection and order tracking fit together.

For links you already have, Search Console's Links report is a useful starting point. It is a sample, can include links found in the past, and does not establish that every listed link is currently present. Confirm important placements on the source page.