Backlink

A backlink is any link from another site to yours. Search engines have used them as a quality signal since the beginning, on the theory that a link is a vote that cost the linker something to cast.

Raw backlink count is the least useful way to measure a link profile, because one site can link to you a thousand times and a thousand sites can link to you once each, and the second is worth far more. The metrics that matter are the number of distinct referring domains, the quality and relevance of those domains, whether the links are dofollow, and the anchor text distribution.

Link profiles also carry negative signals. Networks of low-quality sites that exist to sell links, sometimes labeled PBNs, are usually discounted automatically, though they can be disavowed through a search engine’s own tooling once a site is verified. Scraper and URL-shortener domains that mirror your URL automatically are noise, normally nofollow, and generally not worth acting on.

For a launch the practical takeaway is simple. One editorial link from a relevant site that chose to write about you is worth more than dozens of automated directory links, and a badge on a maker’s own domain is worth more than another link from a directory that already links to you.