Backlink

SEO

Also: Inbound Link · Incoming Link · External Link

What it isAnother site linking to yours

TypesDofollow passes authority, nofollow does not

What mattersRelevance and source quality

Watch forSpammy links doing more harm than good

Quick definition

A backlink is a hyperlink from one website pointing to another. When a site links to yours, Google treats it as a signal of credibility. Not all backlinks carry equal weight. A link from a trusted, relevant site is worth far more than dozens of links from low-quality directories.

How it varies across Australia

Australian businesses in competitive categories tend to have thinner backlink profiles than equivalent US peers, partly because the Australian web is smaller and local publishers are fewer. The gap is biggest in finance, legal and health, where authoritative local links are hard to earn and high-value when you do.

See SEO and acquisition patterns across Australian industries →

The two link types that matter

Dofollow

The default link type. Passes ranking authority from the linking site to yours. This is the link type that moves rankings.

Counts toward SEO

Nofollow

Signals to Google not to pass authority along the link. Common in user-generated content, press releases and paid placements.

Does not pass authority

What it actually means

Think of backlinks as references on a job application. Anyone can list them. The ones that actually move the needle are from sources the interviewer already respects. A link from a well-regarded industry publication tells Google something real. A link from a directory that will take anyone for $5 says nothing useful.

Google's original insight was that links between sites act like votes. Pages with more votes from trusted sources should rank higher. That insight still holds, though the algorithm has gotten far better at distinguishing genuine editorial links from manufactured ones.

The two link attributes that shape SEO value are follow status and source quality. A dofollow link from a relevant, authoritative site passes what SEOs call link equity, the signal that tells Google this page is worth trusting. A nofollow link does not pass that signal directly, though it can still drive referral traffic and Google has softened its stance on nofollow signals over time.

Source relevance matters as much as source authority. A link from a well-read general news site is valuable. A link from a well-read news site in your specific industry is more valuable. A link from a marginal site in a completely unrelated category is largely noise.

One link from a trusted industry publication is worth more than a hundred links from sites nobody visits.

How it shows up

Backlinks show up in your SEO tools (Ahrefs, Semrush, Google Search Console) as referring domains and total backlinks. The number that matters most is referring domains: unique sites linking to you. One site linking to you ten times counts as ten backlinks but one referring domain.

The more diagnostic signal is the quality spread. A profile of fifty referring domains from relevant, real publications is stronger than three hundred referring domains with two-thirds from spam sites. Most SEO tools assign a domain authority or domain rating score to each referring domain. Use these as a rough filter, not as a target to game.

The Australian context

The Australian web is smaller and more concentrated than the US or UK equivalent. Getting a link from one of the major Australian news mastheads, a well-trafficked .gov.au resource or a peak industry body carries disproportionate weight in Australian search results. These links are also harder to manufacture, which is why businesses that earn them through genuine relationships or original research hold their rankings more reliably than those relying on link-building at scale.

Where people get this wrong

Buying links from directories and link farms.Google's spam systems have been identifying paid link networks for over a decade. Buying low-quality links is more likely to trigger a penalty than move rankings.

Treating all backlinks as equal.A link from an irrelevant or low-authority site contributes almost nothing. A profile full of these can actually look suspicious. Quality over count, every time.

Ignoring toxic links already in the profile.If a previous SEO campaign or a competitor attack left spammy links pointing at your site, those links sit in your profile until you disavow them. Clean up before building.

Common questions

Do nofollow links help with SEO at all?

Not directly. Nofollow links do not pass ranking authority. They can drive referral traffic and Google has hinted that nofollow links are treated as a hint rather than a hard rule in some cases. Build dofollow links from quality sources first. Nofollow links from high-traffic sites are a secondary benefit, not a primary goal.

How many backlinks do I need to rank?

There is no target number. It depends on the competitiveness of the keyword and the quality of your existing profile relative to the pages ranking above you. A single link from a trusted relevant publication can outweigh dozens of mediocre ones. Use a tool like Ahrefs to compare your profile against the top-ranking pages for the terms you want.

What makes a backlink high quality?

Three things: the linking site is trusted and has its own strong backlink profile, the site is relevant to your industry or topic, and the link is genuinely editorial rather than paid or manufactured. A local Australian news site or industry association usually ticks all three.

Can bad backlinks hurt my rankings?

In large quantities, yes. A profile dominated by spammy, irrelevant or low-quality links can trigger manual or algorithmic penalties. If you have inherited a poor backlink profile, audit it with Google Search Console or Ahrefs and use Google's Disavow Tool for the worst offenders.

Keep exploring

About New Rebellion

New Rebellion is a marketing intelligence consultancy. We build tools, score Australian businesses on how their marketing actually performs, and publish Debrief every day. This dictionary is part of how we work in the open.

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