Backlinks get thrown around like magic SEO dust. You’ve probably heard the claim: “Just add backlinks and you’ll skyrocket to the top of Google!” And while backlinks do still matter, there’s a lot of confusion about what they actually are and how they work.
So let’s clear something up right away:
When you link to another website from your blog, that’s a backlink for them, not for you.
Linking to another site doesn’t somehow earn you SEO points for being nice. It sends authority away from your site, not toward it. You’re effectively saying, “Hey Google, this other website has good information, go check them out.” Which is fine! It’s a normal and healthy thing to do online. But it’s not a “backlink” for you.
So what is a Backlink?
A backlink (also called an “inbound link”) is simply a link from another website to yours.
When another site links to your content, Google interprets that as a small vote of confidence. Someone else thought your content was worth sharing. In the early days of the internet, that was the foundation of how search engines ranked pages.
The more people linked to your page, the more important it appeared to Google. This logic worked fine when the web was small and mostly academic. Then marketing happened.
The Golden Age of Backlink Manipulation
By the mid-2000s, “link farms” and “directory submissions” were everywhere. SEO agencies were selling backlinks by the dozen. Entire networks of low-quality sites existed solely to link to one another.
For a while, it worked. Then Google and the other search engines caught on.
Algorithm updates like Penguin and Panda wiped out a lot of sites that tried to game the system. Suddenly, quantity didn’t matter, quality did. Backlinks from spammy sites started to hurt rankings instead of helping them.
Where Backlinks Stand Today
Backlinks still matter, but not in the way most people think. A single link from a reputable, relevant site, like a trusted industry publication or local news outlet carries far more weight than a hundred random directory links.
Good backlinks today are:
- Relevant – from sites in a related industry or niche.
- Reputable – from trustworthy, well-maintained websites.
- Natural – earned through good content, not purchased in bulk.
Google has gotten smart enough to recognize patterns of artificial linking. If you’re swapping links with everyone under the sun, it won’t fool anyone and it might even hurt your rankings.
So Should You Still Link to Other Sites?
Yes! Linking out to credible sources or partners adds value to your content. It can improve the user experience and help Google understand your topic better. Just don’t confuse that with building backlinks for yourself.
A one-way outbound link benefits the site you link to. A backlink for you happens when someone else links back to your site. Reciprocal links (where two sites link to each other) can be fine — but only if they’re relevant and make sense contextually.
The Bottom Line
Backlinks aren’t dead, but they’re no longer the magic SEO lever they once were. Think of them as a reflection of reputation, not a shortcut to success.
At the end of the day, the best way to earn quality backlinks is to create something worth linking to. Content such as useful articles, original insights, helpful tools, or great local content. If you focus on producing value, backlinks will come naturally over time.
And remember: linking to someone else doesn’t boost your site’s SEO, it boosts theirs. So choose your links wisely, and focus your efforts on content that makes other people want to link back to you.
