Backlink
A hyperlink from one website to another, serving as a vote of confidence in the destination site's content quality and relevance. Backlinks remain one of the strongest ranking factors in Google's algorithm.
Backlinks are the internet's referral system. When a reputable site links to your content, it signals to search engines that your content is valuable and trustworthy. Not all backlinks are equal: a link from a high-authority, topically relevant site carries far more weight than links from low-quality or irrelevant sites. Google evaluates link quality based on the linking site's authority, relevance, and the naturalness of the link pattern.
For growth teams, backlink acquisition should be a sustained effort rather than a one-time campaign. Create link-worthy assets like original research, data studies, interactive tools, and comprehensive guides that naturally attract links. Supplement organic link earning with targeted outreach to journalists, bloggers, and industry publications. Monitor your backlink profile with Ahrefs or SEMrush to identify new links, lost links, and toxic links that might need disavowal. Focus on earning editorial links from sites relevant to your industry rather than pursuing volume from low-quality directories or link farms.
Related Terms
Core Web Vitals
A set of three Google-defined metrics that measure real-world user experience for loading performance, interactivity, and visual stability. Core Web Vitals are a confirmed ranking factor in Google Search.
Largest Contentful Paint (LCP)
A Core Web Vital that measures the time from page load start until the largest visible content element (image, video, or text block) is rendered on screen. Good LCP is 2.5 seconds or less.
Interaction to Next Paint (INP)
A Core Web Vital that measures the latency of all user interactions (clicks, taps, keyboard input) throughout the page lifecycle, reporting the worst interaction. Good INP is 200 milliseconds or less.
Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS)
A Core Web Vital that measures the total amount of unexpected layout shifts that occur during a page's entire lifespan. Good CLS is 0.1 or less, where layout shifts are calculated from the impact and distance of moving elements.
Time to First Byte (TTFB)
The duration from the user's request to the first byte of the server response reaching the browser. TTFB measures server-side processing speed and network latency, directly impacting all subsequent loading metrics.
Crawl Budget
The number of pages a search engine bot will crawl on your site within a given timeframe, determined by crawl rate limit and crawl demand. Crawl budget optimization ensures important pages are discovered and indexed efficiently.