Not all links are equal. A link from a relevant, trusted page that chose to cite you is worth far more than dozens from directories or unrelated sites. Quality is about context and intent, not a single score.
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Signs of a good link
- The linking page is on a topic related to yours
- The link sits inside real editorial content
- The site has genuine readers and a clear purpose
- The link was earned and not bought or traded
- The anchor text is natural
Why third-party scores mislead
Tool metrics like domain authority are estimates built by vendors, not signals Google uses. Use them to sort, then judge the page yourself.
Common mistakes
Counting links
A big total of weak links can hide a thin profile of strong ones.
Frequently Asked Questions
Not necessarily. A relevant, editorial link on a small site can still be valuable.
Keep reading
- Backlink: A backlink is a link from another website to a page on yours. Search engines use backlinks to find pages and as one signal of which pages are worth ranking.
- Domain Authority: Domain Authority is a third-party score, created by Moz, that estimates how likely a site is to rank based on its links. Google does not use it.
- Editorial Link: An editorial link is one a writer or editor chose to include because the destination was useful, without payment, trade or a requirement to link.
- Link Relevance: Link relevance is how closely the linking site and page relate to the topic of the page they link to. Relevant links tend to be the most useful.
- Anchor Text Distribution: Anchor text distribution is the mix of words other sites use when linking to you. A natural mix is mostly brand names and URLs, not repeated exact-match keywords.
- Backlink Analysis: Backlink analysis is reviewing which sites link to a domain, how they link and why, to understand its link profile and find realistic link opportunities.
- Broken Link Building: Broken link building means finding links on other sites that point to dead pages, then suggesting your relevant page as a working replacement.
- Citation Flow: Citation Flow is a Majestic metric from 0 to 100 that estimates how much link influence a URL or site has, based on link volume rather than quality.
