What a good backlink looks like
- Relevant — from a site and page about a related topic.
- Trusted — from a real site with its own audience and authority.
- Editorial — given because the content deserved it, not bought.
- In context — inside the main content with descriptive anchor text, not in a footer list.
- Followed — a normal link without
nofollow,sponsoredorugcpasses the most value, though nofollow links still bring visitors.
How to read this report
- Referring domains — how many different websites link to the domain. Ten links from ten sites are worth far more than ten links from one site.
- Authority score and PageRank — the combined strength of those links.
- 12-month trend — whether the link profile is growing or shrinking.
Ways to earn backlinks
- Original data, surveys and free tools that others cite.
- Digital PR and expert commentary for journalists.
- Reclaiming unlinked brand mentions.
- Fixing broken links: find a dead resource on another site and offer your page as a replacement (use the Broken Link Checker).
To see the individual links Google knows about, open the Links report in Google Search Console for your own site.
Frequently asked questions
How do I check backlinks for free?
Enter a domain and click Check backlinks. You get the number of referring domains, link strength, link authority, trend and monthly history. Add competitors to see your backlink gap.
Why don't I see a list of every backlink?
Free link data is summarised per domain. For your own site, Google Search Console's Links report lists the links Google knows about.
Are nofollow backlinks worthless?
No. They pass little ranking value but can send visitors and build brand awareness.
Can bad backlinks hurt my site?
Google ignores most spammy links. Only large-scale manipulative link building usually causes problems.