Backlinks & Link Authority: Building External Trust Signals
Author: Yılmaz Saraçbacklinkslink-authoritylink-buildingdofollownofollow
What Are Backlinks?
Backlinks are incoming links from external websites to your domain. They are considered one of the strongest ranking factors because they serve as recommendations and trust signals.
Quality Factors for Backlinks:
- Relevance: Links from thematically related websites carry more weight
- Source authority: Links from established domains (universities, trade media) have greater impact
- Anchor text: Descriptive, natural anchor texts instead of generic phrases
- Dofollow vs. nofollow: Dofollow links pass authority; nofollow links can still drive traffic
- Diversity: Links from different domains are more valuable than many links from one domain
Sustainable Link Building Strategies:
- Create high-quality content that naturally attracts links (linkable assets)
- Leverage industry directories and trade portals
- Publish guest articles on relevant trade media
- Digital PR: Publish studies, data, and analyses
- Broken link building: Replace broken links on external sites with your own content
Backlinks and AI Visibility:
AI systems use authority signals similar to search engines. Websites with strong backlink profiles are cited more frequently as trustworthy sources in AI responses — so your brand remains present in generative answers.