SEO

What is Backlinks?

Backlinks are links from other websites pointing to your site. They help improve search rankings and domain credibility.

Full FormBacklinks
CategorySEO
UnitCount (number)
Higher IsBetter
FORMULA

How to Track and Measure Backlinks

Backlinks are links from other websites pointing to your site. They help improve authority and rankings. Quality backlinks signal trust to search engines, making it important for SEO growth. It supports link-building strategies.

Simple Example

If your site received 120 new backlinks this month

total backlinks increased
120
Links
Higher
Authority
More
Referrals

Marketing Platforms that supports Backlinks

These platforms provide the data needed to measure or calculate Backlinks in Two Minute Reports.

Related Metrics

Marketing

Total Goal Value

Goal value represents the dollar amount made from goal completions in Google analytics. It helps understand financial performance and growth potential. Higher values indicate stronger monetization and business health. This metric is important for marketing performance analysis. Regular monitoring of Total Goal Value helps improve overall performance.

E-commerce

Total Sales

Total sales is a key performance indicator (KPI) used by sales departments to track the total amount of revenue generated from sales over a given period of time. It helps businesses make data-driven decisions. Tracking this metric supports strategic planning and optimization. This metric is critical for ecommerce success and profitability. Regular monitoring of Total Sales helps improve overall performance.

Web Analytics

Traffic Growth

Website traffic growth is a marketing metric that measures the growth in visitors to your website over a specific period of time. It helps analyze audience behavior and site performance. Tracking this metric supports growth and optimization strategies. Regular monitoring of Traffic Growth helps improve overall performance.

Web Analytics

Traffic Sources

The Web Traffic Sources metric measures which traffic sources are driving visitors to your website. It helps analyze audience behavior and site performance. Tracking this metric supports growth and optimization strategies. Regular monitoring of Traffic Sources helps improve overall performance.

Marketing

Unique Clicks

When reflecting on how your campaigns are creating engagement, one metric you want to track is unique clicks, which show how many people clicked on your links. It helps businesses make data-driven decisions. Tracking this metric supports strategic planning and optimization. This metric is important for marketing performance analysis. Regular monitoring of Unique Clicks helps improve overall performance.

Advertising

Unique Leads

Unique leads are individual, non-duplicated potential customers interested in a product or service. It helps businesses make data-driven decisions. Tracking this metric supports strategic planning and optimization. Regular monitoring of Unique Leads helps improve overall performance.

Frequently Asked Questions

Backlinks are links from other websites pointing to your site, essentially acting as 'votes of confidence' in search engine algorithms. When authoritative sites link to your content, it signals to search engines that your content is valuable and trustworthy. Backlinks are one of the top three ranking factors in Google's algorithm. They increase domain authority, improve search rankings, drive referral traffic, and establish industry credibility. Quality matters more than quantity—one link from a highly authoritative site often outweighs dozens from low-quality sources.
Dofollow backlinks pass SEO value (link equity or 'link juice') to your site, directly impacting rankings. Nofollow backlinks contain a rel='nofollow' attribute telling search engines not to pass ranking value, though they still drive traffic and brand visibility. Google introduced 'sponsored' and 'ugc' (user-generated content) attributes as additional options. While dofollow links are more valuable for SEO, a natural backlink profile includes both types. Nofollow links from high-traffic sites can still deliver significant referral traffic and indirect SEO benefits through increased brand searches. Aim for a natural mix with majority dofollow from earned editorial links.
There's no magic number of backlinks required to rank—quality and relevance matter more than quantity. Low-competition keywords might rank with 10-50 quality backlinks, while competitive terms could require hundreds or thousands. Studies show the average first-page result has approximately 3.8 times more backlinks than positions 2-10. Focus on earning backlinks from authoritative, relevant sites in your industry rather than chasing numbers. A single link from a major publication like Forbes or TechCrunch can be worth more than 100 links from unknown blogs. Analyze competitor backlink profiles to understand your specific competitive landscape.
Building quality backlinks requires creating link-worthy content and strategic outreach. Develop comprehensive resources like original research, industry reports, or ultimate guides that naturally attract links. Guest post on authoritative industry sites with editorial links in your author bio or content. Use digital PR to get featured in major publications through newsworthy angles. Create shareable infographics and data visualizations. Identify broken links on relevant sites and suggest your content as replacement. Leverage relationships with partners, customers, and industry connections. Monitor brand mentions and request links when mentioned without attribution. Focus on earning links through value rather than buying or manipulating—quality always beats quantity.