Backlink (also called an inbound or incoming link) is a hyperlink on someone else’s site that points to yours. Search engines treat quality backlinks as a signal of trust: if respected pages cite you, your content is more likely to deserve a spot on the SERP.
Not all links are equal. A mention from a local news site or a relevant industry blog outweighs a pile of spam directories. Buying cheap links or running shady schemes can hurt rankings. Useful backlinks usually come from being worth citing — guides, local partnerships, and pages that answer a real keyword.
A real-life example of a backlink
A Decatur coffee shop gets listed in an Atlanta “weekend brunch” roundup with a link to the menu. That is a backlink. Ten random comments on forgotten blogs are not the same kind of vote.
Earn links by showing up in the community and publishing pages people actually want to share. Local tactics are in Local SEO for Small Business and 5 Game-Changing SEO Tips.