Getting backlinks, or external links from other websites, still stands as one of the top ways to boost your site’s search engine rankings. But not all backlinks carry the same weight.
High-quality backlinks from credible sites can have a real impact on SEO, whereas dozens of low-quality links might barely help—and could even hurt if they’re flagged as spammy.
Let’s break down what makes a backlink valuable, and check out a free checklist to help you target high-quality links for your site.
In this blog, we’ll cover:
- The Three Levels of Backlinks
- The Core Elements of a High-Quality Backlink
- Understanding the Rel Link Attribute
- Metrics that Mimic PageRank
- Striking a Balance Between Relevance and Reputation
- Checklist – 8 Ways to Get High-Quality Backlinks
The Three Levels of Backlinks
In Google’s view, backlinks can be low, medium, or high quality.
- Low-quality backlinks are generally viewed as spam, created solely to manipulate rankings, and are against Google’s rules.
- Medium-quality backlinks have some value and are fairly easy to get, while high-quality backlinks are the most valuable but tougher to achieve, often requiring high editorial standards.
The Three Core Elements of High-Quality Backlinks
Defining a “high-quality” backlink can be subjective, but most SEO pros agree on three key elements:
- Natural Backlinks
A natural backlink is earned—not bought or forced. The linking site owner chooses to link because they believe it offers value, rather than being paid or manipulated into doing so. Unnatural links, created just to boost SEO, may be ignored by Google, or in repeat cases, result in penalties. - Reputable Backlinks
Reputation is crucial. Search engines assess reputation using algorithms like Google’s PageRank, which evaluates the number and quality of links a page has, assuming that reputable pages are likely to have more links. While Google no longer publicly provides a PageRank score, tools like Moz’s Page Authority (PA) and Ahrefs’ URL Rating (UR) offer similar metrics to assess link strength. - Relevant Backlinks
Relevance means the backlink comes from a site with similar content or a closely related industry. For example, a fitness website linked from a business news site might not carry as much weight in domain relevance as it would from a fitness-focused site, like Runner’s World.
What is the Rel Link Attribute?
The rel attribute is an HTML feature that affects how links are handled by search engines. Standard links can pass ranking power, but links with the rel attribute—like nofollow, ugc (user-generated content), or sponsored—may pass little to no ranking power. To see if a link includes a rel attribute, right-click and choose “Inspect” in Google Chrome to view the link’s HTML code.
Metrics that Mimic PageRank
While Google no longer uses a public PageRank score, metrics from tools like Moz and Ahrefs offer alternatives. Moz’s Page Authority (PA) and Ahrefs’ URL Rating (UR) provide a score from 1 to 100, predicting a URL’s likelihood of ranking, based on link quality. Generally, backlinks with high PageRank-like scores and without a rel attribute pass the most value to your page.
Finding the Balance Between Relevance and Reputation
Perfect backlinks that check all the boxes—high relevance, high reputation, natural links—are tough to secure, but not every link has to be perfect to be helpful. A backlink from a reputable, natural source, even if it’s slightly off-topic, can still add value.
If a business news site with average reputation links to your fitness page, it won’t be the most ideal backlink, but it’s still useful. While it doesn’t have high domain relevancy, it’s natural and doesn’t hurt your SEO.
Conclusion: What Makes a High-Quality Backlink?
In short, a high-quality backlink is natural, reputable, and relevant. While these links offer the most SEO value, medium-quality links can also contribute positively to your SEO profile. It’s best to steer clear of spammy, low-quality links altogether.
