A link (or hyperlink) is a connection from one web page to another. A link can be in the form of text or . A backlink is simply a web page that links to you. The question “how many backlinks does your site have?” can be rephrased to “how many web pages link to your site?”

HTML code for a link: <a href=””http://url-to-link-to.com””>Text or Image Code</a>

Importance of Backlinks

On-page Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is, relatively speaking, easy. Or rather, it is easy to perfect. There can be many pages that have been nearly perfectly optimized for a given search term.

So what determines the ranking of each result? What determines that KBtoys.com is number one; Toys”R”Us number two; and Walmart.com number three for the keyword “toys” on Google?

It is not the one that made the most money last year. Nor is it the one that sells the most toys. The Answer Is Backlinks. The results on top are the ones that have the optimal combination of backlink quantity and quality.

Note: We are talking about organic search results here. What determines your placement on paid search (marked “Ad” in the screenshot) is a combination of on-page optimization and how much money per click you are willing to pay.

How to Check Backlinks

You can check what backlinks you have with a backlink checker. This tool, and most out there, feeds off of Yahoo Site Explorer for the URLs of the backlinks and then do further analysis on them. You can also check your backlinks through Google. (by searching link:backlinkbuild.com) It should be noted though that neither Yahoo or Google publicize all the backlinks that they find. You can also go through Google Webmaster Tools to see more backlinks.

How to Get Backlinks

When your site is mentioned on someone else’s page or blog, you get a backlink. You can get backlinks by being involved online. For example, you can read all the blog posts on your keyword and submit a comment with your website information. One problem is that it is very time consuming. Also, not all backlinks are created equally. You can spend all day commenting on other people’s blogs just to realize that the links have a “no follow” attribute so are worth very little. Or, you can get unlucky and the blog owner mistakes your comment for automatic spam and declines it. Getting backlinks yourself is hard.

We have dedicated ourselves to perfecting the science of obtaining backlinks. All the link building packages we sell here at Backlink Build give you backlinks. If you know what you are doing, you can purchase a specific link building package. Or, you can use the link building appraisal form on your top right to talk to an expert.