Are Backlinks Still Important for SEO?

They are. Google still uses links from other websites to decide which pages to trust. What has changed is which links count. A handful from real, relevant sites does more than hundreds from places nobody reads, and the cheap ones are now mostly ignored.

What Google actually says about links

You don't have to take an SEO's word for it. Google's own explanation of how it ranks results says one way it judges whether content is trustworthy is "understanding if other prominent websites link or refer to the content."

Its link best practices page says Google uses links "as a signal when determining the relevancy of pages and to find new pages to crawl." So a link does two jobs. It helps Google find your page, and it tells Google something about it.

So why does everyone say links are dead?

Partly because Google has said they matter less than they used to. At a conference in 2024, Google's Gary Illyes said it needs "very few links to rank pages". Very few isn't none. The fair reading is that quality has taken over from quantity, which is good news for a small business.

Links that count, and links that don't

A link that counts usually comes from a real site that has something to do with yours. Think of a supplier listing you as a stockist, your trade association's member page or a local news story about your business. It sits in the text of a page people actually visit, and the words around it describe you naturally.

The links that don't count are the ones you can buy in bulk. Paid directories, comment spam, link swaps and cheap link packages all fall here. When Google announced its December 2022 link spam update, it said spammy links are "neutralized and any credit passed by these unnatural links are lost". At best you've paid for nothing. At worst, a pattern of them puts you on the wrong side of Google's spam policies.

Here's what both kinds look like in a real link report. Some links come from sites quoting the site's own articles. Others come from spam networks whose anchor text reads like an advert for cheap backlinks, and the spam scores show it.

Referring domains matter more than the total

Ten links from one website say much the same thing ten times. Ten different websites linking once each are ten separate opinions. That's why most SEOs watch referring domains, the count of separate sites that link to you, rather than the raw backlink total.

Do you need backlinks to rank?

It depends on what you want to rank for. A specific local phrase with a few competitors can often be won with a good page and a handful of local links. A broad phrase with national competition is a different fight.

There's a quick way to find out which one you're in. Search for your phrase, note the top three sites, and run each through our free domain authority checker. Then run your own. If they have hundreds of referring domains and you have a dozen, links are part of the gap, and better content alone probably won't close it. If you're close, start with the page itself.

How to earn links without buying them

Most good links come from being useful to someone who already has a website. A few places to start:

• Ask suppliers, partners and trade bodies whether they list members or stockists.
• Publish something people want to point to, such as a price guide, a checklist or real figures from your own work.
• Write for a blog your customers read. Our guide to guest posting for backlinks covers the pitch.
• Search for your business name and ask sites that mention you without a link to add one.

It's slow, and that's normal. Treat each good link as a small win rather than a number to hit.

Check what you already have

Links come and go without telling you. A partner redesigns their site and your link disappears, or a scraper site points a dozen junk links at you. Checking once a month is enough for most small sites.

Where we fit in

Every Duality plan's monthly report shows your Domain Trust, backlinks and referring domains, so you can see whether they're moving.

For the detail, you can add the Backlinks Hub to any plan. It lists every backlink, the site it comes from and its anchor text, gives each link a spam score, and sums up your link quality as low, medium or high. One purchase covers every site on your account, and the lists refresh on the 1st of each month. You can see what it shows and what it costs.