backlink

IPA/ˈbæklɪŋk/
IPA/ˈbæklɪŋk/

backlink — noun

1. a link on one website that takes readers to a page on another website

1.nounB2
Definition

a link on one website that takes readers to a page on another website

Example

Jisoo added a backlink to the museum's website under her history post.

add a backlink to [website]

The recipe blog gained a backlink when Devika mentioned it in her review.

get a backlink from another site

Common collocations
  • add a backlink
  • get a backlink
  • broken backlink
  • backlink to a website
  • backlink from a blog
Synonyms
  • link

    a much broader word for any connection between pages or websites

  • external link

    stresses that the link goes outside the current website

  • incoming link

    often used in SEO when the focus is on another site linking to yours

Grammar Patterns

add a backlink

backlink to [website/page]

get a backlink from [website]

Usage Note

Often appears with verbs such as add, get, fix, or follow. In web-marketing talk, it often means a link that comes in from a different site, not a link between two pages on the same site.

Common Mistakes

Add a backlink between our home page and the contact page.
Add an internal link between our home page and the contact page.
a backlink usually points from one website to a different website, not just to another page on the same site.

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

For noun sense 1, backlink is used when one website points readers to another website. Link is much broader and can describe almost any clickable connection. Internal link is narrower in a different way because it stays inside the same website instead of sending the reader to a different one. Trackback belongs to older blog systems and refers to an automatic notification that one post has linked to another, not simply the link itself. A school website may add a backlink to the city library calendar, but that would not be called a trackback unless the blog software also sent a notice.

backlink ↗link ↗internal linktrackback ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

  • backlink checker
  • backlink profile
  • backlink count

Phrases

  • add a backlink
  • get a backlink
  • follow a backlink
  • fix a broken backlink

Prepositions

Etymology

English

Backlink is a modern internet term formed in English from back and link. It became common when website owners started tracking which outside pages were sending readers to their pages.