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Backlink

A backlink is a link that points from another website to your site. From the point of view of search engines, it is a vote: Anyone who links to you is indirectly saying "this page is relevant enough to link to". This is precisely why backlinks are still one of the most important ranking factors for Google. However, they are not all worth the same, and a few wrong ones can do you more harm than good.

You often hear the terms "inbound link", "inbound link" or simply "linking" used synonymously. It always means the same thing: a link from domain A to domain B. The reverse case, a link that points away from your site to another, is an outbound link. Incoming links count for your own ranking.

Technically, a backlink is nothing more than an a tag in the source code of another page whose href points to one of your URLs. What makes this inconspicuous HTML snippet so valuable is the context around it: who set it, what text it is in and, above all, whether it was given voluntarily. An editorial link that someone places because they think your content is worth quoting is top class. A link that you have built in yourself with a guest article or simply paid for counts much less in the eyes of Google, in case of doubt even negatively.

Google has based its entire business model on link evaluation. The original PageRank algorithm viewed each link as a directed recommendation and inherited "link power" from referring to linked pages. The mechanics have become more complex over the years, but the basic principle has remained the same: a page to which many trustworthy sources point is itself considered more trustworthy. In its spam guidelines for Google search, Google describes high-quality, editorially assigned links as part of a healthy web, whereas purchased or manipulated links are an offence.

For an online shop, this means that if a trade magazine, an industry blog or a manufacturer links to your category page or your guide, you benefit twice. Firstly, you get direct traffic via the click. Secondly, and this is more valuable in the long term, the link signals to Google that your domain has authority in your topic. A shop for sustainable outdoor equipment that is linked to by a high-reach hiking magazine will rank better for "waterproof hiking jacket" in the medium term than an equivalent shop without these links. Better content alone is rarely enough these days.

This is the uncomfortable truth for many retailers: you can have the most beautiful product page in the world. Without anyone pointing to it, it will remain on page three of the search results. Backlinks are the element of SEO that you have the least control over, and that's exactly why Google values them so highly.

There is a second, often underestimated benefit. Backlinks are the way that search engine crawlers find new pages in the first place. A fresh shop without a single inbound link is practically invisible to Google until it discovers it by chance via the sitemap. If an already indexed, well-crawled page refers to your new category, it will be found more quickly and included in the index. Especially for large shops with thousands of items, many of which are buried deep in the navigation, the link structure plays a role in determining which product pages Google visits regularly.

And finally, there is the purely economic aspect that is often forgotten in the SEO fervour: a backlink from a high-reach page brings a qualified stream of visitors, completely independent of the ranking effect. If the right trade magazine links to your guide, people who are interested in exactly your topic will click. This traffic often converts better than cold search traffic because the referring context has already pre-qualified it. A good backlink is therefore never just an SEO signal, but always also a marketing channel.

How search engines evaluate backlinks

Not every link counts the same. Search engines use several signals to assess the value of a backlink. The most important factors:

  • Authority of the referring domain A link from an established site with its own strong link structure weighs significantly more than one from a newly registered domain with no history. Tools map this using metrics such as Domain Rating or Domain Authority, but these are estimates from third-party providers, not Google's own figure.
  • Thematic proximity A link from your thematic environment is more valuable than one from a completely different context. For a coffee shop, a link from a barista blog is more valuable than one from a gambling portal.
    • Position and context A link in the middle of the editorial text counts more than one in the footer or in a list of links at the side of the page. Google reads the surrounding text as well.Anchor text. The linked text gives Google an indication of the topic of the target page. "Click here" says nothing, "robust hiking jacket for women" says a lot. But don't overdo it with exact match keywords, more on that below.follow vs. nofollow. A link with the attribute rel="nofollow" (or the newer variants sponsored and ugc) signals to Google that no recommendation should be passed on. Such links hardly bring any direct ranking advantage, but can still deliver traffic and visibility.

    A realistic link profile mixes all of this. It does not consist of 200 identical keyword anchors from obscure directories, but of a natural wild growth: brand mentions, naked URLs, a few strong editorial links, a few nofollow mentions from social networks. Anyone who buys a thousand links at the push of a button builds a profile that every algorithm recognises as manipulated.

    follow, nofollow, sponsored and ugc in comparison

    Attribute What for Inherits link power?
    (no attribute / follow) Normal editorial link Yes
    rel="nofollow" Link that you do not want to vouch for As a rule no
    rel="sponsored" Paid links, advertising, affiliate No
    rel="ugc" User-generated content, such as forum posts and comments No

    Important for shop operators: Affiliate links that point to your shop should be labelled as sponsored by the partner. If this is not the case and you benefit massively from unmarked paid links, you risk a manual penalty in the worst case scenario.

    A common misunderstanding concerns nofollow links. Many retailers consider them worthless and ignore them. This is too short-sighted. Firstly, Google has only treated the attribute as an indication since 2019, not as a strict instruction, so it can certainly take a nofollow link into account. Secondly, and this is crucial, a nofollow link from a high-reach forum or a large platform sends real visitors. Thirdly, a natural link profile always sees a healthy mix of follow and nofollow. A profile that consists of 95 per cent follow links looks artificial because real links via social networks, forums and comments are almost always nofollow.

    The most sustainable way is inconvenient: create content or products that others link to voluntarily. It sounds like a marketing phrase, but it's the only method that won't be destroyed by a Google update in the long term. A few concrete levers:

    1. Publish your own data If you publish industry figures, a size guide or an annual trend report as a retailer, blogs and magazines will quote you and link to the source. Data is the most frequently linked content format.
      2. Address manufacturers and suppliers Many brands maintain retailer directories or store locators. An entry there is a thematically appropriate, often strong link that you only need to request.Digital PR A real story, an action or a statement on an industry topic can trigger press coverage that links.
    2. Industry directories and associations. Reputable, editorially maintained directories for your industry are solid, albeit unspectacular links.
    3. Replace broken links If a blog links to a dead resource that you can offer in a better way, a friendly reference is a fair trade.

    What you shouldn't do: buy links on a large scale, run link exchange networks, engage in large-scale "you link me, I link you" deals or enter yourself in spam directories. Sooner or later this will be discovered.

    Practical example: a Shopware shop for bicycle accessories

    Take a medium-sized Shopware shop that sells bicycle accessories and is stuck in position 14 for "bicycle light StVZO". The product page is neat, the description is clear and the price is competitive. The recommendations are simply missing.

    The shop writes a detailed guide explaining the requirements of the German Road Traffic Licensing Regulations for bicycle lighting, with a table, pictures and a checklist. This guide is not salesy, but useful. Two bicycle blogs link to it as a source, a regional ADFC-affiliated portal includes it in a collection of links, and the lamp manufacturer refers to it from its dealer directory. Within a few months, the product page rises because the guide passes on link power to the internally linked product pages. Position 14 becomes position 6. The crucial point: not a single one of these links was purchased. They were created because the content was worth linking to.

    Typical errors and their limits

    Backlink building often goes wrong because retailers are looking for shortcuts. The most common pitfalls:

    • Mass instead of class A thousand links from rubbish sites bring less than ten from relevant, authoritative sources, and they can be actively damaging.
    • Over-optimised anchor texts. If 80 percent of your backlinks have exactly "buy cheap bike lamp" as anchor text, this is a clear signal of manipulation. Natural profiles are mixed.
    • Bought links without labelling A violation of Google's guidelines that can lead to manual penalties. Paid placements should be marked as sponsored.
    • Backlinks as a single measure Links do not replace a technically clean page, good user guidance or relevant content. They reinforce what is already there. Pointing to a weak page changes little.

      • And an honest categorisation at the end: The effect of individual links is more difficult to measure today than it used to be because Google takes hundreds of signals into account. Backlinks remain important, but they are not a switch that you flip. They are the result of your shop and your content being taken seriously in your niche. If you understand this, you stop chasing links and start being link-worthy. This will take longer, but will also withstand the next algorithm update.

      It's worth taking a sober look at the implementation in your own shop: Use one of the common SEO tools to check your existing link profile, identify your strongest referring domains, and consider what content you have that someone would voluntarily cite. If the answer is "none", that's where the real task lies, not in the next link purchase.