In essence backlinks should mean, Contextual Backlinks referring to quality and relevant website links, preferably from higher ranking and highly relevant websites to your individual webpage’s, usually the websites landing webpage. Backlinks are sometimes referred to as inbound links to a website.
Backlinks from other websites to your website is used as a determining factor by the major search engines of how popular your website is. Each backlink to your websites is considered by the search engines as a popularity ‘vote’ and the more inbound website links to your website, the more popular and valuable your website becomes in the search engine rankings and this is confirmed in the higher page ranking attained.
Individual backlinks are not of equal status, as the major search engines have a hierarchy of values for different types of backlinks. But first of all inbound backlinks pointing to your website must belong to websites which are of a higher ranking to your website, this type of backlink will mean a positive increase in the hierarchy of values. Adversely, a backlink from a website with a lower page ranking than your website may undoubtedly reduce the page ranking of the receiving website.
Backlinks received from must be based on quality not quantity, the choice of whether a potential backlink website is suitable or not should be decided just to increase the quantity of backlinks. The quality and page ranking of the potential back-linking website must be the determining factor whether to accept or refuse the backlink.
Understand the importance of 10 high quality backlinks from high ranking websites is definitely more valuable than even a 1000 backlinks from poor website or even if you’re dubious whether the backlinks website contains illegal content – avoid these types of websites backlinks, unless you definitely know the websites are of high standing and the contents contain rich content. Even so, if the websites are of lower ranking than your website, then avoid them.
When all is said and done, ranking high in the major search engines means vastly increasing quality backlinks to your website, and every backlink from websites higher ranking, or even similar ranking levels, is important. Google especially, considers each backlink a ‘vote’ of popularity for the receiving website, so not so high quality backlinks will assist in gaining popularity and thus increased page ranking in the major search engines ranking algorithms.