Backlinks

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. References from one website to another that help improve search engine ranking and indicate credibility
2. Hyperlinks directing users from external sites to a specific webpage, used to boost web presence and authority
3. Incoming links originating from other domains pointing to a particular site, which can enhance visibility and traffic online

Etymology: "Backlinks" is the plural of "backlink", a compound formed from "back" and "link". The first element is the ordinary English "back", meaning the rear or return direction, and the second is "link", a word for a connecting ring or element in a chain. Put together, a backlink is a link that points back toward the page it leads to, reversing the direction a reader would expect when moving from one page to another. The term is a plain, transparent coinage from the age of the web, when "link" had already come to mean a hyperlink. Its meaning as a measure of a site's standing grew out of that original sense of a link that travels back toward its source, which is why the plural is used so often in discussions of search engine ranking.

Synonyms: inbound links, incoming links, refs, referrals, links