07 / Links & authority
This page defines 8 Off-Page SEO terms. Each entry gives a plain definition, a What to check step you can apply to your own site, and links to deeper SiteAuditLint guides where they exist.
Backlink
A backlink is a link from another website to yours. Search engines treat relevant backlinks from trusted sites as a signal of credibility and importance.
Track referring domains rather than total links, and check that your most-linked pages still return 200.
Are backlinks still important for SEO?
Yes. Links remain one of Google's signals, though relevance and quality matter far more than quantity.
Go deeper: Backlink audit
Link building
Link building is the practice of earning links from other websites, for example through original research, digital PR, or useful tools.
Avoid paid or exchanged links that pass ranking value, since they violate Google's link spam policy.
Nofollow
Nofollow is a link attribute (rel="nofollow") telling search engines not to associate the linking page with the target. Google treats it as a hint. Related attributes include rel="sponsored" for paid links and rel="ugc" for user-generated content.
Paid and sponsored links use rel="sponsored", and internal links are not nofollowed unnecessarily.
Dofollow
Dofollow is an informal term for a normal link without a nofollow, sponsored, or ugc attribute. There is no actual dofollow attribute in HTML.
When auditing backlinks, separate followed links from qualified links to understand which may pass value.
Link equity
Link equity, often called link juice, is the ranking value passed from one page to another through links.
Redirect old URLs with backlinks to relevant live pages so their link equity is not lost to 404s.
Go deeper: Backlinked page is broken
Unlinked mention
An unlinked mention is a reference to your brand, product, or content on another site that does not include a link.
Monitor brand mentions and politely request links where the mention clearly refers to your content.
Authority metrics (DA, DR)
Authority metrics such as Domain Authority (Moz) and Domain Rating (Ahrefs) are third-party scores estimating a site's link strength. Google does not use them.
Use them only to compare sites relatively, never as goals or as proof of ranking ability.
Does Google use Domain Authority?
No. Domain Authority is a Moz metric. Google has stated it does not use a domain-level authority score like DA.
Go deeper: DA vs DR: what's the difference and which matters
Disavow
Disavowing is telling Google, through the Disavow links tool, to ignore specific backlinks to your site. Google says most sites never need to use it.
Consider disavowing only if you have a manual action for unnatural links or a clear history of manipulative link building.
Browse the full SEO terms glossary, or run a technical SEO audit with SiteAuditLint to check these signals on your own site.