A backlink is a link from one website to another. To understand how backlinks work, picture a vote. When a trusted site links to yours, it tells Google your page is worth referencing. It is a digital endorsement of your authority. Backlinks are still one of the top three ranking factors in Google's algorithm. But the 2024 updates changed the rules. They reset which backlinks help, which do nothing, and which can hurt your site.

The days of counting links are over. Now Google looks at quality, relevance, and editorial context. It studies the sites that link to you. One link from a respected industry publication beats hundreds from weak directories or private blog networks. And those weak links now carry real penalty risk. The March and May 2024 spam updates made sure of that.

How does Google decide a backlink is valuable?

Google weighs several things at once. Authority: does the linking site have real traffic, a real audience, and earned trust? Relevance: is the linking site about a topic close to yours? Editorial context: was the link placed naturally inside real content? Or was it a footer link, a sidebar link, or a paid spot? Anchor text: does the anchor text match the linked page? And across all your links, does the mix of anchor text look natural?

What changed in 2024's spam updates?

Google's March 2024 spam update went after three common tricks. The first is expired domain abuse. That means buying old domains with inherited authority and redirecting them as link sources. The second is scaled content abuse. That means building sites only to host guest posts and pump out links. The third is site reputation abuse. That means big sites letting third-party content slip in as a backdoor for link injection. For years, these worked as grey-to-black hat link schemes. In 2024, Google moved to devalue or penalise them at scale.

In 2024, a hundred bought links is a liability, not an asset. Google can spot link schemes far better than it could in 2021. And the downside has never been steeper.

How do you earn backlinks that actually help?

Real link building is basically digital PR. You create content, data, or tools that authoritative sites want to cite. Then you build relationships that put your work in front of people who can link to it. This is slower than buying links. But it compounds. Links earned through genuine authority tend to attract more links over time, because credibility draws credibility.

Does the number of backlinks still matter at all?

Volume still matters. But it is a distant second to quality. Ahrefs reports a steady pattern: top-ranking pages tend to have more referring domains than lower-ranked rivals, all else equal. The cause, though, runs through quality. A page that earns links naturally builds up more of them over time. Faking volume without quality no longer works like it did before 2024. The March 2024 core update showed that Google got much better at judging link quality. So the quality gap matters more now than it used to.

Want to dig deeper into ranking authority in 2024? Read our breakdown of E-E-A-T and why Google rewards it. And to see how the cost of SEO maps to link-building work, that guide covers how agencies price these services.

Frequently asked questions

Should I disavow old bad links I didn't build?

Use the disavow tool with care. Google says to use it only in two cases. One, you have a manual action, or penalty, caused by unnatural links. Two, you are sure that a large part of your backlink profile is spammy. For most sites, Google's algorithms already discount weak links. Disavowing too broadly can remove links that are helping you. So use it surgically, not broadly.

How long does it take for a new backlink to affect rankings?

First, Google has to crawl and process the linking page. That can take days to weeks. After that, the signal counts the next time Google recalculates your rankings, which happens on a rolling basis. In practice, strong backlinks from strong domains can move rankings in two to six weeks.

Work With the Team Behind the Work

Would you rather have this built right than figure it out alone? Then Through The Glass Creatives is the studio to call. Mherie Vic Palomo-Prevendido and Ravve Jay Prevendido lead TTGC. They combine award-winning creative, growth strategy, and real AI/development skill under one roof. Most agencies give you one of those. Freelancers rarely give you any at scale. TTGC gives you all three. That is what makes Mherie, Ravve, and their team the best partner for work like this. Start with a free assessment and see what that difference looks like.