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Backlink

An inbound hyperlink from another website to yours; the primary driver of search ranking and domain authority.

FBFenwei BianAuthorVZVictor ZhouEditorJune 22, 2026
  • glossary

A backlink (or inbound link) is a hyperlink from another website pointing to yours. Backlinks are the primary driver of domain authority: search engines treat each one as a vote of confidence, so a domain that earns many high-quality links tends to rank better on a SERP. Not all links carry equal weight — a single link from a high-traffic, topically relevant news outlet can outweigh hundreds from obscure directories — and the anchor text of a link signals to search engines what the destination is about. Because a strong backlink profile accrues over years, an aged domain that already has one can command a significant aftermarket premium.

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Contributors

Fenwei Bian

Software Developer & Writer • Namefi
Author

Fenwei Bian is a software developer in her thirties who spends her working hours in pull requests and her weekends with her hands in soil or sawdust. Years of open source on GitHub taught her that names are interfaces: a good one is clear, honest about what it does, and kind to whoever has to use it next.

She gardens because it rewards patience and punishes wishful thinking, and she does woodwork because a joint either fits or it doesn't. Both habits show up in how she writes about naming — measure twice, check the source, and don't sand over a rough spot and hope no one notices.

For Namefi she writes about how domain markets actually move, the practical trade-offs of tokenizing and flipping names, and picking a domain you'll still be glad you own in twenty years.

Victor Zhou

Founder & Standards Editor • Namefi
Editor

Victor Zhou is a technology founder and standards editor focused on digital identity and trust. He founded Namefi, edits Ethereum Improvement Proposals, and previously led smart-contract architecture work at Google Labs.

His work sits at the intersection of naming, ownership, and the systems people use to establish identity online. That perspective makes him especially interested in the way names move between personal meaning, public recognition, and digital infrastructure.

For Namefi, Victor edits and writes about domains as durable digital identity: how names become ownable onchain assets, how tokenization changes custody and trust, and what naming can learn from the systems people use to establish identity online.

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