SEO & Backlink Glossary
Plain-English definitions of the link building and backlink monitoring terms that matter.
- Anchor Text
- The visible, clickable text of a link, which signals what the target page is about.
- Backlink
- A link from one website to another; a core ranking and trust signal.
- Broken Link
- A link that points to a page returning an error (commonly 404).
- Dofollow Link
- A standard link that passes ranking signals (link equity) to the target page.
- Domain Authority (DA) & Page Authority (PA)
- Third-party 0–100 scores that estimate ranking strength of a domain or page.
- Exact Match Anchor
- Anchor text that exactly matches the target keyword, e.g. "backlink monitoring".
- Link Juice
- Informal term for the ranking value (equity) passed through a link.
- Link Rot
- The gradual disappearance or breakage of links over time as pages change.
- Nofollow Link
- A link with rel="nofollow" that tells search engines not to pass ranking signals.
- Over-Optimization
- Pushing SEO signals so aggressively that they look manipulative and risk a penalty.
- Redirect (301 / 302)
- A rule that sends users and bots from one URL to another; 301 is permanent, 302 temporary.
- Sponsored Link
- rel="sponsored" marks links that are paid for or part of an advertisement.
- UGC Link
- rel="ugc" marks links within user-generated content such as comments and forums.