Referring Domains vs Backlinks: What’s the Difference?
By Neil Patel
Are you not sure about the difference between referring domains and backlinks? Then you’ve come to the right place.
Referring domains and backlinks can be a complex topic, but understanding the difference between them can help you create smarter SEO strategies and improve your website’s presence on Google.
In this article, I will:
- Define backlinks
- Define referring domains
- Explain the differences between referring domains vs backlinks
- Show you how both impact your SEO
- Provide best practices for building more referring domains and backlinks
If you’re ready to get clarity on referring domains vs backlinks, then let’s begin.
Why Do People Think Referring Domains and Backlinks Are the Same?
It’s no surprise that many confuse referring domains and backlinks, with many thinking they are exactly the same thing. The difference in definitions between a backlink and a referring domain is slight, and you have to have a good grasp of SEO and the internet in general to understand the difference.
Let me try to explain by providing you with both definitions.
What Is a Backlink?
A backlink is simply a hyperlink between websites. They can also be known as inbound links.
A backlink can come in various forms. Typically links are embedded into text, and the words that contain the link are known as anchor text. But they can also be embedded in images, buttons, infographics, and many other ways.
Backlinks are the primary way website crawlers like Googlebot use to move around the web. They use backlinks to move from page to page and use the anchor text to understand what each new page is about. That’s why anchor text is important for SEO.
There’s no limit to the number of backlinks you can receive, and you can get multiple backlinks from the same site. For example, when one webpage links to another web page, you’ve got a single backlink. If that website links to ten pages on your website, you’ve got ten backlinks.
Only some kinds of links are backlinks, however. Links between pages on your own site are called internal links. Here’s an example:
The image above shows two links from my blog post on growing a team of influencers. The first is an internal link to another page on my website. The second is a backlink to Business Wire.
What Is a Referring Domain?
A referring domain is a website that links to your website. While backlinks describe the relationship between pages, referring domains describe the relationship between entire websites.
To clarify, if a website links from one of its pages to your page, that link is a backlink, and that website becomes a referring domain. So, in the example above, my blog has become a referring domain for Business Wire.
Referring domains are also counted differently from backlinks. While a website can give you thousands of backlinks, it can only be counted as a single referring domain. It’s why you’ll see websites with millions of backlinks …read more
Source:: Kiss Metrics Blog
