Link building glossary: authority, equity, and off-page SEO terms explained for Wix

Off-page SEO, and link building specifically, has its own extensive vocabulary. Understanding these terms enables you to evaluate link quality, diagnose backlink profile issues, communicate link building strategies clearly, and avoid the common mistakes that lead to Google penalties. This lesson covers every major link building and off-page SEO term with practical Wix application, step-by-step guidance, and related terms for deeper exploration.

Backlink

An inbound hyperlink from one website pointing to a page on your Wix site, widely considered one of the most influential ranking factors in SEO. Backlinks function as votes of confidence, signalling to Google that your content is valuable and trustworthy. Not all backlinks are equal: links from high-authority, topically relevant sites carry far more ranking weight than links from low-quality or unrelated domains.

Usage Context

Backlinks are evaluated by relevance (does the linking site cover related topics?), authority (how trusted is the linking domain?), anchor text (what words describe the link?), placement (editorial body link vs footer vs sidebar), and follow status (does it pass link equity?).

How to Apply on Wix

Building quality backlinks to your Wix site

• Register your Wix site URL in major business directories relevant to your industry and location.
• Create a linkable asset: an original research study, comprehensive guide, or free tool that naturally attracts links.
• Pitch relevant industry blogs for guest posting opportunities — write high-quality content that serves their audience.
• Set up Google Alerts for your brand name and key industry terms to find unlinked mentions to convert to links.
• Pursue digital PR by creating newsworthy content that journalists and editors want to reference.
• Build relationships with complementary (non-competing) businesses who might naturally link to relevant content.
• Monitor your backlink profile monthly using Ahrefs, SEMrush, or Google Search Console Links report.

Common Mistakes

• Purchasing backlinks from link vendors — a clear Google Webmaster Guidelines violation
• Prioritising quantity over quality — 10 links from authoritative relevant sites beats 1000 from link farms
• Ignoring anchor text diversity — all exact-match anchors look manipulative to Google
• Not monitoring for toxic links that appear in your backlink profile without your knowledge

Related Terms

• Link Equity
• Anchor Text
• Digital PR
• Nofollow Link
• Disavow

Link Equity (Link Juice)

The value or authority that flows from one page to another through hyperlinks. Link equity accumulates on pages that receive many high-quality inbound links and can be passed to other pages through outbound links. The amount of equity a link passes depends on the authority of the linking page, the number of other outgoing links on that page, and whether the link is followed or nofollowed.

Usage Context

Internal linking strategy for your Wix site is largely about directing link equity toward priority pages. A highly linked blog post can funnel its accumulated authority to a service page via internal links, improving that service page's rankings.

How to Apply on Wix

Managing link equity flow on your Wix site

• Identify which Wix pages have the most inbound links using Google Search Console > Links > External Links.
• From those high-equity pages, add internal links to pages you want to rank better.
• Reduce nofollow attributes on internal links unless there is a specific reason to use them.
• Avoid creating excessive links on any single page — each additional link dilutes the equity passed per link.
• Ensure your most important pages (services, homepage, key product pages) receive the most internal links from across your site.

Common Mistakes

• Applying nofollow to internal links without reason — this restricts equity flow unnecessarily
• Failing to link from your high-authority pages to your priority ranking targets
• Letting link equity pool on pages that have many backlinks but serve no conversion purpose

Related Terms

• Backlink
• Internal Link
• PageRank
• Nofollow Link
• Authority

Follow Link vs Nofollow Link

A follow link (dofollow) passes link equity from the linking page to the linked destination. A nofollow link (rel="nofollow") instructs crawlers not to pass link equity and was originally introduced to combat comment spam. Google updated its nofollow treatment in 2019 to treat it as a "hint" rather than a strict directive. Two additional attributes were added: rel="sponsored" for paid links, and rel="ugc" for user-generated content.

Usage Context

When earning backlinks through digital PR or guest posting, follow links are preferable as they pass link equity. However, nofollow links from authoritative sources still provide brand visibility and referral traffic. Do not dismiss a nofollow link from a major publication — the traffic and brand signal are valuable even without equity transfer.

Related Terms

• Link Equity
• Backlink
• Anchor Text
• Sponsored Attribute
• UGC Attribute

Referring Domain

A unique domain that links to your Wix site. Having many backlinks from a single domain counts less than having backlinks from many distinct referring domains. Diversity of referring domains is a key metric in evaluating backlink profile strength. When building links for your Wix site, prioritise earning links from new, unique domains over acquiring multiple links from domains that already link to you.

Usage Context

In Ahrefs and SEMrush, referring domains is one of the most important metrics for comparing competitive authority. A Wix site with 150 unique referring domains will generally outrank a competitor with 500 backlinks but only 30 referring domains.

Related Terms

• Backlink
• Domain Rating
• Domain Authority
• Link Building
• Authority

Digital PR

A link building strategy that earns backlinks through media coverage, press mentions, and editorial references from news sites and publications. Digital PR for Wix site owners might involve creating original research, expert commentary on industry trends, newsworthy campaigns, or infographics that journalists and bloggers want to reference. Digital PR links from high-authority news sites are among the most valuable backlinks you can acquire.

How to Apply on Wix

Running a digital PR campaign for your Wix site

• Identify a data angle, original research topic, or expert opinion that is genuinely newsworthy in your industry.
• Create and publish the content on your Wix site (blog post, report, or standalone landing page).
• Build a media list of journalists, bloggers, and publications that cover your topic area.
• Write a concise, personalised pitch email that explains the story and links to your content on Wix.
• Follow up once after 5-7 days if no response.
• Track which publications covered your story and ensure they linked to your Wix site URL.
• Build your media relationships over time — repeat coverage from the same publications is common once you establish credibility.

Common Mistakes

• Sending mass undifferentiated pitches without personalisation
• Pitching content that is only interesting to you, not to a journalist's audience
• Not following up — many coverage opportunities are lost to a missed reply

Related Terms

• Backlink
• Brand Mentions
• Link Reclamation
• Authority
• HARO (Help a Reporter Out)

Guest Posting

Writing and publishing an article on another website in exchange for a backlink to your Wix site. When done on genuinely relevant, high-quality publications with real audiences, guest posting is a legitimate and effective link building tactic. Avoid mass guest posting on low-quality blog networks created purely for link building, as this violates Google's link spam policies.

How to Apply on Wix

Securing and publishing guest posts to build backlinks for Wix

• Research industry publications and blogs that publish guest content and have a genuine readership.
• Study 3-5 of their published articles to understand their content standards and audience expectations.
• Pitch a specific topic idea that serves their audience, not a promotional piece about your business.
• Write the article to a higher standard than you would for your own Wix site.
• Include one contextual, editorially relevant link to a specific page on your Wix site.
• Add your author bio with a link to your Wix homepage or relevant page.
• Promote the guest post after publication to generate additional value for the host publication.

Common Mistakes

• Guest posting on "write for us" sites that exist purely for link selling — Google actively demotes these
• Including too many links to your Wix site in a single guest post (one contextual link is standard)
• Writing low-quality content that does not serve the host publication's audience

Related Terms

• Backlink
• Digital PR
• Anchor Text
• Follow Link
• Link Farm

Disavow

The process of formally requesting that Google ignore specific backlinks pointing to your Wix site, performed through Google's Disavow Links tool in Search Console. Disavowing is appropriate when a site has accumulated toxic, spammy, or manipulative backlinks contributing to a manual penalty. Use disavow cautiously: incorrectly disavowing legitimate links can harm rankings. Google advises attempting to remove links directly first.

How to Apply on Wix

Using the disavow tool for your Wix site

• Export your full backlink profile from Google Search Console (Links report > Export).
• Identify toxic or spammy links: irrelevant foreign language sites, link farms, adult sites, exact-match-heavy anchor text spam.
• Contact the webmasters of toxic linking sites and request link removal. Document all attempts.
• If removal requests are ignored after 2-3 attempts, create a disavow file listing the toxic domains or URLs.
• Format the disavow file correctly: domain lines prefixed with "domain:" and individual URL lines without prefix.
• Submit the disavow file through Google Search Console > Links > Disavow links.
• Allow 2-4 weeks for Google to process the disavow before expecting any ranking improvement.

Common Mistakes

• Disavowing links without first attempting direct removal — use disavow as a last resort
• Disavowing good backlinks accidentally, which removes link equity from your Wix site
• Treating disavow as a quick fix for ranking drops that are actually caused by content quality issues

Related Terms

• Backlink
• Manual Action
• Link Spam
• Toxic Links
• Google Search Console

Link Reclamation

The practice of finding and recovering lost backlinks that previously pointed to your Wix site. Link reclamation opportunities include broken backlinks where the target page no longer exists (create a redirect or restore the page), unlinked brand mentions (contact the publisher to add a hyperlink), and changed URLs (implement 301 redirects to reconnect lost link equity). Regular link profile monitoring identifies these opportunities.

How to Apply on Wix

Reclaiming lost backlinks for your Wix site

• Export your backlink profile from Ahrefs or SEMrush and filter for links pointing to 404 pages on your Wix site.
• Create 301 redirects from those dead URLs to the most relevant live page using the Wix URL Redirect Manager.
• Search Google for your brand name and key phrases in quotes to find unlinked mentions.
• Contact publishers of unlinked mentions and politely request they add a hyperlink to your Wix site.
• Set up Google Alerts for your brand name and key product/service names to catch new unlinked mentions in real time.
• Check back regularly for new 404s as your site evolves and pages get deleted or URLs change.

Common Mistakes

• Deleting Wix pages without checking whether they have valuable backlinks first
• Not setting up 301 redirects when changing Wix page URLs, causing link equity loss
• Ignoring unlinked brand mentions — these are some of the easiest links to earn

Related Terms

• Backlink
• Redirect (301)
• Brand Mentions
• Link Building
• Link Equity

NAP Citations (for Local SEO)

Local business mentions (Name, Address, Phone number) across directories and websites that contribute to local SEO authority. While not traditional backlinks, NAP citations are a crucial off-page signal for Wix local business sites. Ensuring your NAP data is consistent and accurate across all major directories including Yelp, Yell, Thomson Local, and industry-specific directories strengthens local ranking signals significantly.

Related Terms

• Local SEO
• Google Business Profile
• Citation
• LocalBusiness Schema
• Proximity

Link Farm and Private Blog Network (PBN)

A link farm is a network of websites created specifically to generate backlinks with no genuine editorial purpose. A Private Blog Network (PBN) is a secretly controlled network of websites used to build links to a main site. Both are high-risk black hat tactics explicitly targeted by Google's Penguin algorithm and link spam updates. Never purchase links or participate in PBN schemes for your Wix site.

Related Terms

• Backlink
• Penalty
• Black Hat SEO
• Disavow
• Manual Action