Business, General News, Web & Tech

September 8, 2025

What are Backlinks & Why Are They Important for SEO?

Frustrated that competitors with thinner content still outrank you on Google? You’re not alone, and the missing ingredient is usually backlinks.

Backlinks are still one of the strongest ranking factors in SEO, but these days, Google doesn’t just look at how many you have. It cares about where they come from, how relevant they are, what they say about your brand, and whether they reflect real authority in your niche.

Join us here at Adult Creative as we find out how to get the right ones, why they matter, and what to do when your competitors are already ahead.

Need expert help with your link-building strategy? Book a strategy call with our Adult SEO team today, and we’ll help you plan a sustainable, scalable backlink campaign.

Contents

What Are Backlinks in SEO?
Why Backlinks Are Still Critical in 2025
How to Get Backlinks
How to Check Backlinks
How to Find Competitors’ Backlinks
Should You Disavow Backlinks?

1. What Are Backlinks in SEO?

Backlinks—also called inbound or external links—are hyperlinks from one website to another. In the world of SEO, these links do far more than connect pages. Instead, they act as signals of trust and authority.

When a reputable site links to you, Google takes it as a vote of confidence. It means your content is credible, useful, and relevant, especially if the link is coming from a site in the same niche. That’s why backlinks remain one of the top ranking factors, even as algorithms change.

But here’s where many adult businesses go wrong: they chase volume over value. Buying 500 low-quality backlinks from a link farm or general blog network might give you a short-term spike, but it’ll kill your long-term growth. Google is far smarter than some might think, and it can be pretty ruthless when it comes to spammy links.

The only backlinks that help you rank now are:

Relevant: From sites in or around your niche (e.g. adult, wellness, tech, lifestyle, relationships)
Authoritative: From domains with real traffic, trust signals, and topical authority
Contextual: Surrounded by meaningful content—not dumped in a footer or sidebar
Earned or editorial: Given because your content genuinely deserved it—not bought through a PBN

2. Why Backlinks Are Still Critical in 2025

Backlinks have always been about authority. These days, however, links are now judged less on how many you have and more on what they say about your site. Think of them as public endorsements… if the “wrong people” vouch for you, your reputation suffers.

Here’s what matters now:

Topical relevance: If you run an adult toy site, a backlink from Cosmopolitan’s sex & relationships column is gold. One from a random plumbing blog? Worthless, and possibly harmful. Relevance tells Google you’re trusted in your space, not just anywhere.
User intent alignment: Context matters. A backlink in a “Best VR Porn Platforms” article that points to your cam site shows Google you’re answering the exact query users had in mind. Misaligned links don’t carry the same weight.
Authority signals: It’s not just about Domain Rating anymore. Google looks at traffic, engagement, and trust signals (is the site indexed, do users spend time on it, does it have editorial oversight?). A single authoritative link can outweigh 100 weak ones.
Anchor diversity: Too many “live cam sex” anchors? That screams manipulation. A natural mix of branded, naked URLs, and partial matches/variations creates credibility.

Backlinks are still critical, yes, but they need to look and feel organic. Google now cross-references everything from content context to historical link velocity. So, if it’s a strong link profile you’re after, you’ll need to focus less on chasing shortcuts and more on building a reputation that can’t be faked.

3. How to Get Backlinks for Adult Sites

Here’s where most adult businesses struggle: you can’t just copy what mainstream brands do. Forbes or Wired won’t link to, say, your porn site, but that doesn’t mean high-quality links aren’t available. The trick is building backlinks that make sense in your ecosystem.

Here are proven 2025 strategies for adult brands:

Guest expertise on niche lifestyle and adult-friendly sites: Target outlets that already cover relationships, kink, or sex tech. Pitch thought-leadership content like “The Psychology of Online Sex” or “Why Sex Toys Keep Couples Together.” These not only land you backlinks but also position your brand as credible.
Broken link building in adult directories and resource lists: Many round-ups and resource pages point to outdated or dead sites. Use tools like Ahrefs’ Broken Link Checker, find these gaps, and pitch your fresh, relevant content as a replacement.
Affiliate and partner co-marketing: Collaborate with clip platforms, toy brands, or fetish stores to co-author “Best Practices” guides or comparison content. When both sides publish and link, you get double exposure and links in one move.
Original data and surveys: Nothing attracts natural backlinks like fresh stats. Run a small poll (e.g. “UK’s Top 10 Fetish Searches in 2025”), create a visual infographic, and distribute it. Bloggers, journalists, and even Reddit communities love citing new numbers.
HARO & journalist requests (yes, even for adult): Sites like Help a Reporter Out often include lifestyle, relationships, and sex journalists looking for quotes. If you respond quickly and add value, you can land backlinks from respected mainstream outlets.

The golden rule? Quality beats quantity. A single editorial link from a trusted, high-traffic site in your niche will outperform 50 spammy directories. And unlike paid PBN links, these backlinks stick—and keep compounding your authority long after they go live.

Need help finding backlink opportunities specific to your brand? Our link outreach service is built for the adult industry – we handle the research and placements, so you only get backlinks that boost authority, traffic, and rankings.

4. How to Check Backlinks

Collecting backlinks is only one half of the job… the other is ongoing maintenance. This is where the real value comes in – knowing which links are helping and which are quietly hurting you.

Here’s how today’s SEO pros keep their link profile sharp: Here’s how today’s SEO proskeep their link profile sharp:

Track new and lost backlinks weekly: Tools like Ahrefs and SEMrush let you see which domains have started or stopped linking to you. A sudden spike of sketchy links from overseas gambling or pharma sites is a red flag, so don’t ignore it.
Evaluate referring domains: Don’t just look at Domain Rating. Ask: Does this site have organic traffic, is it indexed, and does it publish relevant content? A DR 70 blog with zero traffic is usually a PBN in disguise.
Audit anchor text patterns: A healthy profile includes branded anchors (“Adult Creative”), partial matches (“adult SEO services”), and naked URLs. If 70% of your links are exact-match keywords, Google will smell manipulation.
Benchmark against competitors: Compare your link profile to the top 3 ranking sites in your niche. Spotting “link holes” (domains that link to them but not you) gives you a ready-made hit list of outreach targets.

Oh, and don’t wait until traffic drops to check your backlinks. Set a monthly backlink audit in your calendar. Even a 30-minute review can uncover lost opportunities, early signs of a negative SEO attack, or new domains worth pursuing.

5. How to Find Competitor Backlinks in SEO

If your competitors outrank you, it’s rarely because their content is better, but because their backlinks are stronger. The beauty of SEO is that their strategy is public. With the right tools, you can reverse-engineer their wins.

Here’s how to break it down:

Identify their “link magnets”: Plug their domain into Ahrefs or SEMrush and sort by pages with the most backlinks. You’ll quickly see what type of content attracts links—stats round-ups, fetish guides, toy reviews, or interviews. That tells you what the market values.
Map their link sources: Are they leaning on adult forums, lifestyle blogs, mainstream media, or directories? This helps you understand where they’re focusing outreach, and where you might have gaps.
Check their anchor diversity: If they’re ranking off a natural mix of branded anchors, you’ll need a similar balance. If they’re spamming exact-match anchors (“male sex toys”), that’s an opening… you can beat them with a cleaner, more natural profile.

Once you’ve got the data, ask yourself:

Can I build a stronger version? If their “Top 10 Toys” post has 40 backlinks, could you produce a “Top 50” with updated data and richer media?
Can I pitch to the same domains? Many sites that linked to them will happily link to you if you offer a unique perspective, better content, or fresh stats.
What are they missing? Maybe they’ve ignored international markets, fetish niches, or video content. Filling that gap could make you the default link target.

6. How to Disavow Backlinks (and When You Should)

Not every backlink is good for your site. In rare cases, they can actually hurt you—especially if Google thinks you’re part of a link scheme. That’s where the disavow process comes in.

When Should You Disavow?

Most adult sites will attract low-quality links naturally (from scraper bots, spam directories, etc.), and Google’s systems like SpamBrain usually ignore these automatically. You only need to consider disavowing if:

You’ve received a manual action in Search Console for “unnatural links.”
You’ve tried to remove bad backlinks (by contacting site owners) and can’t get them taken down.
You’re at serious risk of penalty due to manipulative link schemes you inherited or can’t control.

How to Build the Disavow File

The disavow file is just a plain .txt document you upload via the Google Disavow Tool. It tells Google to ignore those links when assessing your site’s authority.

Example:

# Two pages to disavow
http://spam.example.com/stuff/comments.html
http://spam.example.com/stuff/paid-links.html

# One domain to disavow
domain:shadyseo.com

Best practices:

Use domain: if the whole site is spammy, not just one page.
Add comments with # for your own notes (Google ignores them).
Keep it clean: one domain/URL per line, saved in UTF-8 or ASCII.
Stay within Google’s limit of 100,000 lines or 2 MB per file.
Don’t overuse it—disavowing good links by mistake can hurt your rankings.

Here’s one more tip: Because adult sites attract more scraper links and spam than most niches, a quarterly backlink audit is smart. But remember: only use it when there’s real evidence of harmful links, and after you’ve tried other cleanup methods.

Ready to Build a Strong Backlink Profile?

So, as you can see, backlinks are trust signals that define your authority online. For adult businesses, building them is trickier than in mainstream niches, but also more rewarding when done right.

If you can:

Earn quality backlinks through smart outreach and content.

Check them regularly with the right tools and benchmarks.

Analyse competitors to spot opportunities.

Clean up toxic ones with a careful disavow strategy…

…you’ll build a link profile that not only survives algorithm updates but thrives on them.

Want more actionable tips? Check out our 7 SEO tips to rank higher on Google.

Worried your domain won’t be able to cope with the potential surge in users? Read our expert guide on how to handle high traffic on your adult website.