Backlinks are extremely important.
Backlinks: “Links to your website, from other websites”.
The reason why backlinks are so important, is because each link to your site is like a “vote” for your site. Google counts these “votes” to determine your popularity. The more popular your site, the higher its rankings.
And it’s not just about the QUANTITY of backlinks. It’s about the QUALITY of backlinks.
The reason why quality backlinks are important, is because links from good sites (“authority sites”), are valued more than links from lesser-quality sites.
Here are a couple of ways to think of it.
In the financial world, where businesses issue stock — think of “quality sites” vs. “non-quality sites” like “preferred stock” vs. “common stock”. Preferred stock holders have more voting power, than common stock holders. The board of directors listen to preferred stock holders, before they listen to common stock holders.
Or..
Imagine you walk into a bar. If you walk into the bar with a dirty, nasty, stinky person, people will question your status. However, if you walk into that bar with Jennifer Aniston on your arm, people will think you’re really cool. Having Jennifer Aniston with you, is like having a “quality site” linking to you.
So — you need QUALITY sites linking to you.