If a Backlink Brings No Traffic, Is It Still a Good Backlink?

[Cecelia Lyons]

I've been thinking about something when evaluating backlinks.

We often look at relevance, authority, placement, and other SEO metrics when deciding whether a link is worth getting. But what if a backlink is highly relevant and looks good from an SEO perspective, yet sends almost no referral traffic?

For example, imagine a contextual backlink from a relevant website that has a strong reputation, but the page itself gets very little traffic.

Would you still consider that a valuable link?

Or would you prefer a slightly less authoritative website where the link has a real chance of bringing targeted visitors?

I'm curious how others balance these factors when evaluating a link:

• SEO value
• Topical relevance
• Referral traffic potential
• Page-level traffic
• Website authority
• Contextual placement

Personally, I think a link that can provide both SEO value and relevant referral traffic is more interesting, but I'm wondering how others approach this.

If you had to choose between a highly authoritative link with almost no referral traffic and a relevant link that consistently sends qualified visitors, which would you choose and why?