Are backlinks still worth investing in during 2026?

Niamh Hart said:

Hello everyone,
I'm fairly new to SEO and keep seeing mixed opinions about backlinks. Some people say content is everything now, while others still focus heavily on link building.
For those getting real ranking results, are backlinks still a major factor?
What types of links are working best today?

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Even today, backlinks will remain an essential aspect of SEO however i would never depend upon just links good content appropriate topics linking within pages and good quality of sites should go hand in hand what kind of links have been yielding consistent results since 2026?

Yes, It's still worth investing on backlinks. Keep in mind you always getting backlinks from relevant sites and quality is important than quantity

The mixed opinions come from people working at completely different competition levels. In a quiet niche a decent page ranks on its own, and those people will tell you links are dead. In anything commercial everybody already has links, so content by itself gets you nowhere.
So the answer is whatever the pages ranking for your own terms look like. Go and pull their link profiles, that will tell you more than any thread here.

Yes-backlinks still matter; prioritize relevant, editorial links from trusted, traffic-generating sites.

I still think backlinks are worth investing in but quality matters more than quantity relevant editorial links from sites in your niche can strengthen a good piece of content while random links usually add little value