External Backlinks are the arteries of ‘The Internet’ sending lifeblood (‘Link Juice’) between its interconnected websites, a backlink from one site to another can be described as a vote in favour of the linked-to website.
If you have corresponding backlinks from other Ice cream parlours this all compounds your websites ‘Topical Authority’ which means you will rank higher for topical related keywords (You also need high quality content to rank for your target keywords but quality backlinks generally follow quality content).
But, and this is a huge BUT that you must always, always consider when building backlinks.
There is also the Alexa rank which is less important.
At worst, toxic backlinks can be backlinks from adult sites, adult forums and unindexed sites from being used to inject Malware onto your site or even redirect users from your website to their own, less than reputable websites – these can be devastating to your website rankings as well as damaging to your business, brand and reputation.
It should be noted that not all backlinks from what are generally considered as high risk countries are hosting disreputable content.