Have you ever pondered the elusive question, How many backlinks do I need to rank? Or how many backlinks should a website have to get more visibility and traffic? If yes, then you are at the right place.
This blog is a definitive guide tailored to address the challenges and questions that keep you awake at night.
So, if you are an SEO expert seeking to uncover the mystery of backlink quantity and its impact on Google rankings, look no further. This comprehensive blog is designed to provide you with essential insights to address your queries.
Hence, let’s dive in straight away!
What are Backlinks and Why are They Important for SEO?
In simple terms, backlinks are links from other websites to yours that work as a vote of confidence and signal to Google that your content is trustable and relevant.
Backlinks are commonly built to increase website traffic, visibility, and authority, resulting in more revenue and profitability.
For example, when a reputable website in your industry links your content to their blog as a reference, it means it is valuable. Hence, this signals to Google that your website is a valuable resource in the field and will be worth ranking higher in search results.
The importance of backlinks in SEO is as follows:
- Help you elevate the trust and authority of your website.
- Improves search engine rankings, which helps you reach more potential customers.
- Increases brand exposure across different platforms and communities, leading to greater recognition.
Additionally, are you eager to delve deeper into the significance of backlinks? Consider watching a comprehensive YouTube video that explores the importance of SEO in greater detail.
How Many Backlinks Do You Need to Rank Your Website?
Stating that 50 to 100 backlinks are sufficient to rank your website on Google is not authentic or practical. The quantity alone does not guarantee higher rankings; instead, the quality and relevance of those backlinks weigh more.
Hence, instead of concentrating on the number of backlinks to create, focus on building a diverse and natural backlink profile over time. Consider the following factors to rank your content higher in SERP:
1) Relevance of Backlinks
The relevance of backlinks plays a crucial role in determining the impact on your website’s ranking. Consider choosing a website for backlinks closely related to your niche, topic, and industry.
Many SEO executives working with technology companies try to make backlinks from the automobile niche, which may be irrelevant and signal Google’s disregard for its ranking algorithm.
However, relevant backlinks help establish the subjective relevance of your website. This relevancy signals to search engines that your content is authoritative within its niche and enables you to boost your search engine rankings.
2) Determine the Page You Want to Build Backlinks
Instead of attempting to rank every page on your website, it’s more effective to concentrate on building backlinks to pages that drive leads. Further, you should prioritize keywords with low search volumes on SERPs. This helps you build authority slowly but steadily.
Further, to determine which pages to prioritize, you can use tools from Google Search Console, Moz, or Ahrefs. This tool provides you insights on pages and helps you identify which keywords your website pages are currently ranking for.
Let’s look at an example using Ahrefs tools to check keyword ranking. We will use Backlinko to check the keyword ranking.
To use Ahrefs tools, search for the Ahrefs website traffic checker on Google and paste the home page link into the check traffic column.
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Now, click on the check traffic button. You will see the overview of website traffic and top keywords that are ranking on the Google search engine.
So, by this method, you can estimate your organic traffic as well as keyword ranking, which helps you strategize your pathway for future endeavors. Now, after learning the keywords, you can use the “keyword difficulty” indicator, which shows the estimated number of backlinks you need to rank your website.
| Keywords Tip Try to rank on long-tail or organic keywords, as these are less commonly used, making it easier to rank in search results. For example, link building services Australia this organic keyword is grammatically incorrect, but adding it to your content may have effective outcomes. |
Guest posting services are crucial for choosing the right pages to build backlinks. They analyze site metrics like Domain Authority (DA), relevance, and traffic.
This ensures backlinks are placed on authoritative pages related to your niche, boosting SEO and driving targeted traffic.
3) Craft Quality Content
If you master this step, you might be able to conquer Google’s search engine algorithms. Content is considered king, and if you add value to your content, the chance of getting rank on Google gets high.
What Google is searching for is valuable content that provides reliable information and adds value. For instance, if you discuss a machinery feature and include your experience using the machine and the outcome of the final product, you are adding value.
Sharing such experiences builds trust with readers, which Google appreciates. Consequently, your content becomes more valuable in Google’s eyes, which increases the chances of ranking on the first page of SERPs.
Let’s take an example. Search the longtail keyword “How To Rank Without Backlinks” on Google.
You will see a list of content ranking of the first page:
Now, let’s take a look at the content listed second in the screenshot. Surprisingly, there are no backlinks for this page. To investigate further, let’s copy the URL of this content into Ahrefs’ free backlink checker tool.:
Here are the results:
Without backlinks, the content ranks on the first page of Google. This is the power of quality content.
Remember, it is not only content that will help you rank on Google. It commonly depends on keyword difficulty, content quality, and website authority. However, it’s important to remember that Google privileges valuable content.
| Content writing tip: Add quotes or an author bio at the bottom to make your content more trustful and authoritative. Make sure the authors are authentic and are experts in the niche. Also, their profiles are linked with Linkedin, Twitter, or Upwork to inform Google that the writer is genuine and experienced. |
4) Watch out Competitors Backlinks
You can easily measure your competitors’ backlinks and how many backlinks you need to create by using various free tools such as Ahrefs, Moz, and Semrush. These websites allow you to examine your competitors’ portfolios and provide an overview of how you should plan your backlink strategies.
Let’s take an example here. Continuing the last example, we will search Google “How To Rank Without Backlinks” and examine the top 5 content for backlinks on Ahref.
The website names are mentioned per rankings provided by Google while searching for the keyword “How To Rank Without Backlinks.”
| Rankings | Website Name | Number of Backlinks | Linking Websites |
| 1 | SEOptimer | 10 | 6 |
| 2 | Fivver | 1 | 1 |
| 3 | Centroi | 0 | 0 |
| 4 | Prestiagelinks | 0 | 0 |
| 5 | Self Made Millennials | 6 | 6 |
So, the average backlinks you need to rank on this keyword is 4. However, you may have noticed that even a page with 0 backlinks can rank in the 3rd or 4th position, while the page in the 5th position may have 6 backlinks. Do you know why? Rankings depend on the quality of content, the website’s authority, and the content’s value.
You don’t need to rank higher if you build more backlinks than your competitors. That’s not always the case. Checking your competitor’s backlinks can give you an approximate idea of how many backlinks you need to create. This can help you formulate a comprehensive strategy.
| Keyword Tips: Using location-specific keywords can be advantageous when targeting a particular country, region, or area. For example, if you’re offering guest posting services in Australia, utilizing organic keywords like “Best Guest Posting Sites in Australia” would be more effective than simply using “Best Guest Posting Sites,” as it ensures more targeted and relevant results. |
So, How Many Backlinks Will You Create to Rank?
It will be much easier to elevate your website’s ranking with a clear understanding of the considerations and aspects regarding how many backlinks are needed to rank.
Additionally, given the complexity of the backlink process, it is advisable to seek advice or consider hiring link-building services. Advice from link-building experts can help you develop the right strategies and provide result-oriented services.
Author Bio:
Het Balar
Het Balar is a real SEO expert, helping businesses shine on Google for more than seven years.
He’s the founder of Link Publishers, where you can share your articles on other websites.
They’re not just about that; they’re also great at getting more links, making your website easy to find, and creating cool content.
He enjoys discussing the latest trends in SEO and the most effective digital marketing strategies. It’s like having a helpful friend to guide you in the online world!
