Backlinks are the secret ingredient in your SEO recipe. When you don’t have enough, the website won’t rise in the SERPs: too many, and you might find yourself in search engine jail. So, how many SEO backlinks do you need to get your site ranked by Google?
How Many Backlinks Do You Need for SEO?
The exact number of backlinks needed to rank at the top depends on your website content, the competition level of your industry, and the quality of each link. Usually, 4 -10 quality backlinks can get you the top position for medium and low-competition keywords.
For higher competition niches, you’ll need at least 40 backlinks from relevant and high-quality websites to get to the top of SERPs. And these backlinks should come from unique IP addresses. If you have links on ten different pages with the same domain address, those ten links will count as one.
How To Determine the Exact Number of SEO Backlinks You Need
The easiest way to get a feel of your website’s exact backlink needs is to analyze the competition. Look at your competitors’ websites for backlinks and calculate the number of links you need to outrank them. You can do this using SEO tools like Ahrefs or SEMRush.
Here’s how you can do it:
Step 1: Run Your Keywords in Ahref or SEMRush
The idea is to find sites with similar authority to yours in the top three Google results. This is your direct competition. However, you can extend this list to the top 10 if you are looking in a very competitive niche.
Step 2: Analyze the Competition’s Backlink Profiles
Once you’ve identified your direct competition, analyze their backlink profiles to get an idea of how many links they have and where these links are coming from. Keep note of the number of high DR do-follow links by using the sort function on the DR tab.
At this point, you know how many links you’ll need to compete with the top sites in your industry.
Backlinks Quality Matters More Than Quantity
Although the number of backlinks can influence your website ranking, search engine crawlers also look at the quality of those links. So, 50 backlinks from unrelated websites with low domain ratings (20 DR and below) won’t do much for you.
Focus on getting high-quality, authoritative links from relevant sites in your field.
What You Should Look for in Backlinks
PageRank
This is an algorithm used by Google to determine the importance of a webpage. Pages with higher PageRank (PR) are more likely to appear higher in search SERPs. Whenever you’re looking for backlinks, make sure the page you’re looking at has a higher PR than yours.
Checking a site’s PageRank is easy with tools like MozBar, checkpagerank.net, and small SEO tools.
Anchor Text
Anchor text is the actual words used to link to your website. And it’s important to make sure the phrases you use for your SEO backlinks accurately reflect what your page is about. For example, if you are linking to a page about SEO, your anchor text should include “SEO” or “search engine optimization.”
Domain Authority
Domain authority is another important factor when it comes to backlinks. This is a score between 0-100 that predicts how well a website will rank on search engines. You want links from websites with a DA score of at least 40.
Relevance
It’s also important to ensure that the websites you are getting backlinks from are relevant to your website. This can increase the effectiveness of your backlinks and improve the user experience when visitors arrive at your website from those links.
The best way to check the relevance of a website is by looking at the content. You want it to answer a relevant question or add more info on a topic in your niche.
Follow vs. No-Follow Links
It’s also important to note that search engines will differentiate between links marked as “follow” and “no-follow.” A follow link passes on link authority from the linking page to the page it is linking to, while a no-follow link does not. When looking for backlinks, it’s best to focus on getting follow links.
What Types of Backlinks Should You Focus On?
Editorial Backlinks
Editorial backlinks are created when an editor places a link to your website on one of their pages. This is one of the most effective types of backlinks, as it indicates someone in your niche has chosen to link to your page.
However, getting these (usually organic) links can take some time. You have to create a resource that people will want to link to, be open to interviews, and work with content creators.
Social Media Backlinks
Social media backlinks are created when you or someone else shares a link to your website on social media. These links can be very effective as they allow you to target a specific audience. You can also use social media to increase reach by encouraging people to share your content.
Guest Post Links
Guest post backlinks are created when you write content for another website and link to your website in the article. This is a great way to increase your website’s exposure and build relationships with other people in your niche.
You can find sites to post for by searching for “guest post” and your topic on Google. Then, reach out to the website owners and let them know you’d like to write an article for them. Replies can vary, so be persistent and polite.
Business Profile Links
Business profile backlinks are created when you list your website on a business directory or other websites. These links give your website more exposure and legitimacy.
You can find websites that accept business profiles by searching for “submit business profile” or “add listing” in Google. But read the website’s guidelines before submitting your profile, as some websites may restrict which businesses they accept.
Will AI Change How We Do SEO?
The advent of AI has been exciting for many in the SEO industry, with some predicting it will revolutionize how we do search engine optimization. As it stands, AI is still in its infancy and only used by a handful of companies.
However, AI is only good at answering complex questions and generating code, not recommending products or finding services online. This means search engines will remain relevant to businesses for the foreseeable future.
Over to You
Now that you know how to determine the number of backlinks for a website and the types of backlinks you should focus on, it’s time to start building links. And that’s where we come in. Contact Better Backlinks today for effective and high-quality backlinks that will improve your SEO.
