How Many Backlinks Do I Need To Rank My Website? -
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How Many Backlinks Do I Need To Rank My Website?

Craig Dewart

Written by Craig Dewart

How Many Backlinks Do I Need To Rank My Website?
published April 27, 2023

Here's a guide that'll tell you how many backlinks you need to boost your rankings.

Backlinks are crucial for SEO and are the foundation of Google's indexing algorithm, but how many do you need to rank?

The number of backlinks you need depends on various external and internal SEO factors, which means there's no clear answer, as every site will be different. But luckily, at Link City LTD, our skilled team knows exactly what your site needs and can provide guidance to improve your site's rankings, from the number of backlinks you need to the ins and outs of link profile audits and more!

So... How Many?

So, you're wondering, how many backlinks do I need? We cannot give you a straightforward answer to this question, but typically you need around 0-25 backlinks to rank for low-competition keywords and about 50-100 for high-competition keywords.

But the exact number that your particular site needs heavily depends on the incoming backlinks' page rank you use and your site's domain authority. If you have more backlinks of higher or equal quality for specific keywords than your competition, you will rank higher than they do.

Around 100 backlinks is a great number for low- to mid-competition niches. This number will change if your niche is low- or high-competition, but don't go wild making hundreds of backlinks when you're starting: if it's going to be successful, it must be organic.

Each page should have 0 to 100 backlinks to rank in the SERPs for its target keywords. However, the precise number of backlinks each page has to have to achieve high rankings on the search engines depends on the domain authority of the website, the complexity of the keywords, and the number of internal links.

Keyword Difficulty

SEO tools use keyword difficulty as a metric to calculate how hard it will be to rank a page for a specific targeted keyword. Just like domain authority, it is calculated using a 100-point scale. The higher the number, the tougher the competition.

The following factors influence the keyword difficulty score:

  • Page Authority: The strength of the specific web page.
  • Domain Authority: The strength of the domain.
  • Trust Flow: The quality of the backlinks that direct users to the particular web page.
  • Citation Flow: The number of backlinks linking to the web page.


Domain authority is only one factor that affects how difficult it can be to rank in the SERPs for a phrase or keyword. Metrics like citation flow and trust flow are crucial since the quality of incoming links (and all backlinks) is just as significant as the quantity: the more high-quality links you have, the better.

A lower domain authority site can easily outrank a high domain authority site if its backlinks to an individual page are better quality. We've said it before and will say it again: quality backlinks lead to better results.

SEO metrics do not take the quality of the on-page SEO into consideration. On-page SEO can easily outweigh the page's total backlinks for certain keywords, as it shows Google's algorithm to rank the content correctly.

Backlinks (off-page SEO) are not always a very powerful ranking factor, especially when the on-page SEO is top-notch. Sometimes a site can rank in the top 10 because of its target keywords, even though it doesn't have a single backlink going to its web page.

Domain Authority

Many SEO tools are available that can report a site's domain authority. Ahrefs, Semrushm, and Moz are the most commonly used. A domain's total strength is measured by the SEO metric known as Domain Authority (DA), which was initially created by Moz.

Ahrefs' equivalent of DA, Domain Rating (DR), shows the strength of a website's backlink profile, while Semrush's adaptation of DA, called the Authority Score (AS), is used to gauge a website's overall quality and SEO effectiveness.

DA, DR, and AS are rated on a 100-point scale. The higher the numbers, the stronger the domain.

A website with greater domain authority should appear higher in Google for a target keyword if all other factors, such as content quality, on-page SEO, matching user search intent, and technical SEO, are equivalent.

The only problem is that this isn't always the case. Google's algorithm also considers off-page SEO factors, like backlinks, and then uses this to decide where a site should rank.

The number of internal links a particular page receives also impacts how many backlinks every page should get. Internal links have been proven to increase page ranking in the SERPs. According to SEO testing, three internal links are, on average, equal to one external backlink.

Essentially, the more internal links your page has, the more influential the search engine crawler thinks it is, improving its visibility in SERPs. When linking internally, you need to use keyword-rich anchor text on your web pages and site.

On average, your site should have about 40-50 backlinks to your homepage to increase the DA at a more competitive level. It's all well and good to have tons of backlinks, but the PageRank scores of those links are equally important, as the higher their value, the fewer backlinks you need.

This total range is an average, and not every website will need that many backlinks to compete in SERPs. Suppose you have one PR10 backlink coming from a site with a very high DA. It is much more valuable for ranking and SEO than having three PR5 backlinks coming from sites with lower DA.

Obtaining backlinks with the highest PageRank possible should be your objective if you want long-term keyword competitiveness and higher rankings.

When building backlinks, quality is better than quantity. And Link City LTD has just the team for you - we pride ourselves on building high-quality backlinks. We also have a fantastic Backlink Blueprint to help get you started!

Every site is different and will require its own number of backlinks. It is not easy to provide a company with an exact figure, but there is a way to calculate roughly how many links and backlinks you'll need on average.

Step 1

Decide which pages you want to build backlinks to - not all need them. It is best to focus on pages that have keywords generating sales and leads.

Step 2

Compare your backlink profile to those of your competitors to calculate your backlink gap. Once you have compiled a shortlist of all your target keywords, you'll be able to calculate the link gap.

A link gap is the total number of backlinks you will need to rank on Google's top three for a specific keyword. The aim is to be in the top 10 at least, but top three is first prize.

Step 3

Once you know how many backlinks you need, you can start building them. Many people find building links challenging; some are happy to do it themselves, while others like to outsource, and this is where Link City comes in!

Some Helpful Methods

Depending on your business and what you find works best for you, there are various methods you could use. When you find yourself asking, how many backlinks do I need? You can use one of these methods:

Method 1

An excellent method is to replicate some of your competitors' top backlinks. Backlink analysis link building is an excellent and effective strategy. Find the top competitors in your industry on SERPs by searching for your target keyword.

The websites that rank at the top are clearly your top competitors. Using Ahrefs, conduct a backlink analysis to find their best backlinks - these are the ones to replicate.

Finally, you can see how they obtained all their links - were they through guest posts, blog comments, or forum posts?

Method 2

Another option is to order all of your links. We know that links are a powerful SEO ranking factor, but building them is challenging, especially if you want to rank high on a search engine and see significant results.

This is where link building services like Link City come in and save the day.

FAQs

An average of ten backlinks every month for a new website is safe. However, if they are created naturally and in accordance with search engine webmaster requirements, you can create 40 to 50 links per month without any negative consequences. The best technique is to start with a small number of links and gradually increase them each month.

High-quality backlinks won't ever harm your SERP ranks. For a prolonged time, a new site can gain from five to seven high-quality links each month. Once the site's DA increases, you can build more high-quality links each month to improve its ranking.

Some backlinks positively affect your site's rankings, while others do the exact opposite. If you have too many poor-quality backlinks, your ranking may suffer.

Final Thoughts

Link building is crucial for SEO; without it, you will find it very hard to increase organic traffic or rank higher in SERPs. High-quality backlinks and internal links are fundamental for a power link-building strategy.

The number of backlinks your pages and site will need depends on you and your business. It is difficult to give a straightforward answer since sometimes fewer backlinks are better if they are high-quality links, and in other cases - the more, the merrier!

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