How Many Backlinks Do I Need to Rank?

Around 95% of all websites on Google have zero backlinks. Now imagine that out of 5 billion indexed websites, only 250 million use backlinks and rank on top of the search results. Just one small detail and your website’s position gets changed significantly.

Backlinks are the #1 factor in building your website’s authority, rating, and search engine ranking. However, you must know how to use it to your benefit. A wrong strategy may backfire on your results. Read on to find out how many backlinks should a website have to rank well.

Why Is Link Building Important?

During one of Google’s Q&A sessions in 2016, the search engine’s team announced that high-quality backlinks are the most important factor for a website’s ranking. Although a recent update in 2024 changed the way algorithms work, link building is still a valid strategy.

The #1 search result on Google has an average of 3.8x more backlinks than all other websites in the SERP. Pages with more backlinks, especially from diverse high-quality sources, tend to rank higher regardless of other factors. If you use this approach correctly and with the right strategy, your positions will soar.

SEO G.O.A.T.’s team recently shared 10 benefits of link building for your website. Make sure to check it out to understand the whole picture.

How Many Backlinks Should a Website Have?

Determining the exact number of backlinks a website should have is a complex process. It also varies greatly depending on the niche, competition, and quality of the backlinks. However, you can estimate this number using two main methods with tools like Ahrefs.

According to Competitor Backlinks

Analyzing competitor backlinks is essential to understand why some companies in your industry rank higher than others. Even if two companies publish high-quality content, the one with better link-building practices will generally rank higher. Here’s a detailed guide on how to find competitor backlinks.

You can find them for free with SEMrush’s free trial:

1. Register an account with SEMrush and sign up for the free trial.
2. Use the keyword overview tool and enter keywords relevant to your niche.
3. Scroll down to the SERP analysis section.
4. Browse through the top 10 results. Ignore large websites like Amazon or eBay.

Alternatively, you can use Ahrefs and their paid plans:

1. Register an account with Ahrefs and choose one of their plans.
2. Open the Site Explorer tool and enter your website’s domain.
3. Scroll down to the “Top competing domains” and pick out your competitors.
4. Open the Competitive Analysis tool.
5. Select the “referring domains” tab.
6. Enter your website into the “Not linking to this target” section.
7. Type your competitors into the “But linking to these competitors” section.

This will let you see the number of backlinks used in each website. 

It’s also necessary to consider which links do they use:

• Guest posts: publications on other websites referring to the competitor;
• Crowd links: links from forum posts, comments, and social media mentions;
• Web 2.0 links: links from user-generated content platforms like WordPress, Blogger, etc.

It’s crucial to look at both the quantity and quality of these links. Paid guest posts and do-follow links typically have a more significant impact on rankings.

According to Ahrefs Keywords

You can use Ahrefs to determine how many backlinks are good enough to rank at the top of search results. Enter these words into the Keyword Explorer tool to estimate the number of backlinks needed to achieve top rankings. This method helps you plan your link-building strategy, especially when you focus on paid guest posts.

Steps to check Ahrefs keywords:

• Identify the main keywords for your website;
• Enter these keywords into Ahrefs’ Keyword Explorer tool;
  • You’ll see the required number of links to reach the top.

• Review the suggested number of backlinks needed to rank at the top.

The SEO G.O.A.T. team recommends that you divide the number recommended by Ahrefs in 2 to get the perfect ratio of required high-quality backlinks from guest posts. This method makes up for low-quality backlinks that are less important. You’ll always have to mix two ingredients for top-tier results: quality and quantity together.

How Many Backlinks Do You Need per Month

It’s important to focus not only on the quantity, but also on the consistent growth and regularity of your efforts when planning how many backlinks you need per month. This ensures that your link-building strategy remains effective over time.

You can’t just get 50 links in a single day.

Here’s how to understand how many backlinks per month do you need:

• Analyze how many new backlinks your competitors acquire each month and their types;
• Assess the current number of backlinks your website has;
• Aim to build more high-quality backlinks than your competitors each month;
• If you have significantly fewer backlinks than your competitors, plan to bridge this gap over time by increasing your monthly backlink targets.

Now let’s check it out on a practical example.

This is only an example, so you’ll have to add the numbers yourself. You must also remember that while acquiring high-quality backlinks is critical, other SEO factors also influence rankings. 

However, this method provides a realistic approach to estimate your budget and plan your link building activities with your other SEO efforts.

How Can SEO G.O.A.T. Help?

SEO G.O.A.T. is your reliable partner when it comes to acquiring high-quality backlinks for your website. Our experts have many years of experience in this industry, allowing our clients to rank higher than all their competitors. That’s what you’ll get: a powerful team, high-quality backlinks, and great results.

Book a call now to get a free consultation with an estimate of the number of backlinks required to beat your competitors. We know how to get you there, so let’s team up!

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