Unlock the Power of Link Building Statistics for Better SEO

Link building statistics can be a game-changer for your SEO strategy. Ahrefs found that websites with a high number of referring domains (1,000+ domains) rank higher in Google.

Understanding how link building affects your website's ranking is crucial. According to a study by Moz, a 1% increase in referring domains can lead to a 0.08% increase in search engine rankings.

The quality of links matters more than the quantity. A study by Ahrefs found that websites with high-quality backlinks (Dofollow links) have a higher Domain Rating than those with low-quality backlinks (Nofollow links).

Link building is the practice of building one-way hyperlinks to a website with the goal of improving search engine visibility.

These links are also known as "backlinks", which can significantly boost a website's credibility and online presence.

Common link building strategies include content marketing, building useful tools, and public relations.

Links are one of the top two criteria considered in Google's page ranking algorithm. This is according to Search Engine Land.

In fact, SEO experts say external linking is the third most important factor for search optimization, making it a crucial aspect of search engine optimization.

Links are still the best way to determine the quality of a webpage, nearly 20 years after Google introduced its PageRank Algorithm.

But don't just focus on the quantity of links, as Google now focuses on link quality thanks to updates like Google Penguin.

A staggering 94% of the world's content gets zero external links, highlighting the importance of link building.

Only 2.2% of content generates links from multiple websites, making it clear that high-quality links are hard to come by.

Here are some key statistics on link building:

In five years, 92% of marketers believe that links will still be ranking criteria in Google algorithms, making link building a long-term strategy.

While link building can be challenging, with 41% of SEO experts considering it the most difficult part of search optimization, it's an essential aspect of search engine optimization.

Finding high-quality links is crucial for improving your Google rankings. According to SEO experts, external linking is the third most important factor for search optimization.

Links are one of the top two criteria considered in Google's page ranking algorithm. In fact, 13% of search experts say link building is the most valuable SEO tactic. However, not all links are created equal – only 2.2% of content generates links from multiple websites.

Marketers use various metrics to determine link quality, with 65% looking at domain authority, 48% at domain ratings, and 36% at page authority. If they had to choose one metric, 34% would opt for domain authority.

When evaluating a link, it's essential to consider its origin. If the link comes from a guest post, it might not be as valuable as you think. Someone paid to publish the post is a major red flag, as it's a clear sign of spam.

Guest posts can be spammy if the post contains exact match anchor text. This means using the same keyword as the link's anchor text, which can be a sign of manipulation.

A site that exists solely to publish guest posts is another indication of spam. You want to focus on sites that are relevant to your niche and have a genuine audience.

However, if you publish a mind-blowing guest post on an authoritative, relevant site, that link can still help you rank. In my experience, high-quality links can make a significant difference in your search engine rankings.

Here are some red flags to watch out for:

When building high-quality links, it's essential to consider the link equity of the page where your brand is mentioned. This is because Google's algorithm, PageRank, is affected by the number of outgoing links on a page.

If a page has many outgoing links, the less PageRank each link passes on. So, your ideal link-building prospect should have a limited number of outgoing links on their page.

A page with too many outgoing links can dilute the link equity, making it less valuable for your brand. This is why you should look for pages with a reasonable number of links, ideally between 5-20.

Having a limited number of outgoing links on a page is crucial for maintaining link equity.

Link building strategies can be a bit tricky, but understanding the right approaches can make a big difference. 69% of marketers believe that buying links positively impacts search rankings.

It's worth noting that the type of content you create can also impact your link building efforts. "Why" posts, "What" posts, and infographics received 25.8% more links compared to videos and "How-to" posts.

Long-form content is also a great way to go, as it gets an average of 77.2% more links than short articles. This makes sense, as people are more likely to link to in-depth content that provides value.

When it comes to internal linking, it's generally recommended to include 2-5 links per blog post. 51% of SEOs say bloggers should include two to three internal links in a blog post, while 36% say three to five should be included.

Here's a quick rundown of the recommended internal linking ranges:

Link building best practices are crucial for any SEO strategy. Ahrefs found that websites with a higher number of referring domains tend to rank higher in search engines.

To start building links, focus on creating high-quality content that attracts links naturally. According to Moz, content that is informative, entertaining, or inspiring is more likely to be shared and linked to.

Guest blogging is another effective link building tactic, but it's essential to do it right. A study by HubSpot found that 71% of marketers believe that guest blogging is an effective way to build links, but only 22% of marketers actually use it correctly.

Ultimately, the key to successful link building is to focus on quality over quantity.

Site Authority is a crucial factor in link building. A link's quality is determined by a domain's sitewide authority.

A link from a site like NYTimes.com will have a MUCH bigger impact than a link from a no-name blogger. You can check a site's authority using Semrush by entering its root URL and looking at its "Authority Score".

In general, a higher Authority Score means a more authoritative site, and thus a more valuable link.

Nofollow links are essentially a warning sign for search engines, telling them not to count the link as an endorsement. This means that nofollow links don't pass on any link equity, which is a key factor in SEO.

Rel="nofollow" is a tag added to a link, and it's a clear indication that the link is not an endorsement. This is in contrast to dofollow links, which are the normal type of links that search engines do count as an endorsement.

You want to get normal, dofollow links whenever possible, as they are more valuable for SEO.

Link building for ecommerce sites can be tough, but it's not impossible. Just look at Matt Lawry, who had trouble building links to his Australian gift site.

Matt realized that he could use content to generate links to his site, and he published an amazing piece of Skyscraper content called "Australian Gin: The Ultimate Guide". This content was so good that many people offered to link to it.

To promote his content, Matt used email outreach, sending personalized emails to the right people. This approach worked well for him, and many of these people offered to link to his guide.

The Skyscraper Technique can be a game-changer for link building. It's not just about publishing great content, but also about building relationships and telling people about it. People won't link to your content unless they know it exists, and they won't know it exists unless you tell them about it.

Matt's efforts paid off, and all these links boosted his search rankings for a keyword that directly results in sales for his site: Australian Gin. This shows that with the right approach, link building can be a powerful tool for ecommerce sites.

The Skyscraper Technique can help you build high-quality links that boost your search rankings. It's a white hat approach that focuses on building relationships and creating great content.

Link building challenges are a significant hurdle for marketers. 41% of SEO experts consider link building to be the most difficult part of search optimization.

While it may be tough, understanding the challenges can help you tackle them effectively. Only 2.2% of content generates links from multiple websites, making it a rare feat.

Measuring link quality is also a challenge. 65% of marketers measure their link quality by looking at their domain authority, while 48% use domain ratings and 36% use page authority.

To give you a better idea, here are some common metrics used to determine link quality:

Marketers also rely on page rankings to evaluate the effectiveness of their link-building efforts. 38% of marketers say page rankings are the top KPI they use.

Link building can be a challenging task, but understanding the difficulties involved can help you tackle them effectively.

Link building is a crucial aspect of search optimization, and 41% of SEO experts consider it the most difficult part of the process. This is likely due to the fact that only 2.2% of content generates links from multiple websites.

Measuring link quality can also be a challenge. While 65% of marketers measure their link quality by looking at their domain authority, others use domain ratings (48%) and page authority (36%) to determine link quality.

If you had to choose just one metric for studying link quality, 34% of marketers would look at domain authority, while 22% would look at domain rating. This highlights the importance of understanding and tracking domain authority.

The impact of link building on search rankings can also be unpredictable. While 53% of marketers believe link building will have the same impact on search rankings in the near future, 41% think it will have less of an impact.

Here are some key statistics on link building challenges:

The lack of correlation between backlinks and social shares is also a challenge to consider. In a study of web content, zero correlation was found between backlinks and social shares. This means that simply generating links won't necessarily lead to increased social engagement.

Building Costs can be a significant challenge for marketers.

46% of marketers spend $10,000 or more annually on link building, while 22% spend between $1,000 and $2,500. This highlights the varying budgets allocated to link building.

61% of marketers say they use zero to ten percent of their total budget on link building. This suggests a relatively modest allocation for a crucial marketing strategy.

It often costs brands $1,000 or more to gain a quality link. This can be a barrier for smaller businesses or those with limited marketing budgets.

A significant number of marketers, 41%, expect the cost of link building to increase in the future. This could impact marketing strategies and budgets.

Measuring success in link building requires more than just quantity of links. Gone are the days where that's the only determining factor.

To develop a clear set of outreach metrics, you must assess link quality and relevance along with quantity. This involves tracking conversions, sessions, and page traffic using Google Analytics.

Before launching a link building campaign, it's essential to have your baselines in place. This means capturing your site's DA and DR as well as your existing backlink profile. Without this, it's impossible to see what differences a campaign might make.

A successful link-building strategy can impact your website's performance in a great way.

The authority of the page linking to you matters more than any other factor, and links from authoritative pages pass more authority to your site.

You can easily check a proxy indicator of PageRank using Semrush, which will give you an "Authority Score" for any URL.

A link's quality is also determined by a domain's sitewide authority, with a link from a site like NYTimes.com having a MUCH bigger impact than a link from a no-name blogger.

The higher the domain authority of the backlink, the more valuable the link, and a link from websites with a high Domain Authority, like Forbes or Business Insider, establishes trust in your brand.

This means that getting high-quality backlinks can significantly boost your website's performance, making it more visible and credible in the eyes of search engines and users alike.

By leveraging link-building strategies that focus on authority and quality, you can see real improvements in your website's performance and online presence.

Gone are the days where quantity of links is the only determining factor of success in a link building campaign. You need to assess link quality and relevance along with quantity.

To define link quality, you need to carefully evaluate your website's metrics. This includes assessing your website's average page traffic, SERPs, domain authority, and DR score.

Before launching a link building campaign, it's essential to have your baselines in place. This includes setting up Google Analytics to track conversions, sessions, and page traffic. You should also capture your site's DA and DR as well as your existing backlink profile.

Having your baselines is crucial to see what differences a campaign might make. Without them, it's impossible to measure success accurately.

A successful link-building strategy can impact your website's performance in a great way. For instance, a well-executed campaign can improve your website's visibility in the SERPs, increase page traffic, and boost conversions.

To find Likely Linkers, you can use reverse engineering by grabbing the URL of the first result and popping it into a link analysis tool like Semrush. This tool can help identify sites that are likely to link to you.

You can also use Semrush's Backlink Analytics to find Likely Linkers, by looking at the sites listed under the "Backlinks" tab. These sites are all potential Likely Linkers.

If a site links to two of your competitors, it's even more likely to link to you. You can use Semrush's Backlink Gap tool to find sites that link to multiple competitors.

A successful link-building strategy can impact your website's performance in a great way, but that's a topic for another time.

Link building techniques can be a game-changer for your online presence.

Guest blogging is a popular method, with 71% of marketers using it to acquire links. This approach involves writing high-quality content for other websites, which can lead to valuable backlinks.

Internal linking is another strategy that can boost your website's authority. By linking to relevant pages, you can increase user engagement and help search engines understand your content hierarchy.

A well-placed anchor text can make all the difference, with 55% of marketers considering it an effective link building tactic.

Anchor text is the clickable text section of a link. Google uses anchor text as a ranking signal.

Anchor text can give Google a hint about the page's content. For example, if a link has anchor text "paleo desserts", Google assumes the linked page is about "paleo desserts".

Keyword-rich anchor text has been abused in the past, making it considered spammy. Building lots of exact-match anchor text links is not recommended.

If you do get a link with your keyword in the anchor text, it's a good thing! It's time to celebrate.

Product Embed can be a goldmine for getting backlinks, especially for SaaS tools that are embedded on websites. For example, Typeform automatically includes a link back to their form page when businesses use them to embed forms on their website.

This strategy can generate a huge number of backlinks, like Typeform's 107M mentions. These mentions are not annoying to readers, and may attract the attention of those who want to use your product.

By incorporating Product Embed into your link building strategy, you can boost your rankings and increase your online presence. This is a simple yet effective way to get backlinks, and it's definitely worth considering.

Creating link-worthy content is key to earning backlinks. Studies show that long-form content gets an average of 77.2% more links than shorter pieces.

Writing long-form, in-depth articles that provide real value is crucial for link building. Aim for 3,000 words or more, covering every angle of the topic.

Comprehensive content is more likely to be referenced and linked to by journalists, bloggers, and industry experts. Think "ultimate guides", "how-to articles", "exclusive research", or "detailed list posts."

Infographics are highly shareable and visually appealing, making complex information easier to understand. 53% of marketers use infographics as part of their white hat link-building strategy.

Creating an infographic that complements your content can enhance its value and open the door to even more backlinks.

Original research and data can be a powerful link building tool. Publishing a study with new data can attract a large number of links, as seen in a post that accumulated 75.9K links due to a single study.

Statistics and data are highly linkable, and when someone cites your data, they link to you. This can add up quickly, making original research a valuable resource for link building.

Using Semrush's Backlink Gap tool can help you identify sites that link to multiple competitors, increasing the likelihood of them linking to you.

Co-Occurrences are a key concept in link building research and analysis. They refer to the words and phrases that appear around your link.

Google likely uses co-Occurrences as "baby anchor text", giving clues to what your page is about. This makes sense because the text around your link also gives clues to what your page is about.

Co-Occurrences can be a valuable signal for Google to understand the context of your link.

You can find Likely Linkers by reverse engineering their linking behavior. Grab the URL of the first result and pop it into a link analysis tool, such as Semrush.

These sites are more likely to link to you if they already link to your competitors. In fact, 48% of marketers report on "nofollow" links as part of their process.

Use the Semrush Backlink Gap tool to find sites that link to all of your competitors. This will give you a list of Likely Linkers.

Here are some stats on link building processes: 36% of businesses hire outside experts or freelancers for link building efforts, and 42% of SEOs spend equal time on building internal and external links.

By analyzing the backlinks of your competitors, you can identify sites that are more likely to link to you.