How Many Backlinks Do I Need To Rank on Google?

Building links is one of the most important SEO tactics. When Google’s bots crawl websites, they focus on incoming links to rate a site’s authority. High-quality backlinks drive traffic to your website and often lead to increased revenue. Despite this, more than 55% of websites on the internet don’t have any backlinks at all. Of those that do, nearly 30% have fewer than three links.

Don’t let your website become part of those statistics. Understanding the importance of backlinks and how to get them is vital for the success of your online presence. Learn the answer to the question “How many backlinks do I need?” and how to get high-quality links for success.

How Many Backlinks Do I Need for My Website?

Let’s define a backlink first. Simply put, a backlink is a link on an external website that leads to a page on your own website. They are considered the strongest “referral” you can get online, especially if they come from websites that are already excelling in Google’s search engine results pages. 

A good website has 40-50 backlinks to its homepage and 0-100 to each subpage. Too few backlinks mean Google’s robot crawlers won’t boost your pages in search engine results. However, too many can look like you’re receiving backlinks unethically so they won’t be counted, either. Having high-quality websites link back to your own site is vital. 

What Factors Determine How Many Backlinks I Need?

There are many factors to consider when determining how many links you need to affect your ranking. 

Domain Authority

Your domain authority determines how strong your domain is overall. Domain rating and authority scores are important as well. The rating shows a website’s power in its backlink profile, while the authority score focuses on the SEO performance of a website overall. These all work on 100-point scales: The higher the number is, the more authoritative the domain is.

Internal Linking

The number of internal links a page receives impacts how many backlinks a page needs as well. Studies show that, like backlinks, internal links allow a website to rise in the ranks of Google’s search engine results pages. The more internal links to a page exist, the more important the search engine crawler thinks it is and the higher the page will be in search results. On average, three internal links are equal to a single external backlink.

Create internal links to pages that you want to rank the highest, making sure to use keywords in the anchor text. Ensure the links are from relevant content, since the text surrounding the anchor text is also a factor in Google’s algorithms. 

Keyword Difficulty

Like domain authority, keyword difficulty works on a 100-point scale. This metric is used to determine how hard it is to rank a page for a single target keyword. Along with domain authority, three other factors influence the score: page authority, citation flow, and trust flow. Page authority is the strength of a single page. Citation flow is the number of backlinks to a page, and trust flow is the quality of the links on each page.

How Can I Achieve More With Fewer Backlinks?

Google encourages organic backlinks but they can be hard to come by. Luckily, you don’t need a ton of links to find yourself in the top 10 on Google. If you want a better ranking with fewer links, choose three to five keywords to optimize on each page, focusing on those with low keyword difficulty scores. Use these keywords in the right HTML locations for Google’s bots to crawl.

Your content also needs to be relevant to the user’s search intent. Search your chosen keywords and look through the first few results to get an idea of what type of content Google is looking for. After you publish each page, add at least five internal links that are relevant to your content. If you can, link to your page from your homepage, since it’s most likely to pass the internal PageRank value. Finally, work on adding more high-quality internal links over time and when they fit the context. 

How Do I Get Backlinks to My Website?

Asking “How many backlinks do I need to rank?” is just the start. Next, figure out how to get the backlinks you need.

Create High-Quality, Original Content

Google looks for quality over quantity. The best thing you can do for your internet presence is to create high-quality, original content that offers valuable information to your readers. Studies show that business websites with blogs get more backlinks than those without, so blogging is an excellent way to start.

Think about the products and services you offer. What information might a reader need? A good blog offers a combination of long-form and short-form content. It includes high-quality keywords, professional photographs, video content, infographics, or other types of information. The best blogs are updated once or twice per week and are regularly audited and updated to ensure the best keywords and content available.

Blogging can be a time-consuming process, so don’t be afraid to reach out to professionals for help. You can purchase blog packages that not only provide the content you need but also include link-building services. 

Get Rid of Broken Links

Broken links can wreak havoc on your ranking in Google’s search engine results pages. Use a relevant tool to search your website for any broken links and correct them regularly.

Take it a step further by seeking out broken links on other websites as well. This requires an outreach strategy that is polite, complimentary, and informative. If you notice broken links on a website that could be changed to direct to relevant content you’ve written (thus making a backlink to your website), create a well-structured email to send to the website’s owner. Compliment them on their content and express what you enjoyed. Then, point out the broken links. Finally, close your email by mentioning links on your website to replace the broken links. With any luck, you’ll receive an email back and secure a backlink. 

Let Us Help You Determine How Many Backlinks You Need

You know the answer to “How many backlinks do I need?” Now it’s time to implement your new plans. BKA Content provides a variety of services, including customized blogging and link-building services. We have a proven track record of excellence and are ready to help you rise in Google’s rankings and create your own successful website. Contact us to set up your services!