According to the senior strategist of Google, the top ranking factors of search results are content and links pointing to your site.
With strong links, Google looks at you as trustworthy and informative. That ultimately impacts your ranking.
If you want to rank your pages on Google by link-building, here are some essential link-building statistics that may help you.
Without wasting time, let’s get into it.
Link Building Statistics (Top Pics)
- Links are one of the top criteria in Google’s page ranking algorithm.
- 22.5% of SEO say the increase in traffic is their main KPI when determining the success of link building.
- The first-ranking search result on Google has 3.8X more backlinks than the web pages that rank 2 to 10.
- Experienced link builders can build links 3.5X more than beginner link builders.
- 20% of SEO said Digital PR provides the best link-building result.
- 67.5% of search engine optimization specialists said backlinks have a big impact on search engine ranking.
- 36% of businesses use external contractors, freelancers, and agencies for link building, while 64% do not use them.
- 45.9% of SEO experts say it will take 1 to 3 months to see link-building results.
- 53% of marketers say link-building will have the same impact on search ranking in the future as today, while 41% say it will have less impact.
- Link-builders who use Social media for outreach gain an average of 22% more links monthly.
- 38.4% of businesses spend between $1,000 to $5,000 on link building monthly.
- 25% of SEO use Google Search Console for link building.
- Over 65% of SEO think link-building will have a high or the same impact on ranking in the next five years.
- 8 out of 10 SEO say link-building will also impact the same ranking in the next ten years.
- 41% of businesses say and believe that link-building is the most problematic element of SEO.
Link Building Statistics (General)
Let’s see what SEO experts say about link building statistics.
- Links are one of the top criteria in Google’s page ranking algorithm.
- Only 2.2% of all content gets links from multiple websites.
- More than 66.31% of web pages do not have backlinks.
- Long content receives 77.2% more backlinks than short content.
- 43.7% of top-ranking pages have reciprocal links.
- 94% of blog posts have zero external links.
- 22.5% of SEO say the increase in traffic is their main KPI when determining the success of link building.
Here a table shows the main KPI of SEO when determining the success of link building.
| The Main KPI | Share of Respondents |
| Traffic Increase | 22.5% |
| Ranking Increase | 19% |
| Referral Traffic | 13% |
| Sales/Conversions | 13% |
| New Unique Domains | 12% |
| Total Links | 10.5% |
| DR Increase | 10% |
- The first-ranking search result on Google has 3.8X more backlinks than the web pages that rank 2nd to 10th position.
- 56.3% of SEO say link quantity and quality impact website rankings.
Here a table shows the responses of SEO experts about the impact of quality and quantity of link building on ranking.
| Response of SEO experts | Share of Respondents |
| The quality of links impacts the ranking | 35.9% |
| The quantity of links impacts the ranking | 7.8% |
| Both | 56.3% |
Source: Authority Hacker, usurp.io.
Link Building Tactics Statistics
There are many link-building tactics. But some of these provide the best results for SEO, such as content marketing and guest posting.
I have compiled all the essential link-building tactics that will help you in your strategy.
- 20% of SEO said Digital PR provides the best link-building result.
Here a table shows the link-building tactics that provide the best result.
| Link-Building Tactics | Share of Respondents |
| Digital PR | 20% |
| Content Marketing | 18% |
| Guest Posting | 12% |
| Unclaimed Mentions | 12% |
| Link Insertion | 10% |
| Link Exchanges | 10% |
| Broken Link Building | 5% |
| Redirect or Expired domains | 5% |
| Press Releases | 2% |
| 404 Link Building | 1% |
- Another study shows that 12.5% of SEO say content marketing gives the most substantial results for link-building.
Here a table shows the link-building tactics that provide substantial results.
| Top Link-building Tactics | Share of Respondents |
| Content Marketing | 12.5% |
| Guest Posting | 11.7% |
| Link Exchange | 10.9% |
| Link Insertion | 9.9% |
| Forum Links | 9.7% |
| HARO/Experts Roundups | 6.1% |
| Others (Broken Links, Redirects, Press Release, Directories) | 33.7% |
Source: HubSpot, Authority Hackers.
Link Building’s Impact on Search Ranking Statistic
As we have seen earlier, link-building is one of the most impacting factors on search ranking.
But In this section, we will see some of the other important statistics on the link-building impact on search ranking.
- Backlinks are the top factor for Google ranking for target keywords.
A table shows the top factors for Google ranking for target keywords.
| Rank | Top Factors |
| 1. | Backlinks |
| 2. | Content |
| 3. | RankBrain |
- 67.5% of search engine optimization specialists said backlinks have a big impact on search engine ranking.
A table shows the impact of backlinks on search engine ranking.
| Impact | Share of Respondents |
| Big Impact | 67.5% |
| Moderate Impact | 30% |
| Low Impact | 2.5% |
- 45.9% of SEO experts say it will take 1 to 3 months to see link-building results.
Here a table shows the response of SEO experts when asked how much time is required to see the results of link building.
| Time to see link-building results | Share of Respondents |
| Less than one month | 16.4% |
| 1 to 3 months | 45.9% |
| 3 to 6 months | 27.9% |
| 6 to 12 months | 4.9% |
| More than 12 months | 4.9% |
- Almost 90% of link-builders say no-follow links impact search ranking.
Source: Authority Hackers.
Effectiveness of Link-Building Statistics
If you want to know how effective link-building is, this section will help you understand this.
Here are some of the most important statistics on the effectiveness of link-building.
- 53% of marketers say link-building will have the same impact on search ranking in the future as today, while 41% say it will have less impact.
- 13% of search experts said link building is the most effective SEO tactic.
- 36% of businesses use external contractors, freelancers, and agencies for link building, while 64% do not use them.
- 48% of SEO experts say link-building is positively effective on ranking.
Here a table shows the effectiveness of link-building on ranking.
| Effectiveness | Share of Respondents |
| Yes, it is effective | 48% |
| Yes, but only if a site has no major technical SEO issues | 34% |
| Sometimes effective | 17% |
| No | 1% |
Source: HubSpot, Aira.
Link Building and Social Media Statistics
According to Data Reportal, there are 4.8 billion social media users. And many link-builders are taking advantage of it. They are using social media for their outreach.
I have gathered all the important statistics about link-building and social media in this section.
- 61.7% of SEO experts use Social Media platforms for their outreach.
- Link-builders who use Social media for outreach gain an average of 22% more links monthly.
- 23.5% of link-builders use Facebook for outreach.
- 17.3% of link-builders use LinkedIn for outreach.
Source: Authority Hackers.
Link Building Cost Statistics
Link-building is getting expensive day by day. If you want to know how much marketers or businesses spend on link-building, then keep reading this section.
Here I have compiled all my important research about link-building cost statistics.
- 41% of marketers believe that the link-building cost will increase in the future.
- 38.4% of businesses spend between $1,000 to $5,000 on link building monthly.
Here a table shows the monthly spending of businesses on link building.
| Monthly Spending On Link-Building | Share of Businesses |
| $0 to $1,000 | 34.1% |
| $1,000 to $5,000 | 38.4% |
| $5,000 to $10,000 | 20.3% |
| More than $15,000 | 7.1% |
- 61% of marketers said they spend 0% to 10% of their total budget on link-building.
- Another study shows that 6% of marketers spend only $0 to $500 on link-building monthly.
Here a table shows the monthly spending of marketers on link-building.
| Monthly Spending | Share of Respondents |
| $0 to $500 | 6% |
| $500 to $1,000 | 6% |
| $1,000 to $2,500 | 13% |
| $2,500 to $5,000 | 19% |
| $5,000 to $10,000 | 13% |
| $10,000 to $25,000 | 25% |
| $25,000 to $50,000 | 9% |
| More than $50,000 | 9% |
Source: Hubspot, Authority Hacker, Digital Olympus.
Link Building Tools Statistics
Let’s see which link-building tool SEO experts use the most.
Google Search Console holds a significant market share of link-building tools. But, there are many link-building tools that marketers and SEO experts are using today.
- 25% of SEO use Google Search Console for link building.
Here a table shows the top link-building tools.
| Top Link-Building Tool | Share of Respondents |
| Google Search Console | 25% |
| Semrush | 21% |
| Ahref | 15% |
| Buzzstream | 10% |
| Screaming Frog | 10% |
| Majestic | 5% |
| Mailshake | 5% |
| Pitchbox | 5% |
| Moz | 4% |
Source: Authority Hackers.
Link-builders Statistics
The more experience you have in link-building, the more results you will get. Experienced link-builders can build 3.5X more links than beginners.
In this section, we will see all the important statistics about link-builders.
- 73.5% of link builders build less than ten links per month.
- 25.7% of link builders do not pay for links, while 74.3% pay for links.
- Experienced link builders can build links 3.5X more than beginner link builders.
- The average website owners build nine links per month.
- Almost 94% of link builders say link quality is more vital than link quantity.
- 42% of link-builders spend equal time building external and internal links.
Here a table shows how much time link-builders spend in link building.
| Links | Time Spent on it |
| Internal Links | 24% |
| External Links | 34% |
| Equal Time On Both | 42% |
Source: Authority Hacker, HubSpot.
Link Building Trends
Many link-building trends are going on in 2024. But here, I have compiled some of the most important and latest link-building trends for you.
Just have a look at it.
- 61.7% of SEO professionals say link-building is getting more expensive day by day.
- More than 50% of SEO say link-building is taking more time than before.
- Over 65% of SEO think link-building will have a high or the same impact on ranking in the next five years.
- Only 1.2% of SEO said link-building would not have any impact on ranking in the next five years.
- 8 out of 10 SEO say link-building will also impact ranking in the next ten years.
Source: Authority Hackers.
Link-Building Challenges Statistics
According to OneCore Media, Outreach is one of the top link-building challenges.
In this section, we will see some of the top link-building challenges.
- Planning is the top challenge of link-building.
Here a table shows the top 5 challenges of link-building.
| Rank | Challenges of Link-building |
| 1. | Proper Planning of Link-building |
| 2. | Outreach |
| 3. | Low Domain Authority |
| 4. | Content Strategy |
| 5. | Budget and Time |
- 41% of businesses say link-building one of the most critical element of SEO.
Here a table shows the most challenging elements of SEO.
| Most Challenging Elements of SEO | Share of Respondents |
| Link-Building | 41% |
| Keyword Research/mgmt | 39% |
| Quality Content Creation | 33% |
| Social Media Integration | 30% |
| Frequent blogging | 28% |
| Frequent Website Updating | 26% |
| Mobile Search Optimization | 22% |
| Local Search Optimization | 13% |
Source: Authority Hacker, OneCore Media.
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Conclusion
Link-building is one of the most significant aspects of SEO. It decides the search ranking of your web page. Businesses can get good search results through link-building. But link-building is also one of the challenging elements of SEO.
With good planning, one can achieve success in it. With these link-building statistics, you can plan your strategy and reach your search ranking goals.
FAQs
Building links from low authority websites, linking from non-relevant sites, and links from Poor, plagiarized, and duplicate content, these mistakes you should avoid in link-building.
Outreach is a refined form of link-building that uses surgical link-building tactics to improve organic visibility on search engines.
Google, YouTube, and Facebook have the most significant number of backlinks on the internet in the world.
On average, it takes 3 to 12 months to see changes in your site’s visibility. This time can change according to your link-building strategies.
You can build 1 link or 500 links per day. There is no limit on link-building numbers. You can create as much as you want.
