106 Link Building Statistics (2025 Data + Trends)

Looking for the latest link building statistics? I’ve got you covered.

Link building has long been considered an important part of search engine optimization (SEO)—but is that still true today?

In this post, I’ll be sharing 106 important link building stats that shed light on that question and many more.

How popular is link building?

01 importance of backlinks

As the statistics below show, link building continues to be a widely-used SEO and digital marketing strategy right now.

  1. 40% of SEO pros say backlinks are the main priority in their SEO strategy… (uSERP)
  2. …a further 47.5% said backlinks are equal in priority to content…
  3. …and only 12.5% were less concerned about link building, saying ‘If I get them, I get them‘. (uSERP)
  4. Around 80% of SEOs say link building is an important part of their SEO strategy. (Authority Hacker)
  5. 89% of marketers say they create content specifically to build links (Adam Connell)

How effective is link building?

06 most effective seo strategies

Link building is still widely considered to be an effective digital marketing and SEO strategy. Not just because it helps websites to rank (we’ll look more at this next), but also because it can provide referral traffic and boost brand authority.

  1. 10.8% of marketers think link building is the most effective SEO strategy… (SEJ)
  2. …making it the third most effective SEO strategy overall. (SEJ)
  3. 44% of marketers think link building is less effective now compared to years ago. (Marie Haynes)
  4. 85% of SEO pros think link building has a ‘big impact’ on brand authority, while 15% think it has a ‘low impact’. (uSERP)
  5. Surveyed SEO experts rate the impact of link building 8 out of 10, on average. (Editorial Link)
  6. The number of referring domains strongly correlates with website traffic (Ahrefs2)

How does link building impact rankings?

12 backlinks and rankings

Backlinks are still one of the most important Google ranking factors—and most marketers think it will continue to be so for the foreseeable future. 

Naturally, then, the main reason SEOs build links is to boost their domain authority and rank higher in the search engines’ result pages (SERPs). However, many experts also think that while link building can help you to rank, it isn’t a necessity.

  1. 67.5% of SEO pros think backlinks have a big impact on rankings… (Blogging Wizard)
  2. …and a further 30% think they have a moderate impact (Blogging Wizard)
  3. Links are the #3 most important ranking factor according to SEJ… (SEJ2)
  4. …and the #1 most important ranking factor according to Authority Hacker (Authority Hacker2)
  5. 94% of SEO professionals think links will still be a ranking factor in 5 years, and 73% think they will be in 10 years. (Aira)
  6. 59% of SEO pros think backlinks will become a more important ranking factor in the future. (uSERP)
  7. Around 72% of SEO experts think it’s possible to rank high on Google without building links (i.e. by relying on quality content alone). (Editorial Link)
  8. 80% of SEO professionals think unlinked brand mentions still influence organic search rankings. (Aira)

How many backlinks does it take to rank?

20 pages rank top 10

There’s no definitive number of backlinks that you need to rank. A lot of pages manage to rank in position one in the SERPs without building a single link. However, generally, a greater number of backlinks does correlate with a higher ranking position. Here’s what the data says…

  1. Pages that rank in the top 10 results on Google have an average of 2,418 backlinks and a median of 13 backlinks. (Semrush)
  2.  …from an average of 112 different referring domains and a median of 6 referring domains. (Semrush)
  3. Pages that rank in position 1 on Google have 1,962 referring domains, on average… (Authority Hacker2)
  4. …while those in position 2 have an average of 416 referring domains, and those in position 3 have an average of 299 referring domains. (Authority Hacker2)
  5.  The #1 result on Google has 3.8x more backlinks than results in positions #2 to #10, on average. (Backlinko2)
  6. The average number of backlinks required to rank on page 1 of Google is 203 according to First Page Sage. (First Page Sage)
  7. The average number of backlinks required to rank in positions #1 to #3 is 521 according to First Page Sage. (First Page Sage)

How many backlinks does the average website page have?

27 zero external links

The statistics show that the vast majority of website pages on the internet have no backlinks whatsoever, and only a very small fraction have backlinks from multiple websites. However, it’s also true that the vast majority of pages fail to rank or generate any organic traffic.

  1. 94% of blog posts have 0 backlinks. (Backlinko)
  2. Only 2.2% of blog posts get backlinks from multiple domains. (Backlinko)
  3. Around 74% of websites have reciprocal links. (Ahrefs3)
  4. Around 44% of top-ranking pages have reciprocal links. (Ahrefs3)

How quickly can link builders acquire new backlinks?

31 backlink acquisition

Earning backlinks isn’t easy. According to the latest link building statistics, it takes most link builders hours to build a single link, and it can take weeks to see results from link building campaigns.

  1. 54% of SEO experts say they can build between 5 to 20 high-quality backlinks per month. (Editorial Link)
  2. 32% of SEOs say it typically takes them 1-2 hours to secure a single link… (Aira)
  3. …and a further 24% say it takes them 3-5 hours per link. (Aira)
  4. Around 42% of SEO experts say it typically takes 2-4 weeks to see the impact of link building on search engine rankings and organic traffic… (Editorial Link)
  5. …a further 37% say it takes 6 weeks, and only around 5.3% say it takes less than a week. (Editorial Link)

How much does link building cost?

36 link building

Link building costs vary substantially depending on the nature of your campaign, and whether you’re following a paid or organic link building strategy. Let’s look at some more link building statistics to find out more about how much the average company spends.

  1. Around 46% of SEO pros say they spend $5k to $10k a month on link building… (uSERP)
  2. …a further 35.5% spend $1k to $5k per month, and 18% spend $10k+ per month. (uSERP)
  3. Around 31% of SEO experts think the average cost to acquire a single high-quality link is less than $300… (Editorial Link)
  4. …A further 23% think it’s around $400 to $600 per link, and just 14% think it’s over $600 per link. (Editorial Link)
  5. 18.6% of surveyed experts say they dedicate less than 5% of their overall SEO budget to link building… (Editorial Link)
  6. …A further 17.7% say they spend 15-30%,  16.8% say 5-15%,  and 11.5% say 30-50%. Only 7.1% spend more than 50% of their SEO budget on link building. (Editorial Link)
  7. Around 62% of SEOs think link building is getting more expensive. (Authority Hacker)
  8. The average cost of a paid guest post is $220… (Buzzstream)
  9. …but only 6% of sites that accept guest posts are worth building a link on… (Buzzstream)
  10. …and the average cost of a paid guest post on a ‘quality’ site is $609. (Buzzstream)
  11. The average cost of a ‘link insertion’ is $141. (Buzzstream)

Do companies outsource link building?

47 link building outsource

Statistics show that link building is one of the most commonly outsourced SEO tasks. This is likely due to the fact that building links requires a more specialized skill set than other SEO disciplines, as well as connections with publishers that most companies don’t have in-house.

  1. 60% of marketers outsource link building to agencies or freelancers… (uSERP)
  2. …Only 29% of marketers say they oversee all link building in-house. And 11% say they use a mix of in-house and outsourced link building efforts. (uSERP)

Do marketers buy links?

49 competitors

Despite being against Google’s guidelines, the stats suggest that buying links is commonplace. Around three-quarters of link builders buy links. Plus, most SEOs think that it can boost your rankings—and they’re convinced their competitors are doing it.

  1. 92% of SEO experts think their competitors buy links. (Editorial Link)
  2. 69% of SEO pros think buying links can positively impact rankings. (Aira)
  3. Around 74% of link builders buy links. (Authority Hacker)
  4. Link builders who pay for links build 16 links per month on average… (Authority Hacker)
  5. …compared to 14 links per month amongst those who don’t pay for links. (Authority Hacker)
  6. Despite only increasing link yields by 2 per month, paying for links increases link building budgets by 42.85%. (Authority Hacker)

Is link building difficult?

55 most difficult seo tasks

A good chunk of companies and SEO pros think link building is difficult. However, the stats suggest it only ranks fifth in a list of most difficult SEO tasks, behind content creation/strategy, analytics, technical SEO, and keeping up with algorithm changes.

  1. 7.9% of marketers think link building is the most difficult SEO task… (SEJ)
  2. …making it the fifth most difficult SEO task overall. (SEJ)
  3. Around 48% of SEO experts think link building is the hardest part of SEO. (Editorial Link)
  4. 41% of large enterprises (those with 1k+ employees) think link building is the most difficult SEO task. (Conductor)

What makes a ‘good’ link?

59 link destination

The quality of the links you build matters just as much as the quantity. 

Good links come from authoritative, trustworthy domains and are relevant to your website. Here are some statistics that shed more light on the factors that make a backlink relevant, effective, and worth building.

  1. 58% of SEO pros think links to the target page are more important than links to the domain, while 42% think the reverse is true. (Aira)
  2. The biggest ‘red flag’ when checking the quality of a linking website is seeing content that’s irrelevant to the website’s topic/niche (25.6%)… (Authority Hacker)
  3. …Other red flags include ‘bad niches’ e.g. CBD, Casino, Essay, etc. (24%), poor SEO metrics (23%), and suspicious link profiles (16%). (Authority Hacker)
  4. According to SEO pros, the most important factor in determining the relevancy of a link is the topic of the page it’s placed on 62%). That’s followed by… 
  5. …the topic of the domain the link is placed on (52%), the topic of the content being linked to (38%), the topic of the section within the site where the link is placed (37%), the text surrounding the link (31%), and the anchor text (30%). (Aira)
  6. 56.2% of SEO pros think both quality and quantity matter equally for link building… (uSERP)
  7. …a further 35.9% think quality matters more, while 7.8% think quantity matters more. (uSERP)

Do no-follow links matter?

66 no follow links

It’s widely assumed that no-follow links are ignored by search engines like Google and, as such, don’t improve your website authority or ranking potential. However, the stats suggest that most SEO experts think no-follow links are still valuable and worth building. 

  1. 54% of SEO pros think ‘no-follow’ links still improve rankings and authority… (uSERP)
  2. …a further 34% think they might have an impact, and only 12% think they don’t have any impact at all. (uSERP)
  3. Around 47% of SEO experts actively make an effort to acquire nofollow links. (Editorial Link)

Link building metrics & benchmarks

69 main kpi link building

Stats show that the most popular metrics link builders track include website traffic, authority metrics, and ranking positions. However, the ‘most popular metric’ overall varies depending on which survey/study you look at. 

Here are some more stats about the metrics and KPIs link builders track, as well as the benchmarks/targets they aim for.

  1. Traffic is the #1 KPI used to measure link building campaign performance (22.5%) per uSERP … (uSERP)
  2. …that’s followed by ranking position (19%), sales/conversions (13%), referral traffic (13%), new unique domains (12%), and total links (10.5%). (uSERP)
  3. Domain Rating/Authority/Score is the #1 metric used to measure backlink quality (33.5%) per uSERP… (uSERP)
  4. …that’s followed by site traffic (30%), relevance (13.5%), referral traffic (10%), and anchor text (10%). (uSERP)
  5. Pages ranking in the top 10 results on Google have an average domain authority score of 67 (median of 72)… (Semrush)
  6.  …and an average page authority score of 20 (median of 18). (Semrush)
  7. Relevance is the #1 KPI used to measure backlink quality (84.6%) per Editorial Link… (Editorial Link)
  8. …that’s followed by domain scores (68.3%), traffic (68.3%), anchor text (38.5%), and referral traffic (37.5%). (Editorial Link)
  9. 69% of SEO experts think Ahrefs DR is the most reliable metric for measuring domain authority (significantly more than Moz’s DA, Semrush’s AS, or Majestic’s TF/CF). (Editorial Link)
  10. 37% of SEO pros say they’d consider a link building campaign successful if it generated 1-9 links… (Aira)
  11. X. …a further 28% said it would need to generate 10-19 links to be deemed a success, while 18% said 20-39 links, 7% said 40-59 links, and 7% said 60+ links. (Aira)

Link building strategies & best practices

80 link building tactics

Next, let’s look at some statistics that tell us more about the strategies, channels, and tactics link builders use to acquire new backlinks.

  1. Digital PR is the #1 most popular link building tactic (16%)… (uSERP)
  2. …that’s followed by content marketing (13%), guest posting (12%), claiming unclaimed mentions (10%), link exchanges (10%), and link insertions (10%). (uSERP)
  3. Digital PR link building is also the #1 most effective tactic (20%) (uSERP)
  4. …that’s followed by content marketing (18%), guest posting (12%), claiming unclaimed mentions (12%), link exchanges & link insertions (10%). (uSERP)
  5. 68% of SEOs use content marketing specifically to generate links. (Aira)
  6. 54% of SEOs utilize competitor analysis and target their competitors’ links. (Aira)
  7. 39% of SEOs use broken link building techniques to acquire new links. (Aira)
  8. 32% of SEOs use ‘newsjacking’ tactics to build links. (Aira)
  9. Email is the top link-building outreach channel/source (45.1%)… (Editorial Link)
  10. …that’s followed by communities & partnerships (23%), LinkedIn (8.8%), and other sources (22.1%). (Editorial Link)
  11. 84% of SEO pros won’t report their competitors if they see them breaking Google guidelines. 16% will. (Aira)
  12. Those who use social media for link building outreach earn 22% more links per month than those who don’t. (Authority Hacker)

What type of content is best for link building?

Marketers often create content specifically to acquire backlinks—but which types of content work best for this? Let’s look at some more link building statistics to find out.

  1. 56% of SEO pros think long-form, report-style content is the most effective at generating links… (Aira)
  2. …that’s followed by interactive content (42%), blog posts (39%), infographics (27%), and press releases (27%). (Aira)
  3. Long-form content earns 77% more links than short-form content. (Backlinko)
  4. ‘Why posts’ get the most backlinks of all types of blog posts (Backlinko)
  5. ‘List posts’ get the least backlinks of all types of blog posts (Backlinko)

Link building tools

Before we wrap up, let’s look at some statistics that tell us more about the tools, apps, and software products that link builders are using.

97 link building
  1. Google Search Console is the #1 most popular tool used for link building overall (25%). (uSERP)
  2. …that’s followed by Semrush (21%), Ahrefs (15%), Screaming Frog (10%), and Buzzstream (10%). (uSERP)
  3. Ahrefs is the top SEO tool for comprehensive backlink data (74%)… (Editorial Link). 
  4. …that’s followed by Semrush (14%), and Majestic (9%). (Editorial Link)
  5. Hunter.io is the most popular email finder used for link building (37.2%)… (Editorial Link)
  6. …that’s followed by Apollo.io (7.1%), Rocketreach.co (6.2%), and Snov.io (6.2%). (Editorial Link)
  7. 51% of SEO experts don’t use a dedicated outreach tool for link building… (Editorial Link)
  8. …but of those that do, Buzzstream is the most popular (12.4%), followed by Pitchbox (11.5%). (Editorial Link)
  9. Only 31% of SEO experts use Google Disavow tools to deal with bad links, while 69% don’t. (Editorial Link)
  10. 44% of SEO experts now use AI in their link building efforts. (Editorial Link)

Final thoughts

Those are all the most important link building statistics that marketers need to know this year—we hope you found them useful.

The main takeaway: Link building is still a crucial part of search engine optimization this year and experts continue to prioritize it in their SEO strategies and budgets. 

To learn more about what it takes to rank, check out these SEO principles beginners need to know. Plus, read our guide to SEO tracking to measure how your link building efforts are impacting your performance in search.

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