25 Stats That Prove Why You Need Link-Building in Your SEO Strategy

You probably already know how crucial SEO is for your website's traffic.

One of the most important sub tactics within an SEO strategy is link-building. Not sure what this means? Here's the quick explanation.

When websites link to your website, search algorithms determine that you have "authority" in  your industry because other brands are referring to you. The higher your authority gets, the better your search rankings could be. Additionally, linking to other posts within your site can also help to boost your authority as its a sign to algorithms that you've thoroughly covered a topic you're discussing.

But, here's where it gets a bit more tricky. When a more credible website, such as a notable publication with a high search ranking links to you, that link counts for more than an internal link or a link from a site with less search credibility. Also, if you link a blog post or page to a site with no or poor search authority, your ranking might go down because you aren't linking to sources that search algorithms deem as credible.

These are just a few of the nuances that make link building difficult and time-consuming for many marketers. But, research shows that taking the time to build a solid backlink strategy can quickly boost your search rankings.

In fact, in 2019, most SEO experts said external links were one of the three most valuable aspects of their search optimization strategies. Meanwhile, 51% of marketers say they notice positive effects of general link building strategies within one to three months of executing on those tactics.

The above stats are just a taste of what link building can do for your web strategy. To help you understand the opportunities, challenges, common tactics, and costs behind successful link building, here are 25 helpful stats.

Link Building Opportunities and Challenges

• Links are one of the top two criteria considered in Google's page ranking algorithm. (Search Engine Land)
• SEO experts say the third most important factor for search optimization is external linking. (Databox)
• In the near future, 53% of marketers believe link building will have the same impact on search rankings, while 41% think it will have less of an impact. (Aira)
• 52% of marketers believe brand mentions impact organic search rankings. (Aira)
• In five years, 92% of marketers believe that links will still be ranking criteria in Google algorithms. (Aira)
• 13% of search experts say link building is the most valuable SEO tactic. (Ascend)
• 51% of marketers say it takes one to three months to see the impact of link-building efforts. (Aira)
• In a study of web content, zero correlation between backlinks and social shares. (Backlinko)
• 94% of the world’s content gets zero external links. (Backlinko)
• Only 2.2% of content generates links from multiple websites. (Backlinko)
• 41% of SEO experts consider link building to be the most difficult part of search optimization, (Ascend)
• 65% of marketers measure their link quality by looking at their domain authority. Meanwhile, marketers also use domain ratings (48%) and page authority (36%) to determine link quality. (Aira)
• If they could only choose one metric for studying link quality, 34% of marketers would look at domain authority while 22% would look at domain rating. (Aira)
• 38% of marketers say page rankings are the top KPI they use to determine the effectiveness of their link-building efforts. (Aira)

Link Building Processes

• 36% of businesses hire outside experts or freelancers for link building efforts. (Aira)
• 48% of marketers report on "nofollow" links as part of their process. (Aira)
• 42% of SEOs spend equal time on building internal and external links. (Databox)

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Link Building Costs

• 46% of marketers spend $10,000 or more annually on link building, while 22% spend between $1,000 and $2,500. (Aira)
• 61% of marketers say they use zero to ten percent of their total budget on link building.  (Aira)
• It often costs brands $1,000 or more to gain a quality link. (Siege Media)
• 41% of marketers expect the cost of link building to increase in the future. (Aira)

Common Link Building Tactics

• 69% of marketers believe that buying links positively impacts search rankings. (Aira)
• “Why" posts, “What” posts, and infographics received 25.8% more links compared to videos and “How-to” posts. (Backlinko)
• Long-form content gets an average of 77.2% more links than short articles. Therefore, long-form content appears to be ideal for backlink acquisition. (Backlinko)

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• 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. (Databox)

How to Embrace Link Building

As you can see from the stats above, link building can be crucial for search rankings, but can also be quite challenging. Luckily, there are a few simple strategies that you can take on immediately to help boost your site's authority through links.

For example, you can include internal links in your blog posts and web content, publish original quotes or data that people will link to, or create a basic outreach strategy that allows you to share your newest posts. To learn more about how you can start or broaden your SEO strategy, check out this detailed link building guide.

Want to learn about other search optimization techniques and tools? You might also enjoy our Ultimate Guide to SEO.