76 Link Building Statistics: Industry Expert Round-up

Link building is still a cornerstone of SEO in 2025. Below, we present a list of key link building statistics (both current data and historical trends) that SEO professionals should know.

These stats cover everything from the age-old quality vs. quantity debate to modern issues like AI tools and algorithm updates. Each point includes an source, giving you a nuanced, evidence-backed picture of link building.

Link quality vs. quantity

• Quality trumps quantity: 93.8% of link builders say link quality is more important than sheer quantity . This reflects a broad industry consensus that a few high-authority links outperform dozens of low-value ones. [authorityhacker.com]

• Hard truth about quantity: The vast majority of webpages never earn many links at all – 94% of online content gets zero external backlinks, and only 2.2% of pages get links from more than one website. This underscores how difficult accumulating any link quantity can be, further highlighting the value of each quality link earned. [backlinko.com]

• Historical shift to quality: Prior to 2012, high volumes of links (even if low-quality) could propel rankings. Google’s Penguin update changed that by targeting link spam; when it first launched, it impacted ~3% of search queries to clamp down on manipulative link quantity. Ever since, pure quantity strategies have given way to quality-focused link building. [searchenginejournal.com]

• Nofollow is still considered quality: 89.1% of link builders think nofollow links matter for search rankings. This could be due to Google's brand mentions. [authorityhacker.com]

White-hat vs. black-hat tactics

• Widespread link buying: Despite being a “black-hat” tactic per Google’s guidelines, 74.3% of link builders admit to paying for links. [authorityhacker.com]

• Similarly, a separate survey found 52.7% of SEO professionals arrange paid backlinks for their sites. This illustrates how common (if risky) paid links are in practice. [linkdoctor.io]

• Belief in paid links’ effectiveness: 69% of marketers say that buying links can positively impact rankings [aira.net]

• a viewpoint at odds with Google’s official warnings. Additionally, 10% of e-commerce SEO specialists even give away products in exchange for links, blurring ethical lines. [aira.net]

• Use of risky tactics: Only a small minority admit to overt black-hat techniques – e.g. about 7% of link builders use private blog networks (PBNs) to build links. PBNs and link schemes are generally viewed as high-risk, and their low adoption reflects that most SEOs steer clear of the most egregious tactics. [aira.net]

• Manual action consequences: When black-hat tactics go wrong, the fallout is severe – Google has issued thousands of manual penalties for “unnatural links” over the years (Google, 2022). In fact, by 2013 Google’s Penguin algorithm became stricter, able to penalize sites with as little as ~50% of their link profile deemed suspicious (down from 80% in 2012). This tightening shows Google’s increasing intolerance for manipulative link patterns. [searchengineland.com]

• White-hat preference: On the flip side, many SEO professionals stick to white-hat link building. For example, creating high-quality content and outreach (earning links organically) was the top method used by 76.7% of SEOs in the past year. The prevalence of content-driven and relationship-based tactics suggests most practitioners try to remain within Google’s guidelines. [linkdoctor.io]

Anchor text usage

• Exact-match anchors losing favor: 38% of SEO experts report that exact-match anchor texts (anchors that exactly match a target keyword) have become less effective for their brand’s SEO in recent years. Over-optimized anchors are now seen as a potential red flag rather than a boost, thanks to algorithmic shifts. [zazzlemedia.co.uk]

• Natural anchor diversity: Studies show top-ranking sites tend to have diverse, brand-heavy anchor text profiles. For instance, one analysis found that the average #1 ranking page’s backlink profile contains the target keyword in the anchor text only a small single-digit percentage of the time. Excessive keyword anchors (e.g. >50–70% of links) are rare among high performers. [authorityhacker.com

• Expert tip: “Anchor text optimization is the 0.1% difference-maker once you’re in the top ten,” one study concluded. In other words, anchor text can provide a competitive edge in close ranking battles, but it must be used judiciously. Over-optimization will hurt, whereas a smart mix (brand, partial-match, generic anchors) can subtly improve relevance. [authorityhacker.com]

Domain authority and backlink correlation

• Backlinks = higher rankings: There’s a strong positive correlation between a page’s backlink profile and its Google rankings. According to a Backlinko analysis of 11.8 million search results, the #1 result has 3.8 times more backlinks than results #2–#10 on average. In short, pages with more referring domains tend to rank higher. [backlinko.com]

• Organic traffic correlation: Internal studies by Ahrefs show that pages with more referring domains also receive significantly more organic search traffic on average. [ahrefs.com]

• In fact, 90.88% of pages with no backlinks get zero traffic from Google – illustrating the direct line between building backlinks and attracting visitors. [ahrefs.com]

• Domain Rating (DR) matters: Research has shown that websites with a higher Domain Authority/Rating (third-party metrics indicating overall backlink strength) tend to rank higher in Google search results. In practice, an authoritative domain (earned via many quality backlinks) creates a rising tide that helps all its pages rank easier. [authorityhacker.com]

• Newer sites vs. established sites: High “domain authority” can even help webpages rank without many links of their own. For example, Ahrefs found that among pages with no backlinks, the only ones getting significant Google traffic were on websites with very high DR scores (i.e. strong overall backlink profiles). This underscores how a robust domain backlink profile confers SEO advantage even to new pages (via internal link equity flow). [ahrefs.com]

• Top sites all have nofollows naturally: 10.6% of all backlinks to the top 110,000 websites were nofollow. This means that if you only have dofollow links, it looks unnatural to Google. [ahrefs.com]
• Ahrefs study found that only 1 in 6,671 pages without any backlinks got more than 1,000 monthly visitors from Google. In other words, 99.985% of pages with no links never reach that traffic level. If you’re targeting competitive keywords, you’ll almost certainly need quality backlinks to rank [ahrefs.com]

Internal vs. external linking

• Internal links often overlooked: Only 9% of small businesses even track the number and quality of their backlinks, and many neglect internal linking. However, Google emphasizes that internal linking is “super critical” for SEO, as it helps distribute PageRank and guide crawlers. John Mueller advises strategically linking to your most important pages, calling it one of the biggest things you can do on-site for rankings. [themanifest.com]

• Internal link impact: 8% of SEO professionals say internal links are the single most important ranking factor for them (Search Engine Journal, 2024)sureoak.com. While content and external links usually get top billing, this shows a subset of experts who prioritize internal link structure as a key SEO lever – especially on large sites. [searchenginejournal.com]

• Time spent on internal vs external: 42% of marketers report spending as much time on internal link optimization as on external link building. Investing in internal links (e.g. cross-linking blog posts or adding contextual links to key pages) can yield quick wins by boosting the authority flow to important pages on your site. [databox.com]

• Common internal link issues: 25% of web pages have zero internal links pointing to them – these “orphan pages” often underperform in search. [semrush.com]

• Additionally, 42% of websites were found to have broken internal links. These stats indicate many sites have untapped opportunities to fix links and improve their architecture for better SEO. [semrush.com]

• A 2020 study found that about 35.3% of websites had some internal nofollow links, but those accounted for only 3.6% of all internal links on average. [ahrefs.com]

Link building strategies and tactics

• Content and outreach lead the way: The most popular tactic is creating content and reaching out for links – 86% of marketers create content specifically to generate backlinks. This could include original research, infographics, or blog posts crafted to earn links naturally. It reflects the “create valuable content and links will come” philosophy. [aira.net]

• Guest blogging is alive and well: 75.3% of SEO experts report writing guest posts on external sites to build backlinks. Despite Google’s warnings (e.g. the 2014 “guest blogging is dead” proclamation), guest posting remains a staple strategy over a decade on. [linkdoctor.io]

• In fact, 73.3% of bloggers say they publish guest posts on their own sites, showing strong demand for contributed content. [orbitmedia.com]

• Broken link building: 48% of SEO pros use the broken link building method – where you find broken links on other sites and suggest your content as a replacement. This “helpful fixer” approach is relatively popular, as it turns others’ link rot into opportunities. [linkdoctor.io]

• Unlinked mentions: 37% of marketers actively target unlinked brand mentions (finding online mentions of their brand and asking for a backlink) as a quick-win tactic. [aira.net]

• Digital PR: Additionally, 36% use digital PR campaigns to earn backlinks by creating newsworthy content or studies that journalists will write about and link to. [linkdoctor.io]

• Competitor backlink analysis: Just over half (54%) of SEO marketers track and replicate competitors’ backlinks. Using competitor links for inspiration is common – if a site in your niche got a backlink from a certain resource, you might reach out to that same resource with your (better) content. [aira.net]

• Resource link building: 56% of SEO experts say that getting listed on resource pages (curated lists of links on a topic) is an effective tactic. “Resource page link building” involves finding pages like “Top X Tools/Blogs for [Topic]” and asking to be included – a classic white-hat method. [backlinko.com]

• Yes, only 24% of SEOs use resource page link building as part of their strategy. [aira.net]

• Other creative tactics: 32% of marketers use newsjacking (tying content to trending news to attract links), and 18% use the Skyscraper Technique (creating ultra comprehensive content to outrank others and earn their backlinks. These intermediate-level tactics show the wide range of approaches in modern link building, from reactive PR moves to proactive content overhauls. [aira.net]

• Link exchanges on the rise: 38.7% of SEO pros admit to occasionally doing link exchanges (you link to me, I link to you) with other sites. [linkdoctor.io]

• Moreover, an Ahrefs study found 73.6% of high-traffic domains have reciprocal links on their backlink profiles. While direct “I’ll link to you if you link to me” trades are against Google guidelines, these numbers suggest reciprocal linking often happens naturally (sites in the same niche citing each other). [ahrefs.com]

• Outreach challenges: Scaling outreach is tough – a famous analysis of 12 million outreach emails found the average response rate is only about 8.5%. Personalized emails and follow-ups can improve this, but it highlights that link building is a numbers game: many asks yield few links. No wonder over half of marketers say it’s the hardest part of SEO! [backlinko.com]

• Nofollows are still interesting: 62% of marketers feel nofollow links are an important metric to report on. This can indicate they are valuable for companies and matter for rankings or organic traffic. [aira.net]
• Additionally, digital PR was voted as the most effective link building strategy by 67.3% of SEO experts. From our experience, digital PR works great for B2C companies but not so well for B2B which is less trend-driven. Guest posting was the 2nd most effective at 38.9% of votes. And other content-driven approaches like creating linkable assets (36.3%) and HARO outreach (28.3%). [buzzstream.com]
  
• Only 6% of sites openly inviting to guest post remain "high quality" with solid traffic. [buzzstream.com]

Link decay and attrition rates

• Backlinks are not forever: Links naturally decay over time due to website changes, deletions, or lost pages. Approximately 25% of backlinks that sites build will disappear within a few years (Industry data, 2018–2023). Ahrefs research corroborates this: top-ranking pages steadily earn new backlinks but also lose links due to attrition, requiring continuous efforts to net positive link growth. [ahrefs.com]

• Internal link decay: Internal links can also break over time (42% of websites have broken internal links as noted above). Ensuring internal redirects or updating old links is important so that you don’t “lose” the equity from those links. [semrush.com]

• Studies show that about 66.5% of backlinks from the past 9 years are now dead. [buzzstream.com]

Link building ROI and effectiveness

• SEO budget allocation: Companies invest heavily in link building. On average, 28% of SEO budgets go toward link building activities. Given limited resources, this indicates the high priority and expected ROI of acquiring quality backlinks. [authorityhacker.com]

• Positive ROI perception: Over 78% of SEO professionals say they see a positive impact and return on investment from link building. In spite of costs and effort, most SEOs believe that backlinks still significantly move the needle for rankings and organic traffic, making the investment worthwhile. [authorityhacker.com]

• Time to see results: It takes an average of 3.1 months to observe the impact of a new backlink on search rankings. Very few practitioners report seeing effects in under a month. This lag means link building requires patience and a forward-looking strategy (today’s link might boost rankings next quarter). [authorityhacker.com]

• Cost per link: The average cost of acquiring a paid link ranges widely. An Ahrefs study found a paid backlink costs about $361 on average, though paid guest post placements averaged a more modest ~$78 each. [ahrefs.com]

• Interestingly, the Authority Hacker survey reported a much lower average cost – $83 per link – for those who pay for links. This disparity could be due to different sample sets or negotiation tactics, but it shows how variable link pricing can be. [authorityhacker.com]

• A BuzzStream analysis of 898 guest post sites found the average price was $220 for a guest post placement. High-end sites (DR ~80) charged around $600 on average for a guest spot [buzzstream.com].

• Agency vs. in-house cost: In-house teams often pay a premium for links. For example, in-house SEOs report paying 75% more per link than niche site owners do. Agencies and experienced link builders can build links more efficiently – seasoned link builders were found to acquire links 41% cheaper (when factoring labor) than beginners. Experience and established outreach processes clearly improve cost-effectiveness. [authorityhacker.com]

• Difficulty and challenges: 52.3% of digital marketers say link building is the hardest part of SEO. It’s resource-intensive and often unpredictable. In 2023, common link building problems cited included it being time-consuming, hard to find quality sites, and getting results slow – all challenges that can hurt ROI if not managed. [authorityhacker.com]

• Rising costs and efforts: 61.7% of SEO pros report that link building is getting more expensive, and 52.7% say it’s taking more time than it used to. This inflation in effort/cost means the bar for “ROI-positive” campaigns is higher – strategies must be more targeted and efficient now than a few years ago. [authorityhacker.com]

• Measuring success: The primary KPI for link building efforts is often keyword rankings (used by 77.3% of respondents as a success metric). However, direct referral traffic and organic traffic growth are also used. [linkdoctor.io]

• Only 23% of small businesses track backlinks as a metric at all – suggesting many may undervalue link-building until they feel its effects on rankings. [themanifest.com]

Differences across industries

• Easiest industries to build links: According to a large survey of SEO experts, the three easiest verticals for link building are Leisure/Tourism, Creative Arts/Design, and Hospitality. These industries tend to have abundant online communities and sharable content, making it relatively simpler to earn backlinks. [aira.net]

• Toughest industries for links: On the other hand, the hardest sectors to get links in are Healthcare, Accounting, and Legal (Law). Highly regulated or “dry” industries often struggle to attract organic links, as content in these fields isn’t as inherently link-worthy or widely discussed. SEO teams in these niches must get especially creative (e.g. data studies, expert commentary) to build links. [aira.net]

• Small business lag: Only 21% of small businesses build links or invest in link building as part of their SEO strategy. Many small firms opt for social media or paid ads, underestimating the long-term value of backlinks. This gap can be an opportunity for those SMBs that do focus on link building, as they can outrank less-optimized competitors. [themanifest.com]

• E-commerce strategies: In e-commerce, 10% of e-commerce SEO specialists use product giveaways for backlinks. Tactics like influencer outreach and affiliate programs (which generate links) are more prevalent in retail and D2C industries. By contrast, a nonprofit or government website can’t use such tactics as readily and must rely on organic citation and .edu/.org outreach. [aira.net]

• Industry link benchmarks: SEO professionals set different link expectations per industry. In a survey, 37% of SEOs considered getting 1–9 links per content campaign a success in content-led link building, while 28% said 10–19 links was the benchmark. These expectations can vary by industry – for example, a newsworthy finance study might garner dozens of links, whereas a similar effort in a niche manufacturing field might only net a handful. Knowing your industry’s “norms” is crucial for setting client expectations. [aira.net]

Search engine algorithm updates and impact on link building

• Penguin’s legacy: Google’s Penguin algorithm (launched April 2012) was a game-changer for link building. Penguin 1.0 alone affected ~3.1% of Google searches by penalizing sites with spammy link profiles. Subsequent Penguin updates in 2013–2014 further tightened the screws (e.g. sites with >50% exact-match anchor links saw penalties). This forced SEO practitioners to abandon blatant link schemes and clean up bad links via disavows. [searchengineland.com]

• Impact of SpamBrain: Google reported that SpamBrain reduced the prevalence of spammy links in search by over 60% in 2018, and in 2021 it neutralized 70% more spam sites than in the previous year. These stats show that Google’s AI is catching an ever-larger share of link spam. For link builders, this means tactics that Google deems spam (low-quality directories, forum spamming, non-contextual blog comments, etc.) have diminishing returns and are largely a wasted effort post-2022. [netpeaksoftware.com]

• Mixed reactions to updates: Recent updates that devalue links have had mixed effects on SEO practitioners. After the Dec 2022 Spam update, 23.3% of link builders said they saw no impact on their efforts, while 14% actually noticed improved rankings as their cleaner link profiles gave them an edge. However, a portion (not explicitly measured) saw declines – likely those whose rankings were propped up by spam links that got neutralized. The takeaway: algorithm updates increasingly reward sustainable, white-hat link building and diminish the effectiveness of shortcuts. [linkdoctor.io]

• E-E-A-T and links: Google’s late 2022 addition of a second “E” (Experience) to E-A-T guidelines also has implications. In a 2023 survey, 34.7% of SEOs observed a positive impact on rankings from their link building after Google’s E-E-A-T tweaks, while 26.7% said their link efforts seemed less effective post-update. This split opinion likely reflects that sites with genuinely authoritative links (from trusted, relevant sources) gained, whereas those with superficial link profiles lost ground in an algorithm now looking more at who is endorsing you. The quality and context of backlinks have never been more critical. [linkdoctor.io]

Link building tools and technology adoption

• Popular SEO tools for link building: The industry is dominated by a few key platforms. 86.1% of link builders use Semrush for link research or outreach management, and about 76% use Ahrefs. [linkdoctor.io]

• In many cases, professionals use both. When asked to pick a single must-have tool, 39.3% chose Ahrefs, edging out other tools. Moz’s Link Explorer and Majestic are also used, but far less widely (often as secondary tools). [linkdoctor.io]

• Tool metrics reliance: More than half of newcomer SEOs rely heavily on tool metrics like Domain Authority (DA) or Domain Rating (DR) to judge link quality – 51.4% of beginner link builders say they evaluate links by DA/DR. In contrast, only 29.0% of very experienced link builders focus on those metrics, preferring more nuanced judgment. This suggests that veterans use DA/DR as just one factor, looking more at relevancy, traffic, and editorial standards of a link prospect rather than DA alone. [authorityhacker.com]

• AI in link building: SEOs are cautiously embracing AI. 47.3% of SEO professionals plan to utilize AI tools (like ChatGPT) for link building in future campaigns. AI can assist with tasks like writing outreach emails, generating content for linkable assets, or identifying link prospects at scale. However, quality control remains with the SEO experts to avoid generic pitches or AI-generated content that falls flat. [linkdoctor.io]

• Outlook on AI’s impact: Two-thirds (67.3%) of link builders think AI will have a positive effect on link building, making certain processes more efficient. [linkdoctor.io]

• On the other hand, 3.3% fear that AI could even render their jobs obsolete (by automating outreach or content creation entirely. The prevailing view is that AI will augment, not replace, human link builders – for instance, using AI to draft an email that a human then personalizes and sends. [linkdoctor.io]

• Automation vs. personalization: While tools help send emails en masse, experts warn against losing the personal touch. Many teams leverage tools to automate follow-ups or track opens, but still craft individualized messages for high-value targets. This hybrid approach is supported by data: personalized outreach emails receive a reply rate 3X higher than templated blasts. Thus, technology is used to assist, but not entirely automate, outreach. [backlinko.com]

• Collaboration and project management: Larger link building projects (especially digital PR campaigns) involve cross-team collaboration – SEO, content, design, PR. About 54% of agencies use project management software (Trello, Asana, etc.) to coordinate link building campaigns across departments. This ensures content creators, outreach specialists, and clients stay aligned on targets and timelines – a sign of link building maturing as a formalized process with tech-enabled workflows. [aira.net]