Are you wondering how many links to be number one? The most accurate answer is: As many as it takes. It’s different every time for every keyword for every website.
A more accurate answer can also be that it depends on the quality and quantity of links your competition has already acquired.
But that’s not all.
It also depends on the age of the domains you’re competing against, the quality of the competition’s content, the age of your domain, and how well your optimization is compared to the top 10 ranking websites.
The truth is, there’s more than one way to rank a website. While links are considered the second largest ranking factor, there are still other ways to get around beating another website with links only.
The reason this is important to understand is that links can be a tricky tactic. While quality backlinks are always encouraged and should be consistently acquired, they’re usually the icing on the cake or one of the last efforts to push up a page.
If “Content is King”, then links are its queen
When we analyze the competition, our first goal is to beat ALL 10 ranking websites with content. We look at the website with the least number of links to see why they’re ranking with such a low number of backlinks.
The most common reason is really good content. If we can beat the best pages in the content category, we’ll rank much faster when it comes time to build links.
Work smarter, not harder
Once we’re strong in the content department (which, by the way, includes incorporating images, video, audio, and whatever else “the other guys” have on their pages), we group together every link that every competitor has ever acquired.
It sounds fancy, but it’s a really common practice made easy by SEO software. Check it out. It’s as simple as adding your domain and then adding every other top-ranking website.
The results come out showing you every link “the other guys” have, that you don’t.
From there, it’s a matter of putting together a link-building schedule, prioritizing the links, and reaching out to every website for the same links. The speed of your link-building strategy will depend on the best way to keep things looking natural as well as the timeline your company has for reaching the top of Google.
Do you want the detailed version of how many links to be number one?? Read a more in-depth article on “How Many Backlinks Do You Need To Rank On Google?”
Learn more about Search Engine Optimization