Method for calculating the required number of links
It is not possible to give a general answer to the question of how many backlinks a website needs, as this depends on numerous factors such as the industry, the competition and the specific goals of the website.
As a rule, the stronger the competition, the higher the investment in SEO. For me, a higher investment in SEO usually also means a higher number of backlinks.
If I as a company want to keep up in such a competitive field, in most cases I am also dependent on a higher number of backlinks.
To get a rough estimate of how many backlinks are needed, I always recommend carrying out a competitive analysis.
Competitor analysis is a central element for me in order to bring a website to the top of the search engines on the one hand and to better understand the link structure and strategy of competitors on the other.
Backlink-Wettbewerbsanalyse3
Within a backlink competition analysis, I not only look at the pure number of backlinks that my competitors have, but also the quality of these links.
Backlinks that come from pages with a high domain authority (DA) are particularly relevant. These links are usually more difficult to obtain and can therefore be more valuable.
The origin of the links is also an important indicator of the quality of a backlink profile (keyword: thematic relevance).
The thematic relevance of a backlink is derived from how relevant the "topic" of the linking domain is to the topic of my linked domain.
An example to illustrate this: Imagine you run a dog blog and receive a backlink from a car tuning website. In this case, I would classify the thematic relevance of the link as low.
However, if you receive a backlink for a dog blog from a veterinary clinic or a dog food brand, I would classify the thematic relevance of the backlink as high.
In the examples above, the classification of thematic relevance is relatively clear. However, there are also cases where the classification is not clear.
In my view, the classification of thematic relevance is always subjective and unfortunately cannot be based on clear quantitative parameters.
Tools for competitive analysis
To carry out the competitive analysis, I recommend market-leading SEO tools such as Ahrefs. These offer in-depth analysis options to examine the number and quality of competitors' backlinks.
Ahrefs can therefore not only analyze the number of backlinks, but also the quality of the backlinks.
This is made possible on the one hand by the traceability of the domain rating (DR), but also by other quality parameters such as the number of referring domains or the ratio of incoming and outgoing backlinks.
Ausserdem kannst du mithilfe von Ahrefs ermitteln, von welchen Websites die Links kommen, welche Ankertexte verwendet werden und wie das Linkprofil über die Zeit gewachsen ist.
Das ist wichtig, um nachzuvollziehen, wie die Konkurrenten innerhalb der eigenen Branche ihre Backlink-Profile aufbauen und wie schnell sie dies tun (Stichwort: Link Velocity).
Neben Ahrefs gibt es aber auch noch weitere Tools, die verwendet werden können. Dabei lohnt es sich, die Wettbewerbsanalyse auf mehrere SEO-Tools zu stützen, da unterschiedliche Tools auf unterschiedliche Datenbanken zurückgreifen.
Beispielsweise kann Sistrix für die Ermittlung der Qualität von Backlinks ein gutes Tool sein, um die Sichtbarkeit mittels des Sichtbarkeitsindex (SI) zu ermitteln.
In many cases, it can also make sense to call in a professional SEO agency. On the one hand, this is because a competitive analysis requires several SEO tools, which can quickly add up to several thousand Swiss francs in annual costs.
On the other hand, I need a certain amount of expertise and experience to assess certain quality criteria in order to correctly interpret the data provided by the tools.
A competitive analysis therefore always forms the basis of a solid backlink strategy and should be carried out seriously and comprehensively.
What do I need to consider when building backlinks?
In the following, I will explain the most important factors in backlink building in more detail:
Quality more important than quantity
First of all, it should be emphasized that it is not, as some might assume, the pure number of backlinks that is decisive, but above all the quality of the backlinks.
Einige hochwertige Links von autoritären und relevanten Websites können einen weit grösseren Einfluss auf die Suchmaschinen-Rankings haben als Hunderte Links von niedriger Qualität.
So ist beispielsweise ein Link von einer angesehenen Zeitschrift, Universität oder auch einer Forschungseinrichtung möglicherweise wertvoller als mehrere Hundert Links von kleinen, unbekannten Blogs.
Wenn es darum geht, festzulegen, wie viele Links platziert werden sollten, sollte man sich immer an der Linkanzahl der top-gerankten Unternehmen in der eigenen Branche orientieren.
In principle, however, the principle of "less is more" usually applies to link placement.
Zu viele (qualitativ schlechte) Backlinks können einer Suchmaschine wie Google negative Signale aussenden, wodurch sich nicht nur dein Ranking verschlechtern kann, sondern deine Website sogar als Spam wahrgenommen wird.
The right amount of quality and quantity is therefore very important for the ranking of my domain and must be considered as one of the most important factors in link building.
The importance of anchor texts
Der Ankertext ist ein wichtiger Aspekt im Bereich der Suchmaschinenoptimierung und insbesondere beim Aufbau von Backlinks.
This is the visible, clickable text that links to another page.
The anchor text can not only be important for better navigation of your website visitors, but also plays an important role in how the search engine interprets and classifies the content of your website.
Search engines use anchor texts to better understand and categorize the content of the linked page. This means that the anchor text gives Google clues as to which topic or topics the target page deals with.
For example, if many websites with the anchor text "web design" are linked to another page, the search engine assumes that the linked page is relevant for the search term "web design".
It is essential for me to consider a natural variance in the anchor texts when building backlinks. This means that not all links should have the same anchor text.
A variety of anchor texts from different pages appears more authentic and natural from Google's point of view.
Grundsätzlich unterscheide ich zwischen 5 verschiedenen Arten von Ankertexten:
There are also numerous other categorization schemes for anchor texts.
However, it is not primarily important how I categorize the anchor texts, but that a consistent categorization is made.
Your aim must be to achieve as natural a distribution of the link profile as possible.
Das bedeutet, dass die Ankertexte sowohl exakte Übereinstimmungen mit einem Fokus-Keyword enthalten (Target Anchor) als auch partielle Übereinstimmungen mit thematisch verwandten Begriffen (Thematischer Anchor), dem eigenen Markennamen (Branded Anchor), URLs und sonstigen Formen von Ankertexten.
While anchor texts can be used to send relevant signals to the search engine, you should also make sure that target anchors with an exact focus keyword, as well as thematic anchors, are not used excessively.
Excessive use of these anchor texts is classified as manipulation by Google.
In the worst case scenario, this can lead to your keyword rankings being systematically downgraded
When using anchor texts, you should therefore act strategically and pay attention to a balanced mix of different anchor texts.
A strategically prudent and well thought-out approach to anchor texts in link building ensures that your website sends positive signals to a search engine, increases the relevance and authority of the website in the eyes of the search engine and at the same time minimizes the risk of penalties due to unnatural link patterns.
Verteilung zwischen DoFollow- und NoFollow-Backlinks
Backlinks can basically be divided into two main categories: external and internal backlinks.
While internal links are links within my own website, external links are links that point from another website to my own website.
Doch was sind nun DoFollow- und NoFollow-Links?
DoFollow and NoFollow links belong to the area of external links.
1. do-follow links
DoFollow-Links tragen stärker zur SEO bei, da sie sogenannten Linkjuice (Linksaft) übertragen. Das bedeutet, dass ein solcher Link die «Power» der verlinkenden Domain an meine verlinkte Website weitergibt.
Basically, backlinks of any kind are DoFollow links by default.
The more DoFollow links my website has, the greater Google's trust in my website, because this increases the "authority" of the domain within the Internet (as defined by the Google algorithm).
2. no-follow links
NoFollow links are in contrast to DoFollow links and do not transmit any direct link juice. This means that they do not transfer link juice and are not taken into account by a search engine such as Google.
It is important to know that links are not automatically marked as NoFollow.
If I want to mark a certain link as NoFollow, for example because it is a spam link, i.e. a link of low quality that negatively affects the ranking of my domain, this process must be carried out manually by changing or adapting the HTML code, for example.
It is important for me to establish a natural relationship between both types of links in order to signal authenticity and trustworthiness vis-à-vis the search engine.
For example, if 90% of all my backlinks are DoFollow links, this can be classified as unnatural by search engines such as Google.
A distribution of, for example, 70% DoFollow and 30% NoFollow, on the other hand, looks much more natural and therefore also more trustworthy.
However, there is no uniform distribution between DoFollow and NoFollow links that can be applied across the board for all keywords, industries, etc.
As a rule, you should always derive the distribution of DoFollow and NoFollow links from the 3-5 organically best-placed competitors.
You could carry out such a competitor analysis of your competitors' link profile with the Site Explorer of the SEO software Ahrefs, for example.
Backlink building for new domains
If your domain has just been registered, backlink building is often a particularly challenging task.
This is because you literally start from scratch and have not yet built up any backlinks or brand reputation.
However, there are a number of effective tactics and strategies you can use to quickly build your backlink profile and increase your visibility online.
I will explain some of the most effective link building strategies in more detail in the following section:
Create high-quality content
Zunächst steht für mich die Erstellung von qualitativ hochwertigen, informativen und einzigartigen Inhalten bei einer neuen Domain immer im Vordergrund.
Diese Strategie fördert natürliche Verlinkungen von anderen Websites (wenn sie richtig praktiziert wird).
The link building mechanism is as follows: Generating content that is both informative and useful for your target audience increases the likelihood that other websites will link to your content.
Content that can offer added value when shared, such as infographics, statistics or expert interviews, performs particularly well.
This in turn can lead to visitors who reach your website via such a link from another site, for example, staying on your homepage for a longer period of time.
Das Erstellen qualitativ hochwertiger Inhalte kann nicht nur das Entstehen von natürlichen Backlinks durch andere, themenrelevante Webseiten fördern, sondern durch diese Backlinks kann auch die Anzahl der Besucher sowie deren Aufenthalt auf meiner Webseite gesteigert werden kann.
Sowohl Backlinks, als auch Website-Traffic werden von Google als sehr positives Signal wahrgenommen und können dein Ranking für bestimmte Keywords signifikant verbessern.
At this point, however, I have to be realistic and admit that organic link building often doesn't happen overnight.
Damit diese Strategie wirklich funktioniert, muss zu Beginn eine breit abgestützte Content Strategie entwickelt werden, die festlegt, welche Inhalte überhaupt erstellt werden müssen und das Potenzial haben, Links anzuziehen.
Zudem muss der Content auch aktiv vermarktet werden, indem du beispielsweise über Social Media Kampagnen schaltest oder andere Blogportale via E-Mail Outreach auf deine Artikel aufmerksam machst, wodurch die Wahrscheinlichkeit von Verlinkungen zusätzlich erhöht wird.
Without a strategy, simply creating "good content" and hoping that some article will trigger a viral wave of backlinks will not be crowned with success.
Laying a solid foundation through on-page SEO
Bevor du beginnst, dich mit Backlinks zu befassen, solltest du sicherstellen, dass die On-Page SEO Basics implementiert sind.
Hierzu gehören die Optimierung der Meta-Tags, die Erstellung einer sauberen und logischen URL-Struktur, sowie das Setzen von internen Links und die Nutzerfreundlichkeit des Layouts, um die Verweildauer der Website-Besucher zu maximieren und die Crawlability für Suchmaschinen zu verbessern.
Es sind die On-Page-SEO Massnahmen, die überhaupt sicherstellen, dass deine erstellten Inhalte und die Links, die du dadurch aufbaust, ihre maximale Wirkung erzielen.
On-page optimization is therefore essential, as Google analyses the content of a page to determine whether a website is even a relevant result for a search query.
An important aspect of this process is the search and contextualization of keywords.
So waren in den 90ern und zu Beginn der 2000er Keyword-Stuffing, also das exzessive Verwenden von gewissen Suchbegriffen innerhalb einer Webpage, ohne Mehrwert für den User, eine bewährte Methode, um bessere Google-Rankings zu erzielen.
In the meantime, Google has of course evolved considerably as a search engine and banal keyword stuffing has been penalized for many years.
Nevertheless, using the "right" keywords in the right positions on a website still has a major influence on rankings.
However, for me, today's on-page SEO is more about demonstrating broad expert knowledge in a specific area within my webpage or across the entire website.
Only then will my website be classified as thematically relevant by the search engine.
Google strebt alleine aufgrund ihres Ads-basierten Business Modells immer danach, das relevanteste Ergebnis für eine Suchanfrage zu finden, weshalb die Algorithmen nach Inhalten suchen, die eine möglichst hohe Wahrscheinlichkeit haben, dass der Suchende seine gesuchten Informationen findet.
Let's illustrate this again with a practical example:
Imagine you run a blog about traveling in Asia.
Wenn dieser Blog nur zwei Artikel zu zwei verschiedenen Regionen in Asien publiziert hat, ist die Chance relativ gering, dass jemand, der nach «Asien Reiseideen» googelt mit den präsentierten Inhalten zufriedengestellt wird.
The thematic relevance of my site is therefore classified as low by Google.
Hast du hingegen einen Reiseblog über Asien, der über jedes Land, die jeweiligen Hauptstädte und Sehenswürdigkeiten Hunderte von Blogartikeln und Reisetipps veröffentlicht hat, sind die Chancen wesentlich höher, dass jemand, der nach «Asien Reiseideen» sucht, fündig wird.
This blog therefore has a higher thematic relevance and will rank better than the first-mentioned blog.
Thematic relevance is therefore central to your on-page SEO.
Creation of linkable assets
In addition to creating high-quality text content and building a solid foundation through on-page optimization, developing content that acts as "linkable assets" is also very important.
Ein Linkable Asset charakterisiert für mich einen Inhalt auf einer Webseite, der aufgrund seiner Einzigartigkeit und des Mehrwerts, den er bietet, gerne natürlich verlinkt wird.
These include, for example, comprehensive guides, blogs, e-books, blueprints, web apps and other interactive tools.
Gut platzierte Linkable Assets haben für mich das Potenzial, besonders viele natürliche Backlinks anzuziehen.
The data protection generator from SwissAnwalt.ch provides an example from Switzerland.
Mithilfe dieses Generators konnten Firmen in der Schweiz bis vor ein paar Tagen kostenlos und mit wenigen Klicks ihre Datenschutzerklärung erstellen und via Quellcode oder Text auf ihrer eigenen Website integrieren.
When adopting the privacy policy, Swissanwalt inserted a disclaimer at the bottom of each page, which included a backlink to its own website.
Although the data protection generator is no longer available since the revised data protection provisions came into force, SwissAnwalt was able to achieve a domain rating (DR) of 87 almost exclusively through these links.
For comparison: 20min., the most widely read daily newspaper in Switzerland, has a domain rating of just 84 according to Ahrefs.
Dies war nur möglich, weil SwissAnwalt ein Linkable Asset, in diesem Fall einen Datenschutzgenerator, zur Verfügung gestellt hat, das für eine gewisse Zielgruppe einen so grossen Mehrwert bot, dass dadurch Backlinks natürlich entstanden sind.
My conclusion
In summary, there is no simple answer for me to the question of how many backlinks a website actually needs.
Collecting many backlinks alone is not enough, because backlink ≠ backlink.
From my experience, it is much more crucial to obtain high-quality and relevant links that strengthen the trust and credibility of a website and ultimately generate a natural link profile.
I therefore think it is wise to always carry out a competitive analysis first. This not only provides insights into the number of links from the competition, but above all into their quality.
Um in Suchmaschinen wie Google Fuss zu fassen, empfehle ich immer, zuerst den Fokus auf die eigene Seite zu legen, bevor man sich viele Gedanken über Backlinks macht.
Du solltest daher zuerst sicherstellen, dass eine solide On-Page-SEO Basis vorhanden ist, bevor du dich damit beschäftigst, eine Content-Strategie und entsprechende Inhalte sowie Linkable Assets zu kreieren.
Nevertheless, success in backlink building rarely comes overnight.
It requires patience, perseverance and a clear strategy.
However, the benefits in the form of better rankings, more traffic and greater online visibility are well worth the effort invested.
