How many back links a day?

[AlirezaHamidian]

I am the owner of a very small business who can not afford a decent SEO company. So I am doing my SEO myself. I am producing good amount of content. But at the same time I am way behind my competition in back linking. Can you please let me know as a rule of thumb, how many external do-follow links a day I should make to be on the safe side?

Thanks all

[MarieHaynes]

The mindset of "get as many backlinks as you can" is now old school SEO.  This type of SEO is likely to be completely ineffective or at worst, can get you penalized or have Google look at your site unfavorably through the Penguin algorithm.

While links are still an important part of the algorithm, Google has gotten really good, in most cases, at determining which links are truly earned links and then counting those.

One really good earned link can be worth hundreds of self made links.  Rather than concentrating on how many links a day to make, I'd work on finding ways to get people to link to your content truly naturally.

[AlanMosley]

any links you can get daily, Are probably not worth anything, if you can just get a link on demand then why would google value it?

[AlirezaHamidian]

Thanks Andy

[AlirezaHamidian]

Thanks Moosa

[AlirezaHamidian]

Thanks a lot for your time. I try to hit on that from tomorrow. Seems difficult but we will see.

[vivekrathore]

Don't bother about the quantity. Focus on quality. A back link from a quality site is equal to 1000 back links from poor/less authoritive sites.

Sites can beat you with less links, but higher quality ones. This is because links from high authority domains, from blogs or news sites for example, can be substantially more effective for your ranking. High Authority sites can give you great link equity - sites with lots of juice and not too many links can pass on more authority to your site.

This is why unique content and engaging articles are essential for your site if you want to really push up the rankings - you can't buy links off the BBC website or Yahoo News, but make a unique discovery or post an interesting article or tool and you may well find you the link building can run itself!

Today, where each and every single link is being scrutinized to the highest extent by the powers that be. Not only will backlinks that lack credibility or are outright fakes earn zero credit for the site, they can also result in penalization and a swift plummet to the lower echelons of search ending rankings.

Although site owners have become increasingly aware of the value of link building towards higher rankings, there still seems to be a demand for “higher quantities” of links.

I’m sure just about every SEO expert and link building specialist probably has told you by now to focus on quality when it comes to acquiring links. For the most part, that is true. However, I’m going to ask you to slightly modify your paradigm of thinking when it comes to evaluating your own link profile.

Understand that Google is always looking for domain authority and link popularity within niches. Niches are essentially keywords and search queries. The question they ask themselves before serving their search results is: “Which sites are the most authoritative when it comes to this particular keyword?”

“Quality of Links vs. Quantity of Links,” we see that the answer to the question is much more sophisticated. Instead, you’re better off placing yourself in the proper mindset and looking to build authority as best as possible for your site. Target the most authoritative sites that you can find for your niche. Target tons of sites that have some credibility. Target a balance of sites that are somewhere in between. More than likely, to build the most authority, you’re probably going to need both. Thus, the terms domain authority and link popularity now make much more sense!

If you want to quickly establish a clear plan for your link building campaign, do proper keyword research and identify your competitors. Take a look at their link profiles using some of the free link building tools available. Do they have tons of moderate quality links? Do they have a strong social presence? Do they have just a few super authoritative links? Do they have a strong combination of the above 3? Whatever it is they’re doing, you need to be do the same because that’s what Google thinks you need to do to show authority within your niche. Evaluate your competitors and look to improve on the tactics they’re doing.

Hope this helps

[MoosaHemani]

This is not a dieting plan or a gym exercise that you have to do atleast this amount of work out on daily basis. Link building is more about quality then quantity so if you get 100 directory links every day… this might hurt instead you spend some time writing a good piece and get it published on a website like Moz (every industry have a Moz like websites).

Instead of spinning articles all day long better spend days and convince the journalist in your local area to cover your story and this will give you a better return on investment instead of 10 links a day kind of schedule.

Hope this helps!

[Andy.Drinkwater]

Hi Armin,

First of all, try not to focus on quantity. Look only for quality and don't worry just about do-followed links.

Google now likes to see sites with a very natural looking link profile, so don't bother with the likes of blog commenting or article marketing. Instead, focus on what you have to offer a potential link partner, and if this is nothing, perhaps look to create an article or study that is specific to your industry / specialism.

Link building changed a little while ago, so please be careful, otherwise you will end up with a penalty in the shape of a Penguin!

EDIT-----

Adding a few links that should provide you with additional information:

• Google: Link Schemes
• MOZ: Link Building ideas to get more customers
• MOZ: Scalable Link Building tactics

-Andy