Can you rank in the top 10 of Google with very few links? No, according to new analysis published today by Internet Marketing Ninjas. Here's what they found:
- Over 96% of websites ranked in the top 10 on Google had over 1,000 backlinks from unique domains.
- Only 0.3% had less than 100 backlinks.
Why we care. Google says that links are no longer one of the top three ranking signals and that “a page needs very few links to rank,” but it's still true that high-ranking websites tend to have more backlinks. And it's also true that high-ranking web pages tend to attract more backlinks because they rank so highly.
result. Here is a table showing the overall findings:
Other interesting findings from the backlink analysis:
- Amazon ranked in the top 10 for 164 of the 200 keywords, with the next closest brand being Walmart (57).
- The “weakest” site had 54 referring domains and ranked 6th.
- The average “minimum required” number of unique domain backlinks to rank in the top 10 for a local search keyword seems to be 164. For the bottom 10 sites,
but. As the study points out, not all links are equal. Variables that can affect a link's value include the credibility of the site that links to you, the anchor text, and whether or not users actually click on the link.
About the data. Results are based on an analysis of the top 10 Google search results matching 1,113 unique websites for 200 randomly selected commercial keyword phrases.
the study. You can read it here: Google's research on backlinks
Dig deeper. Search Engine Land contributor and SMX speaker Eric Enge has conducted multiple studies over the past few years that show links have value.
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