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What are the best metrics for Linkbuilding Performance?

Published about 2 months ago

This plan aims to elevate Linkbuilding Performance by focusing on key metrics like the Number of Backlinks, Domain Authority, Referral Traffic, Anchor Text Distribution, and Linking Root Domains. Each metric not only provides essential data but also offers improvement strategies to ensure effective linkbuilding practices.

For example, monitoring the Number of Backlinks can help identify whether efforts to create high-quality content and reach out to industry influencers are effective. Similarly, a strong Domain Authority is crucial in competitive industries, indicating a site’s potential to rank well on search engines.

These metrics matter because they directly impact SEO, site authority, and overall online visibility. By systematically tracking and improving these metrics, businesses can ensure sustained growth and competitive advantage.

Top 5 metrics for Linkbuilding Performance

1. Number of Backlinks

The total number of backlinks pointing to your website

What good looks like for this metric: Varies widely by industry; typically 50-200 backlinks for small to mid-sized sites

How to improve this metric:
  • Create high-quality, shareable content
  • Reach out to industry influencers
  • Guest post on relevant blogs
  • Use broken link building strategies
  • Engage in PR activities

2. Domain Authority (DA)

A search engine ranking score that predicts how well a website will rank on SERPs

What good looks like for this metric: Typically above 40 for competitive industries

How to improve this metric:
  • Improve your website’s SEO
  • Acquire high-quality backlinks
  • Remove toxic backlinks
  • Regularly update your content
  • Optimise for on-page SEO

3. Referral Traffic

The amount of traffic your website receives from external sources

What good looks like for this metric: 15-30% of total traffic

How to improve this metric:
  • Build relationships with authoritative sites
  • Promote content on social media
  • Engage in online communities and forums
  • Publish content on third-party platforms
  • Use analytics to track and optimise sources

4. Anchor Text Distribution

The diversity and relevance of anchor text used in backlinks pointing to your website

What good looks like for this metric: Balanced ratio between branded, exact-match, and generic anchors

How to improve this metric:
  • Use natural and varied anchor texts
  • Avoid over-optimisation of anchor texts
  • Monitor and adjust anchor text ratios
  • Analyse competitors' anchor text profiles
  • Create guidelines for anchor text usage

5. Linking Root Domains

The number of unique domains that link back to your website

What good looks like for this metric: More than 100 for medium to large sites

How to improve this metric:
  • Target diverse websites for backlinks
  • Engage in collaborations with different domains
  • Regularly audit backlink profiles
  • Build micro-sites for link building
  • Participate in industry events and networks

How to track Linkbuilding Performance metrics

It's one thing to have a plan, it's another to stick to it. We hope that the examples above will help you get started with your own strategy, but we also know that it's easy to get lost in the day-to-day effort.

That's why we built Tability: to help you track your progress, keep your team aligned, and make sure you're always moving in the right direction.

Tability Insights Dashboard

Give it a try and see how it can help you bring accountability to your metrics.

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