These are the key link building statistics that you need to know.

This dataset summarizes findings from a 2025 link building survey of 518 SEO professionals, including backlink pricing, strategy trends, and industry opinions.

Dofollow links are the main links that every SEO wants. But 48% of marketers reported that nofollow are a part of their process as well.

Here’s how much the average link costs from a quality link building service.

The following link building statistics explain why quality links are now more important than ever and what kinds of links you should be building.

If you know anything about link building, you’ll know that content is still the best way to attract high-quality backlinks. Long-form content gets an average of 77.2% more links than shorter articles.

High quality backlinks to bit.ly. The retrieval process was completed on 03-Dec-2014.

Note that the bots in varocarbas.com (Project 1 - Stage 2) are collecting a maximum of 1000 high-quality backlinks (e.g., "site.com/backlink" rather than "site.com/this/that/backlink") for each domain.

These are the most popular link building and tracking tools ranked by SEOs today.

As online shopping experienced an exponential growth during the months of the COVID-19 induced lockdown in France, the source wanted to measure the total number of backlinks on the different cosmetic companies websites. Thus, Loccitane.com was the leading cosmetic company with the most backlinks amounting to 2,800 on their website.

The Backlink Checker Tool market has emerged as a crucial component of the digital marketing landscape, essential for businesses aiming to enhance their online presence and improve search engine rankings. These tools enable users to analyze their backlink profiles, uncovering valuable insights into the quality and q

Survey results collected from 300+ US-based marketing agencies on what they do to acquire backlinks for their clients and what kind of results they observe from those efforts

As many general retailers or mass distribution channels experienced an exponential growth during the months of the COVID-19 induced lockdown in France, the source wanted to measure the total number of backlinks on the different retailers websites. Thus, Carrefour.fr was the leading general retailer with the most backlinks amounting to ***** on their website. A strategy of acquiring backlinks which therefore seems to be paying off for the major retailer, which drew around ***** percent of its overall traffic through this means.

This dataset gathers the most crucial SEO statistics for the year, providing an overview of the dominant trends and best practices in the field of search engine optimization. Aimed at digital marketing professionals, site owners, and SEO analysts, this collection of information serves as a guide to navigate the evolving SEO landscape with confidence and accuracy. Mode of Data Production: The statistics have been carefully selected and compiled from a variety of credible and recognized sources in the SEO industry, including research reports, web traffic data analytics, and consumer and marketing professional surveys. Each statistic was checked for reliability and relevance to current trends. Categories Included: User search behaviour: Statistics on the evolution of search modes, including voice and mobile search. Mobile Optimisation: Data on the importance of site optimization for mobile devices. Importance of Backlinks: Insights on the role of backlinks in SEO ranking and the need to prioritize quality. Content quality: Statistics highlighting the importance of relevant and engaging content for SEO. Search engine algorithms: Information on the impact of algorithm updates on SEO strategies. Usefulness of the Data: This dataset is designed to help users quickly understand current SEO dynamics and apply that knowledge in optimizing their digital marketing strategies. It provides a solid foundation for benchmarking, strategic planning, and informed decision-making in the field of SEO. Update and Accessibility: To ensure relevance and timeliness, the dataset will be regularly updated with new information and emerging trends in the SEO world.

High quality backlinks to baidu.com. The retrieval process was completed on 16-Dec-2014.

Note that the bots in varocarbas.com (Project 1 - Stage 2) are collecting a maximum of 1000 high-quality backlinks (e.g., "site.com/backlink" rather than "site.com/this/that/backlink") for each domain.

The fields description may be found here: https://docs.dataforseo.com/v3/databases/backlink_summary/?bash

DataForSEO Backlink Summary Database encompasses millions of domains enriched with backlink data and other related metrics. You will get a comprehensive overview of a domain’s backlink profile, including the number of inbound links, referring domains and referring pages, new & lost backlinks and referring domains, domain rank, backlink spam score, and more.

This database is available in both JSON and CSV formats.

In March 2021, the leading website that users visited thanks to a link on YouTube.com was Google.com, with more than *** million visits. The search engine reportedly gained **** percent of its traffic from the popular video-sharing platform. The second website to benefit from YouTube's referring traffic was Amazon.com: with a traffic volume of close to ** million visits in the examined month, the e-commerce website saw **** percent of its visits coming from referring subnets on YouTube.com. Instagram's website was the leading social media that users navigated towards while visiting YouTube.com, and Facebook.com followed with **** million visits. Both Instagram and Facebook gained **** percent respectively of their websites traffic from YouTube.com.

During a 2024 survey conducted among search engine optimization (SEO) professionals worldwide, approximately ** percent of respondents identified superior content as the most effective link building strategy, utilizing it for promotion and encouraging linking. Alternative media strategies, including infographics, videos, and tools, ranked second, cited by ** percent of respondents.

README These datasets and R script are to generate the visualizations used in "Search Engine Manipulation: SEO to Spread Kremlin-Aligned Disinformation"

DATA

Data were collected from the Ahrefs (ahrefs.com) dashboard on Feb 21, 2022. Any re-use of this data must cite Ahrefs as the source. We provide two data files:
1) ora_backlinks.csv (referring domain network extracted from Ahrefs) 2) ora_keyphrases.csv (keyword network extracted from Ahrefs) ora_rd.csv contains:

'source' : (think tank domain)
'target' : (backlinking domain)
'weight' : (total # of backlinks)
'network' : (ru_tt_rd = Russia, us_tt_rd = US, ds_rd = Pseudo)

ora_keyphrases.csv contains:

source: think tank domain target: top key phrases position: Google's ranking for that domain for that term volume: ahrefs estimated organic daily traffic group: Think tank group

R Script This script generates visuals of top backlinkers and backlink recipients in the think tank network. It also constructs and visualizes the minimum overlap network for referring domains present in the paper. This code was created using R version 4.1.1 (2021-08-10) -- "Kick Things". To run this code, you'll first need to install the libraries at the beginning of the script. Once that is done, open the script and modify the path to the input file (ora_rd.csv): rd_data_el and modify the path to the output file: output_dir. The script can then be run line-by-line in Rstudio or by typing Rscript SEM_visuals.R in the terminal after setting paths.

Citation How to cite (will be updated upon acceptance):

 Williams, E. M. & Carley, M. C., (2023). Search Engine Manipulation to Spread Pro-Kremlin Propaganda. Harvard Kennedy School (HKS) Misinformation Review, Volume #(Issue #). Received: Month Xth, 2022. Accepted: Month Xth, 20XX. Published: Month Xth, 2022.
 ```

High quality backlinks to instagram.com. The retrieval process was completed on 21-Nov-2014.

Note that the bots in varocarbas.com (Project 1 - Stage 2) are collecting a maximum of 1000 high-quality backlinks (e.g., "site.com/backlink" rather than "site.com/this/that/backlink") for each domain.

README

These datasets and R script are to generate the visualizations used in "Search Engine Manipulation: SEO to Spread Kremlin-Aligned Disinformation"

DATA

Data were collected from the Ahrefs (ahrefs.com) dashboard on Feb 21, 2022. Any re-use of this data must cite Ahrefs as the source.

We provide two data files:
1) ora_rd.csv (referring domain network extracted from Ahrefs) 2) ora_kw.csv (keyword network extracted from Ahrefs)

ora_rd.csv contains:

'source' : (think tank domain)
'target' : (backlinking domain)
'weight' : (total # of backlinks)
'network' : (ru_tt_rd = Russia, us_tt_rd = US, ds_rd = Pseudo)

ora_kw contains:

keyword: top key phrases
outlet: countains the think tank domain - maps to source in ora_rd

R Script

This script generates visuals of top backlinkers and backlink recipients in the think tank network. It also constructs and visualizes the minimum overlap network for referring domains present in the paper.

This code was created using R version 4.1.1 (2021-08-10) -- "Kick Things".

To run this code, you'll first need to install the libraries at the beginning of the script.

Once that is done, open the script and modify the path to the input file (ora_rd.csv): rd_data_el and modify the path to the output file: output_dir.

The script can then be run line-by-line in Rstudio or by typing Rscript seo_visuals.R in the terminal.

Citation

How to cite (will be updated upon acceptance):

Williams, E. M. & Carley, M. C., (2022). Search Engine Manipulation: SEO to 
 Spread Kremlin-Aligned Disinfor-mation. Harvard Kennedy School (HKS)  
 Misinformation Review, Volume #(Issue #).
 Received: Month Xth, 2022. Accepted: Month Xth, 20XX. Published: Month Xth,  2022.