How Many Backlinks Per Month Should You Add? 2025 Guide

If you want to succeed with search engine optimization, you can’t ignore backlinks. A strong link profile is directly connected with higher rankings. On average, the first search result has nearly four times (280%) as many backlinks as the rest of the top 10. Is there a limit to how many backlinks per month you should add?

How Many Backlinks Per Month Is a Good Target for SEO?

There are no hard-and-fast rules or magical numbers to shoot for when it comes to link-building strategies. Some professionals recommend five to 10 backlinks a month, but they mostly pull this number out of thin air. In reality, the ideal number of backlinks to each target is more about quality than quantity.

Passive Backlinks

The best links for building domain authority — a signal that tells Google your website is trustworthy — are called passive backlinks. A passive backlink is one you earn naturally. The referring website links to your page freely, usually because you have high-quality content that proves an important point.

Passive links often take a while. They’re not something you can plan on a month-by-month basis. If you put out a definitive survey or case study, there’s a good chance a high volume of other sites will link to it, so you may end up with dozens of new backlinks in a short time.

Backlink Goals

Setting monthly backlink targets is a good thing, but don’t use arbitrary numbers to measure success. Quality backlinks are valuable whether you manage to score five or 50.

A good habit is to look at your current number of backlinks and set a slightly higher goal. If you earned five links last month, try to get eight next month.

Include link-building goals in your content plans. Instead of blogs that regurgitate what everyone already knows, build definitive guides that stand out. Use statistics, original research, or in-house expertise. When your articles blow the rest out of the water, you’re going to attract links.

How Many Backlinks Can You Safely Add Per Month?

If you’re worried about getting a Google penalty because of too many backlinks, let us put your mind at ease. That’s not going to happen — at least if you’re following link-building best practices.

Link Velocity Common Misconceptions

Link velocity is how quickly your website gains backlinks. Some SEO agencies talk about this concept as if it were a mystical ritual. They think that if you stick to one link a day — probably while wearing lucky underwear and hopping on one foot — you don’t have to worry about penalties from dubious links.

In reality, no magic number of backlinks makes search engines flag your website. The main factor Google cares about when analyzing how many backlinks per month you add is quality. As long as you’re earning backlinks naturally, you can score as many as you want as quickly as you want.

Natural Versus Unnatural Links

Natural links make sense for your content, industry, and website. Here are a few examples of healthy backlinks for an article that compares the best SUVs of 2025:

• Car dealerships: It’s normal for car dealerships to link to vehicle buyer’s guides on their blog.
• Car insurance companies: Auto insurers may link to your guide when highlighting the safest vehicles for families.
• Automotive manufacturers: Automakers naturally link to surveys and articles that show their brand “winning.”
• Small business sites: Sites like uschamber.com, forbes.com, or smallbiztrends.com link to car articles when recommending work vehicles for small business owners.

On the other hand, unnatural links reek of deceptive SEO practices like buying bulk backlinks or using AI spam. Here’s what unnatural links would look like for our “Top 10 SUVs” article:

• Forum comments that don’t belong: “You are spot on with such fascinating conclusions in this article 🙂, just like I mention here (link).”
• Completely different topics: “If you’ve liked these points about kidney health, learn how to protect your kids with the best SUVs of 2025.”
• Industries with zero connection: “Nike running shoes support you on your daily jog, just like Kia SUVs keep you safe during your daily commute.”
• Website sections that don’t make sense: “At Fund, we’re your source for business financing advice. Check out our new Used Cars section to find reliable vehicles and extended warranties.”

The main takeaway? Search engines aren’t as dumb as they used to be. Suspicious links can get you in trouble no matter where they come from. The new Google site reputation abuse policy even affected major sites like CNN, Forbes Advisor, Marketwatch, and USA Today.

A Great User Experience

Instead of guessing how many backlinks per month is safe, focus on delivering a great experience for your target audience. Nurture inbound and outbound links that add value, such as supporting statistics or deep dives on related topics.

Build strategic link partnerships that are mutually beneficial for audiences, not deceptive. For example, home remodeling companies make life easier for their customers by linking to custom cabinet websites, and vice-versa.

How Many Backlinks Per Month Does Your Site Need To Rank?

It depends. Backlinks are a major ranking factor for search engines, and the more quality links, the merrier. To hit the top three search results, your goal is simple: Have more backlinks than the competition.

How do you find that out? Perform competitor research with SEO tools like Semrush, Ahrefs, or Moz. Check how many linking domains your competitors have for the target keyword and aim higher.

Reach Your Goals for the Number of Backlinks You Add Every Month

Cutting corners with backlinks (e.g., AI spam) is easy, but any results you get are short-lived at best and disastrous for your site at worst. Building backlinks the right way takes longer, but the results contribute to better ranking for every page on your website!

At BKA Content, our team follows ethical strategies to hit your target number of backlinks per month. We establish valuable strategic partnerships that align with your audience and organization. Learn more about white-hat link building today.