How many links per month on average?

[The_Kiwi_Man]

When you start doing SEO/content marketing, how many links should you try and earn per month?

I know it's quality over quantity but I would like to know about your experience and how many you were getting when your site launched.

Thanks!

[Andy-Halliday]

Hi

Sorry to tell you there is no 'magical' number here.

Firstly: what resources do you have, if you have a team of 10 people able to create content, 10 people link building, 10 analyst looking at gaps etc then I would image quite a few, if its just you doing SEO then the numbers will be a lot less and even less if as well as doing SEO you run the entire company.

Rather than looking at quantity look at quality and if your only focus is SEO for you company then when your looking at what work to do, work on the time/cost benefit analysis. Also your niche in which you operate will affect the number of links you can get.

If you work at Apple, getting links is incredibly easily, working for a company that sells products to businesses might not find it as easy.

Like you said quality links from in your niche area is always better than loads of general links (even if DAs are higher).

If your site is new, have you done some basic PR contacting relevant sites and telling them your about to launch, this is a great way to quickly build initial links.

In answer to your questions: How many links should i build? It would all depend on the time / resoures you have available.

Read this great article on how to go about getting links: http://moz.com/blog/my-recipe-for-success-how-to-launch-a-successful-blog

[davidangotti]

Hello!

I know when you are first getting started you really want to set obtainable goals and benchmarks of acceptable link building volumes - don't focus on this. Instead, focus on realistic timelines to launch exceptional content. Launching this content will make the link building exponentially easier, but NOT automatic. I'm not talking about just another blog post, top-XX list, or infographic here. I am talking about something that is so cool people will want to talk about it. If you are in a boring niche, think parallel niches. If you are in a narrow niche, think broader. For example, I am in the East TN travel niche, but my team recently created a cool digital asset for the whole country that had good success.

Once you build the content, you should also set realistic outreach goals. Don't reach out to TechCrunch, HuffPo, etc. unless it is the type of content they regularly post. Instead, look at who is linking to similar assets (use OSE, AHREFS, Majestic, etc.) and start there. Personalize pitches for each site and make the pitch as irresistible as possible. Depending on the asset type, it may be possible to involve some of the influential site owners/bloggers in creative process.

At the end of the day numbers and quality don't matter as much as creating high-quality, exceptional content on a regular basis. You will have some strike-outs, but you will also have some home-runs. The process for content creation and the promotion of that content is what you need to focus on not the number OR quality of the links (initially).