The Minimum Criteria for a Good Backlink

When it comes to SEO, backlinks are one of the most powerful tools in your arsenal. But here’s the catch—not every backlink is going to help your website. In fact, some can even harm your rankings. So, how can you tell if a backlink is actually worth it?

In this blog post, I’ll walk you through the exact process we use at Only Link Building LLC to evaluate backlinks, so you can focus on links that will truly boost your SEO. With over a decade of experience in manual link building, we’ve refined this approach to make sure every link we get is a quality one. Let’s dive in!

 

1. Check the Relevance of the Website

The first question to ask is: Is the site relevant to your business? If the website doesn’t match your industry or niche, the backlink probably won’t help much. Google pays attention to the relevance of backlinks, and so should you.

Take a few minutes to browse the website’s blog, articles, and overall content. Is the site discussing topics that align with your industry? For example, if you run an e-commerce store selling sports gear, you’d want a backlink from a fitness or health-related site—not a website about home improvement.

Also, keep an eye out for a “Write for Us” page in the navigation menu. Websites that make it too easy to submit guest posts often exist purely to give out backlinks. These are called link farms, and they can do more harm than good. Google might penalize these sites, and if your link is there, it could impact your rankings.

 

2. Analyze Domain Rating (DR) and Organic Traffic

Once you’ve confirmed that the website is relevant, the next step is to look at some metrics. Two important ones are Domain Rating (DR) and organic traffic. You can easily find these using Ahrefs.

• • Domain Rating (DR): This is a measure of the site’s authority. We usually look for sites with a DR of 20 or higher. Anything lower than that might not provide enough SEO value.
  • Organic Traffic: You want the site to have at least 1,000 monthly visitors, preferably from the country you’re targeting. If you’re looking to rank in the US, for example, make sure the majority of their traffic comes from the US.

See the below image for an example:

Here, I’ve highlighted a website with a DR 64 of and monthly traffic of 8,800—this would be a great site to get a backlink from.

 

3. Check the Traffic-to-Backlink Ratio

Here’s a quick but important check: Look at the number of backlinks the site has compared to its traffic. Sometimes you’ll come across websites that have tons of backlinks but very little traffic. This is usually a sign that the site is spammy or has engaged in questionable SEO practices.

If a site has Hundreds or millions of backlinks but only a few hundred or thousand visitors per month, that’s a huge red flag. A healthy site should have a balance between its backlinks and traffic. If it doesn’t, it could mean they’ve been involved in link schemes, which you definitely don’t want to be a part of.

See the below image:

This screenshot highlights a site with over 196K backlinks but just 943 monthly visitors. That’s not a site we’d want a backlink from because it looks spammy.

 

4. Watch for Traffic Trends

Next up, it’s time to check the traffic trends of the site. You want to see steady growth or at least consistent traffic over time. If there’s a big, sudden drop in traffic, that’s usually a sign that the site has been hit by a Google penalty.

 

Here’s how you can easily spot this:

 

Look at the site’s organic traffic chart. If the line is trending upward or staying relatively flat, you’re in the clear. But if there’s a sharp decline, especially in recent months, the site could be in trouble, and you’ll want to avoid getting a backlink from them.

See the below image for an example:

Here, you’ll notice a consistent upward traffic trend, which is exactly what we want to see when evaluating a site for backlinks. Not something like the following:

 

5. Make Sure They Rank for Relevant Keywords

Here’s where things can get tricky. Some websites inflate their traffic by ranking for irrelevant or trendy keywords—think celebrity gossip or viral topics. These keywords might drive traffic, but they won’t provide any real value if they’re not related to your industry.

To check this, look at the Organic Keywords section in Ahrefs. You want to see that the site is ranking for keywords that are relevant to its niche. For example, a marketing blog should be ranking for terms like “SEO strategies” or “content marketing tips,” not “Kardashian gossip.”

See the below image for an example:

Here, I’ve highlighted a fitness site that ranks for strong, industry-relevant keywords, which is a good sign that the backlink would be valuable.

 

6. Check the Spam Score

Finally, before you commit to getting a backlink, check the site’s spam score. A high spam score usually indicates that the site might be using black-hat SEO tactics or is linked to too many low-quality sites. Both of these are red flags.

You can use Moz to check the spam score. Ideally, it should be under 10%. Anything above that could harm your site’s SEO, rather than help it.

 

Once a Site Passes All the Above Criteria

If the site passes all of these checks, then you’ve found a quality website for a backlink! This is the point where I usually start the process of writing content for the website.

 

Quick Recap: Minimum Criteria for a Good Backlink

Here’s a quick checklist of the most important things to look for when evaluating a site for a backlink:

• • Relevance: The site should be related to your industry or niche.

• • Avoid “Write for Us” Pages: This could indicate a link farm, which can hurt your SEO.

• • Domain Rating (DR): Look for a DR of at least 20+.

• • Organic Traffic: The site should have at least 1,000 monthly visitors from your target country.

• • Backlink-to-Traffic Ratio: Avoid sites with lots of backlinks but low traffic—it’s a sign of spam.

• • Traffic Trends: The site’s traffic should be stable or growing, with no sudden drops.

• • Top Keywords: Make sure the site is ranking for relevant, high-quality keywords, not random ones.

• • Spam Score: Keep it under 10% to avoid associating with risky sites.

 

Need Help with Manual Link Building?

If you’re feeling overwhelmed or unsure about how to evaluate sites for backlinks, don’t worry—we’ve got your back! We specialize in manual link-building services. We’ll handle everything from analyzing sites to securing high-quality backlinks that actually benefit your SEO.

Get in touch with us today and let us do the heavy lifting for you!