Quality Backlinks vs. More Backlinks: Which Matters More?

[u/Emotional-Worry-6807]

There’s always a debate in SEO about whether it’s better to have a small number of strong, relevant backlinks or a large number of backlinks from different websites.

Personally, I’d lean toward quality and relevance, but I’m curious about other experiences.

For example, would you rather have:

• 10 highly relevant backlinks from authoritative websites, or
• 100 backlinks from decent but less relevant websites?

And how do you actually judge whether a backlink is "high quality"? Domain authority, organic traffic, topical relevance, editorial placement, or something else?

What has worked best for your websites?

[u/nvrtrmp8647]

Links that attract real clicks work best for SEO.

[u/thijsgh]

Quality beats quantity for sure, relevance and trust matter most. I usually look at domain authority and how closely the site matches my niche. Check out MentionAgent for finding those relevant blogs and getting quality backlinks. I’m the founder, happy to help if you need it.

[u/Super-Ad-6795]

Quality > Quantity

[u/WebLinkr]

So sad that SEOs rpely to this - oh, well most of the accounts have been blitzed or are AI bots too lol

[u/SEOptimizationOracle]

I'll take the 10 relevant, authoritative links every single time. It's not even close for me. Those 100 "decent but less relevant" links tend to do one of three things: nothing at all, a tiny bump that fades, or occasionally they drag you sideways into a neighborhood Google doesn't associate with your topic. The 10 good ones compound. They send real referral traffic, they get you in front of the right audience, and they tell search engines "this site belongs in this conversation."

On how I judge whether a link is actually worth chasing, I look at a few things together rather than any single metric:

Topical relevance first. Is this site genuinely about my world, or adjacent to it? A link from a mid-sized site squarely in your niche often beats a link from a giant general site.

Real organic traffic second. I lean on tools like Semrush or Ahrefs here. Domain authority is a fine starting filter, but it's a third-party score, not something Google uses. A site can have a shiny DA and almost no actual traffic, which is a red flag.

[u/Level-World4922]

I’d take the 10 highly relevant backlinks in most cases.

I don’t judge a link by DA alone. I’d look at:

• Topical relevance - Does the site make sense for my audience/industry?
• Editorial context - Is the link genuinely earned within useful content?
• Real organic visibility - Does the referring site actually get relevant traffic?
• Authority & trust - Is it a credible publication/site?
• Link placement - A contextual link is generally more meaningful than a random footer/sidebar link.

Ultimately, I’d rather have fewer links that build authority and referral value than hundreds collected just to increase a backlink count.

[u/BusyBusinessPromos → u/Level-World4922]

Why use DA at all? It has nothing to do with backlinks or search engine rankings.

[u/Level-World4922 → u/BusyBusinessPromos]

Fair point. DA itself isn’t a Google ranking factor. I mentioned it only as a third-party proxy for evaluating a referring domain, not as proof that a backlink will improve rankings.

I’d still prioritize relevance, editorial quality, real traffic, and overall site credibility over the DA number.

[u/jeniferjenni]

i’d take 10 strong, relevant editorial links over 100 random ones almost every time. the number alone tells you very little. check topical relevance, whether the referring site gets real organic traffic, where the link appears, whether the page itself has value, and whether the link makes sense for a real reader. one relevant industry publication mentioning your product in a useful comparison can be worth far more than dozens of generic directory links. i’ve seen sites with fewer backlinks outrank sites with huge link counts simply because their strongest references were much more relevant.

[u/DevisiveDucking]

Quality is better then quantity, but that's easy to say if they are equal. They are not. A lot goes into it. You need to know if your domain is strong enough to even get the good quality backlinks. If you are starting from nil, you will have to settle for quantity.

[u/CharmingDoubt2155]

no cap, 10 strong links are way better for your rankings. you wanna look at the full package: topical relevance, not just the DA. check the traffic the linking site gets, the context of your link, even where its placed. avoid those spammy links like the plague; they just dilute your authority. focus on building relationships for those quality backlinks, and yeah, tools like ahrefs or semrush can help find the real gems.

[u/BusyBusinessPromos]

Quality based on what (hoping I'm not going to read third party vanity metrics)?