KPIMarketing

Backlinks Acquired

Number of new external websites linking to the company domain in a period

What is Backlinks Acquired?

Backlinks acquired counts the new websites that have started linking to your site in a period, measured as new referring domains. Links from other sites are one of the signals search engines use to judge how trusted and authoritative a site is.

Acquiring links from relevant, credible sites can lift the visibility of your pages over time. It is a leading measure of authority rather than a direct measure of traffic or sales.

How this KPI is measured

Function: Marketing
Sub-function: Web & SEO
Industry: All Industries
Type: Leading
Impact: Operational
Unit: #
Measurement frequency: Monthly
Formula: Count of new referring domains recorded in SEO tool

How to calculate it

Count the new referring domains, meaning distinct websites that link to you for the first time, recorded in your SEO tool during the period.

For example, if the tool shows 35 new referring domains this quarter, backlinks acquired is 35.

Counting domains rather than individual links avoids inflating the figure when a single site links many times. Also look at the quality of the linking sites, since a few relevant, respected links are worth more than many weak ones.

Where it is used

Measuring link-building
Track whether outreach and content efforts are earning links.
Explaining ranking changes
Connect improvements in visibility to new authoritative links.
Benchmarking against competitors
Compare your rate of link acquisition with rivals in the same space.

How to improve it

Create link-worthy contentPublish original research, useful tools or clear guides that others want to reference.
Reach out to relevant sitesContact publishers, partners and communities that would genuinely benefit from the resource.
Earn links through PR and partnershipsUse news, events and collaborations to gain mentions with links.
Reclaim unlinked mentionsFind places that mention the brand without a link and ask for one.
Avoid low-quality shortcutsDo not buy links or join link schemes, which can lead to penalties.

Tips and common mistakes

Quality beats quantity. Relevance and credibility of the linking site matter most.
Do not use link-buying services. Search engines treat them as manipulation.
Track lost links too, since they can offset new ones.

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