As a marketer or an SEO expert working to ramp up your brand’s/business’s SERP rankings, link building is a strategic tool that you cannot do without.
With all the value link building brings to the table in constructing a fruitful SEO strategy, you need to be extremely sure of the quality of the backlinks you seek to acquire.
This highlights the importance of selecting the right metrics for link building that can make or mar your SEO strategy.
We at Mavlers approach link building like curators of fine art—every backlink we acquire is carefully selected to add value, authority, and relevance.
To support this endeavor of ours, today in the house, we have with us our in-house SEO expert, Shashikant Mane, spilling the beans on the process we at Mavlers use to vet websites for backlinks.
We’ve broken it down into mandatory metrics for link building that are non-negotiable and good-to-have metrics that provide extra insights to perfect our strategy.
On that note, let’s get to where the real gold lies!
Part 1: Mandatory metrics – The non-negotiables
These are the core metrics we always check to determine whether a website is worth getting a backlink from. One might think of them as the gatekeepers of quality.
1. Domain Authority (DA)
Definition: DA is like a website’s credit score—it predicts how well a site can rank on search engines. The score ranges from 1 to 100, with higher scores indicating stronger authority.
Tool for checking the metric: Moz
What we look for:
Websites with a DA of 40+ are ideal for backlinks. A high DA means the site is likely respected in its niche, which makes its links more valuable. However, even sites with slightly lower DA can be valuable if they’re niche-relevant and offer high-quality content.
2. Spam score
Definition: Spam Score measures the likelihood of a website being flagged for shady practices.
Tool for checking the metric: Moz
What we look for:
We aim for a spam score below 5%. Anything higher indicates that the site might be involved in questionable activities like link farms or irrelevant content, which could hurt your SEO.
3. Domain Rating (DR)
Definition: DR, a proprietary metric from Ahrefs, reflects the overall strength of a site’s backlink profile.
Tool for checking the metric: Ahrefs
What we look for:
A DR score of 50+ is a green light. It indicates the site has a strong backlink profile and can pass significant authority to your domain.
4. Organic traffic & its rising trend
Definition: This metric shows the volume of visitors a website gets from unpaid search results. A steady or growing trend means the site is healthy and not penalized.
Tool for checking the metric: Ahrefs
What we look for:
We prioritize websites with consistent or rising organic traffic trends.
Did you just witness a sudden traffic drop? That’s a clear red flag—it could mean the site is penalized or devalued by search engines.
5. Link velocity
Definition: Link velocity measures how quickly a website gains or loses backlinks over time.
The tool we use for checking the metric: Ahrefs
What we look for:
A steady link velocity is crucial. Abrupt spikes or declines might indicate spammy link-building practices or algorithm penalties.
6. Referring domains vs. Live backlink ratio
Definition: This ratio compares the number of unique referring domains to the total backlinks.
Tool for checking the metric: Ahrefs
What we look for:
A balanced ratio, such as 1 referring domain for every 3-4 backlinks, indicates a natural link profile. If the ratio is heavily skewed, it may suggest manipulative practices.
7. Website’s niche relevancy
Definition: The alignment of the website’s content with your industry or niche.
Tool for checking the metric: Manual Check
What we look for:
Relevance is everything in SEO. A backlink from a website within your niche carries far more weight than one from a random site. For example, if you’re in the fitness industry, a backlink from a health blog is gold.
8. Website’s “T” Factor from EEAT
Definition: The “T” in EEAT stands for Transparency—key to building trust.
Tool for checking the metric: Manual check
What we look for:
Websites must have essential pages like About Us, Contact Us, and Privacy Policy. These pages signal that the site is legitimate, trustworthy, and user-focused.
Part 2: Good-to-have metrics – The bonus points
While not deal-breakers, these metrics give us deeper insights and help fine-tune our link-building strategy.
1. Traffic from a specific country
Definition: The percentage of a website’s organic traffic that comes from a particular country or region.
Tool for checking the metric: Ahrefs
What we look for:
If your target audience is regional, backlinks from websites with high traffic in that area are a big plus. For example, a site with 70% of its traffic from the U.S. would be ideal for a U.S.-focused campaign.
2. Referring domains from specific ccTLDs (country code top-level domain)
Definition: Referring domains with country-specific extensions, like .uk or .au.
Tool for checking the metric: Ahrefs
What we look for:
Regional ccTLDs are valuable for local SEO efforts. If you’re targeting Canada, for instance, a referring domain with a .ca extension boosts relevance.
3. Sitewide links
Definition: Links that appear on every page of a website, such as in the footer or sidebar.
Tool for checking the metric: Manual check
What we look for:
While sitewide links aren’t necessarily bad, they can dilute the link’s SEO value if overused. We prefer single, contextually relevant links embedded within high-quality content.
Why does Mavlers focus on metrics?
Well, simply because link building isn’t just about quantity; it’s about quality, relevance, and sustainability. By focusing on these metrics, we ensure our backlinks:
- Build authority and trust for our clients.
- Drive targeted traffic to their websites.
- Avoid any risks of penalties or algorithm updates.
The road ahead
At Mavlers, link-building is more than just a strategy—it’s an art. We believe in crafting a backlink profile that’s strong, sustainable, and aligned with your goals.
If you are interested in partnering with Mavlers for your brand’s SEO needs, you might want to look up ~ The Ultimate Guide to SEO KPIs with Mavlers.
Shashikant Mane - Subject Matter Expert (SME)
Shashikant is an Assistant Team Lead at Mavlers with over 7 years of SEO expertise, specializing in B2B, E-commerce, and YouTube SEO. Known for pioneering effective strategies and mentoring teams, he is currently exploring Python SEO to push digital boundaries. His passion for innovation drives him to continuously evolve and achieve outstanding results in the Digital Marketing sphere.
Naina Sandhir - Content Writer
A content writer at Mavlers, Naina pens quirky, inimitable, and damn relatable content after an in-depth and critical dissection of the topic in question. When not hiking across the Himalayas, she can be found buried in a book with spectacles dangling off her nose!
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