Ubersuggest (free tier) Top 100 backlinks, domain authority, referring domains Free (3 searches/day) Ahrefs (paid) Complete backlink profile, referring domains, link quality metrics ₹7,500/month SEMrush (paid) Backlink audit, toxic link identification, competitor comparison ₹9,000/month Moz Link Explorer (free) Domain authority score and top backlinks for any URL Free (10 queries/month)

To check your backlinks in Google Search Console: go to search.google.com/search-console → Links → External Links. This shows you which websites link to you and which of your pages have the most backlinks. This is your starting baseline.

A Practical 90-Day Backlink Building Plan for Indian Small Businesses

Month 1: Build Your Foundational Citations (Free, Low Effort, High Impact)

Create complete, accurate profiles on every major Indian business directory: JustDial, Sulekha, IndiaMart, Yelp India, your city Chamber of Commerce, and at least 5 industry-specific directories. Ensure your business Name, Address, and Phone number is exactly identical across every listing. This alone can produce 10–20 foundational backlinks within 30 days.

Month 2: Earn Media and Partner Links

Identify 5–10 potential guest post targets: Indian SME blogs, industry publications, or regional business websites that accept contributed articles. Pitch one genuinely useful article idea to each. Write one article and get it published with a natural contextual link to your website. Simultaneously, reach out to your top 5 business partners and clients to request a mention or link on their websites.

Month 3: Create Linkable Content and Do Competitor Research

Publish one piece of content specifically designed to earn links: an original data study about your industry in Tamil Nadu, a comprehensive guide that becomes the definitive resource on your topic, or an expert interview with a well-known figure in your sector. Then use Ubersuggest to analyse your top competitor's backlinks and identify 5 new link opportunities to pursue.

✅ Businesses that consistently build 5–10 high-quality backlinks per month over 12 months see domain authority grow significantly enough to rank on page 1 for competitive local keywords. Consistency over months produces compounding results that occasional bursts of link-building never achieve.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many backlinks does my website need to rank on Google?

There is no fixed number. What matters is relative authority compared to your competitors for specific keywords. For local Tamil Nadu keywords in low-competition categories, even 20–30 high-quality local backlinks (from JustDial, Sulekha, and local directories) combined with good on-page SEO can reach page 1. For competitive national keywords, you may need hundreds of high-authority backlinks to compete. Start by checking how many backlinks your top-ranking competitor has for your target keyword — that gives you a realistic benchmark.

Do social media links count as backlinks?

Social media links from Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter are 'nofollow' links — they do not pass direct ranking authority to your website. However, they drive traffic and social signals that can indirectly support your SEO. Focus your backlink building on editorial, directory, and media links rather than social media for direct ranking impact.

How long does link building take to improve rankings?

Google typically reflects new backlinks in rankings within 2–8 weeks of crawling and indexing them. However, meaningful ranking improvement from a link-building campaign usually takes 3–6 months of consistent effort — pa