If you’re a Chief Marketing Officer, you’ve likely asked yourself, Should we be publishing more content or focusing on making each piece as strong as possible? Should our SEO backlink strategy aim for reach or relevance?

These are common concerns and are sometimes hotly debated in digital marketing circles. Striking the right balance means weighing up quality vs quantity across your content creation and link-building efforts. It’s rarely an either-or decision. The best approach for your business depends on your business goals, available resources, and how competitive your industry is.

In this blog, we’ll help you get a clearer sense of how quality and quantity factor into a successful SEO strategy.

Content Quality vs Content Quantity

There’s no shortage of opinions on what matters more in an SEO strategy: publishing frequently, or publishing only when you have something valuable to say. It’s easy to get confused when both sides of the argument seem to have merit.

The truth? Both play a role in a successful SEO content strategy. But, understanding when and why to prioritise one over the other is where many marketers get stuck. Let’s break that down, starting with why quality should always be your foundation.

Why Quality Matters

Quality content is more than just an enjoyable read – it’s how Google judges relevance and authority. Google’s algorithms are designed to reward helpful, original content that genuinely serves the user. And that’s where Google’s EEAT comes in.

  • Experience: Content that reflects real-life use or hands-on involvement in a subject is more trustworthy. Google is more likely to rank pages written from actual experience.
  • Expertise: Knowledgeable, in-depth insights show that your brand understands its subject. This is especially important for technical or industry-specific topics.
  • Authoritativeness: Authority comes from a blend of strong writing, subject expertise, and positive recognition from other websites, including links from quality backlinks.
  • Trustworthiness: Clear, accurate, and well-sourced content helps build user trust. That trust makes your content more valuable in Google’s eyes.

This core framework is used to assess content quality. So, focusing on quality content first lays the groundwork for long-term success and opens the door for quality backlinks to follow naturally.

The Role of Quantity

While quality matters most, that doesn’t mean quantity has no place. Publishing regularly and covering a wide range of topics can benefit your SEO content strategy in several ways:

  • Frequent updates signal to Google that your website is active and relevant
  • Covering a broad mix of topics helps build topical authority and allows you to target more niche and long-tail keywords
  • A steady flow of content keeps your audience engaged and encourages return visits

In other words, quantity can support and amplify the impact of your quality content, as long as it’s done thoughtfully.

The Balance of Content Quality and Quantity 

Finding the right blend of quality and quantity in your content is key to a successful SEO strategy. Here are a few simple ways you might strike that balance:

  • Set minimum content standards before hitting publish
  • Focus on evergreen topics with long-term value
  • Supplement flagship content with shorter, targeted posts
  • Use performance data to refine what you publish and how often
  • Build an editorial calendar that aligns with business cycles and user intent.

Backlink Quality vs Backlink Quantity

When it comes to backlinks, the debate is just as complex. Should you chase as many links as possible, or aim only for the most reputable ones? After all, backlink volume used to be a core ranking factor – but those days are gone.

Many CMOs are rightly cautious. The abuse of excessive spammy backlinks harmed countless sites’ reputations and visibility. But that doesn’t mean quantity is always bad.

Why Quality is Paramount

Google strongly favours high-quality backlinks. Just a handful of high-quality backlinks from credible, relevant sources can significantly boost your rankings.

High-quality backlinks are usually:

  • From authoritative domains in your niche
  • Contextually relevant to your content
  • Anchored with meaningful, non-spammy text

Quality backlinks signal to Google that your content is worth referencing, which is a powerful indicator of trust and authority in your SEO link-building strategy.

Quantity Can Diversify

While quality should always come first and is valued more by Google, there is still a place for quantity, in moderation. A diverse backlink profile with a mix of high- and moderate-quality links can appear more natural to Google.

That doesn’t mean you should tolerate low-quality or spammy links. But moderate-quality links, when relevant and legitimate, can help you:

  • Broaden your visibility across different sites
  • Support your SEO backlink strategy at scale
  • Build a more rounded and credible profile.

It’s about expanding reach without compromising credibility.

The Balance of Backlink Quality and Quantity

A balanced approach to backlinks doesn’t just support rankings, it protects against penalties and builds long-term trust. Here’s how you can think about it:

  • High-quality backlinks can come from industry publications, trusted blogs, and authoritative news sources.
  • Moderate-quality backlinks might come from niche directories, relevant forums, or smaller blogs.

The best SEO strategy incorporates both, while avoiding any tactic that feels unnatural or manipulative.

How an SEO Agency Can Strike The Quality vs Quantity Balance

Working with an SEO agency that understands the nuances of content strategy and SEO makes all the difference. We know when it’s right to focus on producing pillar-quality content and when it’s time to scale.

The same goes for backlinks. Our SEO backlink strategy is always grounded in relevance and ethical link-building. We help you build high-quality backlinks and develop a backlink profile that supports growth without compromising your brand.

Whether you’re seeking quality content, high-quality backlinks, or guidance on the best way to scale, call or email us to see how we can help you strike the perfect balance in your SEO strategy.

FAQ’s

Start with your audience’s needs. Use expert insights, structure your content clearly, and write with purpose. Originality, accuracy, and readability are key.

There’s no fixed rule. Aim for a sustainable pace that you can maintain without sacrificing quality. Weekly or bi-weekly posts often work well for growing sites.

Look for links from authoritative sites with real traffic. They should be topically relevant, editorially placed, and surrounded by meaningful content.

It’s less about the number and more about the value. A smaller number of strong backlinks often outperforms a large volume of irrelevant ones.