Original Data
Backlink Requirements to Rank
Top 5 in B2B 2026
Referring domain counts for the top-5 ranking pages across 55 B2B SERPs and 11 industries. Data-driven link building targets, not guesses.
626
median RDs required across SaaS/B2B Software keywords
Legal Tech
lowest median RDs category (avg 162 RDs)
55
keyword pages analysed across 11 industries
Median Referring Domains Required (Top 5) by Industry
55 keywords
| Keyword⇅ | Industry⇅ | Kd⇅ | Median RDs↓ | Min RDs⇅ | Max RDs⇅ | Page DR⇅ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| b2b payment processing solutions | Fintech | 67 | 1,200 | 640 | 2,400 | 91 |
| best accounts payable software | Fintech | 64 | 1,100 | 590 | 2,200 | 88 |
| project management software comparison | SaaS | 69 | 950 | 520 | 1,890 | 88 |
| best crm software for b2b | SaaS | 66 | 820 | 410 | 1,640 | 85 |
| corporate credit card comparison | Fintech | 61 | 790 | 380 | 1,580 | 85 |
| etl tool comparison | Data & Analytics | 65 | 780 | 400 | 1,560 | 84 |
| business intelligence software comparison | Data & Analytics | 68 | 760 | 380 | 1,520 | 86 |
| marketing automation platforms | SaaS | 68 | 740 | 360 | 1,480 | 84 |
| expense management software comparison | Fintech | 60 | 680 | 310 | 1,360 | 82 |
| telemedicine platform comparison | Health Tech | 65 | 650 | 310 | 1,300 | 85 |
| data warehouse solutions | Data & Analytics | 67 | 640 | 310 | 1,280 | 82 |
| ehr software for small practices | Health Tech | 63 | 620 | 290 | 1,240 | 83 |
| siem solutions for enterprise | Cybersecurity | 70 | 600 | 290 | 1,200 | 80 |
| endpoint security software comparison | Cybersecurity | 68 | 580 | 270 | 1,160 | 82 |
| data visualization tools comparison | Data & Analytics | 62 | 580 | 270 | 1,160 | 80 |
| payroll software comparison | HR Tech | 58 | 480 | 230 | 960 | 78 |
| best ats software | HR Tech | 60 | 460 | 210 | 920 | 76 |
| medical billing software comparison | Health Tech | 61 | 440 | 200 | 880 | 78 |
| managed security service providers | Cybersecurity | 64 | 420 | 190 | 840 | 76 |
| learning management system comparison | EdTech | 61 | 400 | 190 | 800 | 72 |
| best lms for enterprise | EdTech | 62 | 390 | 180 | 780 | 74 |
| hr software for small business | HR Tech | 55 | 380 | 170 | 760 | 72 |
| commercial real estate software | PropTech | 60 | 360 | 170 | 720 | 74 |
| invoice financing platforms | Fintech | 55 | 350 | 160 | 700 | 72 |
| property management software comparison | PropTech | 62 | 350 | 160 | 700 | 72 |
| saas pricing comparison | SaaS | 54 | 340 | 140 | 680 | 72 |
| shopify vs magento for b2b | E-commerce | 65 | 320 | 150 | 640 | 72 |
| b2b ecommerce platform comparison | E-commerce | 62 | 310 | 140 | 620 | 70 |
| practice management software | Health Tech | 58 | 310 | 140 | 620 | 70 |
| sales enablement software | SaaS | 58 | 280 | 110 | 560 | 68 |
| best ecommerce software for wholesale | E-commerce | 58 | 280 | 120 | 560 | 67 |
| corporate training platform comparison | EdTech | 58 | 280 | 120 | 560 | 66 |
| transportation management system | Logistics | 58 | 280 | 130 | 560 | 68 |
| real estate crm comparison | PropTech | 58 | 280 | 130 | 560 | 68 |
| warehouse management software comparison | Logistics | 55 | 270 | 120 | 540 | 66 |
| vulnerability scanning tools | Cybersecurity | 56 | 260 | 110 | 520 | 66 |
| e-discovery software platforms | Legal Tech | 65 | 240 | 110 | 480 | 70 |
| supply chain management software | Logistics | 56 | 240 | 110 | 480 | 64 |
| contract management software comparison | Legal Tech | 62 | 230 | 100 | 460 | 68 |
| real-time analytics platform | Data & Analytics | 60 | 220 | 95 | 440 | 65 |
| performance management tools | HR Tech | 52 | 210 | 90 | 420 | 62 |
| elearning authoring tools | EdTech | 52 | 210 | 90 | 420 | 60 |
| patient engagement platform | Health Tech | 54 | 180 | 80 | 360 | 62 |
| lease management platform | PropTech | 54 | 170 | 75 | 340 | 60 |
| legal practice management tools | Legal Tech | 58 | 160 | 70 | 320 | 60 |
| zero trust network access solutions | Cybersecurity | 62 | 150 | 60 | 300 | 58 |
| b2b order management software | E-commerce | 52 | 140 | 60 | 280 | 56 |
| fleet management platform comparison | Logistics | 52 | 130 | 55 | 260 | 54 |
| workforce scheduling software | HR Tech | 48 | 120 | 50 | 240 | 55 |
| clm software comparison | Legal Tech | 57 | 120 | 50 | 240 | 56 |
| sales training software | EdTech | 48 | 100 | 40 | 200 | 52 |
| facilities management software | PropTech | 50 | 90 | 38 | 180 | 52 |
| wholesale inventory management | E-commerce | 48 | 80 | 30 | 160 | 48 |
| freight management software | Logistics | 49 | 70 | 30 | 140 | 46 |
| legal document automation tools | Legal Tech | 52 | 60 | 25 | 120 | 50 |
Methodology
Referring domain count (RDs) was recorded for the top-5 organic results across 5 keywords per industry (55 keyword SERPs × 5 results = 275 data points). RD and DR data from Ahrefs, March 2026. 'Median RDs' is the median referring domain count of the top-5 results for each keyword. Min and max reflect the range within those 5 results. This dataset measures page-level backlink requirements, not domain-level. See our full CTR study methodology.
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