Study: Most-Used Backlink Metrics by SEO Agencies in LATAM

The proliferation of backlink analysis tools — Ahrefs, Semrush, Moz, Majestic, and others — has given agencies access to a considerable number of proprietary metrics. The problem is not a lack of data but rather selection: each tool measures differently, indexes are updated at varying frequencies, and calculation algorithms are not public. In this context, identifying which metrics agencies prioritize in practice — not in theoretical articles — has direct operational value.

This article synthesizes the findings of four quantitative studies, three industry surveys, and statements from relevant specialists in the Spanish-speaking market, with a specific focus on the evaluation dynamics observed at agencies operating in Mexico, Argentina, Colombia, Chile, and Peru.

Why the Metrics Debate Remains Open in 2025

The starting point of the debate is well known: Google does not expose a single "domain quality" score. The internal PageRank stopped being published in 2016, and the metrics that replaced it in the tools ecosystem — Domain Rating (DR) from Ahrefs, Domain Authority (DA) from Moz, Authority Score from Semrush — are proprietary approximations that do not directly reflect what the search algorithm evaluates.

In March 2024, leaked internal Google documents — widely covered by Search Engine Land — brought into question several ranking signals that the search engine had publicly denied. Among them appeared behavioral metrics of the source site and authority signals calculated by undisclosed internal systems. The episode reignited the discussion about which external metrics are good proxies for what the search engine cares about and which are simply numbers with no real correlation.

In this context, understanding what agencies in LATAM actually use — versus what tool vendors recommend — allows for better calibration of both one's own evaluation practices and expectations when contracting campaigns.

What Quantitative Studies Show

Ahrefs: Correlation Between DR and Rankings

The Ahrefs ranking correlation study published in 2023 (Ahrefs, 2023) analyzed more than one million pages in Google's results and found that the number of unique referring domains pointing to a URL is the signal showing the strongest positive correlation with high rankings. The DR of the source domain appeared as a secondary signal, with moderate but consistent correlation. The authors explicitly cautioned that correlation does not imply causation and that DR as an isolated metric can be artificially inflated.

Semrush: Organic Traffic as a Legitimacy Indicator

Semrush published in 2024 an analysis of backlink patterns in high-performing sites (Semrush, 2024) that highlighted the monthly organic traffic of the source domain as one of the most reliable indicators for distinguishing legitimate sites from artificial link networks. Sites with high DR but near-zero organic traffic appeared frequently in backlink profiles of penalized sites. This observation aligns with what several Spanish-speaking specialists report in podcasts and industry events.

Backlinko: Domain Diversity vs. Link Volume

A Backlinko analysis of more than 11 million search results (originally published in 2020 and updated in later versions; Backlinko, 2023) reported that the number of unique referring sites has greater predictive power over rankings than the total volume of backlinks from a few domains. In practice, this translates to a preference for diversity of referring domains over accumulating links from a single high-metric domain.

Moz Survey: Metrics Prioritized by SEO Professionals

The Moz annual survey on ranking factors (Moz Search Ranking Factors, 2023) included responses from more than 300 SEO professionals globally. In the backlink evaluation section, the DA of the source domain, estimated organic traffic, and topical relevance between the source and destination site appeared as the three most frequently mentioned criteria, ranking above number of referring domains and Majestic's TF (Trust Flow). It should be noted that the Moz sample is biased toward English-speaking markets; LATAM-specific data is not broken out in the public report.

What Specialists in the Spanish-Speaking Market Say

To complement the quantitative studies with perspectives applied to the Spanish-speaking market, public statements were gathered from professionals with documented activity at conferences, podcasts, and specialized publications in Spanish between 2022 and 2025.

Topical Relevance Over Domain Metrics

On the podcast Marketing con Causa (episode published in September 2023), specialist Iñaki Huerta noted that for Spanish-language projects, the topical relevance of the source site carries more practical weight than DR or DA, especially in niches with low competition in English: "A site with DA 20 but fully within the niche can move the needle more than a general-interest portal with DA 60." This statement summarizes a position that appears frequently in forums and groups within the Spanish-speaking industry.

The Problem of "Farm Sites" with Inflated Metrics

At the BrightonSEO Málaga event (October 2023), consultant Aleyda Solis presented data on backlink patterns in penalized sites in Spanish-speaking markets. She identified that a significant proportion of penalized sites had backlink profiles built primarily on sites with low or nonexistent organic traffic, regardless of DR. Her operational recommendation was to always verify estimated organic traffic before accepting a link, even when DR exceeds thresholds typically considered acceptable (40+).

Anchor Text as an Underrated Signal

Consultant Fernando Angulo, in a talk published on Semrush's Spanish-language channel, highlighted that anchor text distribution in the receiving profile is usually the most quickly readable signal for detecting over-optimization, but that many agencies in LATAM do not audit it regularly. He noted that the issue is not just the anchor text of the individual link but the percentage it represents in the total profile. This perspective connects directly to the analysis of referring domains and anchor text diversity in a healthy profile, where recommended distribution thresholds are detailed.

Engagement Metrics of the Source Site

Several specialists from agencies operating in Mexico and Colombia, interviewed in Spanish-language publications from Search Engine Land during 2024, reported incorporating engagement metrics — time on page, estimated bounce rate, publishing frequency — as signals of editorial legitimacy. The reasoning: an active site with a real audience does not build metrics artificially, and a link from it is more likely to maintain its value over the long term.

Common Patterns: What LATAM Agencies Prioritize

From the synthesis of the studies and statements gathered, six criteria emerge that concentrate the majority of attention from SEO agencies operating in Latin America:

1. Estimated organic traffic of the source domain. It appears as the primary filter in the majority of documented evaluation workflows. A domain with real organic traffic above an estimated 1,000 monthly visits is considered the minimum threshold at several agencies, though the number varies by sector and market.
2. DR/DA as a secondary filter, not a primary one. The observable trend is to use DR or DA to discard very low domains (typically below 20–25) but not to positively select for them. The specialist consensus is that a high DR without traffic does not guarantee value.
3. Topical relevance. Evaluated qualitatively (reading the last 10–15 published articles) rather than through automated metrics. In Spanish-speaking niches with lower competition, this criterion may carry more weight than any domain metric.
4. Anchor text distribution in the receiving profile. More technically mature agencies audit the profile before each new link to avoid over-optimizing exact-match anchors. The percentage of exact-match anchor text is typically kept below 10% in healthy profiles.
5. Source domain history. Verification of prior penalties, ownership changes, or suspicious redirects. Tools such as the Wayback Machine and Ahrefs history are used to detect spam-history domains that have been repurposed.
6. Publishing frequency and editorial quality. Active publishing, original content (not duplicated or mass-generated), verifiable contact information, and visible editorial policies. This criterion is especially relevant for evaluating the quality of a website for linkbuilding beyond numerical metrics.

Organic traffic as a signal of editorial legitimacy is not a new criterion, but its systematic adoption as a primary filter — above DR or DA — marks an evolution in backlink evaluation practices in the Spanish-speaking market. A site without real traffic has no audience consuming and amplifying the link, and that absence is the clearest signal that the domain metric was built artificially.

Points of Disagreement Between Sources

Not all sources converge. There are at least three areas where positions are contradictory or insufficiently supported to establish consensus:

How Much Does Topical Relevance Matter vs. DA/DR?

While several Spanish-speaking specialists place topical relevance above domain metrics, the quantitative studies from Ahrefs and Backlinko show stronger correlations with volume of referring domains and DR than with topical relevance as a variable. The discrepancy may be explained by the difficulty of operationalizing "topical relevance" in a large-scale study, but it also suggests that specialists in LATAM may be responding to dynamics in less competitive markets where relevance compensates for lower metrics.

Minimum Acceptable DR Thresholds

There is no agreement on what DR level constitutes a reasonable minimum threshold. References range from DR 15 to DR 40 depending on the sector, the maturity of the receiving domain, and the specific market. This dispersion reflects both real differences across markets and the absence of studies broken down by language or region for Spanish.

Value of Nofollow Links in LATAM

The question of the value of nofollow links in linkbuilding campaigns generates divided positions. Since Google updated its treatment of the nofollow attribute in 2019 — shifting from ignoring it to treating it as a "hint" for crawling and ranking — the industry has debated whether to include nofollow domains in paid campaigns. Some specialists consider them part of a natural profile; others exclude them from link equity campaigns. To better understand the implications of each attribute type, it is useful to review the fundamentals covered in key metrics for evaluating backlinks such as DR, DA, traffic, and other indicators.

Applied Reading for the Spanish-Speaking Market