Backlink competitor analysis step by step

Your competitors have already tested which topics, formats and publishers attract links in your field. Their link profiles show which sites write about your subject, which pages people choose to reference and how fast others in your space build links. That is research you would otherwise do from scratch.

The goal is not to copy a competitor link for link. Some of their links came from relationships, events or years of history you cannot reproduce, and some are low quality links you should not want. The goal is to find patterns and gaps, then turn them into a plan you can actually execute.

Your business competitors and your search competitors are often different. A company you lose deals to may barely rank, while a publisher or a niche blog may own the results for your topics. For link analysis, search competitors matter more.

Search your three to five most important topics and note the sites that appear repeatedly near the top. Keep a list of five to eight sites, mixing direct business competitors with the publishers and resources that rank. If a huge general site appears, such as an encyclopedia or a major marketplace, leave it out because its profile will not teach you much about your niche.

Choose competitors of a similar size where you can. A site with a decade of history and a large press presence plays a different game than you do, and its numbers will distort your view of what is realistic.

Use any backlink index or crawler to export the list of domains linking to each competitor. Work with linking domains rather than individual links, because one site linking a hundred times from its footer is still one relationship.

For each competitor, export at least the linking domain, the linking page, the target page on the competitor's site, the anchor text and the link attribute if the tool reports it. Put everything into one spreadsheet with a column for the competitor name, so you can sort and filter across all of them at once.

Be aware that every backlink index sees only part of the web and updates at its own pace. Treat the data as a sample of reality rather than a complete record. If you have access to more than one source, combining them reduces blind spots.

Raw exports contain a lot of noise. Remove scraper sites, automatically generated directories, spam domains and links from sites in unrelated languages unless you target those markets. Remove links from your competitors' own properties and partner sites, which you cannot reproduce.

Then sort what is left into groups that describe how each link was likely earned.

• Editorial mentions in articles, where a writer chose to reference the competitor.
• Guest articles and partner content, often visible from an author bio or a partner label.
• Resource pages, lists and roundups.
• Business relationships such as integrations, suppliers, customers and associations.
• Press coverage, interviews and podcasts.
• Directories and local listings.

This grouping turns a spreadsheet of thousands of rows into a short list of tactics, which is far easier to act on.

The link gap is the set of domains that link to two or more of your competitors but not to you. Those sites have already shown they write about your topic and are willing to reference businesses like yours. They are your warmest opportunities.

Filter your combined list for domains linking to at least two competitors, then remove domains that already link to you. Sort what remains by topical relevance first and by apparent site quality second. A smaller, highly relevant site is usually a better target than a large general one.

Look at the target pages too. If competitors earn most of their links to a certain kind of page, such as a free guide, a comparison or a research report, that tells you which content assets attract links in your niche. You may need to create a similar asset before outreach makes sense.

Before you add a domain to your plan, open it. Read a few articles, check that the site is indexed and that the pages linking to competitors are reachable from its own navigation. Look for warning signs such as link blocks, unrelated partner articles on every page and footers full of commercial links.

Check the attribute on the competitor links you plan to match. If a site publishes paid placements without rel="sponsored", do not pursue it, even if competitors have links there. That pattern puts every site linked from it at risk. Our post on dofollow, nofollow and sponsored links explains why.

Review the anchor text competitors receive. Most healthy profiles are dominated by brand names, page titles and natural phrases, with only a small share of exact match keywords. If a competitor shows a heavy pattern of keyword anchors, do not copy it; it may be working for now, or it may be about to stop.

Look at how quickly competitors gain new linking domains, if your tool shows dates. This gives you a sense of the pace needed to keep up. A steady flow every month is typical for sites that hold their positions, which supports planning link building as a monthly program rather than a one-off campaign.

Now translate the analysis into actions. For each tactic group, decide what you will do and how often.

• Gap domains with editorial content: pitch articles or expert input.
• Resource pages: improve or create the page that deserves to be listed, then ask.
• Business relationships: list your own partners and suppliers and ask for the pages they already have.
• Topical publishers where competitors appear in partner content: arrange labeled placements on similar sites.

Assign target pages on your site to each action and spread the work across months. A quarterly plan with a fixed monthly number of placements is easier to keep than an ambitious list that collapses after week two.

Run the analysis again every quarter. New competitors appear, publishers change and you will learn which tactics produce links for you. Keep a log of your own live links with URL, anchor, target, attribute and publish date, and check them regularly, because links are lost over time.

We check every placement in our plans every 7 days and alert you when something changes. Our backlink monitor page covers what each check includes.

Analysis tells you where to go; it does not write articles or publish them. If your team has the insight but not the time, our catalog lets you filter placements by topic category, language and country to match the patterns you found, and our editors write an original article for each one. See our off page SEO services for how the monthly plans work, or read about link building cost to budget the work.