Backlinks are links on other websites that direct users back to your site. They serve as a vote of confidence for your content; they indicate to search engines that your site is trustworthy and authoritative; the best backlinks are links that Google knows about.
And to gain these quality and valuable links, your site needs to be worthwhile to other websites.
Conducting backlink analysis is essential for any SEO strategy, and when done right, it gives you valuable insight into both your site and your competitors.
Before we dive in, let’s look at what backlink analysis is.
What is backlink analysis?
Backlink analysis is a review of a website's backlinks to analyze the site's performance and identify issues that could affect its search engine ranking.
The importance of backlink analysis
Well, this analysis is just like how you take care of yourself and your health. You should do it more frequently to make sure everything is okay.
Backlink analysis enables you to identify areas for improvement in terms of SEO and performance and helps you boost your online presence. It helps you know how your site is doing and the factors contributing to its ranking.
Links that are unnatural or from spammy websites can result in a Google penalty, but identifying them and disavowing them keeps your site trustworthy. Backlink analysis helps you identify toxic links.
What to look for in a backlink analysis
While conducting a backlink analysis, there are so many things you can consider, but here are the three most recommended ones.
1. Total number of links and unique domains
Comparing the total number of backlinks pointing to your website to that of your competitor gives you a clue as to how authoritative your website is.
2. Top pages
Here, look at the pages on your site and your competitor's website that have the most links pointing to them.
The first and topmost page is always your homepage, and then you can see which pages have the most links.
Looking at popular pages, you will be able to tell which type of content works best for your building strategy. For example, if you ever created content on a specific topic and you noticed the page has lots of links pointing to it, then it's a sign that you should create more on that topic.
3. Referring domains
Lastly, referring domains inform you of how many unique sites link to your website, where your most valuable links are, and which content they point to on your website.
Here you can find a linking opportunity for your website because, when looking at your competitors, you will find out who is linking to them, and that might be a chance to link to them too.
It is advisable to sort the domains by their authority and compile a list of authoritative sites linking to your competitors. You can later use this list for outreach opportunities.
Let’s now talk about the tools used in the analysis process.
Backlinks analysis tools
If you want to enhance your website’s search engine ranking, use a backlink analysis tool. These tools will help you improve your SEO strategy and identify potential link-building opportunities.
1. Legiit GMSD dashboard
If you check out your backlink history section using the Legiit GMSD dashboard, it gives you a chance to analyze your backlink profile details like:
- Linking Domain
- Anchor text
- If the link is live
- No-follow or do-follow status
- Date the link was created
Such data is key in making decisions about the health of your link profile.
2. SEMrush
SEMrush includes the following great tools you can use to analyze and improve your backlink profiles. They are;
- Backlinks analytics
- Link-building tools
- Backlink audit
- Bulk analysis
With these tools, you can find referring domains, their page authority, domain authority, etc.
Also, if you want to monitor multiple competitors, SEMrush bulk analysis is exactly what you need.
Features
- See how many backlinks are coming from a single IP address and various countries
- Find all inbound links, their linking domains, subdomains, URLs, and categories
- Connect Semrush with Google Search Console to identify more backlinks
- Make lists to keep track of links that you want to keep or remove
- Explore single URLs, domains, and anchors
- Recrawl the backlink profile regularly to detect new, lost, or broken links
- Connect Google Analytics to identify pages with links that attract the most attention
- Upload external backlink lists into the tool
3. Google Search Console
Google Search Console is a free tool to conduct an initial backlink check. Even though it cannot compare your site to your competitors, you can see top metrics, like your total links and referring domains.
Search Console lets you
- Monitor and, in some cases, resolve server errors
- Resolve site load issues
- Resolve security issues like hacking.
4. Ahrefs
Ahrefs is an SEO tool with extensive features to help you optimize your websites.
The backlinks checker is easily accessible through the site explorer and allows you to export the data for further analysis quickly. You can also access the sections on the left sidebar to explore each backlink feature more in-depth.
Ahrefs enables you to;
1. See followed and no-followed links – The more high-quality followed backlinks a site has, the more trustworthy it is to the search engine. Ahrefs shows you the complete picture of followed vs no-followed links for any target.
2. Backlink anchor text — Check anchor texts to see how your competitors optimize their backlink profiles. Use anchor text analysis to identify any toxic links that might attack your website.
3. Disavow link spam – If you notice some suspicious backlink activity, you can add spammy links to a disavow file directly from the Backlink Checker. Importing this file into Google’s Disavow Tool takes only a few clicks.
4. Export to PDF and CSV – to report on your findings or download a report for further analysis. Simply export your data and reports to a PDF or CSV file.
5. Majestic
Majestic is a web-based SEO tool specializing in backlink analysis. What makes Majestic unique in the SEO world is that it provides only backlink analysis services.
Majestic helps you check the domains, pages, and keywords used in the inbound links to your website and measure the quality of these links.
Majestic does not offer on-page SEO analysis such as keyword research or finding duplicate titles or descriptions.
Backlinks analysis process
Here are a few steps to help you in the process of backlink analysis.
#1. Choose the sites you want to analyze
Starting with your site, choose the websites you would like to analyze. Consider websites that are in your niche and that outrank your keyword.
#2. Select a backlink analysis tool
Using a backlink audit tool is more effective than conducting a manual backlink audit. Try to select the tool that has essential features you need—for instance, Legiit Dashboard, SEMrush, Majestic, etc.
#3. Get a quick overview
After selecting a backlink analysis tool, it’s time to start the analysis. Enter your domain name into the search bar and get a look at the results.
Focus on the three key factors we discussed. That is;
- The total number of links and unique domains
- Referring domains
- Top pages
Thereafter, do the same with your competitor’s website to help you know where to improve and what exactly to improve on.
#4. Analyze the details
Let’s look at the results in detail now. First, look at the anchor text to check and identify whether toxic links hurt your search engine ranking.
Then, check the quantity and quality of your backlinks using SEO tools.
Evaluate your linking domains, the quality of these domains, and the type of content that is getting most of the links.
It is also important to identify broken links and fix them as it is a potential way of gaining backlinks.
How do you fix it though? Here are some of the ways to fix it.
- Reach out to the referring domain and ask that it be fixed.
- Redirect the broken page to a new webpage on your website.
- Redirect the broken page to another page on your website with similar content.
#5. See what your competitors are doing
After analyzing the health of your domain, it's important to compare it with that of your competitors. By analyzing your competitors' backlink profiles, you can get valuable insights into their link-building strategies and identify opportunities to improve your own.
Focus on the types of websites that link to your competitors and the anchor text they use; check if they are getting high-quality backlinks from authoritative sites; and use this information to improve your link-building strategy and know which website to aim for.
Analyzing your competitor’s website enables you to;
- Discover link-building opportunities.
- Inform your content strategy.
- Gain a deeper understanding of the SEO landscape.
- Discover new keyword opportunities.
How to avoid common mistakes made during backlink analysis
There are many mistakes people make when analyzing backlinks.
#1. Overlooking Broken Links
Often, audit your backlink profile to avoid losing SEO benefits. This will help you identify broken links, reach out to the website owners, and fix them early enough to ensure they continue to serve their purpose.
#2. Avoiding NoFollow Links Entirely
NoFollow links don't pass PageRank, but they still bring traffic and help diversify your backlink profile. Assuming that NoFollow links have no value and thus avoiding them entirely is a mistake you should avoid.
#3. Not Monitoring Your Backlink Profile
Regularly monitoring your backlink profile helps you keep an eye on your website's progress and be able to identify negative SEO that might harm your website. Watch out for spammy or irrelevant links that might harm your SEO.
#4. Using Over-Optimized Anchor Text
Using a keyword in an anchor text improves its ranking, but overdoing it looks manipulative.
#5. Prioritizing Quantity Over Quality
Why are you busy building links without considering the quality of the links? Search engines have evolved and now prioritize the quality and relevance of backlinks. Focus on building high-quality backlinks from authoritative sites to add value to your site.
Final thoughts
Backlink analysis is an important exercise to improve your website’s SEO performance.
Having looked at the benefits of analyzing your backlinks, tools you can use and their features, mistakes you should avoid, and everything you need to know about backlink analysis, you should now treat this activity as a necessity for your website.
All the best.
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