Competitor backlink analysis is my favourite link building strategy of all time.
I have been using it for the last 10 years and it’s the only link building method that has stood the test of time.
With a simple competitor backlink analysis you can:
And then use them in your own strategy to outrank them.
Here is how to do it…
What Will I Learn?
Competitor backlinking is an SEO technique where you routinely analyse the backlinks of competing sites to see what types of links they have, how many, and the quality of links.
This is called competitor backlink analysis, and it helps you reverse engineer their link building strategy and use it for your own site. This will help your SEO and get you more traffic from Google.
Through this link profile analysis, you can get access to your competitor’s website performance from their number of external links and link metrics to their overall online authority – including page authority & domain authority.
A competitor backlink analysis helps you build (or improve) your strategy – the right way and allows you to:
Pretty cool, right?
Bellow, I’ll explain how to conduct this analysis to get great and fast results!
If you go to Google right now and search for your target keyword.
You’ll get on the first results page…
…The top 5x ranking sites that have all one important thing in common:
The idea of competitor backlink analysis is to-
Why waste time and money figuring out what works?
There’s already a proven link building blueprint out there waiting for you.
But to pull it off, you need a backlink analysis tool and you can get access to some incredible data without spending any money.
Before we do anything else we need to find all of the backlinks that are pointing to our competitor’s site.
Doing that is easy because we can take advantage of a number of tools that allow us to download all of our competitor’s backlink portfolio easily.
The 3x best backlink analysis tools on the market right now are:
They will return high numbers of links for every competitor website that you run through them. This is important because the more quality links you find, the more you can replicate!
Let’s take a closer look…
Ahrefs was the best tool on this list to find insight into competitors’ backlink profiles.
But in my more recent best backlink checker case study, they got absolutely blown away.
You can view all of your competitor’s backlinks (including their anchor text) in one dashboard thanks to Ahrefs Site Explorer.
You can then export them in a CSV file to form the foundation of your strategy.
Bonus: Ahrefs also allows you to monitor backlinks and set up backlink alerts so you can keep track of your competitor’s new backlinks!
The free SEMRush trial gives you access to a powerful tool with a very easy to use interface and relevant data sources that you can trust.
It’s certainly the best Ahrefs alternative out there to execute a backlink profile analysis.
But don’t be fooled by the high number of links it shows for my site.
SEMRush counts every link from a domain, but Ahrefs groups them together!
Either way, they give you a ton of data.
SEMRush has a freemium version of their tool that allows you to perform 10 data searches each day and you can also take advantage of a 100% free 14 day trial I set up for my readers.
Bonus: SEMrush offers the most comprehensive backlink audit you can find on the market.
See how Semrush stands against Ahrefs in my Ahrefs vs Semrush ultimate comparison.
SEO SpyGlass is the best desktop based backlink checker tool.
Although the link count is less than the last two tools…
It still gives you a significant number to work with:
However, their database is ever-growing with currently stands at 1.6x trillion links so it’s always going to find more than a handful for you.
SEO SpyGlass comes in two versions:
- Free: you can access data for 1,000x backlinks (but can’t export them)
- Paid: you can access data for unlimited backlinks and export them
But it doesn’t have an expensive monthly subscription like other tools.
Don’t worry, I understand these tools can be expensive if you’re starting out so feel free to take a look at my free seo tools list.
Honestly, you can’t make a wrong decision here. Each tool is going to provide you with more than enough backlink data to keep you busy.
And remember, if you are on a budget you can use the free trials to grab as much data as possible for your campaign.
| Ahrefs | SEMRush | SEO Spyglass | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | $99/Month | $99.95/Month | $31.49/Month |
| Trial Available? | No. | Yes. 14 Day Trial & Freemium Model. | Yes. Freemium Model. |
| # Links Found | 69,600 | 1,600,000 | 35,500 |
But don’t do anything just yet!
First I want to show you precisely how we are going to use this data to grow our own search traffic!
Using the tools above I’m going to show you exactly how to steal your competitor’s links.
This is the proven repeatable method I’ve been using for years.
Better still:
Here’s what you need to do…
Your starting point is to get a list of the top #5 ranking URLs for your target keyword.
Select the keyword you want to target.
Then do a search in Google and make a list of the first 5x organic search results:
Your final list of URL’s should look something like this:
- https://backlinko.com/ecommerce-seo
- https://ahrefs.com/blog/ecommerce-seo/
- https://www.bigcommerce.com/blog/ecommerce-seo/
- https://neilpatel.com/blog/seo-for-ecommerce-websites/
- https://www.shopify.com/blog/ecommerce-seo-beginners-guide
Head to this page to download my free competitor backlink analysis spreadsheet.
This is the intelligent sheet I have developed over the years for this specific task – you are going to love it!
Just paste the 5 links from step #1 above into column A on the first sheet-
Click on the “Click Here” links to automatically open the right report you need.
Export the data as a .CSV file.
You can export as much data as the tool will allow.
The more, the better!
Once exported, let’s put it into the tool…
Head over to tab #2 – Data in the sheet to Import each of the files you just exported.
The quickest way is to:
This is how you should do it:
Once you have loaded all the data you are ready for…
Head to Tab #3 – Plan Of Attack.
You’ll see a table of links.
These are the best competitors backlinks for you to target.
The tool has already:
That means in just a small amount of time you can put together a near-perfect link building strategy for your site.
(There’s that “keep it simple” motto in action again.)
That means it’s time to put your balaclava on and…
You have all of the actionable data you need to get started.
What you’re looking for in your Plan Of Attack tab is:
For example…
…If the link came from a blog comment, you’ll just need to write your own:
…if it was a forum post or a blog post, join the discussion and include links in relevant places:
…if it was a guest post, you’ll need to pitch your own for publication:
Take a look at each link and reverse engineer the process to figure out how to do it.
Just work through the Plan Of Attack tab and replicate each link – it really is that easy!
Stealing your competitors backlink strategies is one of the most effective ways to boost rankings and increase your traffic – including organic traffic & referral traffic.
It can save you:
By giving you an easy-to-follow blueprint that is proven to rank for your keyword.
To quickly recap:
This is the only link building strategy that has stood the test of time and it’s the first link building strategy I have applied on all of my sites for the last 10 years.
If you have any questions/thoughts about this strategy or if you need any SEO tips, please leave a comment below and I’ll be happy to help!
Just remember… Before starting building links, make sure you have read the full link building checklist that explains all the link building process.
Or, if you want to outsource it, check out my review of the top link building services.
Next I want to introduce you to resource page link building.
1,022 Responses
Subscribe to my YouTube
Join My Facebook Group
Connect on Linkedin
Free SEO Tutorials
SEO Case Studies
Links That Rank
wow that’s a very good idea, i have learnt some lessons through this site… keep it doing the good work
Will do, thanks for the comment
Great Article
Thanks very much
Nice article
Cheers
Good Article. It Is Really help Me To get Some backlinks.
Good job on the backlinks!
HI mark .thank you for these valuable informations. Glad to come across your website
Hi Hassan, come back soon
Nice Article, Very helpful for beginner. Actually I am searching an article in online about competitor back link analysis really I get it. Thanks Admin for a nice article.
You are welcome
You have said all. Its about competition and using my head now to outdo my competitors.
It’s all up to you
Thanks a lot Sir For Sharing this amazing article. I will come back, again and again, to take writing help from you.
See you soon!
your site is very usefull i use your articles in my site
Good to know, thanks
Great.Thanks for Its..
You’re welcome Kamal
Thanks for giving useful information for off page SEO
Glad to help
you article is so good
Thanks Ali
thank you man
Cheers bro
I will implement the idea for my blog.
Good idea Francis
thanks for sharing this Mathew, Forever struggling to find solid backlinks
No problem Scott
I’m amazed, I have to admit. Rarely do I come across a blog that’s equally educative and amusing,and let me tell you, you have hit the nail on the head.The issue is something that too few people are speaking intelligently about. I’m very happy I found this in my search for something concerning this.
Yes I do not beat around the bush! Thanks for your comments
Thanks for the great information
No worries
Will definitely be using this. Thank you Matthew!
No problem Peter
very useful
Thanks
it is so useful , i Like it
Hope you used the information well, thanks
Thank you so much
No problem
thank you , it`s perfect
I’m glad you think so
so good , i Appreciate that
Thanks
Excellent , it `s great
Pleased you liked it
you ave very useful web site, and its ok
Thanks!
Thank you for the tutorial Matthew, By the way. Is this method safe for adsense?
Yes I believe so
Which tools best for blog commenting because 0f blog cmnt is till valuable for seo
It depends, you can just use your browser
Nice article. many many thanks for information
No problem!
Very nice article. Thanks for sharing this great strategy.
No problem Aman!
Hi,Nice list of free and paid tools to check backlinks of website and keep a spy on them that whether they are getting links from guest posting, paid links etc.
No problem 🙂
Thank you for your helpful information. It’s a good way to keyword ranking system
No problem!
Thanks for sharing the great article.
No problem 🙂
I use very often this method.. but i use just bank link watch always but here u have provided lots of tools to which made my work easy .. thanks for the valuable post
No problem Vineela!
You are good, thank you so much
No problem Oba!
I was excited to uncover this site. I wanted to thank you for ones time for this particularly wonderful read!!I definitely savored every bit of it and i also have you bookmarked to look at new stuff in your site.
No problem!
good information about backlink analysis.
No problem!
Thanks for this awesome post.It Help Me To Spy My competitor’s Backlinks And Use Them For Create backlinks For My Site.
No worrys Aman!
Thanks for this great tutorial…i’m starting right away and hoping to outrank my competitors.
Good luck!
I have a major problem with Google’s entire backlink methodology, which is this: it rewards the outreach skills of a webmaster, rather than the on-page content / user experience of the website. That said, I understand why they do it this way; they don’t yet possess the AI that could assess a website the way a human mind can, so they have to find some reliable – if still gameable – way to bridge that gap. Also, does anyone else agree with me that the backlink system is better suited for America where there is a more cooperative attitude in business anyway, compared to how we frosty, less altruistic, arguably more spiteful Brits operate? I know I am not alone in thinking that the UK is a backlinks-acquisition-hostile environment.
There is more than one way to build links other than outreach!
Nice post. It’s so interesting and much impressive.
No problem Nikita
what a great post!I loved the tactic. It’s time-consuming but totally worth it.
No problem Erez
Thanks Matt, as you state ahrefs is the king of backlinks. I’ve been recently using it to sort through my competitors links and I seem to be finding alot of gems.I’ll check out the alternatives. You can’t beat having too many options 🙂
That is true but Ahrefs is sufficient for most
Thanks for the great information. Really useful.
No problem!
This is really a valuable post. While searching on internet backlink stealer, I found your blog post. I went down reading it and got my hands on lot of essential tools that can quickly help managing backlink campaigns. Thank you for sharing this post.
No problem 🙂
Thanks for posting this article. As it helps me in placing my websites with high rank.
No problem Adolf!
Lately, but finally I reach to your post. And learn how to steal. Lol! You write things very clearly. Which is really understandable. We really appreciate your help to learn new things. Keep going! 🙂
No problem, glad you enjoyed it!
Hi Mathew Thanks for providing the informative post to create inbound links. I was literally looking that type of article to create backlink of my site. And now i will apply these techniques to get good results.
No problem Ramesh
Hai Matthew, I’ve used two great tools that majestic and ahrefs pro. thats recommend for seo tools
I prefer Ahrefs myself 🙂
Hi Mathew, Thank you for this wonderful information, knowledge and ideas given freely. But my question is, for a blogger that is just trying to get on his feet and does not have the capacity to afford the monthly subscription for Ahrefs what will be your best advise in getting quality backlinks and been able to rank his content on Google first page?Looking forward to your advise.Thanks
You could start out with some simple guest posts on relevant blogs
Hello Matt,thank you for your great article, helps a lot.I have a technical question – I have found a competitor’s website, have analysed it using Ahrefs and found lots of domains where I can put links to my website; these all are high ranked pages, no spammy ones. The question is – how many backlinks per day is it safe to gain? I am doing it all manually.
I wouldn’t worry about a daily amount, just get as many high quality ones as you can