Competitor Backlink Analysis

What Is Competitor Backlink Analysis

This is the systematic collection and evaluation of data on which sites link to your competitors. The analysis enables you to: - Find new sources for link building. - Understand which types of links (guest posts, directories, mentions) work in your niche. - Evaluate the quality of a competitor’s backlink profile (dofollow/nofollow ratio, anchor diversity). - Discover lost links of competitors that you could reclaim.

What to Analyse

• Number of referring domains — more is generally better, but quality matters more.
• Quality of donors — Domain Rating (DR) / Domain Authority (DA), traffic, relevance.
• Link types — guest posts, directory links, mentions, forum links, etc.
• Anchor text distribution — exact match, branded, generic, naked URL.
• New links — where competitors have been getting links in the last 1-3 months.
• Lost links — which donors have stopped linking to a competitor; you might be able to acquire them.

Step‑by‑Step Process

1. Select 3-5 major competitors (those already ranking for your target queries).
2. Pull their backlink profiles in Ahrefs / Semrush / Majestic.
3. Filter donors by quality (e.g., DR > 30, organic traffic > 1k).
4. Export the list to CSV.
5. Tag each link source (guest post, directory, media mention, etc.).
6. Identify common donors (sites that link to 2+ competitors) — these are prime targets.
7. Build a prioritised list for outreach.

Example analysis table:
Donor | DR | Traffic | Link type | Anchor | Links to competitors?
wired.com | 85 | 10M | editorial | “best SEO tool” | Competitor A, B
moz.com | 78 | 2M | guest post | “Ahrefs review” | Competitor C

Donors that already link to 2+ competitors are most likely to be open to linking to you.

Tools

• Ahrefs — Site Explorer → Backlink profile → Referring domains. Supports Link Intersect.
• Semrush — Backlink Analytics + Backlink Gap.
• Majestic — Neighbourhood Checker and comparison features.
• Moz Link Explorer — Link Intersect.
• Google Search Console — limited but free (only your own links).

Link Intersect: Where Competitors Get Links but You Don’t

Link Intersect is a feature in Ahrefs and other tools that shows sites linking to your competitors but not to you. It is the fastest way to discover new opportunities:

Ahrefs Link Intersect:
1. Site Explorer → your domain.
2. Go to Link Intersect.
3. Add 3-5 competitors to the fields 'Not linking to your target' (your domain).
4. Click 'Show link opportunities'.
5. You get a list of domains linking to 2+ competitors but not to you.
6. Assess quality and start outreach.